NAME AND SHAME: 27 Airlines Making Refunds More Difficult To Get For Cancelled Flights

I’ve written extensively about airlines breaking the law by refusing to refund customers whose flights are cancelled. There is no ambiguity in requirements by the U.S. Department of Transportation and also from European authorities.

  • In some cases airlines are flagrantly ignoring the law, and offering vouchers but not refunds.
  • In other cases they are hiding the ability to get a refund, hoping customers won’t know their rights, or making the effort to get a refund hard enough that customers won’t bother
  • They’re also just not honoring their legal obligations even when asked
  • Or taking refund requests, but just not processing those requests

One thing that many airlines have done to make refunds more difficult is removed the ability for travel agents to process refunds for their customers through computer reservations systems. The Amadeus system maintains a list of those airlines.

This is not a complete list of offenders. This is a list of airlines known to have removed the ability for “manual and Amadeus Ticket Changer Refund functionalities in the Amadeus system.”

Some airlines aren’t on this list – for instance consumers contacting JetBlue are being told no refunds, and I’m told Kenya Airways isn’t even refunding ‘refundable’ tickets.   And an airline on this list might still process a refund on request after calling them, this is a list of those who have removed the ability for agents to do it in their system.

Refund Capability Deactivated
Airline Name  By Point of Sale  
BLUE AIR AVIATION Globally
AIR EUROPA Globally
VIETNAM AIRLINES Globally
PLUS ULTRA LINEAS AEREAS Globally
EL AL ISRAEL AIRLINES Globally
LEVEL EUROPE Globally
AIR TRANSAT Globally
EVELOP AIRLINES ES, MX, FR
AIR FRANCE Globally except CN, KR
KLM ROYAL DUTCH AIRLINES Globally except CN, KR
TAP PORTUGAL Globally
VUELING AIRLINES Globally
WestJet Globally
Fiji Airways Globally
SILKAIR Globally
LUFTHANSA Globally
AUSTRIAN AIRLINES Globally
SWISS INTERNATIONAL AIR LINES Globally
BRUSSELS AIRLINES Globally
AIR COTE DÍVOIRE 30 countries
AVIANCA Globally
TACA INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES Globally
AVIANCA COSTA RICA SA Globally
AVIANCA PERU S.A. Globally
AVIANCA ECUADOR S.A Globally
SOUTH AFRICAN AIRWAYS Globally
SINGAPORE AIRLINES Globally except US

Since airlines can deactivate refund functionality without even telling Amadeus, there may be other airlines that have done so which didn’t make the list. We’re in uncharted territory when the global distribution system Amadeus is asking travel agents to tell them what airlines have done so in their own system.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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  1. Many ace reporting that after filing complaint with DOT and some doing dispute with their card Company , United refunded full money back on their card and canceled their award and redeposited their miles back without fee. So do either or both of these to get full money back and no award redeposit fee

  2. AA Platinum Pro here. Received EXTREME pushback trying to cancel an AA flight next week (2 pax FC MIA-RNO). Was immediately offered credit. Pointed out that there had been a change in flight time of >1 hour. Was then told that the change in time was back in December and that I should have cancelled earlier if that was the reason. I resisted and said that there was no cancellation period following a change in time in the T&C. Asked to speak with a supervisor. Rep told me she was a supervisor and I needed to request a refund through a letter to AA if anything. Hung up. Called back, went through the same process with a new rep. Again resistance. Read the T&C verbatim and she then placed me on hold. After about 15 minutes she came back and told me the refund was issued and would go back to my card. Its been about 3-4 days and still no refund, but the flight has disappeared from my itineraries. We shall see. Disappointing.

  3. I saw the writing on the wall last week and managed to sneak in a few refunds with TapPortugal (refundable J fares) before the killed the ability on their website. Still expect to have to do a chargeback though. My refunds are still being “reviewed” over a week later. Thankfully I documented everything including the terms on my tickets.

  4. SQ denied my refund from LAX to NRT. I mentioned DOT and she said “i know”. “It will take 4 month for your refund”

  5. What about Norwegian? I have my flight cancelled and they’ve acknowledged my request for a refund—but no word as to when that refund might be provided.

  6. TAP Portugal cancelled all flights through May 4th for the route I was scheduled to fly May 3rd – LIS-MAD. They just automatically re-booked me LIS-MAD on May 5th.

    I booked it through Orbitz and am attempting the refund through Orbitz – no luck getting through, they’re only addressing reservations 72 hours out.

    I can’t even get through to anyone on TAP’s Customer Service number.

    I disputed with my Chase credit card that I booked it on – hopefully that solves it indefinitely.

  7. Please add Emirates to the list. Offering credit only. Insisting I need to pay the cancellation fee of $400 on my paid first class ticket from JFK to MXP. However, the flight has been cancelled by the airline so full refund should apply.

  8. From the DOT page on refunds;

    When the airline is not at fault:

    Passengers are entitled to refunds only in limited circumstances if the airline is not at fault.

    Fully refundable tickets – Passengers who purchase fully refundable tickets are generally entitled to a refund when they do not use the purchased ticket to complete their travel.

    Non-refundable tickets – Passengers who purchase non-refundable tickets are generally not entitled to a refund unless the airline makes a promise to provide a refund.

    I think most airlines will argue in this situation they are not at fault.

  9. I had to award travel with United for April 8-17. United cancelled my flight so we called in to request cancellation. The initial agent wouldn’t cancel it with a redeposit fee, however, after speaking with their supervisor and citing DOT regs, they cancelled it no questions asked.

  10. I got my refund from AA for a cancelled MDE flight. Hit a small snag as I hadn’t canceled my reservation, which struck me as odd since they’d cancelled the flight. All done on line and my refund was on my CC statement within a few days. Although I knew I wouldn’t be going, I waited for AA to cancel my Maui flight–just heard yesterday my April 1 flight was canceled and the only option to rebook they offered was for, I think, today. Does anyone know if they are offering a full dollar non-expiring credit? I know I’ll be spending that money eventually and wouldn’t mind giving them an interest free loan. I’m just happy to still have a job and hoping my friendly AA employees do, too, when this ends.

  11. @Trevor – first of all most contracts of carriage requite it. regardless, here’s what DOT specifically says about a CANCELLED FLIGHT
    https://www.transportation.gov/individuals/aviation-consumer-protection/flight-delays-cancellations

    “If your flight is cancelled and you choose to cancel your trip as a result, you are entitled to a refund for the unused transportation – even for non-refundable tickets. You are also entitled to a refund for any bag fee that you paid, and any extras you may have purchased, such as a seat assignment.”

  12. Add Iberia to the list. Tried to call to cancel award flight in May but they state voucher only. I am going to wait and see since I do have some time before the flight and Spain does have it pretty bad right now.

  13. If anyone is sick & tired of the flagrant abuses by our airlines, keep that in mind the next time you vote, and instead of falling for the pathological liar; the spineless sycophants that either have their heads so deep up his posterior you can see their slimy faces in the back of the sleazy & dishonest Carnival Barker’s throat every time he opens his mouth and the next round of his seemingly bottomless pit of diarrhea explodes out of him; drink the “Kool-Aid” & actually aid, abet & “believe” SIR CRAZY-PANT’S conspiracy theories & delusional rants; or of course, those who cower in fear of being on the receiving end of the idiotic man-child’s never ending stream of lies, fantasies, or the occasional half-truths – and especially the party of greed & corruption that has perfected the art of fake moral indignation that the “poorly educated” fall for instead seeing how by calling them poorly educated he’s mocking them for their so easily falling for the big time con job & snake oil he’s selling them

    …and vote for those who, regardless of party affiliation, understand that reasonable regulatory oversight be it to obtain refunds owed from our airlines (& hotels of late) in a timely fashion [sidebar: am I the only person who’s left wondering how it is that in an era when we can “Zelle” money across state lines to personal accounts housed at other banks in mere minutes, how is it that our airlines cannot even get a refund processed and posted to our accounts within the “5-business days” that back in the “Stone Age” before the Internet, much less sophisticated online banking used to be routinely done? Speaking of the “5-business days” for refunds to be processed and posted to one.’s account, what ever happened to that? And how is it possible that in an era of electronic funds transfers in the blink of an eye, when it comes to our airlines they now make us wait 28-30 days for refunds or over/accidental charges to be dropped from pending even after they’ve agreed the charge is invalid? What’s the deal with that bs? Do our airlines & banks/credit card companies (with the wink of an eye, of course!) hold refunds/over charges owed to us as long as possible to cash in on the interest from the “float” before finally releasing our money that they then not only held and used as an interest free loan from us, but instead used to EARN interest themselves that they then have an “understanding” (again, wink, wink) to split amongst themselves? – Just wondering…], & also have a sensible approach to other matters like global warming; or instead of lying about a looming pandemic as “Dear Leader” and several senators such as Burr did (worse yet, he & a few others NOT only failed to warn the general public of the looming pandemic; he/they lied & covered it to better cash in by selling – or buying – stocks before the pandemic exploded into what it now is…)

    It’s OK to have meaningful policy differences & prescriptions, but can we at least stop the madness because whether some realize it or not, the aggressive escalation of flagrant consumer abuses that many bemoan here in a time of crisis & believe is exceptionally unfair, didn’t happen overnight.

    It’s a symptom of the times and the product of many years when enough people allowed themselves to be lulled into the myths & lies that full-on, anything goes, deregulation would actually benefit them – when far too often, it hasn’t and never will.

    What actually happens instead is that while important industries, say like airlines, seek relief from regulatory oversight & relentlessly Cry Wolf or go full-on “Chicken Littles” about how onerous consumer protection laws and other regulations are harmful to flyers, the more they’re “freed” from regulations that protect us, the more onerous – and of course, EXPENSIVE – their fare rules & their array of endless fees, penalties & punishments imposed on us becomes!

    Isn’t it amazing how badly that works out for us?

    You know, how the Thief In Chief declared he’s either rolling back regulations willy-nilly for those that he can roll back with the stroke of a pen – or simply won’t enforce those regulations that require legislation to repeal?

    And gee, NOW people are shocked & outraged that our airlines are brazenly breaking the law or even their own policies/Contracts of Carriage by refusing to process refunds that are legitimately owed?

    I don’t have as much time as I used to to post as often here on VFTW (or its siblings in the “Boarding Area” family of blogs) due to an ongoing, long term project, but I’m NOT in the least bit surprised or shocked that so many airlines feel so untouchable from even the most basic and decent consumer protection regulations are now behaving as badly as they are.

    And it will not only continue, but get worse, even after Covid19 pandemic has faded into memory if we continue to allow a certain party that’s become so consumed by its greed and corruption it has shown it cannot be trusted to so much as even warn the citizenry it’s charged with protecting from harm as early as possible of a looming pandemic, under a certain person who’s not just desperately ignorant, but dangerously unqualified for the position he’s in to remain in power even a single day beyond next Jan 20th.

    Sorry about being so preachy – but if anyone thinks that the extreme abuses of our airlines are unrelated to the puerile imbecile in the White House, and a Senate Majority Leader gone dangerously rouge because he’s so intoxicated with his power, and apparently is among the most bitter, angriest, soulless ghoul imaginable, then they’re living in fantasyland.

    Because these flagrant consumer abuses where our airlines effectively take/hold our money hostage INTEREST FREE from us, but INTEREST EARNING FOR THEM & THE BANKING INDUSTRY are not happening in a vacuum.

    It’s happening because enough gullible people and/or “poorly educated” folks vote for politicians who sell them snake oil without ever understanding how they’re really being fleeced repeatedly by those politicians & the corporate interests that fund them by policies that in the end allow these companies to think, and even act, like they can do whatever they please without ever being held accountable as they’re doing now by refusing to refund passengers’ money for canceled flights or trips that can no longer be taken due to a pandemic.

    Simply put, if you’ve had enough of this rampant greed and abuse where companies like our airlines feel entitled to take at will an interest free loan from you to earn interest on /profit from that they don’t share any of the proceeds received with you, but rather share the lucre with the banks who hold the cash paid when the reservation was booked, well, then, vote for leaders who VOW to work for more for you instead of the airlines – and the banks!

    Just sayin’ 😉

  14. Gary, you should also start a running list of how hotels are handling this.

    I cancelled a Marriott stay, and while they promised a refund (on a prepaid reservation), which is actually customer friendly, they also told me to wait at least 90 days to receive it.

    Wow

  15. Add Aurigny Airlines. It’s the airline U.K.-Jersey. No refund, and no voucher unless you also email them requesting one.

  16. Whoops— Aurigny.com flies U.K. – GUERNSEY, in the Channel Islands.

    I’m also having trouble getting Hotels.com to make good on 1-of-3 non refundable” hotel stays, despite having a UK stay-at-home order, and cancellation of my US-UK flight.

  17. Oh, silly me! How did I forget to also note in the above:

    Our now **taxpayer funded/ government subsidized & bailed out**, airlines that frittered away 96% of their free cash flow on profligate stock buybacks over the past 5-years per Bloomberg News’ analysis.

    Oh, and truth is, those exploding fees, penalties & punishments, or of course, those low ball, eye catching, clickbait, sham fares that then require payment of an ever expanding array of ever costlier fees that comprised that 96% of free cash flow that our airlines squandered on obscenely generous stock buybacks were NEVER, EVER done to allow flyers to “pay only for what they want”.

    That’s 96% PURE FICTION!

    But rather, those fees:

    exist/were created/contrived to better evade Federal Excise Taxes as while airfares ARE subject taxation; most fees are NOT taxed.

    So, guess what that means?

    Yep, that’s right – while most passengers end up paying the same, or even more, than they otherwise would for a bundled fare by the time the final fee is paid after one completes their flights, while the passenger paid the same – or more – by unbundling to a low ball sham/fake fare and then charging fees for “extras”, “options”, “perks” like checking a bag, or worse yet, using an overhead bin; or of course, to be seated together with their children or other companions the airlines don’t pay tax on those things.

    Which in the short term may seem innocuous, but guess what?

    For every penny flyers’ pay that airlines call fees and don’t pay taxes for anymore, that’s another penny that doesn’t get used to fund Air Traffic Control, airport improvements, etc., that then gets paid upfront in the form of “user fees” aka Passenger Facility Charges (PFCs) instead since, at least, airports need to make up the difference somewhere for the taxes that weren’t paid because the amount paid by flyers was deemed an added “fee” instead of being included with the fare paid that’s taxed.

    Finally, as the Bloomberg News analysis makes clear, or Jetblue’s massive increase in fares & its latest round of DEHUMANIZING flying last fall just as it BORROWED $1 billion weeks before wasting $175 million on an “accelerated stock buyback” in late November that it was so cash poor it had to take a LOAN (as in there’s Interest that has to be paid, too) to fund.

    And gee, what a surprise, all within weeks of borrowing a billion and spending $175 million of that billion on a(n accelerated) stock buyback it otherwise could NOT afford, it just so happened to impose its latest round let’s screw/fleece our flyers even more than we already have many times over and very rapidly ever since the Wall Street bullies forced Dave Barger out of JetBlue’s HQ 5 or so years ago at the same time, too.

    After all, clearly, with these actions it’s not a stretch to view the attitude of the folks at this airline as now being “why should our obscenely generous stock buybacks stop just because we don’t have the cash to pay for them when we can take out a $1 billion loan whose interest can be offset by degrading our product even more than we already have AND instead of striving for the best in class, flyer-friendly, “humanized” product like we used to offer (btw, which also made us one of the few truly successful airline “deregulation babies”), screw that – well just add fees, increase fees, introduce that SHAM FARE suckers fall for because they look sooooo good – until we hammer them with fees, fees, fees and even more fees! – while also stuffing even more seats into aircraft that come equipped with loos so small unless one has a 28” waist and is no taller than the average 12 year old they cannot comfortably fit into to use.

    Uh-huh – because all that nastiness “is demanded“ by flyers!

    Yeah, right!

    Hello!

    These fees are little more than a scam better resembling a “Stock Buyback Tax” being levied by our airlines when considering that 96% – imagine that 96%, or nine, followed by six, percent – of free cash flow was squandered on funding share buybacks at the airlines Bloomberg News analyzed for the past 5 years.

    96 freakin’ percent.

    If that ain’t naked greed & gluttony, then what is?

    Or of course, in JetBlue’s case, it’s fees not only amount to a “Stock Buyback Tax”; for this exceptionally greedy airline that lacked cash to fund its $175 million “accelerated stock buyback” last November, those added/increased fees introduced last fall also fund the INTEREST cost of the $1 billion it borrowed to buy its “1st Tranche” (that’s Wall Street-speak for that round of its latest $1 billion share buyback authorization that took effect on October 1st 2019) of shares.

    Wow! Talk about a “Share Buyback Tax”!

    At JetBlue, it’s fees not only are the buyback tax, they’re also for the cost of the loan required to get the orgy of greed underway pronto – Oopsie! I mean “accelerated”.

    All paid for, yep, you guessed it, beleaguered flyers who were being fleeced/told myths about how their airlines were looking out for them now by “only charging them for things they want.”

    Anyone who still believes that FICTION, please do call me ASAP at “1-877-BKBr4Sale”.

    Facts are facts.

    And when 96% of free cash flow is burned on share buybacks, and gee, what a coincidence, most of those fees are exempted from taxes, too, it’s impossible to view the imposition of endless fees plus the many contrivances to juice up those fees as anything other than what they are:

    A de facto “stock buyback tax”, which btw offers another happy coincidence in that the tax evasion angle is so nice, they do it TWICE since not only are most fees tax exempted, so too, are the stock buybacks that increase the share price all while avoiding taxes that would be paid if they were ordinary dividends.

    Yep, that’s right, those juicy stock buybacks that jack up the stock price also come with added bonus of evading taxes as instead of paying taxes on dividends after those checks are cashed, through the miracle of share buybacks the stock price increases instead, with taxes not even a worry or concern until the stock is sold, and THEN taxed at the MUCH LOWER rate used for capital gains!

    Crony Capitalism at its best!

    Go figure!

    In NYC, or perhaps in a Martin Scorsese/Francis Ford Coppola movie, we typically have another term for this added cost that’s arbitrarily and unilaterally imposed that offers little or nothing of value (aka “fleecing”) in return:

    A “mob tax” – paying a whole lot more than you otherwise would for nothing of value in return other than because you have **no choice** but to pay it whether you want to or not.

    Yeah, that’s what these fees are all about.

    Paying more and more for worse and worse all while the “Don’s” help themselves to 96% of the proceeds you paid.

    Wow!

    How foolish are we to continue paying so much – for nothing but an even smaller & more uncomfortable seat than the awful seats we we crammed into 2 or 3 years ago while a very fortunate few laugh all the way to the bank!

    Yep, that’s exactly what our airline industry cartel/oligopoly does now.

    How else can one explain the spectacular “eff you“ that is the attitude behind this “How Dare You Expect Us To Refund Your Money For The Flight We Canceled and/or You Can’t Take Anyway Because You Can’t Leave Your Home, Let Alone Travel To Another City Hundreds of Miles (or even an Ocean) Away Instead Of Us Keeping It Stashed Away In A Bank Account NOT Yours – aka an Interest Free Loan – That We, NOT you, Earn Interest On”?

    Just sayin’ 😉

    Call your House Representative and/or Senators’ offices if you’d rather have your money returned to your bank account instead of as if practically “stolen” for a prolonged period by an airline (and probably its banks, too) where they KEEP your money for an interest free loan instead of you having your own money to pay bills – or who knows? Maybe even deposit into your own account to earn interest instead!

    I know, I know! THAT’s such an outrageous, radical, leftist concept – you having your own money to pay bills or earn interest instead of being bilked/fleeced for a no-interest loan by an airline! 😉

    Who knew!

    Hehehehe

  18. Just a quick, minor correction to my comments immediately above, as follows:

    I know, I know! THAT’s such an outrageous, radical, leftist concept – you having your own money to pay bills or earn interest instead of being bilked/fleeced for a no-interest loan by an airline being bailed out/subsidized (despite their profligate spending for so many years on stock buybacks, that is that you/we already paid a “tax” to fund nearly every time we flew in recent years!) by – yep, that’s right – you/all of us via the taxpayer/ government funded bailout our (and they really are “ours” to some extent now!) airlines are about to get their outstretched, greedy hands as deep into the public trough as they were successful as doing!

    Yeah, of course it probably doesn’t hurt to have the Senate Majority Leader’s wife as the US Department of Transportation Secretary, either!

    Who says Crony Capitalism isn’t alive and well in the good ol’ U-S of A?!?!

  19. @Gary Leff, how about a “Best of” list of airlines/companies that are providing refunds (or at least making it easier to do)? Unfortunately, it seems as though that list will be a lot shorter… 🙁 Still, it’ll be helpful to know which companies deserve our future business.

  20. I had a Refundable ticket clearly marked with those words from Air Canada on my itinerary. AC refuse to acknowledge and give me a refund only a credit for another trip prior to year end. They claim I their system it is not refundable but yet cannot explain why is shows Refundable. Expensive tickets. Martin b

  21. Well… I guess we know how Howard is killing time during home confinement, er “social distancing.”

  22. And you can add Sri Lankan Airlines ( UL ) and Air India ( AI ) to the list. Both airlines have cancelled my flights, not me, them and they refuse to issue a full credit. Bloody bastards. I can understand the Indians because they are greedy, sniffling, selfish little bastards anyway. But the Sri Lankans?

    One good thing that might come out of this global pandemic is that these disgusting and grubby airline practices will become more visible and we will exact financial revenge on them like they have never seen. The passengers will have the last laugh in all this, mark my words.

    Why is the US Government bailing out those bloody mongrels from AA, UA, DL? A year ago they were screaming like stuffed pigs about Qatar Airways ( QR ) getting government hand-outs and now as soon as the going gets tough, the first thing they do is run to the American taxpayer. I say fuck them! Just like they have been fucking us the arse for a few years. Bend over AA, UA and DL and take it like a man.

  23. Delta Airlines has screwed me out of $4000 or 200,000 skymiles. Purchased an $11717 Delta Vacation during a promotion. The 200,000 points resulted in a $4000 reduction in the price. Despite being told by the agent that I would receive the full value for the trip. She claimed she couldn’t restore the miles. Next day I get an email that the gift was only for 6717 not the full.amount. Liars.

  24. I work for a big consolidator where we have processed more than 10k refunds already due to Covid19.
    Its a mess, most airlines have disabled the refund feature in the GDS, some still allow filing refunds via BSP link, some require us to fill out a contact form manually for each booking. You have to manually enter each flight segment + date from the calender etc.

    From the 10k refunds requests we have filed so far we already have a big number of responses that are all in violation of EU and U.S. law.
    Most ailines only offer credit (we know that), but some even offer only partial credit!
    The winner to the naughtiest airlines goes to TP + SA which do not offer anything, no credit, no refund, nada for cancelled flights.

    I urge everyone to file a DOT complain here for every issued credit / denied refund: https://airconsumer.dot.gov/escomplaint/ConsumerForm.cfm
    https://www.transportation.gov/individuals/aviation-consumer-protection/refunds

    We can’t let the airways get away with this AGAIN. They ask for big $$$ as bailout but refuse to honor the law.

  25. I didn’t do it online, I was already calling Alaska on another matter, but at the end of the conversation yesterday asked the nice lady to cancel my 4 Mexico (not refundable) flights. No problem, they were cancelled and the money and miles immediately refunded and recredited to my accounts, no fees involved.

  26. @HowardMiller. Hey Howie, I like to read your rants. How about running for President? I think you would kick Chumps and Bidens arse right into the ground.

  27. I guess I’m lucky w Singapore Air. I know you say disabled except for US but I couldn’t reach anyone at their call center and had a flight JFK-FRA 3/17 that I needed to cancel due to travel restrictions. Finally SQ cancelled my return 3/23 and I went in to request a refund. Still wasn’t sure I would get it due to category of ticket, fact they state each leg is treated as a separate ticket for refund purposes and still showed I would get a voucher and not a refund. Then email I got said refund could take 4-6 weeks.

    Imagine my surprise when within a couple of days the $998 I paid for the entire Premium Economy ticket was credited back to my Amex account.

    Very happy and know I was a lot luckier than many.

  28. On September 30, 2019, we booked round trip travel on ANA (Japan) Seattle-Tokyo, leaving March 8, returning March 20, 2020. As the coronavirus situation worsened it was obvious that the trip would not be possible. We cancelled around March 5. ANA refunded the entire amount to the credit card used to purchase the ticket; the credit appeared a week later. No phone call was needed – it was all done online when we cancelled the trip.

  29. You can add Israir Airlines to the list. They’ve sent emails today to customers saying that the money will be waiting as a future credit and that refunds cannot be procced for now.

  30. What is meant by “CN” and “KR” for KLM and Air France exceptions?

  31. Hi, I hope you can help. I have a petition to get Easyjet to answer the phone!
    Thousands of people are in the dark with this company about cancelled flights. Please read it, sign and share it. I hope we can help a lot of people.
    https://secure.avaaz.org/en/community_petitions/stelios_hajiioannou_and_the_easyjet_company_board__hold_easyjet_accountable_to_the_contractual_commitments_it_made/?fMxEMeb&fbogname=amy+O.&fbclid=IwAR3hsp70pz8ypU0h8nAcJ2bDpO-qi-G9p_ztwTZGPdclv5_4mntTARGosZk

  32. @ Howard Miller. Few if any read your essays posted in this COMMENTS section. Why are you still dissing the Clinton’s, Obama’s and Biden? We survived that as Americans always do.

  33. Please add British Airways to this list…

    I live on the Isle of Man. I had a return trip booked to London City Airport in April. The Isle of Man is in lockdown no passnger flights in/out and only for essential travel. Also London City Airport is shut down indefinitely.

    So do BA cancel the flights on the return ticket and refund you? No they rebook you without asking to London Heathrow even though you are told by the Government to stay home. Then worse still after they do that they cancel the return flight but not the outward flight on a return ticket. Worse still again in their manage booking system they block you from rebooking.

    It is theft then they’ll be asking the Govt for a bail out despite not returning peoples money.

  34. The DOT website addresses this issue in two places, and the statements there are contradictory, or at the very least, subject to differing interpretation. One page states very clearly that a refund to credit card is due “when the airline is at fault.” https://www.transportation.gov/individuals/aviation-consumer-protection/refunds . The link quoted by Gary above says something different. Both are current DOT webpages. So which one is it? I guess it’s how you interpret the actual code, not just DOT’s attempt to convey information to laypeople. I sure wish an actual attorney would illuminate.
    Anyone want to volunteer??

  35. I booked airlines tickets thru Orbitz for United Airline tickets. I purchased the Travel Guard Insurance too. Now I have completed the required paperwork that was requested and still it’s not enough. One member of our group can’t fly and her doctor submitted a letter stating she cannot fly and to please refund her monies. Yesterday 04/01/20 they’ve sent another detailed form wanting her personal private health history; this form is very detailed! Who in the world wants to give them (Travel Guard) their private health history? They even want the doctor to give diagnosis as to when this ailment first occurred? I am appalled at all I’m having to go through to get a refund! Then explain to me why was the insurance purchased? I personally feel what they are doing to the consumers is just wrong. I later learned that Expedia owns Orbitz but still can’t get any assistance. Yet the nation is dealing with this COVID-19 and one of the representatives stated that was not an excuse! SERIOUSLY, when states are currently being on lock down how could you not consider what the nation is going through? I feel as if a class action law suit should be filed against these companies. It’s bad enough with dealing with whatever you’re going through on a daily basis and now you’re giving away free MONEY! WHO CAN AFFORD TO DO THIS WHEN SO MANY PEOPLE ARE OUT OF WORK?

  36. Please add Southwest Airlines to the list. I have tried to get a refund due to having to cancel our 40th wedding anniversary trip to Napa Valley. Hotels cancelled due to Covid19 and CA is basically closed for the near future. We did purchase the nonrefunable fare but fully intended to use the tickets. We have never cancelled a trip with any airline before and expected to go on this trip, This situation is out of the hands of the consumer and is extraordinary. I wrote letters to SWA but received emails denying my request from the same person despite my writing to different departments. SWA is issuing credits for a trip I don’t plan to take, may not be able to physically or financially take due to the aftermath of this pandemic. Airlines are sitting on more than 10 billion in consumer credit- knowing that many will never use it. I have searched website and facebook posts and many are seniors like we are. I feel that this is age discrimination because the senior population is being encouraged to stay home. I would take a credit for my children but SWA says no to credit transfers. They project an image of being consumer friendly and socially conscious but in the end they are just like all the rest. I hope there is a congressional committee investigation into the consumer fraud and age discrimination being practiced by airlines as I am sure SWA is not alone.

  37. Vueling refuses to refund or even voucher for a flight they cancelled From Paris to Newark on this IAG affiliate Level Airlines. Veuling handles all inquiries for Level. I told them don’t worry about a refund, just give me a voucher for the original amount and I’ll immediately book a flight in late August – their response lol –

    (flight LV8009 on 01/04/2020)

    ‘First of all, we would like to apologise for any inconvenience we may have caused you.

    After analyzing your case we inform you that according to the information registered in our databases your flight was affected by circumstances beyond the company’s control.

    We regret to inform you that, in accordance with EC Regulation 261/2004, you are not entitled to compensation. Some factors -such as adverse weather conditions, strikes, diversions, bird strikes, runway closures, etc.- are completely beyond the company’s control.

    In consequence, we regret to inform you that, according to the Community Passenger Protection Regulations, your case does not correspond any type of economic compensation‘

    I let them know that by not even offering a voucher, much less a refund they are in clear violation of EU Law

  38. Hi Gary, I am sorry I just don’t know where to post my complaint to Vietnam Airlines. I am hoping by posting it here they see and followed up my refund.. Thanks, Evi

    VIETNAM AIRLINES, REFUND MY TICKETS PLEASE!

    On 5 Dec 2019, I booked and paid for return flights from Denpasar to Hanoi for 2 pax (in total 8 flights) for departure 9 Apr 2020, return 14 Apr 2020 . The flights then cancelled due to Covid19.

    I have called Vietnam Airlines TWICE, and emailed them THREE times. No feedback as to when my money will be refunded.

    18 Mar – called Vietnam Airlines Jakarta office (spoken to Ms Wina which confirms that my tickets WILL BE REFUNDED due to change of schedule from Vietnam Airlines)
    23 Mar – emailed onlinesupport@vietnamairlines.com for Refund Request
    3 Apr – emailed onlinesupport@vietnamairlines.com again
    7 Apr – called Vietnam Airlines Customer Service in Vietnam (spoken to Agent No. 497 named Ms Tuoi which ALSO confirms that my tickets WILL BE REFUNDED due to change of schedule from Vietnam Airlines)
    23 Apr – emailed onlinesupport@vietnamairlines.com again

    Today is 19 May. It is 2 months since I first followed up for my refund. I am not very happy with this slow service. Any type of communication / response back to me is HIGHLY APPRECIATED.

    Vietnam Airlines, please can you have a look into this and REFUND MY MONEY BACK TO ME.

    Evi, 19 May 2020.

  39. Can u please add royal Jordanian they refuse to refund me and only give me credit for for up to a few months

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