The Refund Protection Report:

Research reveals Australian consumers prefer ‘Cancel for Any Reason’ (CFAR) protection when purchasing live event tickets or booking airfare and accommodations, and are willing to pay more for the convenience

Consumers in Australia are seeking a seamless experience when buying live event tickets or booking travel, which includes the process of requesting refunds for when things don’t go according to plan. That’s why consumers, purchasing live event tickets or booking travel, indicated that they’re more likely to purchase the underlying event ticket, airfare or accommodation when offered  ‘Cancel for any Reason’ (CFAR) Refund Protection (compared to those who were offered a more limited refund protection option or no protection at all). Yet, six out of 10 respondents said they were not offered Refund Protection for their most recent booking, revealing a protection gap that leaves consumer demand unfulfilled. 

These findings come from our Refund Protection Report, a survey of 605 Australian consumers.

The report, conducted by Momentive.ai and commissioned by Cover Genius, explores consumers’ experiences when requesting refunds and their interest in adding CFAR protection to their next live event ticket purchase or travel booking.

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CFAR protection for live event ticketing

Findings from the report show that Australian consumers want CFAR protection when booking tickets for their next big event, and they’re more likely to purchase those tickets if they have that option. 63% of respondents said they’d be highly likely to buy a live event ticket if offered CFAR protection — that number goes down to 54% when the protection that’s offered requires them to provide documentation (such as a doctor’s note or evidence of transport interruption) when submitting a refund request, or when the protection covers limited reasons like medical or transport interruption only.

Not only are ticketholders more likely to purchase CFAR protection compared to non-CFAR protection, they’re willing to pay more for it. Respondents said they’d be willing to pay 136% more for CFAR protection than non-CFAR protection (26% of the ticket value vs 11% of the ticket value), with most of them nominating convenience as the primary reason.

CFAR protection for travel

As with live event ticketing, the Australian travel sector has seen higher demand with CFAR protection when customers book flexible airfare and accommodation. Travelers in Australia are highly likely (62%) to book airfare when given the option to purchase CFAR protection rather than non-CFAR protection (62% vs 48%). Driven by the same convenience, they’d also pay 118% more for CFAR protection than non-CFAR protection.

Consumers want to avoid the hassle — travelers booking airfare are 2X more interested in buying Refund Protection if there is no paperwork involved when submitting a refund request, as opposed to the protection that is limited to certain reasons, like illness/injury and transportation issues.

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