Beware: Refunds Take 6–12 Weeks and Cost R506, even when THEY cancel your flight!

I am extremely disappointed with a booking we made through Travelstart with CemAir and feel it is important for other travellers to be aware of our experience.

We purchased a ticket from Durban to Cape Town, only for the airline to cancel the flight. The alternatives they offered did not work for us, which meant we had to purchase a brand new ticket out of pocket. Annoying, but fine. Life happens.

What is not fine is the refund process.

Travelstart/CemAir sent us a refund link, but to activate it we are required to pay a R506 “processing fee” that is non refundable. Yes, you read that correctly. You must pay to get your own money back.

To make matters worse, the refund then apparently takes six to twelve weeks to reflect back into your account. Twelve weeks!!

Now imagine someone who saved every cent to send their child home for Christmas. CemAir cancels the flight, keeps the money, charges a fee to release the refund, and then takes up to three months to pay it back. That child would miss Christmas. This is not just inconvenient. It is unacceptable and completely unreasonable in 2025.

Airlines cancel flights. That happens. But charging customers to access their own refund and making them wait months for their money is a shocking practice. CemAir needs to fix this, because it is simply not good enough.