Booking Modification & Cancellation
Self-service change management with intelligent rebooking and automated refund processing reducing agent call volume by 50-70% and modification time from hours to minutes.
Why This Matters
What It Is
Self-service change management with intelligent rebooking and automated refund processing reducing agent call volume by 50-70% and modification time from hours to minutes.
Current State vs Future State Comparison
Current State
(Traditional)1. Customer needs to change flight date or cancel booking. 2. Customer calls contact center, waits 15-45 minutes on hold. 3. Agent manually looks up booking, checks fare rules, calculates change fees. 4. Agent processes change or cancellation manually in airline system. 5. Refund requests take 7-14 days for processing and approval.
Characteristics
- • Global Distribution Systems (GDS) such as Sabre, Travelport, Amadeus
- • Travel Booking Systems and Platforms
- • APIs for automated amendments and cancellations
- • Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systems
- • Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools
- • Email and Customer Support systems
- • Automation and AI Tools
Pain Points
- ⚠ Complexity of Policies: Diverse and often restrictive cancellation and modification policies cause confusion.
- ⚠ Synchronization Issues: Ensuring booking files are synchronized across multiple systems can be challenging.
- ⚠ Manual Intervention: Some amendments require manual processing, leading to delays.
- ⚠ Price Changes and Refund Delays: Repricing after modifications can lead to unexpected costs.
- ⚠ Limited Automation: Not all companies have fully automated workflows, resulting in inefficiencies.
- ⚠ Customer Experience: Lack of clear communication during modification/cancellation can frustrate users.
- ⚠ Inconsistent policy enforcement across different channels and systems.
- ⚠ Limited real-time updates in some legacy systems.
- ⚠ Dependency on manual processes for complex bookings.
- ⚠ Potential for human error during manual interventions.
Future State
(Agentic)- Customer accesses booking via mobile app or web using confirmation code.
- Modification Agent displays available options: date change, passenger name correction, seat selection, cancellation.
- Fare Rules Engine shows applicable fees, refund eligibility, alternative flights with price differences.
- Agent processes modification instantly via NDC/GDS APIs with real-time seat availability.
5. Automated Refund Agent processes eligible refunds within 24-48 hours (auto-approval for policy-compliant requests).
Characteristics
- • Booking PNR and reservation data
- • Airline fare rules and change policies
- • Real-time flight availability for rebooking
- • Customer profile and loyalty status
- • Payment transaction history
- • Refund eligibility rules and thresholds
- • Schedule change and disruption data
- • Waiver and exception policies (weather, airline-caused delays)
Benefits
- ✓ 60-80% self-service rate vs 0% traditional
- ✓ 50-70% call center volume reduction
- ✓ 5-10 min modification vs 15-60 min agent-assisted
- ✓ 24-48 hour refunds vs 7-14 day manual processing
- ✓ Clear fare rules eliminate customer confusion
- ✓ $8-12 cost savings per self-service transaction
Is This Right for You?
This score is based on general applicability (industry fit, implementation complexity, and ROI potential). Use the Preferences button above to set your industry, role, and company profile for personalized matching.
Why this score:
- • Applicable across multiple industries
- • Moderate expected business value
- • Time to value: 3-6 months
- • (Score based on general applicability - set preferences for personalized matching)
You might benefit from Booking Modification & Cancellation if:
- You're experiencing: Complexity of Policies: Diverse and often restrictive cancellation and modification policies cause confusion.
- You're experiencing: Synchronization Issues: Ensuring booking files are synchronized across multiple systems can be challenging.
- You're experiencing: Manual Intervention: Some amendments require manual processing, leading to delays.
This may not be right for you if:
- Requires human oversight for critical decision points - not fully autonomous
Parent Capability
Travel Booking & Reservation Management
AI-powered booking platform with intelligent search, dynamic packaging, and personalized recommendations achieving 30-50% improvement in conversion rates.
What to Do Next
Related Functions
Metadata
- Function ID
- function-booking-modification-cancellation