You book an airline ticket. You don't take the flight. What happens next?

Imaginechina

You book a flight and for some reason, you don't use the ticket. Now comes the hard part – getting a refund without being slapped with exorbitant fees.

Extreme diligence is essential when buying airline tickets. If you don't enter the correct date and route when booking, you may face significant expenses to change the flight or get a refund.

Despite updated regulations, the issue of industry ticketing and refund policies remains a sore point with the flying public, and that's more acute when millions take to the air for the weeklong Chinese New Year holiday that begins on Saturday.

An estimated 80 million people will be flying this Spring Festival season, a 45 percent increase from last year and a return to pre-pandemic levels.

Domestic carriers, including China Southern, China Eastern and Air China, have implemented new rules related to fees charged for ticket changes or refunds, but consumers are finding a gap between policies on paper and policies in practice.

Amid the rising public frustration, domestic carriers have reduced fees and expanded the timeframe for free flight changes or refunds – but only on domestic flights.

Air China, the nation's flagship carrier, allows free or discounted refunds within two hours of ticket purchases. China Eastern expanded the free-refund period to 30 days before a flight. Sichuan Airlines offers free refunds or rescheduling for passengers who go to the wrong airport within the same city.

However, consumer complaints on platforms like Black Cat highlight the challenges passengers still face.

China Southern's revised rules, which came into effect on January 10, aimed to broaden the scope for free flight changes due to errors made by customers during ticket booking.

Yet, one passenger reported that he entered the wrong date during the booking process and was seeking a waiver of the fees to change flights. His request was denied by the airline, citing a two-hour window to rectify booking errors. He said he ultimately paid a 340-yuan (US$42.30) cancellation fee.

In another case, a passenger who mistakenly purchased a ticket for the wrong date faced a 1,500-yuan cancellation fee on a 1,800 yuan ticket.

The difference in refund policies across airlines only adds to the confusion. For instance, the fee for last-minute cancellations on Hainan Airlines flights reached up to 90 percent of the ticket price, while other carriers have capped the fee at 75 percent.

A representative from China Southern explained that high refund fees are partly due to operational and administrative costs, security issues and the financial impact of last-minute cancellations. That kind of jargon doesn't wash well with the public.

It's true that fee-free changes for cancellations or flight alterations may result in some losses for airlines. The changes often need to be processed manually and the vacated seat sold at the last minute.

It's rare for any business to willingly forego such "low-hanging fruit." Similar pain points have historically existed with train and movie tickets as well.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China said airlines should have fair rules for ticket changes and refunds. It is requiring a "tiered fee rate" in a move toward more reasonable standards.

However, without clear guidelines, airlines tend to interpret the rules in ways to protect their bottom line more than to honor passengers' rights.

From a legal standpoint, when you buy a ticket, you enter into a contract with an airline. Cancellation penalties should be fair and clear in that contract and not be more than 30 percent of any loss incurred.

Airlines are also required to highlight significant terms in the contract if requested, according to China's consumer protection laws. But how many passengers are aware of that or have the time to bother with such technicalities?

Charging high fees for changes or refunds is especially galling when tickets are canceled well in advance of flights, reducing any financial impact to the carriers.

In the realm of air travel, what's good for the goose isn't necessarily good for the gander. While consumers face hefty fees for booking errors, airlines often face minimal consequences for delays or cancellations not caused by some mitigating factor.

This imbalance needs to be rectified. Regulatory bodies need to be more proactive instead of depending on the stated good intentions of carriers.

For the moment, it's buyer beware. Consumers need to be vigilant in understanding the terms and conditions of tickets they book.

If carriers want to keep domestic passengers in an era where high-speed rail increasingly competes as an efficient travel alternative, they need to treat customers with more respect, and reviewing fee policies on refunds or flight changes is a good place to start.