You can change or cancel flight and hotel bookings directly through the Travel AI Agent. The AI Agent surfaces your fare conditions upfront, calculates the budget impact in real time, and handles approvals inline, so you know exactly what a change costs before you commit.
Understanding your fare conditions
Every booking has two independent properties that determine what changes are possible:
Changeable - Whether the booking can be modified (date, time, or routing) without cancelling it. Applies to flights only; hotels cannot be changed, only cancelled.
Refundable - Whether cancelling returns money to your original payment method.
A flight can be changeable but non-refundable, or non-changeable but refundable. The Travel AI Agent always displays both properties before presenting your options.
Changing a flight
If your flight is changeable, you can modify the date, time, or routing (including a different airport on the same airline) without cancelling the booking.
Cost-neutral or credit-generating change - Requires no approval. The Travel AI Agent confirms and proceeds.
Any additional cost (change fee, fare difference, or both) - Always requires approval, even if the total remains within your original trip budget. The Travel AI Agent sends an approval request showing the breakdown.
When a flight is changeable, the Agent will recommend modifying it in place rather than cancelling and rebooking, as this is simpler and avoids double-spend risk.
If your flight is not changeable, the only option is to cancel the flight and book a new one.
Cancelling a flight
If your flight is changeable, the Travel AI Agent will offer to change it instead of cancelling to help you avoid unnecessary cost.
Cancellation of any type never requires approval.
Fare type | What happens |
|---|---|
Refundable | You will receive a full or partial refund (minus any cancellation penalty). No approval is needed. |
Non-refundable | The full amount is forfeited. No cash refund is issued. The airline may issue airline credits separately, but these are not treated as a refund. No approval is needed, but the AI Agent will warn you clearly before proceeding. |
Cancelling and rebooking a flight
If you cancel a flight and book a new one, the approval requirements will depend on the total budget impact:
For non-refundable flights, the original cost is treated as spent. The budget check accounts for both the forfeited amount and the new booking cost.
Airline credits are excluded from the refund calculations and they do not reduce the budget impact.
The following table lists the default Payhawk settings for approving flight rebooking depedning on the budget impact.
Scenario | Approval needed |
|---|---|
New flight cost is within your approved trip budget + 10% buffer. | No |
New flight cost exceeds your approved trip budget + 10% buffer. | Yes |
Cancelling a hotel
Hotels can only be cancelled, not changed. Rates can be fully refundable, partially refundable, or non-refundable. Refund terms may change as the check-in date approaches, so the Travel AI Agent will always retrieve the current cancellation terms rather than rely on the original booking conditions.
Rate type | What happens |
|---|---|
Refundable (full or partial) | You receive a refund to your original payment method. No approval is needed. |
Non-refundable | The full amount is forfeited. No approval is needed, but the Travel AI Agent will warn you before proceeding. |
Cancelling and rebooking a hotel
When cancelling and rebooking a hotel, the same budget rules will apply as for flights. For non-refundable hotels, the original cost plus the new booking cost are both counted against your approved budget.
The following table lists the default Payhawk settings for approving hotel rebooking depedning on the budget impact.
Scenario | Approval needed |
|---|---|
New hotel cost is within your approved trip budget + 10% buffer. | No |
New hotel cost exceeds your approved trip budget + 10% buffer. | Yes |
Cancelling an entire trip
You can cancel all bookings on a trip at once. The Travel AI Agent retrieves current cancellation terms for flights and hotels separately and presents the outcome per booking.
Cancel only - No approval is needed, regardless of the fare types. Applicable refunds are processed per component.
Cancel and rebook - The AI Agent calculates the net cost (new bookings minus any cash refunds) against your original approved trip budget + 10%. If within budget, no approval is needed. If above, approval is required.
Approval quick reference
The following table provides a quick reference about when you’d need an approval for any flight and hotel changes and cancellations.
Action | Apporoval needed |
|---|---|
Cancel only (any fare type, any component) | No |
Change a flight (any additional cost) | Yes |
Change a flight (cost-neutral or results in credit) | No |
Rebook within approved budget + 10% | No |
Rebook above approved budget + 10% | Yes |
Notes on changing and cancelling travel bookings
Some bookings can be voided within 24 hours of payment for a full refund, regardless of fare conditions. The AI Agent checks this automatically before quoting refund terms.
Airlines may issue credits instead of cash refunds on non-refundable fares. These credits are separate from refunds and are not factored into budget calculations for rebooking.
Change fees on changeable flights always require approval because they represent new spend, even if your total trip cost stays within the original budget.
Your approved trip amount includes a 10% buffer. Rebookings within this buffer do not trigger a new approval.