The Refund Protection Report, conducted by Momentive.ai and commissioned by Cover Genius, surveyed 10,304 global consumers in eight different countries: United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, Germany and France, provided the conclusive data.
The report examines customers’ experiences when requesting refunds, along with their interest in adding CFAR protection to their next live event ticket purchase or travel booking.
In a statement issued about the findings, Cover Genius said: “Just as they desire a seamless booking process, when consumers need to request a refund for their purchases, they want their experience to be as pain-free as possible. That’s why users offered ‘Cancel for any Reason’ (CFAR) Refund Protection, when purchasing live event tickets or booking travel, indicated that they’re more likely to purchase the underlying event ticket, airfare or accommodation (compared to a more limited refund protection option).”
The insurtech went on to say that the convenience of CFAR protection results in higher customer satisfaction — and this is proved by a sharp 17 point increase in NPS.
CFAR is the preferred protection for live event ticketing
The research findings indicate a global consumer demand for Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) protection when purchasing tickets for major events, with a higher likelihood of ticket purchase when CFAR protection is offered as an option.
Specifically, 63% of respondents expressed a high likelihood of purchasing a live event ticket when CFAR protection is available. However, this percentage decreases to 54% when the CFAR protection requires documentation, such as a doctor’s note or evidence of transport interruption, for refund requests, or when the protection covers limited reasons, such as medical or transport interruption only.
Ticketholders exhibit a higher inclination to purchase Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) protection as opposed to non-CFAR protection, and they are also willing to pay a premium for it.
According to the survey, respondents expressed a willingness to pay 123% more for CFAR protection compared to non-CFAR protection, which translates to 29% of the ticket value versus 13% of the ticket value, with convenience cited as the primary motivating factor for this preference.
Travel providers report 30 point increase
Similar to the findings in live event ticketing, the travel industry has also witnessed a higher demand and satisfaction among travellers for Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) protection when booking flexible airfare and accommodation. A significant 60% of travellers expressed a high likelihood of booking airfare when offered the option to purchase CFAR protection, as opposed to non-CFAR protection (60% vs 48%).
Furthermore, travellers are willing to pay a premium of 133% more for CFAR protection compared to non-CFAR protection, driven by the same convenience factor.
Additionally, travel providers have reported a notable increase of 30 points in average Net Promoter Score (NPS) when customers book airfare with CFAR protection, in contrast to the poor experiences reported by customers booking airfare with non-CFAR protection, resulting in a significantly low NPS score of -42. These findings emphasize the positive impact of CFAR protection on customer satisfaction and loyalty in the travel industry.
