Flight Centre refunds for cancelled flights

Thanks dimons.
Checked the AY website & they say for flights in Sept we should be advised by June 14 so will give it a few more days.

If you have already proactively canceled your flight, then I'm afraid you are likely to be up for the cancellation fee. Even if AY turns around and now says they have canceled the flight - it will be too late, you have already canceled it.

however, if you had travel insurance, they may cover this.

What people should do is wait until the airline cancels the flights, then you have a right to a full refund. But you must wait until the airline cancels.
 
Thanks dimons.
Checked the AY website & they say for flights in Sept we should be advised by June 14 so will give it a few more days.
Dimons's advice seems exactly right in this particular situation. You don't have to wait long, so good luck, and we will all be interested to know what transpires as a result of the AY website advice on June 14.
 
Dimons's advice seems exactly right in this particular situation. You don't have to wait long, so good luck, and we will all be interested to know what transpires as a result of the AY website advice on June 14.

Pomona needs to reverse the cancellation request in with Flight Centre. If they process it before AY cancels, no waiver.
 
Pomona needs to reverse the cancellation request in with Flight Centre. If they process it before AY cancels, no waiver.
I wonder if Aunt Betty/Flight Centre happened to make that clear to Pomona at the time he cancelled the flights? If they are working for HIS interests (which we have a right to assume, since they charge for service), then it would seem reasonable for them to give him advice that might happen to save him a lot of money. Isn't that what agents do? But, of course, in this case, good advice to him means loss of revenue for Aunt Betty, so they have a problem! One would imagine that in this COVID environment, the ACCC might say that they either SHOULD have given him prudent advice, or else admit that they have no right to his money!
 
Oh bugger, but, I have just got off the phone with Amex travel insurance, aka Chubb, & will submit a claim for the $1700 minus $200 in due course & see what happens.
Mind you BYO keeps on about a 12week delay in refunds, wouldn't it be funny if they do it immediately in this case !
Thanks to all for your assistance, btw, how do I remove locator data etc from my earlier text, assume that is what manej means by PNR?
 
Oh bugger, but, I have just got off the phone with Amex travel insurance, aka Chubb, & will submit a claim for the $1700 minus $200 in due course & see what happens.
Mind you BYO keeps on about a 12week delay in refunds, wouldn't it be funny if they do it immediately in this case !
Thanks to all for your assistance, btw, how do I remove locator data etc from my earlier text, assume that is what manej means by PNR?
It looks like you're not going to get out of this expense-free, but you might just pull of a best-case scenario yet if Aunt Betty and your airline concede that the cancellation was because of events related to COVID and that, in accordance with government advice, the customer should not be penalised. Worst case, hopefully, is that your travel insurer takes $200 per ticket away from you.
 
.... how do I remove locator data etc from my earlier text, assume that is what manej means by PNR?
Use the ‘Edit’ button below your post.

Would you be able to wait until tomorrow in order to give me a chance to access your booking? 🤫
 
Use the ‘Edit’ button below your post.

Would you be able to wait until tomorrow in order to give me a chance to access your booking? 🤫
So did he wait a day, and were you able to seize on that day to assist him? I am eager to know how this case was finally resolved!
 
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Many thanks to DC3 for redacting my post, went in to do this & found already done.

Next Episode. Sent email to BYO , "Regarding the cancellation fees quoted do I have to remind you of Flight Centre (& its subsidiaries) commitment made to the ACCC earlier this year, May 03 to be precise?"

Got this response, "In reply to your query, we updated our policy that the cancellation fee of AUD250.00 per person has been reversed to adhere to the new BYOJet Travel COVID-19 Cancellation Policy. Please find below the cancellation fees that apply:"

Phase 1 successful, now for Phase 2, the iniquitous $600.

I shall use Jasperoz info in my next email, however, think this need for an airline to cancel is somewhat of a moot point if the Government had already stated "do not travel overseas". Yet another example of "weasel words" being used by FC/insurance companies et al to rip off clients. Also, with QF shutting down international until end of Oct how are we expected to get to HKG in the first place.

Things are stressful enough at the moment without having to fight tooth & nail against corporates (where money talks ethics walk) for a few $100 which we can ill afford to lose.
As the old Arabic saying goes, they take with the right hand & give with the left.
 
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Many thanks to DC3 for redacting my post, went in to do this & found already done.

Next Episode. Sent email to BYO , "Regarding the cancellation fees quoted do I have to remind you of Flight Centre (& its subsidiaries) commitment made to the ACCC earlier this year, May 03 to be precise?"

Got this response, "In reply to your query, we updated our policy that the cancellation fee of AUD250.00 per person has been reversed to adhere to the new BYOJet Travel COVID-19 Cancellation Policy. Please find below the cancellation fees that apply:"

Phase 1 successful, now for Phase 2, the iniquitous $600.

I shall use Jasperoz info in my next email, however, think this need for an airline to cancel is somewhat of a moot point if the Government had already stated "do not travel overseas". Yet another example of "weasel words" being used by FC/insurance companies et al to rip off clients. Also, with QF shutting down international until end of Oct how are we expected to get to HKG in the first place.

Things are stressful enough at the moment without having to fight tooth & nail against corporates (where money talks ethics walk) for a few $100 which we can ill afford to lose.
As the old Arabic saying goes, they take with the right hand & give with the left.

If the airline has not cancelled your flight, you don’t have the same options for a refund. It’s not their concern if you have purchased a ticket from say Hong Kong, but the Aussie government won’t allow you to get to Hong Kong.

If your finnair flight is on the same ticket as qantas, no worries. If qantas has cancelled, the whole itinerary is cancelled.

If you finnair flight is on a separate ticket, and still flying, that’s a different story.
 
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Thanks MEL, neat, will build that into my next email to BYO:
I think MEL has covered everything, but here is a very recent (earlier today) report on Qantas refunds, in case it is of any use to you and you haven't already seen it:
19 June 2020
The ACCC says it is pleased Qantas has begun contacting its customers to tell them they are entitled to a refund for domestic or international flights cancelled or suspended due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.
The ACCC’s COVID-19 Taskforce raised concerns with the airline after receiving hundreds of complaints from passengers whose flights were suspended or cancelled due to travel restrictions, but who were given credits by Qantas instead of the refunds they were entitled to.
Qantas’ terms and conditions state that customers with fares booked on any of its domestic and international flights are entitled to have their fare refunded if Qantas makes a significant change to their flight, and Qantas cannot offer another booking which is acceptable to the customer.
The ACCC was concerned that Qantas’ communications to customers between 17 March 2020 and 31 May 2020 did not adequately inform them of their right to receive a refund.
In some cases, the ACCC considers Qantas’ emails may have encouraged these customers to cancel bookings themselves in order to receive a credit when many would have been eligible for a refund.
“We want to ensure that customers are aware that when Qantas suspends or cancels flights due to travel restrictions and fails to provide them with an acceptable alternative flight, they are entitled to a refund,” ACCC Chair Rod Sims said.
This decision by Qantas to send a new email to customers in recent days to “remind” customers about their right to a refund follows weeks of pressure from the ACCC, but the ACCC says even the most recent communication is not particularly clear.
“From our perspective, from the outset, Qantas did not communicate clearly with customers about their rights and, in a large number of cases, simply omitted they were entitled to a refund,” Mr Sims said.
“We do appreciate that the airline industry globally is significantly impacted by the global COVID-19 pandemic, but I think that customers can and should expect better from Qantas, particularly when many of those customers may be out of work or experiencing financial hardship.”
“If any customer in this situation is unhappy with receiving a credit, or no longer wants one due to continuing uncertainty about when flights will resume, we strongly encourage them to contact Qantas and seek a refund,” Mr Sims said.
Notes to editors
Clause 9.2 of Qantas’ Conditions of Carriage states:
Where we make a Significant Change to your flight due to an Event Beyond Our Control, whether you have checked in or not, we will:

  • use reasonable endeavours to rebook you on the next available flight on our services at no additional cost to you
  • alternatively, if we are unable to rebook you on services acceptable to you, we will refund the applicable fare.
 
Many thanks to DC3 for redacting my post, went in to do this & found already done ...
Thank you. However, I cannot take credit for that.

Also, I didn’t have the time to crack your FF account. 😉
 
OK, so Phase 2 to recover the $600 cancellation fee now apparently appears sorted,

Maybe it was my carefully worded impassioned plea, plus MEL'S input from an old QLD fogey, or the QF announcement, we shall never know.

"Thank you for your email and we apologize for the inconvenience.

We would like to inform you that we can now then request a full refund, subject to current policy of the airline.

Please note, the airlines are advising that refunds may take more than 12 weeks for the customer to receive, due to the huge number of refunds they have to process. Your refund will go back to your original form of payment. (my italics)

Approximate refund amount : 7536.00 AU"

This certainly went a long way to improving my image of FC, however, I have just received the following email;

"This email is to advise we have placed your tickets into credit (on hold). This is either by your request or because the airline has cancelled your booking. An email will follow in 7-14 days outlining how to use your credit"

Are we re-entering the world of weasel words yet again ??. When does a full refund mean into credit on hold?

Here we go again, per (extra) ardua ad astra !
 
OK, so Phase 2 to recover the $600 cancellation fee now apparently appears sorted,

Maybe it was my carefully worded impassioned plea, plus MEL'S input from an old QLD fogey, or the QF announcement, we shall never know.

"Thank you for your email and we apologize for the inconvenience.

We would like to inform you that we can now then request a full refund, subject to current policy of the airline.

Please note, the airlines are advising that refunds may take more than 12 weeks for the customer to receive, due to the huge number of refunds they have to process. Your refund will go back to your original form of payment. (my italics)

Approximate refund amount : 7536.00 AU"

This certainly went a long way to improving my image of FC, however, I have just received the following email;

"This email is to advise we have placed your tickets into credit (on hold). This is either by your request or because the airline has cancelled your booking. An email will follow in 7-14 days outlining how to use your credit"

Are we re-entering the world of weasel words yet again ??. When does a full refund mean into credit on hold?

Here we go again, per (extra) ardua ad astra !
No one in the real world can possibly know what a travel agent means by ANY kind of fancy phraseology.... but my guess is that they don't want to give you your money back, and are hoping you will meet them halfway by letting them keep it until you book with them again.... which, I would imagine (to quote a VERY old song) will be the twelfth of never!
 
Congratulations on what looks like will eventually be a very successful outcome. I expect that Qatar will cancel their penalty with a simple phone call. I am not surprised that, in this climate, your "TA person has done the right thin"g.... now that they are suddenly under scrutiny and are being threatened with legal action and bad publicity, suddenly they're as white as the driven snow. Good luck with the February trip!
by way of finalising my saga I advise that FC called yesterday to say Qatar had refunded 100% of our fares to them, (substantial J class ones), including the credit card surcharges. As advised previously I had told FC that Amex had refunded the full amount of the charges by chargeback and transferred the funds to our bank account. The TA called back today to say they would keep the Qatar refund and confirm that FC would not dispute the Amex chargeback. He later confirmed that in an email; so we are all square and my wife and I have 100% of our money back. It took a long time but we got there in the end. I admit to being a little surprised at how easy it was some weeks ago to get Amex to do the charge back as others seem to be having problems doing so. We have a Tassie holiday booked for Feb 21, including a domestic cruise along the Tassie coast, so fingers crossed for it.
 
by way of finalising my saga I advise that FC called yesterday to say Qatar had refunded 100% of our fares to them, (substantial J class ones), including the credit card surcharges. As advised previously I had told FC that Amex had refunded the full amount of the charges by chargeback and transferred the funds to our bank account. The TA called back today to say they would keep the Qatar refund and confirm that FC would not dispute the Amex chargeback. He later confirmed that in an email; so we are all square and my wife and I have 100% of our money back. It took a long time but we got there in the end. I admit to being a little surprised at how easy it was some weeks ago to get Amex to do the charge back as others seem to be having problems doing so. We have a Tassie holiday booked for Feb 21, including a domestic cruise along the Tassie coast, so fingers crossed for it.
Well done, and it was worth persevering with Flight Centre! I hope others will do the same!
 
Ok.
Here is my travel associates (part of FC) experience .
We have an outstanding agent who we’ve used over a decade/she is the principle in her TA store.
I had over 30k business flights SAS/KLM/SIA for May 7 travel/Also Qatar flights ;

all cancelled after the DO NOT TRAVEL MARCH 18. (19 March 2020).

Yesterday all fully refunded - except Qatar kept the cancellation fee - as the flights still went ahead . QR continued those flights even though we could not fly. (FC no cancellation fees).

I’m happy with this outcome as have pandemic cover in our annual travel policy -for which I will get the QR cancellation fees refunded.(of note - our excellent insurer no longer offers pandemic cover from 1/7/20.)

all up - refunds took 3 1/2 months from cancellation by me via my travel agent.

long process - but perspective keeps me grounded - I’m healthy have a job and choices

good luck everyone
 
21 weeks and still no refund from Aunt Betty on my (self cancelled due to illness, fully refundable) business class flights.

I'm out over $5k and no sign of the refund.
 

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