Had success claiming back Airport Passenger Duty after a missed flight?

fifeken

Had a refund of APD with no admin fees from easyJet.  One passenger from a group of four for which I made the booking and received the refund.

shinydoc

I've not been able to find an answer to this one, but if the airline cancels the flight and possibly moves to another the next day and pays you EU261 compensation (eventually) can you still claim back APC etc.
I guess I still flew eventually, but not on the cancelled flights? (Two consecutively cancelled flights in my case, from different airports - a right fiasco with BA!)

eskbanker

shinydoc said:

I've not been able to find an answer to this one, but if the airline cancels the flight and possibly moves to another the next day and pays you EU261 compensation (eventually) can you still claim back APC etc.
I guess I still flew eventually, but not on the cancelled flights? (Two consecutively cancelled flights in my case, from different airports - a right fiasco with BA!)

If you don't fly and accept a full refund from the airline then that includes the APD.

If you instead take a replacement flight (at no extra cost) then you'll have paid one lot of APD and effectively 'used' it for the journey you made, so no refund due.

kirillm

The list of the airlines is missing KLM - Could you update that please? I found it to be the best 'refunding' airline. I booked the cheapest, obviously non-changeable non-refundable ticket from LCY to AMS earlier this year. When I my plans changed I was just about to call the customer service and try to get the APD refunded but checked my booking on KLM website and it was a bliss. Not only do they have an option of cancelling, they also tell you in advance how much you'd get back. I think I got back about £40 from a £65 ticket. So easy!

I'm about to cancel a BA flight I booked for the next year and they don't give you all information in advance.

Beachwalker56

Hi,I only just found out about this rule,after hearing Martin Lewis on Radio 5 19th.Sept.Does anyone know if there is a time limit on claiming?I had to miss a long haul flight,in May 23 ,which was booked with Singapore Airlines using the Manchester Airport Website(so a 3rd.party)I informed SA at the time I would not be able to make the flight,but they said contact MA.I did and of course my booking was non refundable,but they never mentioned claiming the tax back.

I have emailed MA, but they are telling me to contact KIWI? who take their payments.Kiwi only deal with a current booking according to the link I received from Man Airport.

I have now emailed the help desk at Man Airport, to see what they say.

Any helpful comments before the help desk get back to me,would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

eskbanker

The MSE article that this thread is about suggests that Singapore don't have a time limit, but if you bought via Kiwi, then their terms may be different and they'll probably impose an admin fee to claim any APD refund for you.  The airport help desk will presumably just direct you to contact kiwi.com - presumably the booking confirmation and other documentation will have been issued by kiwi.com?

Beachwalker56

Hi

Thanks for the reply.

The help desk got back to me quickly and asked me for my booking reference, which fortunatley seems to have the correct format for them.

My confirmation pdf came headed Manchester Airport.No mention of KIWI anywhere?So I was surprised when they told me this.

I will update when the help desk reply to the references I have sent them.

eskbanker

Fair enough - if the airport help desk is able and willing to sort you out then great, but it does seem reasonably clear that they're just putting their own skin on the kiwi.com website, in that the 'book flights' option from the 'flights and hotels' menu of the airport site goes straight to https://manchesterairport.kiwi.com/en/search/tiles/manchester-manchester-united-kingdom/--/anytime/anytime/ and the booking section of the main flights and hotels page specifies "Powered by Kiwi.com", so it seems inevitable to me that the booking was actually made via kiwi.com and I'd expect this to be evident within the actual booking terms.

Beachwalker56

Hi,

So the Help Desk replied they had traced my booking but their reply was-

You will need to contact the airline- Singapore airlines -  in regards to this, unfortunatelywe no longer have control of this booking.

I have found an email address for Singapore Airlines and cc'd the help desk in on my email.

Checking back on my CC the payment was taken by P&P Associates Stevenage.On the link you sent, I can see KIWI at the top,but there is definatley no mention of them on my confirmation emails,but can see P&P Associates at the foot of the confirmation.

The tax was only £150, but someone has it in their bank and I want to know who.

I feel an email to the Guardian being sent soon!

eskbanker

It still seems to me that you need to locate the booking Ts & Cs, which would normally be linked from the confirmation - these will clarify exactly who you contracted with, and should also specify how cancellations are dealt with.

I'd assume that as things stand currently, your £150 is in the bank account of the UK government, and the issue is who can extract it from there (and how much they'd deduct for doing so) - my understanding remains that this needs to be processed via the booking agent rather than the airline, so it wouldn't be a surprise if Singapore tell you that (again)!