If my customer cancels a booking, how does their refund actually get back to them?

Yes, you can cancel a booking from the portal and see what is being refunded, but the money reaching your customer is a separate step from the cancellation itself, so it helps to understand both halves.

When you cancel, the portal sends the request to the supplier and records what comes back, which may be a full refund, a part refund, or nothing at all if the booking was past its free cancellation window. That outcome comes from the supplier's own rules, not from us, so the cancellation policy shown on the rate before you book is the thing worth reading carefully. The portal will keep the cancellation reference and the refund amount on the booking record so you have proof of what was agreed.

How the money moves depends on how the booking was paid for. If your customer paid by card through your own payment gateway, the refund normally goes back to the same card and your gateway handles it, which usually takes some working days to show on their statement. If you settled with the supplier from a credit or deposit arrangement, the refund tends to come back into that balance instead, and you then pay your customer yourself. Airline refunds are often slower than hotel ones because the airline has to process them in its own time, and some tickets are non refundable apart from taxes.

Before you promise a date to a customer, check with your payment provider how long card refunds take and whether their fees come back, and ask each of your suppliers what refund timeline they work to so you can set honest expectations.