EaseMyTrip vs Cleartrip: Who Charges Less at the Last Minute?
By Diya Verma (Diya Verma flies from Tier-2 Indian cities and chases every possible fare hack — reposition flights, hidden-city ticketing, mileage runs and OTA bundle tricks. She has booked 200+ international trips out of Lucknow, Indore and Jaipur.) · Published · 9 min read
EaseMyTrip built its entire growth story on 'no convenience fee' — and that's a genuinely meaningful claim for last-minute bookings where every rupee matters. Cleartrip charges a variable fee that can be surprisingly high or surprisingly low depending on when you check. Here's an honest comparison with a worked example so you can make an informed call on your next urgent booking.
TL;DR — EaseMyTrip vs Cleartrip for Last-Minute Bookings
For last-minute domestic bookings where you're paying full price and every rupee hurts: EaseMyTrip's zero-convenience-fee model is a genuine advantage — you often pay only the base fare plus GST with no additional OTA markup. Cleartrip charges a variable fee that can range from quite low to a few hundred rupees depending on route, date, and payment method. On a typical urgent same-week booking for two passengers, EaseMyTrip can save you ₹400–800 in pure fees compared to Cleartrip. But Cleartrip has other advantages — particularly around Flipkart/Axis Bank offers — that can flip the comparison for certain users.
EaseMyTrip's Zero-Fee Model: What It Actually Means
EaseMyTrip made 'no convenience fee' a core part of their brand positioning, and it's largely true for standard domestic bookings paid via most payment methods. You pay the airline base fare plus GST — what you'd pay booking direct on the airline's site — with no additional OTA layer fee.
The nuances: EaseMyTrip does charge fees for certain fare types, international bookings, and sometimes for specific payment methods (credit card fees may differ from UPI). They also push hard on optional add-ons at checkout — travel insurance, cancellation protection, seat upgrades. These are optional, but they're presented in ways that make it easy to accidentally include them. Watch the order summary carefully before hitting confirm.
The zero-fee positioning holds up best for: standard domestic economy bookings, UPI or net banking payments, no add-ons selected. That covers most last-minute urgent bookings.
Cleartrip's Variable Fee Structure
Cleartrip (now owned by Flipkart) uses a variable convenience fee model. The fee varies by route, booking date proximity, payment method, and what promotions are active. In practice for domestic bookings in 2026, their fees often run somewhere in the ₹99–349 per booking range — but this can go higher for international or premium bookings.
The variability is both a weakness and a strength. Weakness: you don't know what you'll be charged until the payment screen, which is annoying when you're in a hurry. Strength: Cleartrip sometimes drops to very low or zero fees during Flipkart sale events (Big Billion Days, Flipkart promotions) and for Axis Bank credit/debit card users where they have partnerships.
If you have an Axis Bank card and Cleartrip has an active Axis offer, the math can flip — you might get a cashback that exceeds what you'd save on EaseMyTrip's zero-fee baseline. The offer landscape changes weekly, so the check-both-apps discipline applies here too.
A Worked Example: Same-Week Delhi–Indore Booking
Let me walk through a realistic scenario. You need to fly Delhi (DEL) to Indore (IDR) in 4 days. It's a moderately thin route — not Northeast India thin, but not as liquid as Delhi–Mumbai either.
Suppose IndiGo's base fare for that flight is ₹6,200, taxes included (this is a made-up example to illustrate the fee math — actual fares will vary significantly).
On EaseMyTrip: ₹6,200 + ₹0 convenience fee (assuming zero-fee applies) = ₹6,200. If you accidentally select the ₹299 cancellation protection add-on, it becomes ₹6,499.
On Cleartrip: ₹6,200 + ₹249 convenience fee (variable, this is illustrative) = ₹6,449. If you have an Axis Bank cashback offer of ₹300, effective cost = ₹6,149.
For two passengers: EaseMyTrip saves roughly ₹498 vs Cleartrip in the baseline case (no offers). But if Cleartrip's Axis offer applies, Cleartrip comes out ₹102 cheaper per passenger.
The lesson isn't that one is always better — it's that the comparison genuinely shifts based on what offers are live. The worked example shows you what to look for, not a fixed answer.
All fee figures in this example are illustrative ranges, not current guaranteed prices. Verify on each platform at the time of booking.
Speed and UX: Which Is Faster for Urgent Bookings?
I book a lot of last-minute tickets out of Indore and Lucknow, and both apps have been fine on speed. A few differences worth noting:
Cleartrip's app has a cleaner interface for quick searches — the results page is less cluttered with promoted options than EaseMyTrip's. For someone who knows exactly what flight they want, Cleartrip can feel marginally faster to navigate.
EaseMyTrip's checkout has the add-on wall to navigate (insurance, cancellation protection, seat selection all get their own screens or prompts). Once you know to skip these, it's quick. First-time users sometimes get confused and end up adding unwanted items.
Both apps support UPI, which is the fastest payment method for last-minute bookings — confirmation usually comes in under 2 minutes with UPI versus credit card which can sometimes have a gateway lag.
Customer Support: The Tie-Breaker for Risky Bookings
When you're booking last minute with a tight travel schedule, what happens if something goes wrong matters as much as what you save in fees.
Cleartrip's support, backed by Flipkart's infrastructure, has generally been considered more responsive than EaseMyTrip's for escalations. This isn't universal — people have good and bad experiences on both platforms — but in the traveller community I'm part of, Cleartrip gets somewhat better marks for refund resolution speed.
EaseMyTrip has scaled significantly and improved their support, but they still get criticism for slow refund processing in certain cases. For a straightforward booking on IndiGo or Air India where cancellations are unlikely, this matters less. For a booking involving SpiceJet or a complicated itinerary, the support quality difference is worth factoring in.
Neither platform is as strong on customer support as MakeMyTrip, which remains the benchmark in this category among Indian OTAs. If support reliability is your top priority, see our MakeMyTrip vs ixigo comparison for a broader field.
The Bottom Line: When to Use Each
Book on EaseMyTrip when: you want the clearest zero-fee baseline, you're paying UPI or net banking, and you're booking a standard domestic fare on IndiGo or Air India where a clean simple transaction is all you need.
Book on Cleartrip when: you have an active Axis Bank, HDFC, or Flipkart-linked offer that outweighs the convenience fee, or you want the slightly cleaner UI for a quick search.
And always — always — run the final fare on FlightGPT too, since an AI-assisted metasearch sometimes surfaces options the big OTAs bury in their UI. It's especially useful for flexible-date searches where you might find a meaningful fare difference by shifting your travel by a day. See also our SpiceJet 2026 safety guide and the Northeast India last-minute pricing explainer for context on the routes where last-minute fees hurt most.
Frequently asked questions
Does EaseMyTrip really charge zero convenience fee?
For most standard domestic bookings paid via UPI or net banking with no add-ons selected, yes — EaseMyTrip's zero-fee model holds up. The fee situation changes for certain payment methods, international bookings, or if you select optional add-ons. Always check the order summary before confirming to make sure no add-ons were pre-selected.
What is Cleartrip's typical convenience fee for domestic last-minute flights?
Cleartrip's fee is variable — it can range from around ₹99 to ₹349 or more for domestic bookings depending on the route, proximity to departure, and payment method. The only reliable way to know is to get to the payment screen on the day you're booking. They also run periodic zero-fee promotions, particularly for Axis Bank or Flipkart Plus users.
Can I book last-minute flights on EaseMyTrip without hidden charges?
EaseMyTrip's core fare is typically transparent, but 'hidden' charges can creep in if you don't decline optional add-ons (travel insurance, cancellation protection, priority check-in) that appear during checkout. These are optional but presented prominently. Read the order summary carefully and deselect anything you haven't consciously chosen.
Which OTA has the fastest refund process — EaseMyTrip or Cleartrip?
Cleartrip has generally received somewhat better marks for refund processing speed, though both platforms process refunds within DGCA-mandated timelines for airline cancellations (verify current timelines on dgca.gov.in). For voluntary cancellations, timelines depend on the fare class and can be 5–10 business days on either platform. If a refund is delayed beyond the stated timeline, DGCA's consumer complaint portal is the fastest escalation route.
Is it better to book direct on the airline website vs EaseMyTrip or Cleartrip?
For last-minute domestic bookings, booking direct on indigo.com or airindia.com eliminates the OTA convenience fee entirely — though some airlines charge their own payment gateway or booking fee. Booking direct also means any changes, cancellations, or issues are handled by the airline directly, cutting out the OTA middleman. The trade-off is less fare comparison ability and a slightly slower search experience for multi-airline routes.
Do EaseMyTrip or Cleartrip offer cashback on last-minute UPI payments?
Both platforms run UPI cashback promotions, though timing and amounts vary constantly. EaseMyTrip has offered PhonePe and Google Pay cashbacks on specific campaigns; Cleartrip has done the same particularly tied to Flipkart promotions. Check the 'Offers' section on each app when you're booking — these aren't always surfaced prominently but can save ₹100–300 on a single booking.