Cancellation and refund policy

The short version

Group travel is bought before it is sold: airlines, hotels and visa authorities take our money and set their own cancellation rules long before the trip. What we can return therefore depends on when the cancellation reaches us and on what the airline and hotel will release.

The terms that apply to a booking are the ones stated in that booking's confirmation and quotation. This page sets out how cancellations are handled and how a refund is paid.

Cancelling a booking or a traveller

• A cancellation must be in writing. We do not act on a phone call or a voicemail alone — talking to the desk without sending it in writing does not cancel anything.
• Send the cancellation in writing to info@micecafe.com, naming the booking reference and the traveller or travellers being cancelled.
• The date and time we receive that written notice is the date the terms are applied from.
• We process a cancellation within one to seven working days and confirm it back to you.
• A single traveller can be cancelled off a group booking. Where that changes the room sharing or the group size the airline or hotel priced against, the difference is passed on and is stated before it is charged.

What is retained

The amount retained on a cancellation is set out in the confirmation and quotation for each booking, because it follows the airline, hotel and visa terms for those particular dates and that particular destination. It is stated in writing before the booking is confirmed, and no cancellation charge beyond it is ever applied.

Always non-refundable

• Visa fees, once an application has been lodged with the consulate.
• Airline tickets on non-refundable fares, and airline cancellation charges, once issued.
• Any amount an airline, hotel or supplier has already retained from us for that booking.
• The payment gateway's convenience fee, which is the gateway's charge and not ours. Paying by bank transfer or UPI avoids it altogether.

If we cancel

If we cancel a trip for a reason within our control, everything paid for it is refunded in full, including any convenience fee paid on the gateway.

If a trip cannot run for a reason outside anyone's control — a government order, a closed border, a natural event, an airline's own cancellation — we refund whatever the airlines, hotels and other suppliers release to us, and we show you what they have retained. We do not keep a service charge on a trip that did not happen.

How a refund is paid

• Refunds go back to the source: a bank transfer returns to the account it came from, and a gateway payment is refunded through the gateway to the same card or account.
• Once the amount is agreed, we release it within 10 working days. Banks and card networks then take their own time to post it, usually a further five to seven working days.
• Refunds are made to the party that paid. Where a company paid for its travellers, the refund goes to that company.

Asking for a change instead

A booking can often be amended rather than cancelled. These count as changes: the departure date, the pick-up time or place, the trip itself, a guest's name, the plan, or adding, removing or replacing a guest.

• Ask in writing. We confirm an amendment within one to two working days.
• Changes asked for less than 7 days before a day trip leaves, or less than 24 days before a multi-day trip leaves, carry an amendment fee for each change. The fee is quoted before the change is made.
• Whatever the airline or hotel charges for the change is passed on at cost, on top of that fee.
• Paying the fee does not by itself guarantee the change can be made — an airline or hotel may simply refuse it. If it cannot be made, the fee is returned.

Questions or a disagreement

Write to info@micecafe.com or call +91 96670 66579 during Monday to Saturday, 10:00 to 19:00 IST. We reply to a refund query within two working days.