Applying cancellation and deduction rules consistently

When a package tour is cancelled, two questions come up: how much does the customer get back, and what rule was that number based on? If the answer changes depending on who’s handling the cancellation, both customer trust and the agency’s position in an inspection get weaker. This article covers applying a cancellation deduction consistently, and in a way that can be shown later.

The legal frame: a 30-day threshold

Per the Ministry of Trade’s guide to package tour contracts, if a participant gives written notice of termination at least 30 days before the tour starts, they are entitled to a full refund with no deduction. If notice is given less than 30 days before departure, a specific amount or rate may be deducted, provided it is stated in the contract. This sits within the framework of the Package Tour Contracts Regulation; the deduction rate itself is a commercial decision written into the agency’s own contract — the law does not fix a percentage, whatever the contract states is what applies.

The practical consequence: calculating a deduction needs two things — the number of days between the cancellation request and the tour’s start date, and which version of the contract text was in force at the time of that sale. The second part is the one that usually gets skipped; if the contract text was updated during the year, a tour sold three months ago has to be evaluated against the older version.

Why the contract version matters

If an agency raises its deduction rate from 20% to 30% mid-season, a tour sold before that change still falls under the old rate. A system that keeps the contract text as a single “current” record can’t make that distinction; every sale needs to be tied to whichever contract version was in force at the time, so that when a cancellation comes in, the correct rate is calculated automatically.

Example

A customer buys a package tour for 25,000 TRY 45 days before departure, then cancels it 18 days before departure. The contract states “cancellations made less than 30 days before departure are subject to a 25% deduction.” The system automatically calculates the 18-day gap between the cancellation date and the tour date, sees it falls under the 30-day threshold, applies the 25% rate from the contract version in force at the time of sale, and produces a refund of 18,750 TRY — with the calculation recorded alongside which contract version it was based on.

How it works in Rotenta

1. When a booking is confirmed, the version of the contract in force at that moment is stamped onto the Booking record; that stays fixed even if the contract is updated later.
2. When a cancellation request is entered, the system calculates the day gap between the cancellation date and the tour’s start date and matches it to the deduction tier in the recorded contract version.
3. The calculated deduction amount, along with the day gap and rate it was based on, is written to the record — a direct answer to a later “why this amount” question.
4. The refund is posted to the current account in the Accounting module; for a payment made in a foreign currency, the refund is kept with the same TRY-equivalent logic.
5. Cancelled allotment is returned to stock automatically on the tour allotment screen and opened up to the next request on the waitlist.

Cancellation and deduction rules are where our travel agency software meets accounting: to see which contract text a deduction rate is based on, check vouchers and contracts; for how cancelled allotment is released, see tour allotment. How the refund flows into the current account is covered in the accounting module.

Frequently asked questions

Does the 30-day threshold apply to every package tour?

That threshold marks the point up to which a consumer is entitled to a deduction-free cancellation; whether a deduction applies for cancellations made less than 30 days out, and at what rate, is the agency’s own commercial decision, as long as it is clearly stated in the contract.

If we change the deduction rate mid-season, does it affect past sales?

No; every sale stays tied to whichever contract version was in force at the time. A rate change only applies to sales made after the change.

Who enters the cancellation date, and where?

The cancellation request is logged the moment it comes in; the system calculates the day gap to the tour date automatically, so you’re not counting days by hand.

Does a partial cancellation (one person out of a group) work the same way?

Yes, the deduction calculation can also be applied per person or per room; the remaining participants’ booking and allotment continue as a separate record.

What if we have a specific situation with a refund?

If you’d like to go through your contract template or deduction tiers together, reach out to us.