# Flight refunds



## rayn

I have a flight booked with BA from Dublin to Vancouver in April. I will not now be traveling. 
What advice would you give?
Facts:
Cost >€2000
All booked through BA who will give a voucher to be used within 12 months. 
Air Lingus codeshare to Heathrow. 
Options as I see it:
Take voucher and use at Christmas. 
Start Chargeback on Credit Card
Claim against multi trip travel insurance. 
Wait till closer to travel and see if refund offered. 
Note the Canadian Gov. are refusing entry to non citizens. Although exceptions cover immediate relatives of citizens which would cover us. 
What should we do?


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## llgon

At present it appears that you are choosing not to travel rather than your flight being cancelled. Therefore chargeback and travel insurance are not options. So either take voucher or wait for any further changes.


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## Thirsty

Check re government travel advisory - if inbound travel is stopped, as it is in many countries, that changes your refund grounds.


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## Duke of Marmalade

We have flights booked to France in April.  Aer Lingus have offered change free of charge or voucher.  I think we will wait as it seems certain they will have to cancel the flight and therefore give a refund.  Vouchers a bit dodgy as there are doubts over how long they last and whether they are excluded from promotions.  Amounts involved are much less that €2,000 so I am not necessarily recommending that _rayn _takes the same approach.


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## geri

We got a full refund for a cancelled flight to tenerife due to go on 27th mar. The flight was with TUI. Rang them today and they processed it immediately, no questions or suggestions to take alternative flights or vouchers. This was just a flight, 4 passengers, and was not a package holiday. 5 minutes after the call I got an email saying the refund had been processed. Very efficient. Now need to see the situation with the hotel. I have emailed with no response yet but their central booking office is closed weekends. I'll call them on Monday and see what they say . I would be happy to take a voucher if they wont refund.


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## Bigbangr1

We are in the same situation.4 tickets too the Philippines booked and paid for last September.travel is April 15,1 day after the Manila lockdown is due too end (this could be extended).we are waiting too see what will happen over the next couple of weeks.our flights cost us over €3000.the flight credit looks like an option now for us.

We then have domestic flights booked also which cost us €600 and again this is all unsure at the min.

We then have 2 hotels booked costing €400,we have contacted both,1 hotel has cancelled our booking (unsure of refund yet) while the other hotel has being advised we would like too cancel and no reply too 2 sets of emails.

Car rental/day tours also booked cost €200 and have not even looked at these yet.

We are thinking of disputing both flights and 2nd hotel with our credit cards if our holiday is not going ahead.
We are over €4500 out of pocket at the min with a balance of €400 due this month too clear all holidays.

Head wrecked


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## SlurrySlump

I am supposed to be travelling to Spain mid April with Ryanair. If you wanted to book flights with Ryanair to my destination in mid April none are available.  The airline is 80% closed down and Spain is in lockdown.
However when I log in to Ryanair it is showing that I can check in now for this flight.  Why?
I just want to start the ball rolling and get a refund for this flight as it is the first of a number of flights and hotels booked that I am trying to get refunds for.  
Has anyone managed to get any refunds from Ryanair yet and are they only dealing with cases up to the end of the month or what?


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## SlurrySlump

geri said:


> I would be happy to take a voucher if they wont refund.


I have booked with Melia Hotels in Spain.  They are not offering refunds....only postponement of your stay.  You would have to pay the difference in price if the prices are more expensive.
Who is to know that the hotel may increase their prices for later in the year and you end up paying a lot more for your postponed stay.
Who is to know that the hotel chain will survive.....is your voucher protected?

I will be looking for a full refund. If things improve I want to be able to start from scratch and book where and when I want to go and at an acceptable price.


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## Slim

SlurrySlump said:


> I am supposed to be travelling to Spain mid April with Ryanair. If you wanted to book flights with Ryanair to my destination in mid April none are available.  The airline is 80% closed down and Spain is in lockdown.
> However when I log in to Ryanair it is showing that I can check in now for this flight.  Why?
> I just want to start the ball rolling and get a refund for this flight as it is the first of a number of flights and hotels booked that I am trying to get refunds for.
> Has anyone managed to get any refunds from Ryanair yet and are they only dealing with cases up to the end of the month or what?


Hi. We were due to fly with Ryanair on April 8th to Faro. On Friday, I received an email notifying me that my flight(s) are cancelled and offering me the opportunity to reschedule or take a refund for both legs, which I did by a few clicks. Refund promised within 7 days. Very simple process, three clicks or so. I waited until they cancelled the flights to do anything.  Hope it works out for you.


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## Leo

Slim said:


> I waited until they cancelled the flights to do anything. Hope it works out for you.



That's likely the best way to go about it. They will be cancelling flights on a phased basis so that they can handle the call volumes.


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## westcork

Thanks for the info on Ryanair - I am in a similar situation with some trips booked over the next few months - they are making it very difficult to get information on refunds on their website (links to nowhere etc) - I have now received a "free reschedule" email of next flights for the family to Alicante on the 9th April - no mention of a refund. Are they actually flying any planes to Spain at the moment? If there is government guidance against travel and the Spanish are not allowing people in, can they still fly to avoid cancellation costs and hold onto the money? I know in overall scheme it is not that important but a fair wedge of money - thanks


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## Slim

@westcork. Don't do anything yet. They will cancel your flights and offer a refund link in the email. The 'reschedule' offer is a tactic to try and minimise refunds.


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## Marion

I booked a non-refundable flight with Air France last October.

I have travel insurance and paid by credit card. I contacted both companies. Both referred me to the airline company.

Air France will offer a voucher that is refundable if not used within one year.

The voucher can be used for many different flights. A voucher will be issued if a flight is cheaper than the voucher amount and it also will last for one year. I must apply for the voucher before the date of the first flight.  This information results from an online chat with an agent.

The country I had hoped to fly to has closed its borders for the entire time I had intented to be there.

I guess I am happy enough. It’s  the best offer at the moment.

Marion


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## llgon

Hi Marion,

If you are happy enough with a voucher that's fair enough. However if Air France cancel the flight you are entitled to a refund. If you accept the voucher before the flight is cancelled you may be stuck with this.  

On the other hand Air France may cancel the flight and (wrongly) refuse to give you a refund. You may prefer the voucher rather than the hassle of going through the complaints process?


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## Marion

I’m not going to apply  until the day or maybe 2 days before the flight. (In case internet goes down - so many things to think of! )

In general, now, I’m not that keen on vouchers.

it’s a wait and see for now.  If they cancel, my insurance or credit card hopefully will kick in. Thanks for your input llgon, it’s good to have new perspectives .

Marion


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## rayn

Update:
Thank you all for your replies. I sat back and waited.
Monday: email from BA looking forward to welcoming us onboard.
Tuesday: email change of terminal and looking forward to welcoming us onboard.
Wednesday (today) email apologizing that the flight was cancelled.
Went online to process refund only to find out that you can only get a voucher online. You have to phone them for refund.
Impossible to get through and advised to wait until 72 hours before flight.
I will sit back again and wait until they allow refund online as i’m sure they will have to.
Again thanks and good luck to all in the same boat.


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## rayn

Update:
Phoned BA Saturday last. Within 9 mins had refund processed and today 07/04 had full amount credited to my card. 
Hope everyone is as lucky. Thanks.


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## IsleOfMan

I booked return flights with Ryanair to Spain for later this month. The cost of these flights was c€280.  I used a gift voucher to pay €150 towards the total cost.  This flight has now been cancelled by Ryanair.  Does anyone know how they are dealing with refunds that involve part payment by voucher?


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## keepon

We had flights booked to Arizona for this week. Aer Lingus wrote offering a voucher, with a 10% (I think) bonus, and we accepted. They wrote back saying it would be a while before they could process our request. Then last week they wrote to say that we were not entitled to a voucher, as our original booking was through an agent. 

I tried to contact the agent, Expedia,. but their phone answering bot hung up because we were not within 72 hours of our flight.

I can't manage the flight on the Aer Lingus system, or get any information about it, or the return or connecting journeys. The Aer Lingus site says they are continuing with some flights to USA (for US citizens) even though Irish residents are barred by the US government.

This doesn't bode well!


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## MrEarl

AL appear to be suggesting that cheaper priced flights don't qualify for a refund, you can only get taxes back.

Is that legal, given they've cancelled the flight?


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## losttheplot

That looks to me like you're requesting a refund and it's being interpreted that you're cancelling. If they have cancelled will they issue the refund in due course.


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## MrEarl

losttheplot said:


> That looks to me like you're requesting a refund and it's being interpreted that you're cancelling. If they have cancelled will they issue the refund in due course.



There's no mention of an automatic refund, the email confirms that the flight has been cancelled, sets out the options of a voucher or reschedule, then offers a link to my rights... extract attached. By following the link to my rights, I ultimately found the screen attached to the post above.


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## RedOnion

@MrEarl 
Try this link:


			https://www.aerlingus.com/support/forms/disrupted-flight-refund-form/


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## Lockup

I have AL flight due for early may to portugal and I want a refund. Do I just need to wait it out until AL cancel the flight before I can apply for the refund?


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## PaddyBloggit

Business Minister contacts consumer watchdog over airline ticket refunds


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## geri

I got a refund today from TUI. It was just a flight I had booked, not a package.  4 people to Tenerife in march. The flight was cancelled a few days prior to departure date.  I applied for it 4 weeks ago and they said it would take up to 4 weeks to process.  I sent a reminder e mail today and it went into my account almost immediately.  Thanks TUI. I'm still waiting for the hotel refund.  I applied for that at around the same time. They said they would process the refund. I reminded them too today. I got a response from them saying their offices are still closed but we are near the top of the list for a refund when they reopen. That may be a bot response so we'll see.


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## Wahaay

It's a difficult one this - I have around €4,000 in airline bookings with Lufthansa, Aer Lingus, Easyjet and Ryanair.
I've taken a voucher with Lufthansa because I'm not even sure the airline will still be flying if they were to pay out all their refunds.The only drawback is that new flights have to be taken within a year and who would want to be flying within a year if no vaccine has been found.
Ryanair and Aer Lingus I'll also be happy with a voucher as I fly with them a lot and will be able to use them.
I just don't know why the airlines offer vouchers than can be used up to say three years from now.


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## Brendan Burgess

Guys it's better to have threads on specific airlines as they have different policies. So I am closing this thread. 

If you are affected by Ryanair, post in that one. If you are affected by another airline, start a new thread. 

Brendan


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