Trying to get refund from TravelUp

awaw76

Booked flights in October 2019 and travelled first leg on 30.11.2019. Flying via emriates but booked on TravelUp using my debit card I think. 

The return flight was cancelled in March by Emirates. 

I have been trying to get my refund through from TravelUp for months. I contacted Emirates who said they had issued a refund but now it was out of their hands.

TravelUp straight up lie all the time. So what options are left now -they should be banned from being an agent.

Westin

"TravelUp straight up lie all the time" - so what exactly have they told you?

Can you find out from Emirates exactly how much the refund was for (it won't be half the return fare) and when and to whom they paid it back to.

awaw76

Westin said:

"TravelUp straight up lie all the time" - so what exactly have they told you?

Can you find out from Emirates exactly how much the refund was for (it won't be half the return fare) and when and to whom they paid it back to.

They fist said we will send a request to Emirates to shange status of the refund. They never did after calling them over a month. I then contacted Emirates who said they would change the status. But they said they couldnt tell me what the refund amount would be. Yes - Emirates said we cannot tell you the amount we have refunded.

Can I try a chargeback on my debit card?

I then called TravelUp exactly a month ago and told them Emirates had changed the staus. They then said it will take a few weeks to process - its been over  a month.

TravelUp are liars - simple.

Caz3121

chargeback usually has a time limit of 120 days...plus, as you point out you have no idea how much your claim would be for
how did you eventually return? was your travel insurance involved?

Westin

Given you had flown the outbound sector, Travel Up would probably not be aware that there was a problem with your return flight and itinerary, or that the flight was cancelled.  You contacting them might be the first notification.

The ticket was likely very restrictive and in normal circumstances non-refundable. Clearly a cancelled second sector changes that but the process falls outside of the normal on a non-refundable fare.  Some manual intervention required for TU to contact the airline. Not that it should be the case but I suspect this was not a priority for TU on what they saw as a flown ticket.

Many might just have the airline offer a rescheduling for the return sector but when that is not possible then the passengers travel insurance would be a likely course of action to get back home.  You don’t mention how you got home. Was it via support or a claim from your travel insurer?

Timing wise, even once a claim then refund processed, it can take weeks. Some payments might be through a system call the Bank Settlement Plan which I think runs fortnightly between airlines/agents.  There might also be a few refund levels of administration to get through.

Travel Up may deduct a service fee on any refund. The money held for the cancelled and unflown sector, less TU fees might not be as much as you are hoping for.

Sadly I think you are at the mercy of this agent and the timeframes they work to. 

awaw76

Westin said:

Given you had flown the outbound sector, Travel Up would probably not be aware that there was a problem with your return flight and itinerary, or that the flight was cancelled.  You contacting them might be the first notification.

The ticket was likely very restrictive and in normal circumstances non-refundable. Clearly a cancelled second sector changes that but the process falls outside of the normal on a non-refundable fare.  Some manual intervention required for TU to contact the airline. Not that it should be the case but I suspect this was not a priority for TU on what they saw as a flown ticket.

Many might just have the airline offer a rescheduling for the return sector but when that is not possible then the passengers travel insurance would be a likely course of action to get back home.  You don’t mention how you got home. Was it via support or a claim from your travel insurer?

Timing wise, even once a claim then refund processed, it can take weeks. Some payments might be through a system call the Bank Settlement Plan which I think runs fortnightly between airlines/agents.  There might also be a few refund levels of administration to get through.

Travel Up may deduct a service fee on any refund. The money held for the cancelled and unflown sector, less TU fees might not be as much as you are hoping for.

Sadly I think you are at the mercy of this agent and the timeframes they work to. 

Natwest denied the chargeback as they said it was beyond the 540days limit. I have asked for chargeback terms to confirm this as I think the limit starts from the date of future delivery.

So what other options do I have left. 

nototentsdirect

you have the small claims court. i had an issue with travelup. they kept doing the same to me as they did to you. i did manage to get it sorted through my bank

awaw76

nototentsdirect said:

you have the small claims court. i had an issue with travelup. they kept doing the same to me as they did to you. i did manage to get it sorted through my bank

Travelup should be banned. IATA and ATOL means nothing. 

Alan_Bowen

IATA and ATOL are not about the standard of service, IATA allows them to issue scheduled tickets and ATOL protects you if they go bust. You need to look for a trade association that guarantees a minimum standard of service such as AITO and ABTA, perhaps no surprise they don't belong to any voluntary association at all

Aydenblake2

We had a medical emergency, Britsh Airways issued a refund which Travelup did not disclose until they realised I had evidence direct from BA, they then conjoured up an admin charge of £75 per person which wiped the refund out, convenient !! stay away and go with a more reputable company. I am moving on to the next 20 review sites to say exactly the same, and the financial obmbudsamn and credit cared company have now both taken up the case.

eskbanker

Aydenblake2 said:

We had a medical emergency, Britsh Airways issued a refund which Travelup did not disclose until they realised I had evidence direct from BA, they then conjoured up an admin charge of £75 per person which wiped the refund out, convenient !! stay away and go with a more reputable company. I am moving on to the next 20 review sites to say exactly the same, and the financial obmbudsamn and credit cared company have now both taken up the case.

FOS won't be interested in travel agents or airlines, but might challenge a card company if they fail to adhere to their obligations....