AIBU to be annoyed with refusal to refund?

[mrsgregorypeck]

I booked flights in January to Singapore to see my brother. I should have flown last week. I had notice in March that the returning flight was cancelled and, since lockdown had already begun anyway, I just waited in the confident belief that since I hadn't cancelled, either Emirates or BYOjet, through whom I had booked, would have to refund in the fullness of time.

I must stress that I wasn't expecting a speedy refund since I know we are in the middle of an unprecedented pandemic. However, today I received an email from BYOjet saying that according to Emirates' policy, I must accept a credit note and fly only with Emirates by the end of January 2021.

My brother is now back in the UK so I now have no wish to fly there anyway. I paid with my American Express card.

What should I do next? Advice please, wise mumsnetters. My annoyance will abate once I can do something constructive about the situation. Thank you for any advice which can be offered.

Have you read this emirates policy? I would be googling/looking on twitter as others will have similar experiences.
I know many airlines want you to take a credit note but I'd be surprised if you had to.
Your credit card is another route to take but I think they'd expect you to engage with the airlines first.

I had similar with Air France. Someone advised me on Twitter to try a chargeback through the card I paid with. Worth a go? (I haven't yet)

Air France say you HAVE TO have a credit note but if you don't use it within 12 months, then you can get a refund! The law is to give a refund now.

Following with interest as my Singapore Airlines flights this weekend were cancelled by the airline and the travel agent I booked through are dragging their heels with a refund and claiming they can charge a £70 admin fee. I've just sent off a form to Tesco credit cards as I paid with that, hopefully they'll be able to help. I'd get in touch with whoever you booked it through first.

It’s illegal for them to force you to take a credit note (currently however this may change). I would just go to American Express and get a chargeback, they are one of the most helpful credit card companies in my experience and you’ll likely get it a hell of a lot quicker than a refund from the airline. Whatever you do don’t accept the credit note otherwise it’s much more difficult to then get a refund

Go via your bank.
They can do a charge back although it takes time.

The airline should’ve refunded you but you may have slipped through the net

I had Easter flights cancelled by Ryan Air, my son was visiting with his family from Spain (we booked them at Christmas). They promised a refund but 3 weeks later I’m still waiting. My credit card company said if it takes much longer (I’m not being paid, can’t work so need the money now). Then I could do the section 75 chargeback by supplying them with emails sent to us. This is because I purchased over 120 days ago I think they said.

BA has cancelled my flight to Italy at the end of May but the return flight some 9 days later still stands! I don't know how they expect me to be able to use it though....

I had flights cancelled with Air France, I have repeatedly tried to get a refund over the last 4 weeks, by phone, or on their site. Finally yesterday I bit the bullet & hang on in line for 64 minutes before getting my agent,
They are giving me a credit to use within a year of the booking, so for me, next February.
BUT the credit is for the ticket only & you don't get the airport tax etc. back
So I get back 49€, instead of 79€ per ticket....... Obviously a complete scam.
How you pay tax on a ticket that doesn't exist is a mystery to me.
I have given up hoping for more.

You should have the airport tax refunded @cooldarkroom. Follow that up. I'm sure you can get airport tax back on any unused flight.

Martin Lewis MSE has loads on this on his page. You are legally entitled to a full refund, they just try to get you to take a credit note as per their policy. Policy is different to law.

I had a flight booked with Virgin Atlantic & they are offering refunds. Good to see at least one company doing the right thing, though it may be a long wait, they've estimated 100 days, but not surprising considering the volume of claims to deal with.

Same issue with Ryanair to begin with, my flight to Italy was cancelled and they wanted me to rebook my flight (not to mention they don't transfer luggage you've paid for so you have to repay it). They eventually agreed to process a refund so I'm in the queue for that. I am going through my travel insurance if they leave me out of pocket.

I had booked in November to fly to Nepal with Emirates at the end of this month. As countries started to close their borders I waited for the inevitable flight cancellation to come through which it duly did.

When I called Emirates to sort out a refund I was told that as I was on a non-refundable ticket I could either be refunded only the passenger tax part of my ticket or accept a voucher for the full amount.

Their reason for this was that despite the fact there would be no flight for me to get on at LGW, by requesting a refund instead of accepting the voucher I was in effect cancelling my flight

The law is that they must offer a full refund as they have cancelled. Speak to your credit card provider, I was advised to request a refund in writing from Emirates (email/online fine) and if they don't respond within 15 days then I can claim a section 75.

Surprisingly I haven't heard a thing from Emirates so will be contacting my card provider again tomorrow.

I was due to fly to Berlin on 7th april from Dublin. Once my flight was cancelled I rang aer lingus and have a had a full refund for the outward and inbound flight including the tax. The refund was in my account within 2 days. I'm still waiting on my refund from expedia for my hotel. Up until the flight was cancelled they were offering a voucher which could be used within 5 years or to reschedule the flight with no admin fees(but would've had to pay any price increase) Reading how hard others are finding getting a refund I feel very lucky. It sounds like many airlines are trying to force a voucher onto people when they are entitled to a refund.

Thanks so much for all replies.

The Emirates policies information on their website makes no mention of my situation (which obviously applies to thousands of others) so no clarification there.

I have contacted American Express and also replied to BYOjet stating that since I am legally entitled to a refund, I look forward to receiving this in the near future.

Thanks also for the Martin Lewis website information. I will go and have a look at this now.

I have the same situation with Emirates. Legally they can't force you to have a credit note and I've read that they've change that policy now. I requested a refund through my travel agent and they were evasive. You can claim a refund directly from the Emirates site but not sure if you can do that if you've gone through an agent.

Tickets booked through a travel agent

If you booked your ticket through a travel agent, you can choose to keep your original ticket or request a refund, in accordance with our policy. Please contact your travel agent to arrange this.

I have told my agent that the Emirates site now says to claim refund through the agent and sent the link; www.emirates.com/uk/english/help/refund-request/

Depending on what they say I might just try claiming through Emirates directly, and if that fails, then I'll do the credit card claim.

Let me know if you have any luck with it? I can do the same.

I just rang my bank (Santander) and am starting the chargeback process for my flight to France and an internal flight within France.

My return flight was with Easyjet and they haven't cancelled it! Like a PP, not sure how I can use that when I can't get to France!

A very happy update: American Express phoned me back and immediately refunded my money!

They have opened a dispute with BYO Jet and will let me know the outcome. Amazing service.

As a bonus, the American Express man sounded like Antonio Banderas.

BA have changed their website so even if they cancel you can only accept a voucher. If you want to insist on a refund you have to call their customer service centre and after a few hundred attempts you may actually get through, they will then try to persuade you that you can have a voucher but if you tell them that legally they have to refund to the original method of payment within seven days they do give in.

I got refunds from Aer Lingus within 72 hours of completing their online refund request form. No argument and no hassle.

I've just written to my credit card company to try and claim back under section 75. My flight to south east Asia has been cancelled by the airline but both the airline and the travel agent are trying to retain admin fees totalling over £100. They are just not responding to my question of why they won't refund the whole amount under Atol protection and EU law so have just gone straight to my credit card.

Like you, rebooking is not an option for me as was visiting a friend who won't be there next year!

I hsve the same from Brussels air and American Airlines. I've gone to my credit card provider for a charge back and will hear in 4-6 weeks.

The problem is that most airlines and travel agents are sticking together, and whilst the law is they mist refund, they're just refusing to do so. I was meant to be flying on a package holiday on Monday, the agent acknowledged they legally have to refund me, but 'the company stance is to offer a refund credit note'. So they've gone ahead and done it anyway.

I've started a section 75 claim via my credit card, but if that doesn't work out, the only available option is to sue via the small claims court.

Can anyone please provide a link to wherever it says they are legally obliged to offer a refund? I am having the same issue but when I google it it says that due to Covid being extraordinary circumstances and out of an airline's control, they are not obliged to refund you.