How to Write a Travel Agent Cancellation Policy Clients Understand and Accept

Updated October 2026. This is general guidance, not legal advice. Consumer and package travel rules vary by country, so have your final wording reviewed locally.

Why the policy matters more than the wording

Most disputes about cancellations are not about the rules. They are about surprise. A client who pays a deposit believing it is refundable, and then learns it is not, is angry whatever the contract says. The best protection is a policy the client has seen early, in plain language, and clearly agreed to.

That is why where you put the policy matters as much as what it says. If it only exists as a link in a footer or a page of an invoice, you will have trouble relying on it. If it is part of the proposal and the client has to accept it before paying, you have a record. See how to handle terms and conditions for online bookings for the acceptance side.

The five parts of a cancellation policy

1. What the client pays if they cancel, and when

This is the heart of it. Express it in stages, not in paragraphs. A table is easiest to read:

When the client cancels	What they owe
After booking, before the final payment date	Deposit retained, plus any supplier charges already incurred
Between the final payment date and 30 days before departure	Supplier charges for each booking, plus your service fee
Within 30 days of departure	The full trip cost, except amounts a supplier refunds

The numbers above are an example of the shape, not a recommendation. Your stages should follow your real supplier deadlines, which is why you set them after you have read the supplier terms.

2. How supplier rules pass through

Say plainly that the charges depend on the suppliers involved, and that the client will be told the amount before anything is cancelled. Do not copy a supplier's terms into yours; link to them or summarise them in the proposal for that booking. Non-refundable flights, rail passes and tickets bought for the client should be named as non-refundable once purchased.

3. Your own fee

If you charge a planning fee or a service fee, say whether it is refundable. Many agents treat a planning fee as earned once work begins. Whatever you choose, state it. See how much a travel agent should charge in planning fees.

4. How to cancel, and how long refunds take

Tell the client how to cancel: in writing, by reply to a named email address, or through their proposal page. Say when you will respond. For refunds, give a realistic range and say it depends on the supplier and on the payment method. Avoid promising a date you do not control.

5. When you or a supplier cancels

A policy that only covers the client cancelling feels one-sided. Say what happens if a supplier cancels or changes a booking materially: you will offer an alternative, a refund of the affected part, or both. Say what happens if you must cancel. This is also the section most affected by local consumer rules.

A structure you can adapt

1. Plain summary at the top. Two sentences: "Your deposit secures the booking and is refundable only as set out below. Charges depend on the suppliers involved."
2. The staged table from part 1.
3. Non-refundable items, listed by name once purchased.
4. Changes versus cancellations. Say what a date change costs and whether it counts as a cancellation.
5. How to request a cancellation, and what you will send back.
6. Supplier or agency cancellation.
7. Travel insurance. Recommend it, and say the client is responsible for arranging it unless you sell it.

Wording that works

• Be concrete. "Cancellations within 30 days of departure are charged at the full trip cost, except amounts a supplier refunds" beats "late cancellations may incur fees".
• Use the same words in the proposal and the policy. If the proposal calls it a deposit, do not call it a booking fee in the terms.
• Put the amount in numbers, not only percentages, where you can: "Deposit: 1,200, non-refundable after 14 days".
• Avoid legal fog. If a clause needs three sub-clauses to explain, the client will not read it, and a court may not like it either.

Getting the client to agree

A policy is only as strong as the evidence that the client accepted it. Show the policy where they can read it before paying, ask for an explicit acceptance, and keep a record of exactly which version they accepted. If you change the policy after sharing a proposal, treat it as a change that needs a new acceptance. Story of a Trip records which version of the proposal and which terms a client accepted, and asks for a new acceptance when the terms or price change. See how to handle client changes after sending a proposal.

When a client wants to cancel

1. Acknowledge first. Reply quickly and kindly before discussing money.
2. Check each booking. Look up what every supplier will refund, and by when.
3. Send a written breakdown. What is refundable, what is not, and your fee, with amounts.
4. Ask about alternatives. Some clients would rather move the trip than cancel it, which can save the booking.
5. Refund promptly what you owe, to the original payment method where possible, and say when it should arrive.

Where you have discretion, use it with care. Waiving a fee for a client in real difficulty can earn a loyal customer. Make it a decision you take, not a precedent that rewrites the policy.

Common mistakes

• Writing the policy after the first dispute rather than before the first sale.
• Copying another agency's policy, whose suppliers and country are different.
• Promising refunds the suppliers will not honour.
• Burying the policy in a PDF the client never opens.
• Forgetting to say what happens when you or a supplier cancels.

A worked example (illustrative)

An agent sells a ten-day trip for 6,000. The client pays a 1,500 deposit. The agent has already bought non-refundable flights for 2,100 and holds a hotel booking that is free to cancel until 45 days before arrival.

Three weeks after booking, the client cancels. Under the accepted policy, the agent works through each booking: the flights are lost, the hotel can still be cancelled without charge, and the agent's planning fee of 200 applies. The client paid only 1,500, but owes 2,100 plus 200, so the deposit does not cover the cost. The agent explains this in a table, offers to put the flight value towards a later trip if the airline allows a credit, and asks for the remaining 800.

Now look at what would have gone wrong with a weak policy. If the deposit had been described as "fully refundable", the agent would have absorbed the loss. If the terms had never been shown, the client could reasonably refuse the extra charge. The strong version is simply a deposit sized to cover non-refundable purchases, and a policy that said so.

Questions to ask yourself before you publish

• Could a client who reads only the first paragraph still understand when they lose money?
• Does the policy match what my suppliers will actually refund me?
• If this client cancelled tomorrow, could I explain every number in one table?
• Have I said what happens when I change something, not only when they do?
• Would I be comfortable if a regulator or a journalist read this?

Key takeaways

• The policy has to be seen and accepted before payment to be useful.
• Present charges by stage, in a table, tied to real supplier deadlines.
• State your own fee and whether it is refundable.
• Cover supplier and agency cancellations as well as the client's.
• Have the final wording checked for your jurisdiction.