Earlier today the DoT issued an enforcement notice that airlines must provide a full refund and not a travel voucher for cancelled flights. A lot of readers have had to take these vouchers while they pursue a refund, if that’s you then I’d strongly encourage you to reach out to the airlines involved and point them towards the enforcement notice & ask for a full refund. The enforcement notice states:
the Aviation Enforcement Office will refrain from pursuing an enforcement action against a carrier that provided passengers vouchers for future travel in lieu of refunds for cancelled or significantly delayed flights during the COVID-19 public health emergency so long as: (1) the carrier contacts, in a timely manner, the passengers provided vouchers for flights that the carrier cancelled or significantly delayed to notify those passengers that they have the option of a refund; (2) the carrier updates its refund policies and contract of carriage provisions to make clear that it provides refunds to passengers if the carrier cancels a flight or makes a significant schedule change; and (3) the carrier reviews with its personnel, including reservationists, ticket counter agents, refund personnel, and other customer service professionals, the circumstances under which refunds should be made.
My recommendation is to not wait for the carrier to contact you and instead contact them directly and ASAP to get your full refund.
Hope my United super cheap nonrefundable flight gets cancelled.
United today issued me a refund without much fighting or begging. This was for my international trip to Japan that multiple flights were cancelled / moved around to different airports, added connections, etc.
When I called initially 24 hours before takeoff I only got the voucher no matter what. So i took that in the meantime.
Seems they are now following the enforcement notice.
We’ll see if the refund shows up. The agent did not give me a confirmation number or anything.
My reservation online now says: Ticket status: This reservation has been canceled and refunded/voided as applicable.
Previously it had buttons to use flight credit, or cancel.
Seems promising.
I know this thread is for Flights, but just FYI – don’t book parking on WAY.
They are offering only Way bucks inspite of having canceled the bookings and having been promised a refund to original source back in February itself.
I canceled a flight from Philadelphia to LAX on 3/18 and since book with miles Web Special. I got the message back to call them but when I called I got cut off due to they are so busy. I even paid for good seats $104/2 people. Not sure what to do.
If the specific flights you originally booked were cancelled, but the carrier automatically moved you to different flights that are not much different in time (all less than an hour difference), are you entitled to a refund? I know you wouldn’t get a refund if the original flights were changed by only that much, but does it matter that it’s now a different flight number?
DP: called Delta on April 3rd. Was notified that no cash refund would be given, and was advised that e-credits are the best they could do. Will wait for a couple of days before making another phone call.
Called again today. Was told that my ticket was “non-refundable” to begin with. So ecredits are the best they can do. No refund back to the original form of payment. Good luck!
I booked an American Airlines flight through UR portal for March 28th, and on March 15th I tried to call both Chase and American Airlines and was hung up on after 2+ hours of waiting. Not knowing what my options were, I noticed that Chase UR portal had an online form to fill out to cancel my flight so I filled that out. On March 24th, American Airlines finally emailed me to say that my flight was cancelled. Later in the evening, Chase emails me to say “We have issued an airline credit for your flight.” The next day, Chase sends me another email stating “We reviewed your request and advocated on your behalf with the American Airlines. Although your booking was not refundable, we were able to secure a future travel credit that you can use to rebook your travel at a later date. This way you do not lose the value of the fare you have already paid.”
I called Chase today to ask about a refund to my original payment method (UR points) and they denied me because I had cancelled the flight and not American Airlines. In actuality, I don’t know if my cancellation request went through or if American Airlines cancelled my flight. Chase is insisting that I cancelled the flight.
In summary, Chase/American Airlines is not giving me a refund because I had initiated the cancellation as opposed American Airlines doing so.
Based on the enforcement notice, would I be entitled to a refund?
What if I transferred UR points from my chase account to Southwest account and booked a flight. The airline company cancelled the flight and credited miles back to my account. Will I be allowed to transfer these miles back to Chase account?
No
Need something like this for Amtrak too! They were quick with an e-voucher for travel credit but would prefer $$ at this time
AF STILL refusing to do any cash refund, said it’s not their fault for Corona cancelation. Even after I told them about the EU and DOT policy. Unbelieveable. I’m gonna file the charge back and file to DOT complaint.