How do I reclaim taxes for an unused flight?

sirajade

I had a flight to Toronto with Sunwing, a Canadian company and was unable to fly due to illness.
My Halifax Ultimate Reward insurance have advised me that I should seek to claim the taxes portion of the ticket back directly from the airline, as Halifax will not refund me this as part of my claim; They will only refund the fare, which is only 150 quid.

I contacted Sunwing in Canada (expensive phone calls and on hold for ages....) who told me in no uncertain terms that they DO NOT refund taxes - even though they are not applicable as I cannot fly.

The taxes are over 400 quid!

Can anyone help or advise please??? :mad:

apt

You should get back to Halifax and explain that the great bulk of what Sunwing describes as 'taxes' is not Air Passenger Duty, but in reality just part of the airfare that the airline has chosen to describe as 'taxes'. The fee for Halifax Ultimate Reward is going up to £15 per month. You might be better off, once this claim is settled, changing to a normal reward account and buying better insurance elsewhere.

sirajade

Thanks very much,
I shall do that and report back on Halifax's response.

GRM

Google suggest the Air Passenger Duty on a economy flight to Canada is currently £60 which Sunwing should refund (less an admin fee if they wish). The rest of your ticket cost should be covered by the insurance.

sirajade

Thank you folks. You are giving me the confidence to carry on fighting for my money now. I was ready to give up and thought it too much hassle, but I will persevere now. Thank you!:T

Altarf

There is a simple three step solution to this problem.

1. A letter or email (not a phone call) to Sunwing asking for the taxes back (as has already been pointed out, most of the £400 is probably charges not taxes).

2. When you get a response from Sunwing, whatever it is, send it to Halifax and ask them to pay whatever Sunwing are not going to pay.

3. If Halifax still refuse, escalate the problem all the way up through their complaints system, until you get the option to take it to the Financial Ombudsman.

It won't get to the end of item 3, Halifax will pay before it gets to the Financial Ombudsman