Author Topic: Ticket Refunds ?  (Read 6203 times)

Not fast & rarely furious

tweeting occasional in(s)anities as andrewxclark

Re: Ticket Refunds ?
« Reply #26 on: 26 April, 2020, 08:29:54 am »
I was planning on taking part in the 2020 Semaine Federale in Valognes (France). The event has
been cancelled, and the organisers are in the process of orgainsing refunds. I have already paid
half of the ferry fee (£247), but would lose it all if I cancelled my sailing slot. If I pay the other
half of the fee and the crossing doesn't take place (1 Aug) Brittany Ferries will offer vouchers
instead. I am going to hold out for a refund; as far as I know, they have to cough up within 14 days.

LittleWheelsandBig

  • Whimsy Rider
Re: Ticket Refunds ?
« Reply #27 on: 10 May, 2020, 05:38:51 pm »
My Etihad flights to/ from Oz later this month have unsurprisingly been cancelled. Seeing as I would have been locked in a quarantine hotel in a different city to my destination for the entire time I'd be on Aussie soil and would have been unable to tick off any of several reasons for the trip, I wasn't too keen on making the journey anyway.

I have the choice of:
1) A one year voucher to any Etihad destination within the next year. Not particularly enticing, given likely travel/ quarantine restrictions through 2021.
2) Cash repayment of 90% of the ticket value (10% handling fee by the travel agent) within three weeks.
3) Full refund in about six months.

I'm not hurting for cash so I'm leaning towards option 3. Any sensible reasons to select any of the others?
Wheel meet again, don't know where, don't know when...

Re: Ticket Refunds ?
« Reply #28 on: 10 May, 2020, 05:57:45 pm »
My Etihad flights to/ from Oz later this month have unsurprisingly been cancelled. Seeing as I would have been locked in a quarantine hotel in a different city to my destination for the entire time I'd be on Aussie soil and would have been unable to tick off any of several reasons for the trip, I wasn't too keen on making the journey anyway.

I have the choice of:
1) A one year voucher to any Etihad destination within the next year. Not particularly enticing, given likely travel/ quarantine restrictions through 2021.
2) Cash repayment of 90% of the ticket value (10% handling fee by the travel agent) within three weeks.
3) Full refund in about six months.

I'm not hurting for cash so I'm leaning towards option 3. Any sensible reasons to select any of the others?
Option 3 is the sensible one.
FWIW the legal angle is that in the event of a cancellation, the airline has to reimburse you in cash, in full, within 7 days notice of the cancellation.
Not sure why you are having to wait six months (by which time the airline may not exist).
Were it me, I'd be fighting for a refund sooner rather than later.

Re: Ticket Refunds ?
« Reply #29 on: 10 May, 2020, 07:04:26 pm »
Indeed, the longer you hold on (or accept 'vouchers') the more likely you are to receive nothing.

I've chosen to accept vouchers and delayed repayments for places I care about (I've even bought gift cards redeemable in the future to keep certain local shops/restaurants going) but airlines can get to fuck.
"Yes please" said Squirrel "biscuits are our favourite things."

Re: Ticket Refunds ?
« Reply #30 on: 10 May, 2020, 07:28:40 pm »
Indeed, the longer you hold on (or accept 'vouchers') the more likely you are to receive nothing.

That's why I've sought a refund from Eurostar for a package weekend away. They've only been offering "eVouchers",  but their own T&Cs say refund if they're unable to provide the package as booked. This is consistent with the Package Travel Regulations, as far as I know. Given neither the outbound or inbound train was running and our hotel is closed until at least the end of May, I can't see how they've anywhere to go (like us). Just waiting for their response now.

Credit where it's due, GWR and Premier Inn have been great with sorting refunds. Premier Inn refunded immediately for a non-flexible booking. GWR refunded after taking a few weeks to process the request.

Davef

Re: Ticket Refunds ?
« Reply #31 on: 10 May, 2020, 07:30:08 pm »
It is prisoners dilemma.

If everyone pushed for the immediate cash refund then the airline would most likely go bankrupt and you might get half your money back.

From a best average result people should wait the 6 months.

For a best individual result, persuade everyone else to wait 6 months and then go for the immediate cash refund yourself.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

LittleWheelsandBig

  • Whimsy Rider
Re: Ticket Refunds ?
« Reply #32 on: 10 May, 2020, 08:13:48 pm »
I suspect the travel agent might be holding the cash, while blaming the airline. Once I find the legislation mentioning the seven day limit, I'll probably push for that.
Wheel meet again, don't know where, don't know when...

robgul

  • Cycle:End-to-End webmaster
  • cyclist, Cytech accredited mechanic & woodworker
    • Cycle:End-to-End
Re: Ticket Refunds ?
« Reply #33 on: 10 May, 2020, 09:02:40 pm »
I suspect the travel agent might be holding the cash, while blaming the airline. Once I find the legislation mentioning the seven day limit, I'll probably push for that.

.... and the whole 100% - the travel agent's service hasn't been delivered either.

Rob

ian

Re: Ticket Refunds ?
« Reply #34 on: 11 May, 2020, 09:26:13 am »
I got mine back in full no quibbles (obviously they offered vouchers). As said, it's bad for the airline, but I don't know how many of them will exist after this, other than it will be fewer than before, and I won't be at the front of the creditor queue. I'd rather have my £3000 than a bank collecting on what it can.

If a travel agent is taking a commission, it should be seperate from the face value of the tickets (which is what you are entitled to).

Re: Ticket Refunds ?
« Reply #35 on: 11 May, 2020, 04:22:10 pm »
I feel fairly happy with my refund situation. This was a 3 week self-booked Interrail trip across Western & Central Europe, and we should have been leaving today.

I've had full refunds for most of the hotels - Travelbag were stellar performers, Agoda came good in the end, but were really hard work, the hotel I booked direct refinded me in full - Booking.com & Hotels.com don't want to know. Lesson learned : use one single booking engine, and swallow up the extra cost of a refundable / cancel-able room.
Stena Ferries couldn't have been more helpful - we were using a Dutch Flyer for our first leg, and they'll rebook me whenever I like, it's just that their booking engine isn't open for next June.
The ATOC site we bought our Interrail passes from were excellent - they will re-issue our passes for any date in the next 18 months at no extra charge.
Interrail.eu gave us a full refund for the reservations we had made, although we did have to return the reservation slips back to NL by post, and communication were via a mixture of Twitter & eMail which wasn't satisfactory. I'll probably book the reservations through Bahn.de next year where possible.
The Austrian Railways people were starting to be shitty early on, but when they cancelled nearly all of their sleeper services and opened up a help line that was genuinely helpful (ie they allowed non-German speakers to talk to them) they were very very helpful, with my (expensive) sleeper refund back in my account within 15 minutes of talking to the man in Salzberg.
The jury is still out on Eurostar - we've got a 'pass reservation ticket' which we can't try to get a refund on, until the train we are booked on doesn't run, so we'll see.
So the travel insurance might only need to be there for two hotels (5 nights in 'good' hotels) and possibly Eurostar.

It's been 'interesting' trying to unravel all the planning - the other lesson learned has been to keep meticulous records for next year's journey!
Too many angry people - breathe & relax.

LittleWheelsandBig

  • Whimsy Rider
Re: Ticket Refunds ?
« Reply #36 on: 14 May, 2020, 08:56:50 am »
I suspect the travel agent might be holding the cash, while blaming the airline. Once I find the legislation mentioning the seven day limit, I'll probably push for that.

.... and the whole 100% - the travel agent's service hasn't been delivered either.

Rob

I’ve not found the legislation for a seven day repayment limit. Where would I find such a thing to quote at the travel agent?
Wheel meet again, don't know where, don't know when...

Jaded

  • The Codfather
  • Formerly known as Jaded
Re: Ticket Refunds ?
« Reply #37 on: 14 May, 2020, 11:55:24 am »
AirBnB emailed yesterday, cancelling our booking and processing a full refund, with a 10% voucher for future bookings. (That must be used in a month, and must be used on a booking of the same or more than the cancelled one)
It is simpler than it looks.

Re: Ticket Refunds ?
« Reply #38 on: 14 May, 2020, 04:59:13 pm »
I suspect the travel agent might be holding the cash, while blaming the airline. Once I find the legislation mentioning the seven day limit, I'll probably push for that.

.... and the whole 100% - the travel agent's service hasn't been delivered either.

Rob

I’ve not found the legislation for a seven day repayment limit. Where would I find such a thing to quote at the travel agent?
Have a look through this, LWaB.
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2020/02/coronavirus-travel-help-and-your-rights/#airlinecancels

I've found something in there which refers to cancelled package holidays being refunded within 2 weeks of the cancellation, but nothing specifically referring flight only.

Re: Ticket Refunds ?
« Reply #39 on: 15 May, 2020, 06:33:04 pm »
That's my understanding, too. Greater protection for holiday packages, followed by 'linked arrangements' including refunds in 14 days for packages. See the section 'What do I do if I’ve booked a package holiday and my travel company makes a significant change to my booking?' here: https://www.abta.com/tips-and-advice/is-my-holiday-protected/new-package-travel-regulations

Re: Ticket Refunds ?
« Reply #40 on: 15 May, 2020, 06:53:28 pm »
If you've just booked flights you haven't booked a package holiday and it's very unlikely to be covered by ATOL.
"Yes please" said Squirrel "biscuits are our favourite things."

LittleWheelsandBig

  • Whimsy Rider
Re: Ticket Refunds ?
« Reply #41 on: 15 May, 2020, 07:35:52 pm »
I figured that ATOL was meaningless for me. Cancelled flights from a EU airport by a non-EU airline must have a full refund option under EU legislation but not necessarily cancelled flights to EU airports by a non-EU airline. Good fun!

https://www.caa.co.uk/Passengers/Resolving-travel-problems/Delays-cancellations/Your-rights/Your-rights-when-you-fly/ leads to
“ Receive a refund

You can get your money back for all parts of the ticket you haven’t used. For instance, if you have booked a return flight and the outbound leg is cancelled, you can get the full cost of the return ticket back from your airline.”

This suggests a full refund is mandatory if I ask for it but I can’t find anything about the maximum time they can take to carry out the refund.
Wheel meet again, don't know where, don't know when...

Re: Ticket Refunds ?
« Reply #42 on: 15 May, 2020, 07:40:51 pm »
The organisation of the Semaine Federale Cycle Festival has sent out emails to all participants
who've paid for this year's event advising them of refunds. They will be processed over the next
couple of months.


I must admit, they're pretty good at this*. In 2015 when I tore my achilles tendon 6 weeks before
the event, I asked for a refund and was given one. They always refund tickets you've purchased
throughout the week (for spending during the event) that you haven't used.


*That was in stark contrast to the response I received from Eurotunnel.

**Pity I forgot about holiday insurance :hand:

LittleWheelsandBig

  • Whimsy Rider
Re: Ticket Refunds ?
« Reply #43 on: 15 May, 2020, 08:13:13 pm »
The travel agent will take 10% of the ticket value as a handling charge for retrieving the refund. This is a new charge brought in purely as a result of the virus situation. I believe this charge is unreasonable but don’t actually know if the contract between me and the travel agent allowed them to introduce additional charges willy nilly. Their website suggests that they can.
“ Refunds: Some airlines are offering a refund. You can still choose a credit note if you prefer. Where you don't wish to accept a credit note and the airline is allowing refunds, you may ask us to request a refund from the airline on your behalf.
We will pass on the refund to you within 14 days of us having received it from the airline, but please note that we have no control over how long the airline takes to process your refund request.
Some airlines have now introduced a manual process for requesting refunds instead of their usual process. This requires us to complete an application form to request your refund, which significantly adds to the time and cost of requesting a refund on your behalf. We have increased the size of our refunds team to complete these application forms, which we typically lodge with the airline within 7 days of your refund request. However, some airlines are anticipating taking 4 to 6 months to process your refund following receipt of the application form. This timeframe is not something which we control..
As we incur a cost in processing refunds on behalf of our customers, our terms and conditions allow us to charge an administration fee to cover these costs. Therefore, once we receive your refund from the airline, we will forward this on to you less our administration fee for processing the refund. This administration fee will be 10% of the per ticket value, subject to a maximum amount of £75 per ticket. We know that waiting for a refund is frustrating and we really sympathize. Therefore, in the event that the airline takes longer than 4 months to process your refund request, we will waive our administration fee as a gesture of goodwill.”

The airline is obligated to issue a refund if requested but will not refund the ticket value directly to me, only to the travel agent. They did give me the airline website for agents. On there, it says
“ Refunds

Some customers may be entitled to a refund if their ticket and EMD originated in the USA, UK, Switzerland, or European Union, and their flight has been cancelled by Etihad Airways.

Simply submit your refund request via “Refunds Applications” through the BSP link. ARC agents will need to send an email to ARCRefunds@etihad.ae. Please note refunds can take up to 4 weeks to process. Don’t forget, you can also change the date of your customer’s flight for free or offer Etihad Credit for future travel.”

That doesn’t sound like much work to get 10% of the refund value.

According to the peanut gallery, what should be my next step?
Wheel meet again, don't know where, don't know when...

Davef

Re: Ticket Refunds ?
« Reply #44 on: 15 May, 2020, 09:36:45 pm »
Ironman Denmark is offering postponement to next year or a transfer to Ironman Kazakhstan.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Re: Ticket Refunds ?
« Reply #45 on: 16 May, 2020, 11:48:26 am »
GWR have just sent me a PayPal refund for the train tickets that I bought to get back from York after the Easter Arrow.  I applied for the refund on 6th April and had to send them a photo of chopped up tickets.  I think that that is reasonable service given the current situation.

Re: Ticket Refunds ?
« Reply #46 on: 17 May, 2020, 11:13:59 am »
GWR have been good in my experience as well. If you've not collected tickets or had them posted, they'll refund on the basis of simple claim.

Re: Ticket Refunds ?
« Reply #47 on: 24 May, 2020, 10:42:24 am »

I suppose I could have posted this in the coronabonus thread. Anyhow, three weeks ago I received an email from the Semaine Federale (SF) organisation stating that this year's event had been cancelled and all intending participants who had paid would receive a refund. The cash arrived last week.

I now had to set about obtaining a refund for the ferry deposit of £247 paid to Brittany Ferries. Previous emails to them quoting the Foreign Office advice relating to only essential travel abroad were rebutted by reference to their terms and conditions.

My next move was to send another email to Brittany Ferries (Mon 18 May) with the cancellation email form the SF attached, asking that they should look at my case sympathetically and I'd really like a refund as I had no intention of travelling to France next year (just in case they offered me vouchers).

Imagine my surprise when I checked my credit card account to find a refund from Brittany Ferries (apparently, they refunded the money on 21 May, three days after my last email them).


[Edit: After reading Fuafan's post; I did also ask the credit card company to look into the matter;
quoting the Foreign Office's advice about only essential travel abraod being allowed. This may or
may not have had an influence in the outcome].

fuaran

  • rothair gasta
Re: Ticket Refunds ?
« Reply #48 on: 24 May, 2020, 10:57:55 am »
Eurostar are only offering vouchers. I emailed to ask for a refund, but they took a week to reply, and just referred to vouchers again.
So I reported a dispute with Paypal. They sent a full refund the next day.

Re: Ticket Refunds ?
« Reply #49 on: 24 May, 2020, 02:20:42 pm »
I got my Eurostar *package* refunded at first request (I ignored their voucher scheme and emailed them). I think pointing out the none of the booked trains were running and the hotel was closed didn't give them anywhere to go. Took about three weeks to get a reply and they quote up to 21 days for the refund to be paid, which is fine in the circumstances.