KTX refunds, changes and missed trains: what visitors get back

How much does it cost to cancel a KTX ticket?

The charge depends on how close to departure you cancel. At most stages there are two charges: one for Monday to Thursday and another for Friday to Sunday and bank holidays. Korail publishes these stages for KTX tickets:

Four points are easy to miss when reading the table.

First, the weekday difference does not run in one direction. Well ahead of travel, Monday to Thursday carries no fee while Friday to Sunday and bank holidays carry a minimum fee. From the last few hours onward the pattern reverses, and the Monday-to-Thursday percentage is the larger of the two.

Second, the Korail pages checked for this guide do not state the amount of that minimum fee for KTX tickets. SRT publishes a minimum charge of its own, shown in the comparison further down, but that figure belongs to SRT and should not be assumed for a KTX ticket.

Third, the pages do not say whether "Monday to Thursday" means the day you cancel or the day the train runs. If your cancellation and your train fall on different sides of that line, ask at a ticket office which rate applies.

Fourth, the published stages do not join up exactly around the departure time. No rate is listed for the short period either side of the moment the train leaves. If you are cancelling in that window, ask before you confirm.

Where do you ask for a KTX refund?

The channel depends on whether the train has left:

A refund can be requested from the [MY TICKET] menu on the KORAIL website before the train's departure time; after departure it must be requested at the station counter; no refund is possible after the train's arrival time.

Put simply, by stage:

• Before departure: go to the Korail website, open the MY TICKET menu and cancel the booking there. You do not need to go to a station.
• After departure, before arrival: go to a station ticket office. For the stage from an hour after departure until arrival, the stage table above names a Korail station ticket office as the place to do it.
• After arrival: No refund can be requested after the train's arrival time printed on the ticket.

A saved picture of the ticket will not do. Korail's rule is: A captured image or copy of a ticket is invalid and cannot be used to board or be cancelled; the original ticket is required.

If you bought the ticket on your phone, keep the original booking until the refund is complete, rather than relying on a screenshot.

Can you change a KTX ticket to a different train?

The Korail pages checked for this guide do not describe a separate procedure for moving a booking to another train or date. One route they do support is to cancel the ticket you hold and buy a new one. If you take that route, work through three steps:

1. Check that the train you want still has seats.
2. Cancel the original ticket, noting which stage of the charge table applies at that moment.
3. Book and pay for the new ticket.

Because the cancelled ticket is charged like any other cancellation, a change made well in advance falls into the early stage of the table, while a change made on the day falls into a later one. If you think your plans might move, decide early.

Separately, Korail lets you move the payment itself to another credit card: The payment can be changed to another credit card within 30 days from the ticket's departure date.

Does a KTX refund go back to a foreign credit card?

Yes. Overseas credit cards are accepted for KTX ticket payment; a refund on an overseas card takes between two weeks and one month to be credited back, depending on the card issuer's settlement cycle.

That has practical consequences on a short trip:

• The refund returns to the card, not to you in cash. The rule is: A ticket paid for by credit card cannot be refunded in cash; the refund goes back to the same card.
• The wait depends on your card issuer's settlement cycle. A refund you request near the end of your stay may show up on a statement after you are home. Check your card statement to see when it has arrived.
• A cancellation is not instant cash in hand. If you are cancelling one train to buy another, budget to pay for the new ticket in full while the refund for the old one is still on its way back to your card.
• Moving the charge to another card is covered by the payment-change rule in the section above.

The pages checked for this guide say nothing about refunds for tickets paid by any method other than a credit card, so if you paid another way, ask at the ticket office how the refund will be returned.

What can you do on the day if you are running late?

If you can see that you will not make your train, cancel it before it leaves. Before departure the request can be made online through MY TICKET rather than at a station ticket office.

Then buy a ticket for a later train. Each sales channel stops selling at a different point before departure:

Website: until 20 minutes before departure. Ticket vending machines: until 10 minutes before departure. Train stations: until departure.

So if the website has already stopped selling for the train you want, a ticket machine may still sell it, and the station counter sells up to departure. Leave yourself time to reach the platform after paying.

Do not board a later train on the old ticket. Korail's pages do not describe carrying a ticket over to another train, so buy a ticket for the train you take. Separately, Korail's rule for boarding without having bought a ticket is: Boarding a train without purchasing a ticket first results in a penalty worth 1 times the standard fare, charged in addition to the fare itself.

What if you have already missed your KTX train?

The fare is not lost yet. You can still claim part of it back until the arrival time printed on your ticket, but the request now has to be made in person at a station ticket office and the charge rises the longer the train has been travelling. Work through it in this order:

1. Go to a station ticket office as soon as you can. After departure the refund cannot be made online.
2. Bring the original ticket. A screenshot or copy cannot be cancelled, as explained above.
3. Ask for the refund and, if you still need to travel, a ticket on a later train at the same counter.
4. Check the arrival time printed on your ticket. Once that time has passed, nothing can be refunded.

If you paid by credit card, the refunded amount goes back to that card under the rules in the card section, so it will not be handed to you at the counter.

The Korail pages checked for this guide do not cover compensation when an ordinary KTX ticket is delayed or cancelled by the railway, so ask at the ticket office if that is your situation.

What if you have lost the ticket?

A lost ticket is treated differently from a missed train. If you lose your ticket you cannot remain on the train, change your journey, or request a refund.

A replacement is possible in some cases: If the ticket purchase can be confirmed by credit card, a new ticket can be reissued by paying the fares and charges again at the station counter or with the train attendant; this does not apply to standing or non-reserved tickets with no designated seat.

The reissue depends on the original purchase being traceable through the card you paid with, so keep that card on you while you travel.

How do SRT refunds compare with KTX?

SRT tickets are sold through SRT's own channels: Websites (www.srail.co.kr or etk.srail.co.kr), the SRT App, a ticket machine, or a station counter.

The refund rules follow a similar shape to Korail's, but they are published separately by SRT and differ in detail. Read the rules for the operator whose ticket you hold:

SRT's page also states the online cut-off a little differently in another place: After 5 minutes past the train's departure time, a refund is only available at the station, not online.

Once your SRT train has left, plan on going to the station rather than counting on the website. And because the SRT pages checked do not describe how refunds to overseas cards are timed, do not assume the Korail timing applies; ask SRT directly if a specific date matters to you.

Can you get a refund on a KORAIL PASS?

The pass is a separate product and does not follow the ticket refund stages above. Its refund rule is: Refunds on a KORAIL PASS are only available before the pass’s starting date; unavailable afterward.

Delays are not compensated either: No compensation is provided for train delays and suspensions under the KORAIL PASS.

So if your trip might change, decide about the pass before its first day. The pages checked for this guide do not describe how seat reservations made with a pass are cancelled; the KORAIL PASS guide covers how the pass works, and a ticket office is the place to ask about a reserved seat.

Who can you contact about a KTX refund?

For questions about a KTX booking or refund, the Korail call centre is on +82-1599-7777. Its listed hours are 08:00–20:00.

Have your booking details and the card you paid with to hand when you call. If the refund has not appeared on your statement, remember that the wait on an overseas credit card depends on your card issuer's settlement cycle, so check the issuer's statement dates before assuming something has gone wrong. For a refund after departure, the station ticket office is the place to go in any case.