The Holibob API - Booking Cancellation

This section covers how to cancel bookings using the Holibob API. Cancellation allows you to cancel all booking availabilities under a booking.

Recommended Implementation Steps

Check Cancellation Eligibility
Display Cancellation Information
Execute Cancellation
Monitor Status

Retrieving Booking Cancellation Data

Before cancelling a booking, you should retrieve certain fields from the booking to add context data to display for cancellations and also to determine if cancellation is available for the booking. This information helps you present accurate cancellation details to users and determine whether the booking can be cancelled.

For detailed information about cancellation policies and how to use the cancellation data to determine when to enable cancellation functionality, refer to the Cancellation Policies documentation.

GraphQL Query Example

Use the following query to retrieve the necessary cancellation context data:

Query

query

GRAPHQL

query Booking($bookingId: String) {
    booking(id: $bookingId) {
        canCancel
        cancellationEffectiveRefundAmount {
            amount
            currency
        }
        availabilityList {
            nodes {
                id
                state
                cancellationState {
                    effectivePenalty {
                        formattedText
                    }
                    effectiveRefundState
                    effectiveRefundAmount {
                        amount
                        currency
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

Response

response

CODE

{
	"data": {
		"booking": {
			"canCancel": true,
			"cancellationEffectiveRefundAmount": {
				"amount": 425,
				"currency": "USD"
			},
			"availabilityList": {
				"nodes": [
					{
						"id": "6fe66daf-23b0-466f-929e-cebd64bac4ab",
						"state": "CONFIRMED",
						"cancellationState": {
							"effectivePenalty": {
								"formattedText": "A full refund will apply if you cancel."
							},
							"effectiveRefundState": "FULL",
							"effectiveRefundAmount": {
								"amount": 425,
								"currency": "USD"
							}
						}
					}
				]
			}
		}
	}
}

Key Fields Explained

canCancel: Boolean field that indicates if the booking can be cancelled. Returns true if any of the booking availabilities under the booking are cancellable
cancellationEffectiveRefundAmount: The total refund amount the customer will receive if the booking is cancelled
availabilityList.nodes.cancellationState: Detailed cancellation information for each availability within the booking, including:
- effectivePenalty: The effective penalty window that is applied to the booking.
- effectiveRefundState: Denotes full, partial or no refund.
- effectiveRefundAmount: The refund amount for this specific availability (for single Booking Availabilities, this should be the same as cancellationEffectiveRefundAmount)

bookingCancel Mutation

The bookingCancel mutation is used to cancel the entire booking. By doing so you are cancelling all the included booking availabilities with a supplier.

Input Parameters

The mutation accepts a BookingCancelInput object with the following fields:

Field	Type	Required	Description
`id`	String	✅ Required	The booking ID to cancel
`cancellationReason`	String	Optional	Reason for the cancellation

Mutation

query

GRAPHQL

mutation BookingCancel($input: BookingCancelInput!) {
    bookingCancel(input: $input) {
        id
    }
}

Response

response

CODE

{
	"data": {
		"bookingCancel": {
			"id": "3b8e81ba-aada-442d-bf53-d7dc4b63ff3d"
		}
	}
}

Asynchronous Processing

Like the bookingCommit mutation, bookingCancel is an asynchronous operation. After calling this mutation:

Poll for Status Changes: Monitor the booking state by periodically querying the booking to check for state changes. You should expect CONFIRMED → PENDING → CANCELLED
Email Notifications: If configured, the customer will receive a cancellation email
Refunds: If Holibob is the Merchant of Record, a refund will be automatically initiated to the customer

This documentation is part of the Holibob Partner API documentation suite. For additional support, contact the development team.