Airlines Not Refunding (voucher only) Cancelled Flights

[Lewisc]

https://www.flyertalk.com/articles/airline-refund-cancellation-policies.htmlMany, maybe most, carriers aren't always offering cash (credit card) refunds for cancelled flights. Some carriers, Air France the policy seems to be system wide. Southwest currently is only applying this policy to flights which are cancelled due to government policy, airports shut down to flights. Specifically SW passengers booked on cancelled flights to international destination like Cancun are only being offered ticket less funds or reschedule. This appears to be against DOT policy.

Some passengers, some airlines, are getting the credit card refund if they push the issue. Others not.

 

[Mainsail Minnie]

https://www.flyertalk.com/articles/airline-refund-cancellation-policies.htmlMany, maybe most, carriers aren't always offering cash (credit card) refunds for cancelled flights. Some carriers, Air France the policy seems to be system wide. Southwest currently is only applying this policy to flights which are cancelled due to government policy, airports shut down to flights. Specifically SW passengers booked on cancelled flights to international destination like Cancun are only being offered ticket less funds or reschedule. This appears to be against DOT policy.

Some passengers, some airlines, are getting the credit card refund if they push the issue. Others not.

I'll share some good news on this front. We had Jet Blue flights booked for May/June that they cancelled. They sent an email saying to log into the website to arrange to get a credit for the amount. That annoyed me as they were the ones who cancelled, so I knew I would not accept a credit for those expensive flights. But upon logging into JetBlue and going to my cancelled flight, I was directed to a survey that asked me how I wanted the refund: a credit for future flights or cash back to original form of payment. Obviously I chose the latter. I was a bit nervous about getting no confirmation email, but the money was all fully refunded to my credit card within about 5 days.

So while the email seemed to try to steer people into the mindset of taking a credit, they did still give me an easy route for getting the real refund I deserved. Good for JetBlue!

I hope everyone has such a good experience with their airline, and if not, first complain to DOT (Department of Transportation). This really helps as they then contact the airline & DOT complaints aren't good for the airline. I once did this in response to an issue SWA was at-fault for yet intractible about, and after contacting DOT, they suddenly became reasonable. (Interesting that SWA was your major example: despite their rep for good customer service, I have found the opposite to frequently be true, in terms of both policies and staff, and after years of annoyances, choose to no longer fly with them.) If DOT doesn't help, then persue it via your credit card company. But don't just accept that the airline gets to keep your money even though they cancelled your flights. That's not what the law says.

 

[JimMIA]

Airlines (and a LOT of other businesses like hotels, tours, etc) are certainly going to encourage canceled travelers taking a credit for future use, rather than a cash refund. They are taking an enormous cash-flow hit due to canceled plans and anything they can do to not make the cash flow worse is beneficial to them. A LOT of these folks are not going to survive the loss of business and will be going under.

We've had a number of cancellations, and so far have had zero problems. We've gotten instant refunds from Airbnb, Hilton, and a local sunset cruise company in Key West. No questions, no grief, just instant refund -- and we will certainly remember those folks when we reschedule.

 

[DLgal]

American Airlines refunded my husband's flight home from Japan last week, even though they didn't cancel the flight. He was unable to leave due to military restrictions on travel. They gave us no grief about refunding and we had the credit on our credit card within 24 hours.

I have a trip to Japan booked on United in May. I'm not going. I'm waiting for them to cancel the flight. Japan is almost at the point of banning Americans from entering the country, so chances are good. However, United is being notoriously bad about issuing refunds, although for international flights, they will give you a voucher and if you don't use the voucher before it expires, once it does expire, they will THEN issue you a refund. So, I may have to wait until Jan 2021, but I WILL get my money back.

In the future, I won't fly United.

 

[KayaWildfire]

SWA changed our flight on one leg but did not cancel it and the other leg was unchanged. They issued us a full refund no questions asked.

 

[Welsh_Dragon]

My son had to cut short a backpacking trip in South America. He has flights booked with GOL and Azul, both Brazilian airlines and what was to be his final BA flight from Buenos Aires to London. It is so difficult to communicate with the airlines and they seem to be insisting on credit notes with a time limit, rather than a refund. We are just waiting for the first flight from Quito to São Paulo to be cancelled and hoping that will trigger refunds.

 

[maxaroni]

My DS27 obtained a full refund from American. He was traveling to Aruba in April for his honeymoon. The flight had been canceled and dropped right off of his history, like it was never even there. No questions asked.

 

[LadyBeBop]

My daughter has $1,300 in credit from Allegiant. She has had bad luck with cruises.
Last August/September her Caribbean cruise was extended several days due to Hurricane Dorian. To fly home on Allegiant meant she'd have to spend an additional 2-3 days in Miami. She already missed too much work, so she paid the bucks to fly home on Southwest. She got credit on Allegiant....

Part of which she was going to use this weekend. Another round of cruise credits. No refunds.

She had to use it by sometime next year. She is not going on a cruise, and she is thinking about taking the family out west. Possibly the Grand Canyon.

 

[NYDisneyKid]

Frontier cancelled my flight for this month and gave me a choice, refund or credit so I took the refund.

 

[Dznypal]

this is interesting as I was just coming to ask about refunds and credits--unfortunatly we had to our cruise due do family illness--just before all of this hit --we cancelled mid feb when I cancelled I got the usual credit voucher but even with insurance I have to wait the year until I get the air credit at least Ill get the money back

 

[choirfarm]

I bought the really cheap non-refundable fare for a writing conference in April, since I was by myself and didn't care what seat I had. A couple of days ago, the majorly changed the flight. In fact on the getting there, they completely dropped the regional airport I was flying from. they still had me flying back to it, though. It was through American. I cancelled it and filled out the form and got my 400 dollar refund today.

 

[barbliny]

Department of Transportation came out today and told the airlines that refunding flights that an airline cancels IS NOT OPTIONAL

https://thepointsguy.com/news/dot-to-airlines-refunds-are-not-optional-for-canceled-flights/

 

[Lewisc]

Department of Transportation came out today and told the airlines that refunding flights that an airline cancels IS NOT OPTIONAL

https://thepointsguy.com/news/dot-to-airlines-refunds-are-not-optional-for-canceled-flights/

Southwest cancelled international flights due to government policy. Southwest believes those flights were cancelled by a government. Southwest is only offering credits to those passengers.

 

[choirfarm]

American refunded my money.

 

[tony67]

Jet Blue has been great in this situation. I have always had good luck with Jet Blue - I could not make a flight last year because of a Snow Storm and they gave me a credit without any hassle at all. A credit is fair to me - I did book a non refundable fair.
With the Corona situation I have booked and cancelled a couple of time and again no issues at all - other than I am stuck with the travel bank.
They are also allowing you to book and cancel through late October now

Aer Lingus has been the same as always - they are sort of the only game in town for Ireland to the US and have always taken advantage of that. For a while it seems were flying empty planes so they did not have to give refunds - especially around the St Patrick's day holiday. I am currently battling with them for an August flight and I just want a voucher. They are being a bit more cooperative now that they have been called out - but only through the end of May.

United seems to be doing the same thing - empty flights - a good friend is still trying to get a refund\credit from them for her $3000 flight - the flight was not cancelled and they wont give a refund.

Bottom line for me is the US based airlines who are going to take tax money need to give refunds.

 

[Dznypal]

I just checked our flights -I had to cancel our april cruise due to an illness in the family just a few weeks before this all hit--anyways our flights are still listed --how can they be stay flying as we were going from Chicago to Vancover --well be getting a full refund by the insurance com but not until the year passes to use the credit

 

[Welsh_Dragon]

be getting a full refund by the insurance com but not until the year passes to use the credit

I wondered how insurers dealt with the credit option given by airlines. I didn’t know that they waited until the credit option expires before settling the claim, but I suppose it makes sense. Thank you for sharing this.

 

[Ralph&Pam]

United has just announced that they will be extending the expiration of electronic certificates to 24 months from date of certificate issue (as opposed to the 12 months from date of ticketing): https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly/travel/notices.html#ExceptionPolicies

"We’re extending electronic certificates
To give you more flexibility when you travel, electronic certificates are now valid for 24 months from the date they were issued. This includes all currently valid electronic certificates and all new ones issued on or after April 1, 2020.
This policy change will automatically appear, but it may not be reflected everywhere right away. We’d appreciate your patience as we work to make that happen."

Another attempt to avoid giving refunds whenever they can, even for cancelled flights. I'm waiting until United formally cancels a Chicago to Vancouver flight at the end of April, and I will then attempt to get a refund. Otherwise, the electronic certificate will have to do, since under the previous rule, our travel credit would have expired in early July, hardly of value given the circumstances.

 

[scard192]

Delta refunded my money, our flights were not cancelled. Agent mentioned if a flight time was changed by 90 minutes or more she could refund. 10 minute phone call.

 

[Dznypal]

I hope we dont have to wait for almost 2 years to get a refund still the paperwork that I sent to the insurance says 12 months I know we won’t use the tickets no matter how long they give us. We had to cancel due to my mom as she’s in hospice care now so we canceled before the virus hit.