Cancellation refers to the complete reversal of a ticket booking, while rebooking involves changing existing booking details, such as the date, ticket category, or attendee name. Both processes require clear rules, transparent deadlines, and technical support from the ticketing system.
Legal: Terms and Conditions, Right of Withdrawal, GDPR
Cancellation and rebooking at a glance
Ticket bookings change due to illness, scheduling conflicts, or organizational restructuring. How an organizer handles these situations significantly impacts the attendee experience and the event's financial risk management.
Cancellation scenarios and refund policies
- Full refund: If canceled within a set deadline (e.g., up to 8 weeks before the event), the full ticket price is refunded.
- Partial refund: Between set deadlines (e.g., 4–8 weeks before the event), a percentage is refunded (e.g., 50%).
- No refund: For very last-minute cancellations (e.g., < 4 weeks), no refund is possible; however, the ticket may be transferable.
- Processing fee: Some organizers charge an administrative fee regardless of when the cancellation occurs.
- Voucher instead of refund: As an alternative to a refund, a voucher for future events is offered.
Rebooking options
- Name change / ticket transfer: The ticket is transferred to another person; this is the most common form of rebooking for corporate tickets.
- Category change: Switching from Regular to VIP (additional payment) or from VIP to Regular (refund of the difference).
- Date change: For multi-day events – changing the day of attendance (relevant for day passes).
- Workshop bookings: Adding or removing booked additional sessions.
Legal framework
- Terms and Conditions: Cancellation deadlines and conditions must be clearly defined in the terms and conditions and visible during the booking process.
- Right of withdrawal: For digital bookings, a 14-day right of withdrawal may apply – exceptions for short-notice events are possible but must be clearly communicated.
- Goodwill policies: Generous goodwill policies (e.g., in case of illness with a medical certificate) build participant trust.
Technical implementation with Converia
- Cancellation at the right level: Depending on the situation, entire invoices (possibly including multiple participants), individual participant bookings, or specific booking items can be cancelled
- automatically correct cancellation fees: Organizers define when specific cancellation fees apply. When a cancellation occurs, the appropriate fee is always suggested. Special cases can also be handled individually with ease.
- correct credit note: Converia generates tax-compliant and legally valid credit notes or cancellation invoices for all changes.
Cancellation & Rebooking in Converia
Converia enables configurable cancellation rules with time-based refund rates, manual and self-service rebooking by participants, automated refund workflows, and comprehensive documentation of all booking changes.
Effortless booking changes
Converia automates cancellations and rebookings – transparent for participants, efficient for your team.
- Ticketing system – Ticketing & Registration
- Event registration – Ticketing & Registration
- No-show rate – Ticketing & Registration
Configure cancellation rules and manage rebookings – automated and GDPR-compliant.