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The world is in a time-out
The travel world has certainly been turned upside down due to COVID-19. Every country around the globe has been changing travel restrictions on pretty much a weekly basis. Airlines are adjusting their routes and aircraft even more frequently.
At the moment, some airlines including Air Baltic, Ryanair, Avianca, and EasyJet have 100% of their fleet grounded. Air France and KLM have over 90% of their fleet grounded, with hopes to be 30% airborne in July. Singapore Airlines has been flying just 9 aircraft. Emirates had plans to resume some flights in May, but now has suspended all commercial flights until at least July.
Suffice it to say, commercial flights are a very far cry from normal levels:
But perhaps the most shocking news is how airlines have been handling cancellations and refunds. There are seemingly endless reports of atrocious behavior.
JetBlue repeatedly tried to deny a refund for a flight which the airline cancelled, even when the passenger cited DOT law.
British Airways hid the option to request a refund. One could only access the refund option by manipulating their internet browser settings to turn off JavaScript.
AA tried to claim refunds were not possible unless your original fare was fully refundable.
United has told more than one person that they would receive a refund after an entire year.
Lufthansa has denied refunds and recently stated they will not be issuing refunds for the near future.
The list of misbehaving goes on and on. But here is what you need to know.
A refund is the law
We travelers may be David’s going up against the Goliath’s that are the airlines, but we have the law on our side.
The most important part: If your flight is cancelled by the airline, then you are absolutely entitled to a refund. In the words of the US Department of Transportation, “A passenger is entitled to a refund if the airline cancelled a flight, regardless of the reason, and the passenger chooses not to be rebooked on a new flight on that airline.”
Key Points:
- The airline is the party responsible for initiating the cancellation.
- “Regardless of the reason” – It does not matter if the cancellation was due to circumstances out of the airline’s control, such as government restrictions, COVID-19, etc.
- You are entitled to a refund as long as you have not accepted a voucher or accepted a schedule/route change which gets you to your final destination.
- The refund includes tickets that are nonrefundable, as well as extras including baggage fees and seat selection fees.
- The US DOT law applies to all flights to, from, and within the United States. The EU has a similar law involving EU flights and carriers.
Refunds can apply in other cases, such as if you were involuntarily downgraded to a lower cabin of service, so be sure to give the US DOT page a read.
Our experiences with cancellations and refunds
We here at the MileValue Award Booking Service have been helping clients with cancellations and refunds. Here are a few of our experiences in recent weeks.
Air France
In March, Kevin helped a client cancel their award trip from Tel Aviv to the US, which we had booked several months ago. Air France’s cancellation waivers in early March did not appear to cover the client’s trip, but the agent waived the cancellation/redeposit fee without question. The takeaway – it never hurts to ask. Sending the airline a Direct Message on Twitter is one of the easiest and non-intrusive ways to inquire.
Another client had an award trip booked from Europe to the US for travel in mid-June. When Kevin first looked into cancelling the trip, the waivers did not include travel for June. When this is the case, the best strategy is often to wait and keep an eye on the waiver updates. Sure enough, airlines including Air France have updated the waivers to include June travel. We reached out to Air France via a direct message on Twitter. We included the reservation number, passenger details, and this note:
An Air France agent responded the next day, claiming we would need to pay the normal cancellation/redeposit fee:
We kindly asked for clarification. In addition to linking to the waiver article, we also copied the information into the message:
That resulted in the favorable response we were expecting:
Upon providing the requested details, Air France cancelled the trip free of charge. The miles were redeposited into the client’s Air France account immediately. And the agent noted the full taxes would be refunded to the credit card within two weeks.
United Airlines
Many reports had been circulating that United was charging travelers cancellation/redeposit fees even in cases when passengers should have been able to cancel for free. This situation appears to have been improving as of late.
In early April, Kevin successfully helped a client cancel a domestic award trip. He first advised the client that we would need to wait to see if the cancellation waivers would be extended to cover May travel.
United did in fact extend their waivers to include free award cancellations for travel through May. We called the United MileagePlus phone line, cited the recent waiver update, and the cancellation was quickly completed free of charge. 70,000 miles were promptly returned to the client’s account, and the taxes will be refunded to their credit card.
Soon after that, United updated their MileagePlus program including extending status. Also within that update were key changes to award cancellations:
We are currently waiving all award redeposit fees for travel through end of May 2020.
We are now also waiving all redeposit fees for award ticket cancellations made more than 30 days before departure for the remainder of 2020.
United’s changes to MileagePlus
As such, even though one of our client’s trips was not until October 2020, we were able to cancel it here in April at no additional charge. This can even be done online. Log into your reservation and click on “Cancel flight.”
That will bring you to a page with the trip itinerary and a review of the mileage and taxes. There will be options to rebook, back out of the cancellation, or cancel for free:
Click on “Cancel Trip & Redeposit Miles” which will bring you to another confirmation page. Here it states the taxes and fees may take 7 days to be refunded and the miles may take up to 14 days to appear back in your account. In our experience, the miles have been instantly redeposited into the account.
After clicking “Continue,” there will be yet another confirmation page. This is your last chance to back out of the cancellation.
If you carried on with the cancellation, it is now final and you’ll receive a confirmation page:
Top Tip: With an award ticket cancellation, keep in mind the miles will then be subject to the airline’s expiration policy. The folks at Thrifty Travel have compiled a handy expiration reference list. Be sure to always confirm this with the particular airline’s program as it is subject to change.
airBaltic
K2 have also had personal flights cancelled, including by European carrier airBaltic.
As noted above, when the airline cancels the flight, one is entitled to a refund. But you sure wouldn’t know that from the email we received which notified us of the cancellation. Nowhere in the email did it indicate we could pursue a refund:
Instead, we went to airBaltic’s website, logged into our booking, and only then hidden in small print was there an option to request a refund.
Upon completing the information, we received a vague email about making a payment (?):
A couple weeks passed without further notice, so we reached out to airBaltic via their online form.
An agent responded that our reservation is “now cancelled and full refund will be done to payment account, within 90 days.” Well, by all means, please take your time.
We also received an email from airBaltic indicating a full refund is due, though the dates and departure information had nothing to do with our original trip:
Although we had to jump through some hoops, at least it does appear that airBaltic is honoring a refund. We’ve had great experiences flying them in the past, and with their plans for an all-A220 fleet after COVID-19, it would be our hope to fly them again.
The fact is many airlines are not telling passengers about refunds, and instead encouraging passengers to take vouchers rather than a refund. AirBaltic, American Airlines, and Qatar Airways have all offered passengers an additional bonus if they choose a voucher over a refund. This may make sense for some flyers, but as we’ve noted in a previous article, always check the fine print before accepting a voucher for restrictions, blackout dates, and more.
Keep in mind that you are not eligible for a refund if you accept a voucher.
Final approach
As we see in the above examples, if your goal is to get a free refund, wait for the airline to cancel the flight and keep an eye on the airline’s waiver updates. You may need to wait until the day of the flight to see if the airline will cancel.
Top Reminder: If the airline cancels your flight, you are entitled to a refund by law. This is US DOT law as well as EU law.
When contacting airlines be patient, kind, persistent, and courteous. Cite the DOT or EU laws, whichever applies to your case. If the agent still refuses a refund, kindly ask to escalate to a supervisor or HUCA (hang up, call again). Sending a direct message to the airline via Twitter is also a good idea.
As a last resort, if the airline has repeatedly denied a viable refund, you can dispute the charge with your credit card. This will require paperwork, so document any emails, messages, and communications you had with the airline. You can also file a complaint with the US DOT via this form.
If you would like help with a change or cancellation, we’re happy to help. Fill out this form and we’ll get back to you shortly.
Have you received a refund or voucher or changed your travel? Let us know your experience in the comments below. Cheers and travel on (virtually, for now)!
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K2
Good post but I like the line ” Time Out “u must have kids. I got my stuff back from United and Singapore AL no charge. Ur award service is perfect for getting ur stuff back people who spend 200k on a flt really don’t have an hr or 2 to be on the ph .
It’s the Right price @ the Right time so the flyer can Just walk away .
#stayincave
This is great to hear you’ve had success from United and Singapore! Thank you very much for sharing, and for your kind words about our service.
#stayincave
We love it!
Hi .Avianca is giving us the run around. But I don’t think Dot can help? The route was El Salvador- Belize. They automatically offered a voucher to expire in a year(but never gave one) just said, ‘They’ll be in contact in a week’. This was weeks ago. I replied ‘ Avianca canceled the flight so I’d like my points and cash returned please’. I keep getting a ‘we will get to your case’ response. I’ll ride it out. I should still be able to get a refund from credit card but points may be lost.
Hi, Rob! Avianca is notoriously slow (extremely slow) for these kind of things. It definitely will require patience and persistence. You are correct in that the DOT is not applicable here as the flights are not US related. Here are some avenues you can try.
– Call the U.S. Lifemiles number, explain Avianca cancelled the flights and you would like a redeposit of the miles and a refund to the original form of payment. Make sure you PIN number is set on your profile before calling in. More details from these folks: https://hungryforpoints.boardingarea.com/2017/01/cancelling-a-lifemiles-award-ticket-was-surprisingly-easy/
– Having a paper trail is also a good idea. Email support@lifemiles.com with a request for refund. Include the reservation number and details, note that is was the airline who cancelled, and you would like the miles to be redeposited and the taxes and fees totaling [USD amount] be refunded to the original form of payment.
– You can send a direct message to Avianca on Twitter – https://twitter.com/avianca – they may not handle the refund via this channel, but at least you can check in, hopefully receive an update, and have further paper trail
– Further down the line, you can try Avianca’s online chat, though we have not explored here before: https://chat1-i6.getcom.com.sv/inconcert/apps/webdesigner/AviancaDotEn_horario?token=4A081D2471D675F89FE15922C49821D5
You may have to call/email several times over these coming weeks. Avianca can be a pain this way. But I see no reason why you shouldn’t get your miles back. And yes, if it is not working out after some time, do a charge back on your credit card. Best of luck and success, and thank you for reading!
Southwest has made “changes” to our flight. Direct San to Hawaii flights have been cancelled. They say they’ll make “free” changes. Do you think we have any recourse?
Also-our flight isn’t until the last part of July.
Kiki
Long time away they have fare sales every min .I booked one MDW>BNA $99 rt 7/16/17 cheapest in 13 years . Just keep an eye on it maybe u can make it work points u get right back cash is a different deal. It’s work booking my trips so I’m booking nothing till the virus is done .
Meanwhile, watch Hawaii c 4 KITV to get the latest there.
#stayincave
Hi Kiki! Thanks for reading and for the comment. I take it Southwest has made a schedule change. According to Southwest’s Contract of Carriage (found here):
9. Service Interruptions
a. Failure to Operate as Scheduled
(1) Canceled Flights or Irregular Operations. In the event Carrier cancels or fails to
operate any flight according to Carrier’s published schedule, or changes the schedule
of any flight, Carrier will, at the request of a Passenger with a confirmed Ticket on
such flight, take one of the following actions:
(i) Transport the Passenger at no additional charge on Carrier’s next flight(s) on which
space is available to the Passenger’s intended destination, in accordance with
Carrier’s established reaccommodation practices; or
(ii) Refund the unused portion of the Passenger’s fare in accordance with Section 4c.
We’ve added the bold formatting to highlight that schedule changes are a valid reason to request a refund. You should have three options – accept the new changes/schedule, change to a different schedule at no extra cost (same airport pair, for dates within 14 days of original schedule) (what they are calling “free changes”), or request a full refund to original form of payment. If you encounter an agent who refuses, hang up and call again, or persist further citing this section of the Contract. Like in the article, some viable methods include calling the reservations department (the refund will ultimately be handled by the Refunds Dept), sending a direct message on twitter, or one of Southwest’s other communication lines. It may require a bit of patience and persistence, but definitely reach out to them now. Best of luck and success! Please let us know how it turns out.
[…] Does The Airline Owe You A Refund?: Many of us had travel plans scheduled anywhere from March – July, but had to cancel due to the current situation. That’s bad enough, but to make matters worse, airlines are trying to weasel their way out of issuing refunds. You need to know your rights. […]
What about Norwegian? They cancelled our AUS-LGW flight a couple weeks ago and I requested a refund immediately, citing EC261 and DOT regs. Received an email acknowledging the request and that’s it. Considering their financial position, do you think we have a chance?
Hi Chris! Thanks for the comment! You are absolutely on the right path, citing the laws and requesting a refund. Good work! It’s good that you’ve also received an email confirmation from them. Definitely save that email. Likely Norwegian is going to take their time with the refund. We would advise patience yet persistence. Perhaps a weekly or bi-monthly email/Twitter direct message/call to them, however you feel comfortable. They are in a different financial position than most airlines, with reports that they will fly again in 2021. In these cases, where they have acknowledged receipt of your request, usually the course of action is to keep tabs on it yet at the same time no need to be contacting them multiple times a week. If it drags on too long, especially without responses or updates from them, then you can consider a dispute/charge back on your credit card.
If you would be so kind as to let us know how it goes, we would be most appreciative! We also are awaiting a refund as mentioned in the article from airBaltic, who’ve said it will take up to 90 days. We shall see. Best of luck and success!
Just cancelled mulitiple trips and here are my data points. Just cancelled 2ea. United Flights. On both they had made numerous schedule changes, one as much as 7 hours, the other at most 40 min. on arrival. The first one UA refunded all points and fees, the 2nd one they would only offer a certificate of value for 24 months. Hawaiian Air would only honor a certificate good for 1 year. AA gave all points back and fees. Alaska gave all points back and fees. Avianca put all points back, although they expire in a year. Those were the worst to get back. Waiting on decision from Marriott on extending a 7 day vacation package. Cancelled multiple tours without issue. Of all people, Alaska Air, was the nicest and easiest.
John
Good post I have done fine on my May trip so far. My French hotel sent me an email by way of Hotels.com stating Hotel closed will give u a voucher good for 18 months on a non-refundable room. Well, Hotels.com sent me an email with 2 boxes CANCEL or KEEP .. Looks like a con job I hit KEEP I will call if nothing else happens.
Trust No One !!!
#stayincave
John, thank you so much for the fantastic data points!
If the second UA one was an award ticket for travel in 2020, you may want to reach out and see if they’ll honor their early April policy change of refunding all 2020 award flights. Could be worth a shot. Otherwise, if it was a cash ticket and voluntary cancellation, it seems par for the course. Good to hear Avianca redeposited the miles. Rob has also commented here about his ongoing wait with Avianca. Great to hear about Alaska’s service! Your time and data points are much appreciated, thanks again! Stay safe
Hello,
Thank you very much for all the data point.
I booked 2 Air France R/T Business class ticket Paris-Los Angeles for my relatives in France, departure June 9. I used Chase Ultimate Reward points to pay for the tickets.
How should I handle the cancellation in this case? I am not sure if the UR points can go back to my Chase account.
Who should I contact (Chase Travel Service or Air France) to request the cancellation?
Hi, Alex! Thank you for reading and the question!
I take it this is a voluntary cancellation? If so, you’ll make the cancellation request through Chase, but the airline’s cancellation terms will apply (current Air France terms: https://www.airfrance.fr/FR/en/common/page_flottante/hp/news-air-traffic-air-france.htm). Also, to be sure, it sounds like you booked via the Chase Travel Portal? If so, here’s the general process, which is a bit different during this time of COVID-19.
With the travel date not being until June 9, it’s recommended to wait to contact Chase. They are prioritizing requests based on travel date, and are asking travelers to submit requests only when travel is within 8-14 days. This and other info per Chase here: https://www.chase.com/digital/resources/coronavirus/trip-management
We’ve seen data points to suggest that when submitting a request, if the system or agent response is a voucher, you may want to wait until within 7 days of departure and then call to ask if a refund of points is possible. Of course, things may change by early June, but something to keep in mind. It never hurts to ask.
Also by waiting, if AF cancels or significantly changes the flights, then you can absolutely claim a refund rather than a voucher.
One reason we say it never hurts to ask, as it currently stands for a voluntary cancellation, the waters are a little cloudy as to whether you’ll get UR points back or a voucher on Air France. There’s been mixed results. On the one hand, Chase says they’ll try to refund points. On the other hand, tickets purchased through the Chase travel portal are seen as revenue (paid) fares by the airlines, so AF may extend a voucher as per their language of a voluntary cancellation under the “YOU WANT TO CANCEL YOUR TRIP” section of the terms page: https://www.airfrance.fr/FR/en/common/page_flottante/hp/news-air-traffic-air-france.htm
For now, keep an eye on Air France’s waivers, and then contact Chase at the appropriate time. Chase very well may update the process by June, so keep an eye on their info too.
Mikhala Stutzman at Thrifty Traveler has a great article on this process: https://thriftytraveler.com/cancel-a-flight-booked-with-chase-ultimate-rewards-points/
If you would be so kind as to keep us posted on how it goes, we would greatly appreciate it! And if you want us to handle this for you, feel free to reach out. Thank you again for the comment and joining us!
Thank you very much for all the detail advice. My Relatives in Paris, France have already received an email from Air France stating that it has already cancelled their June 9 flight and is currently unable to re-accommodate them due to the cancellation of all Air France flights to the US.
Thank you again and I will keep you updated of the result.
You are most welcome, Alex, and our thanks to you for keeping us posted! I just got off the phone a couple minutes ago with Air France actually. They had cancelled our flights as well. Even though this was an award ticket I was calling about, same principles apply when it’s the airline who cancels – free refund. All I did was say, “the airline has cancelled our flights, so it is my understanding that we can receive a free refund” and the agent took care of it in minutes. If needed, as we mention in the article, you can cite the DOT and EU regulations for a refund. The refund to the credit card will supposedly take “up to 16 days” according to the agent I just talked to. Best of success, and thank you again, Alex!
Hello,
I called Chase Travel Services today. I was informed that Air France cancelled the tickets and Chase agent proceeded to refund all the UR points used for the booking. It took a bit of time to process the refund and everything looked good.
Alex, thank you so much indeed for keeping us posted! You are very kind. We’re very happy to hear you got it worked out. Perfect execution on your part, well done!
Just yesterday, our newest article went live which talks about Chase points. We also gave a few examples of finding great value with said points, so perhaps you will find it interesting, perhaps start planning a future trip – https://milevalue.com/the-basics-of-chase-ultimate-rewards/
Thank you again, Alex, for your kind follow up!
Our case was somewhat different, though no less outrageous than most in this forum. We had booked non-refundable tickets from Newark to Frankfurt on Lufthansa, to depart on Oct. 16, 2020. When I was doing online check-in, I was not allowed to complete it and notified that the German govt. had blocked entry into Germany only 2 days prior! They refused to refund us, because the flight took place, but if we’d taken it, we would have been turned back to the US in Frankfurt, total bullshit! They told me I could use the funds as vouchers on a future flight, through the month of Jan. 2021. Then they refunded us a paltry $140 X 2, only the taxes, on 2 fares of $1,250 each! When I tried to use the balance left for future a reservation, they refused and told me our money was gone!! Does anyone on this site have any idea what options I might have in U.S. courts? I’m trying to get Visa to refund me, but I don’t know where that will go yet. This is an outrage and Lufthansa deserves to go bankrupt!