Reimbursements for cancelled trips due to COVID-19

1

I suspect a least a couple other people on this forum were or will be in the same situation as me so, at the least, they might find this interesting…

I waited until my flight was actually cancelled (7 days prior) and then for the booking agency (lastminute) to contact me. (FYI: I only booked through an agency as I found a deal that was much cheaper than the same flight directly from the airline.)

Now, a couple days after the cancelled flight, lastminute is offering 3 choices:

  1. Travel credit of original price + 10%, valid 12 months, can convert to cash (minus fee) in 6 months
  2. Voucher of original price, valid 12 months, explicitly not convertible to cash
  3. Refund of original price minus 30EUR. Might take a long time and is at discretion of airline (who might go bankrupt).

It is presented as only the 1st option being available, but you can click some small grey text to reveal options 2 and 3. :laughing:

Unless I’ve missed something, I’m not sure why anyone would take option 2. I guess the choice now is whether I expect the airline (a major European flag-carrier) and/or lastminute to go bankrupt. I might flip a coin.

2

lucky you. I’m still waiting for an answer…
I already calculated it as a loss :confused:

1 Like
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I had a similar experience with Easyjet too and requested a refund about a month ago (that flight was cancelled well in advance). They say not to contact them until 90 days have passed…

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To share an alternative (positive outcome) experience with EasyJet:

  • trip scheduled for Easter break
  • flights (to and from) cancelled about 3-4 days before the respective dates
    • at that time the system only offered the free date switch
    • some time later also voucher “reimbursement” showed up
    • I didn’t care for either - I wanted my money back; so I waited
  • after 2-3 weeks I got an email with instructions for other options, one of which was how to request for full refund - which I did, and 2 days ago the money landed back to my credit card

Here that email excerpt, so you can try the same perhaps:

My flight has been cancelled, what should I do?
Where your flight has been cancelled, you would have received an email from us with the options available to you. You can self-serve both these options through Manage Bookings online or on the app. These include:

  • The option to transfer your flight for free. Seats are currently for sale until February 2021.
  • The option to claim a voucher for the full value of your ticket. If you aren’t ready to book again just yet, a voucher provides the flexibility to book travel in future, for flying through to at least Winter 2021. Click here for voucher terms and conditions
  • If you prefer a refund , email your request to flightrefund@easyJet.com . As soon as your refund is processed, we will send you an email confirmation. It is extremely important that you enter the following information in the subject line of the email, in the same format as shown below. This will ensure we can process your request quickly. If you have more than one booking reference, please submit separate requests.
    Subject Line : Booking Reference/Departure Date/EN
    Example : ABC1D2E/16042020/EN
    If you already actioned a flight change, received a voucher or a refund, then no further action is required.
5

Yeah, for my Easyjet trip I did the same thing as you. Still waiting for the refund, but I am encouraged by the fact that they have refunded you. :slight_smile:

For lastminute, still hesitating between the “travel credit” and delayed reimbursement. Flight was supposed to be with SAS… I’m doubting that the Scandi governments will let it fail.

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Just happened upon the article above, which mostly repeats what’s already in this thread.

I just had one airbnb-booking (accomodation) which we had to cancel. Airbnb was “very generous” compared to hotels. But when you consider it’s mostly not actually Airbnb’s money, but 90% “only” the money of the person who rents it out that they are reimbursing that might explain that. Ah, the modern sharing economy.

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My Easyjet trip was refunded today. I didn’t send them any emails but in some instructions, hidden in the page, there was a method to get refunded by filling some info in the website.

8

RTS a couple hours ago…

www.rts.ch/info/economie/11318923-comment-surmonter-le-cassetete-du-remboursement-des-billets-davions-annules.html

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Depends. I’ve had very good experience with Premier Inn. After rather generously lifting restrictions for cancellations and rebookings on non-refundable rates, I merely had to pull up the booking by reference number online, where they offered basically a 1-click cancellation. Refund to my credit card was as fast as it could be.

10

This is good. I didn’t know about the OFAC complaint form. https://www.bazl.admin.ch/bazl/fr/home/bonasavoir/droits-des-passagers/coronavirus.html