Booking, Cancellation & Refund Policy

1. Booking and seat holds

• Selecting your seat(s) places a temporary hold for 10 minutes while you complete payment.
• If payment is not completed before the hold expires, the seats are released for other passengers and the booking expires automatically. Nothing is charged for an expired hold.
• If your payment arrives after the hold has already expired, the booking is not confirmed and the full amount is refunded to you automatically.
• Your booking is confirmed the moment your payment succeeds, and your seat numbers are locked to your booking reference.

2. Cancelling a booking

You can cancel a confirmed booking from My Rides up until the scheduled departure time, as long as the trip has not started. What you get back depends on how close to departure you cancel:

• Cancel 24 hours or more before departure: you receive a full (100%) refund.
• Cancel less than 24 hours before departure: you receive a 50% refund. The remaining 50% is retained as a late-cancellation fee: 50% of it compensates the driver for the empty seat and the rest covers platform costs.

3. When the trip does not happen

• If a trip you paid for is cancelled by Along The Way (including when we approve a driver’s request to cancel), you receive a full refund of what you paid.
• If the driver never starts the trip within 24 hours of the scheduled departure time, the trip is closed as incomplete and you receive a full refund automatically.
• Because your payment is held in escrow until the trip is completed, the money is available to refund you. It is never in the driver’s hands early.

4. When you will not receive a refund

By accepting these terms you agree that no refund is due in the following situations:

• You try to cancel after the scheduled departure time, or after the trip has started.
• You have already boarded the vehicle.
• You do not show up at your pickup point in time and the trip goes ahead without you (a no-show).
• The trip has been completed. Once a trip is completed the fare is released to the driver.
• The retained 50% of a late cancellation (made less than 24 hours before departure).
• You are refused boarding or removed from a trip because you broke the conduct rules in the Passenger Terms, for example abusive behaviour, prohibited items, or not matching the identity you booked with.
• Luggage charges or any other payments you arranged directly with the driver outside the app.
• Dissatisfaction with a completed trip. You can still report it: complaints are reviewed by our team, and any goodwill refund is at our discretion.

5. Refunds issued by our team

Where a complaint or dispute is upheld before the trip is completed, our team may refund all or part of your fare from escrow. Once the trip has been completed and the driver paid, a refund can no longer be taken from escrow.

6. How refunds are paid

• Refunds are returned through the same payment method you used at checkout.
• We start the refund straight away. You get an in-app notification when the payment gateway confirms it, and your bank can take a few business days to show it.
• Your receipt and booking reference in the app are your proof of payment for any refund enquiry.