Tag Archives for trip cancellation.
United today announced that customers can have fees waived for changes to travel through end of the year provided they make their change or cancellation by April 30.
You’re better off waiting for a significant flight change or cancellation and insisting on a refund, and the April 30 deadline should be extended anyway. There doesn’t seem a strong reason to act now.
The U.S. government is requiring airlines to follow the law and refund customers whose flights are cancelled and the International Air Transport Association is complaining.
Airlines are on the verge of being partially nationalized it shouldn’t come as any surprise they’re already viewing customers like taxpayers.
DOT is telling airlines that continuing to deny refunds for cancelled flights and significant schedule changes is “a violation of the carriers’ obligation that could subject the carrier to an enforcement action.”
However the government will not act against airlines that have improperly refused refunds already provided they get their act together and fix their policy, educate staff about the change, and contact everyone that already took a voucher to let them know they are entitled to a refund.
In an interview Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao says that airlines have to refund customers when they cancel flights. That’s clear, published DOT policy.
Secretary Chao also said that the government should not ground the airlines, and that flying decisions should be left up to them – and that the nation needs the airlines flying, even now.
Marriott has updated its coronavirus policy, granting flexibility on cancellations through June 30th as well, though with no new information on what to expect from the Bonvoy program.
There’s a bunch of fine print to this. They’re warning that refunds may take 90 days; Design Hotels and Homes & Villas by Marriott are excluded; and this doesn’t apply to group boookings.
Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren and several Senate colleagues including Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, and 6 others, announced a letter to the CEOs of major U.S. airlines demanding “every company to issue full cash refunds to all customers who cancel their flights during the COVID-19 crisis.”
They don’t just want refunds for passengers whose flights are cancelled, they want refunds for everyone. But they’re a little late, grandstanding after they’ve given up any leverage by voting for the $58 billion airline bailout.
If there’s one thing consumers thought they could trust it’s that if an airline flight doesn’t operate they can get their money back. Many have refused and now Canada is backing up its airlines against consumers.
The problem for airlines is that this tactic (1) erodes what little trust consumers had, and (2) incentivizes customers not to buy airline tickets now for travel far in the future because they now know they might get stuck without travel or money.
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.
Airlines are worried about surviving. They have your cash. It may not be legal to keep it when flights are cancelled, but most customers will take what they are offered (future travel credit) and very few will complain to authorities.
Qatar Airways though has a better approach. They, too, want your cash. They want your future travel purchases when travel is again in the cards. They are honoring refunds but if you’ll take a credit instead they’ll give you a 10% bonus for taking a voucher. That’s creative and honors the customer.
Hyatt was first out of the gate offering compensation to people cancelling non-refundable bookings. Hilton and IHG both have come out with even greater flexibility, and both say they’re making changes to elite status requirements.
There are ways to benefit even if you plan to keep your current stays – but should you?
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 »
