Revenue Protection

Ticket Lifecycle & Refunds.

What happens after the booking? In 2025, refund patterns reveal where revenue still leaks and where to plug it.

2.8% refund rate

Protecting your revenue

On average, 2.8% of tickets were refunded in 2025, slightly down from 2.9% in 2024, but this still represents over €3.7 million in lost revenue across all operators. Add the 6% of tickets that went completely unused (up from 5%), and the opportunity cost remains significant.

APIs are still the primary culprit. While they only drove 11% of total bookings in 2025, they accounted for 31% of all refunds. The pattern is clearer than ever: tighten cancellation windows for indirect channels and steer travellers to direct online sales, which carry by far the lowest refund rates.

6%
unused tickets
Up from 5% in 2024
31%
API refund share
Despite only 11% of bookings
1%
online refund share
Lowest of any channel
Data Exploration

Refund and lifecycle visualizations

Explore the interactive charts showing refund patterns across months, channels, and passenger categories.

Refund Rate by Month
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Refunds by Sales Channel
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Refund Rate by Passenger Category
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Full Analysis Available

Get the complete refund analysis

This is just a preview. The full 2025 State of HOHO report includes monthly breakdowns, channel-specific strategies, and recommendations to reduce refund losses.