Accepted rebooking as was not aware cash refund should have been offered.

gatsbyNZ

Long haul flight for March 23rd this year. Visa to the country suspended (the day after i applied and handed over cash!). On the 14th March looked  like air space was going to close so contacted the airline.  Was given a link by the airline and the option was rebook by end of year. No mention of cash refund. As the only time we could do this kind of trip again was December which is high season we rebooked for this time. However this country is now suffering badly from Covid19 and would not be able to get insurance cover. Now they are offering rebooking for 12 months from original date of travel(rather than just till end of year), vouchers with extra benefits, and if you dig deep there is a link to a cash refund application. have just submitted my request, but most likely will be rejected as obviously the rebooked flight has not been "cancelled". Annoyed that i panicked and rebooked. Do i have any claim to a cash refund? Went back on the website archive but no text is available. Should have taken a screen shot. Will name the airline if I do not get anywhere. It is a state airline so should be safe. 

Caz3121

gatsbyNZ said:

On the 14th March looked  like air space was going to close so contacted the airline.  Was given a link by the airline and the option was rebook by end of year. No mention of cash refund.

Was the flight actually cancelled by the airline at that time? If you cancelled before they did then there was no right to a refund.
The advice given in the main article was not to cancel and to wait until they did
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2020/02/coronavirus-travel-help-and-your-rights/
under "Important. DON'T rush to cancel your trip yourself"

blindman

gatsbyNZ said:

. Visa to the country suspended (the day after i applied and handed over cash!).
  so contacted the airline. 
 However this country is now suffering badly from Covid19 and would not be able to get insurance cover.

Why all the secrecy???

A bit more detail may elicit a helpful response, because at the minute it is impossible to say.

gatsbyNZ

blindman said:

gatsbyNZ said:

. Visa to the country suspended (the day after i applied and handed over cash!).
  so contacted the airline. 
 However this country is now suffering badly from Covid19 and would not be able to get insurance cover.

Why all the secrecy???

A bit more detail may elicit a helpful response, because at the minute it is impossible to say.

What does it matter if i said Pan AM and that I was flying to Greenland? The question is if i accepted their offer of a rebook (and to me it seemed it was the only offer availble) is that it?  More info: on that day i accepted the rebook my Visa was cancelled  the day earlier but the airline was still flying. Eventually the flight was cancelled when air traffic was stopped in the destination. 

gatsbyNZ

Caz3121 said:

gatsbyNZ said:

On the 14th March looked  like air space was going to close so contacted the airline.  Was given a link by the airline and the option was rebook by end of year. No mention of cash refund.

Was the flight actually cancelled by the airline at that time? If you cancelled before they did then there was no right to a refund.
The advice given in the main article was not to cancel and to wait until they did
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2020/02/coronavirus-travel-help-and-your-rights/
under "Important. DON'T rush to cancel your trip yourself"

Thanks. This was right at the start of countries shutting their boarders.  The article that you quote was not written yet. No articles were written yet on this topic. The airline only offered one option of rebooking. Do i rebook or not show and risk that the plane took off. We are talking four days before the plane was supposed to take off. All tourist visa's had been cancelled the day before. 

Caz3121

If, at the time you cancelled, the flight was still scheduled to operate, there would have been no right to a refund unless you had a refundable ticket. Rebooking may well have been the only option available to you, or a refund based on the fare rules of the ticket. 
I also had flights booked at the start of this....they were eventually cancelled 48 hours before departure so I managed to get refunds. I was not going to travel. Had the flight operated I accepted I would have lost the money unless the airline was offering any waivers for changes / vouchers etc

gatsbyNZ

Caz3121 said:

If, at the time you cancelled, the flight was still scheduled to operate, there would have been no right to a refund unless you had a refundable ticket. Rebooking may well have been the only option available to you, or a refund based on the fare rules of the ticket. 
I also had flights booked at the start of this....they were eventually cancelled 48 hours before departure so I managed to get refunds. I was not going to travel. Had the flight operated I accepted I would have lost the money unless the airline was offering any waivers for changes / vouchers etc

Thanks. I should have added the tickets were non-refundable. I too have accepted that we will loose the money as won't be flying (as FCO will warn against flying to this country). £1300 gone. 

New question, lets say i can't get a cash refund, should teh airline honour the 1 year period of rebooking which they didn't offer me at the time (finish by 31st Dec). 

blindman

gatsbyNZ said:

blindman said:

gatsbyNZ said:

. Visa to the country suspended (the day after i applied and handed over cash!).
  so contacted the airline. 
 However this country is now suffering badly from Covid19 and would not be able to get insurance cover.

Why all the secrecy???

A bit more detail may elicit a helpful response, because at the minute it is impossible to say.

What does it matter if i said Pan AM and that I was flying to Greenland? The question is if i accepted their offer of a rebook (and to me it seemed it was the only offer availble) is that it?  More info: on that day i accepted the rebook my Visa was cancelled  the day earlier but the airline was still flying. Eventually the flight was cancelled when air traffic was stopped in the destination. 

Because if it was BA you might

If it was United Airlines, possibly

If it was Air Canada then NO.

Streaky_Bacon

I had seats booked with Virgin in March. The border was closed, the flights were never cancelled, and I applied for a refund before the flight departed (I have never had anything but an automated response from Virgin).

This did not stop me successfully obtaining a chargeback on my Mastercard, six weeks after the outbound flight was scheduled.

I was told by many posters here that I needed to wait and that a chargeback would not be successful, but I have now had the money back on my card for 3 months.

If you paid by card chargeback may have been a route for you, but I believe that the deadline for claims is 120 days, and your flight was 124 days ago. However, if you paid by card, you may wish to consider very quickly requesting a charge back.

If the airline are offering cash refunds on their website (as Virgin originally were) you may be able to submit that as evidence that you are entitled to a cash refund.

If you want further advice I would suggest that you provide more details, including the name of the airline and the destination.

gatsbyNZ

Streaky_Bacon said:

I had seats booked with Virgin in March. The border was closed, the flights were never cancelled, and I applied for a refund before the flight departed (I have never had anything but an automated response from Virgin).

This did not stop me successfully obtaining a chargeback on my Mastercard, six weeks after the outbound flight was scheduled.

I was told by many posters here that I needed to wait and that a chargeback would not be successful, but I have now had the money back on my card for 3 months.

If you paid by card chargeback may have been a route for you, but I believe that the deadline for claims is 120 days, and your flight was 124 days ago. However, if you paid by card, you may wish to consider very quickly requesting a charge back.

If the airline are offering cash refunds on their website (as Virgin originally were) you may be able to submit that as evidence that you are entitled to a cash refund.

If you want further advice I would suggest that you provide more details, including the name of the airline and the destination.

Thanks Bacon,
Really helpful. Lot Polish Airways. Destination India return.

Penelopa.Pitstop

Good luck with getting any money from LOT. I'm waiting for £24.60 since March...