Getting refund on paid Air New Zealand fare

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Ktan89

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Any chance getting a full refund on paid fare?
Booked to fly Sydney to NZ first week of August, not sure to cancel now or wait until the airline cancels the flight.
Does it even make a difference?
 
I had 2 Air NZ bookings which were refundable. 1 was cancelled by the Air NZ so I rang up for a refund, and I cancelled the other one on the website (although it would have been cancelled anyway even if I hadn't done it).

Both refunds were back in my credit card within 72 hours even though the stated time was 'up to 15 working days'.

I also had a refundable QF booking to NZ which I cancelled by phone and I was told the refund would be 'up to 8 weeks'. 7.5 weeks left to wait for it to show up.
 
Hmm I’ll wait until my HBA/AKL return is formally cancelled by ANZ then request a refund - a $400 ticket that could only be credited in case I decided to cancel would have been an extra $300 to make it fully refundable. Bit if the airline cancels then it’s a different story
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Any chance getting a full refund on paid fare?
Booked to fly Sydney to NZ first week of August, not sure to cancel now or wait until the airline cancels the flight.
Does it even make a difference?
Wait - let them cancel then you have a claim for non performance and thus a full refund rather than a credit.
 
Hmm just seen else on this site that force majeur events such a pandemic will allow ANZ to hold yr money and offer a credit instead - ACCC issued guidance on this last Sept or thereabouts when QF wudnt cough up refunds - so long as a reasonable window for rebooking was offered then airlines were ok to just credit rather than refund..bggr
 
Hmm just seen else on this site that force majeur events such a pandemic will allow ANZ to hold yr money and offer a credit instead - ACCC issued guidance on this last Sept or thereabouts when QF wudnt cough up refunds - so long as a reasonable window for rebooking was offered then airlines were ok to just credit rather than refund..bggr

Yeah, Air New Zealand is really not great at providing refunds - even if they cancel the flight!


The only real way to get a refund from Air New Zealand is to buy a refundable ticket or apply for a compassionate refund due to financial hardship or ill health/frailty.

The last couple of times I've booked Air NZ flights across the Tasman, I've redeemed KrisFlyer miles instead of booking direct with NZ. At least KrisFlyer will refund if NZ cancels the flight.
 
Yeah that's what I have read about ANZ. They are hard on giving refunds but wanted to see if there was any success stories here.
I received ANZ cancellation notice today and they can't put me on any other flights since there is none apparently.

"Kia ora, With the continuation of travel pauses between New South Wales and New Zealand, our operating schedule has been reduced. As a result, your flight has been cancelled. Due to limited availability throughout the coming weeks, we have not been able to automatically reaccommodate you to an alternative service. For assistance with rebooking, please reach out to our 24/7 Contact Centre on 13 24 76. We ask you keep in mind, it may take some time for you to get through to the team. If you no longer wish to travel, you can hold your ticket in credit."

I'll try my luck with the contact centre..
 
Try yr luck ??

You’ll be on hold for yonks - in 3 calls x approx 30 mins each last week I Never spoke to a real person. As a Star Alliance gold (tks SQ) I thought there wud be an Air NZ Gold equiv priority service phone no. Went looking and still looking..

Given up - will liquidate that credit at some stage and never do UnZud again.
 
I find this pretty ordinary by Air New Zealand and there website doesnt mention this when booking. Actually, it is quite the opposite with "Book with confidence" plastered across the website "100percent guarantee" if I recall.
 
They clearly state (well at least when booking flight to Oz ex NZ) that flights are NOT refundable unless you buy and expensive fuly refundable ticket. If you cancel for any reason (or they do) up until 31 December ( at the moment it was 31 Jul y a few months ago) you get a credit to use within 2 months (on any flight, any passenger name)
 
At 4th time of trying to phone and after an hour's wait I hv cancelled HBA/AKL return this Thurs - Air NZ say they are still flying so its its not their problem I can no longer fly, so that means another bloody airline credit rather than a refund.

As for refundable - HBA/AKL flts are by A320 with various degrees of economy fares, from bare seat/no bag upto the vacant seat Works Deluxe about $A400. Not bad prices, but all of them are non-refundable. You need to add a $300 post-fare selection premium to qualify for a refund. Cheap stuff ANZ

While on wait I heard announcement that all Air NZ flts from Syd are full, thru to the NZ Govt cut-off date for returning citizens to get home.
 
While on wait I heard announcement that all Air NZ flts from Syd are full, thru to the NZ Govt cut-off date for returning citizens to get home.

That's interesting because I just heard on the news (In NZ ) that there were seats available for kiwis to get home within the 7 days - and if they sold out airnz would add more capacity
 
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That's interesting because I just heard on the news (In NZ ) that there were seats available for kiwis to get home within the 7 days - and if they sold out airnz would add more capacity
..seats from Per or Bris or Melb maybe still avail but the announcement re flts ex Sydney being full was plain enough., and no mention of addit cap.
 
Well good for Air NZ - say two things contradictory at the same time - I had an email this morng 1100 NZ time welcoming me for forthcoming 'quarantine free' flight from HBA, 3 days after that particular bubble was closed.
 
Just wondering what luck anyone has had since the last post here, via any method of escalation.

Our trip, booked in May, for November was just cancelled by AirNZ, with an email saying we have been issued a credit. Our return to SYD was cancelled weeks ago by QF, with full refund posting to Amex the next week.

Called AirNZ today, and they wouldn't budge. I've disputed the charge with Amex for failure to provide services paid for, and filed complaint with ACCC.
 
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Just wondering what luck anyone has had since the last post here, via any method of escalation.

Our trip, booked in May, for November was just cancelled by AirNZ, with an email saying we have been issued a credit. Our return to SYD was cancelled weeks ago by QF, with full refund posting to Amex the next week.

Called AirNZ today, and they wouldn't budge. I've disputed the charge with Amex for failure to provide services paid for, and filed complaint with ACCC.

Sadly, I don't think you'll get any luck with the ACCC because the "no refunds" policy for cancellations outside of Air New Zealand's control is set out in their conditions of carriage. The ACCC has not required Air NZ to refund flights cancelled due to border closures at any stage of the pandemic.

Yes, it's a rubbish policy and I'm not sure why the public accepts it, but Air NZ doesn't seem to be breaking any laws. Australia is not one of the jurisdictions (like the USA or EU) where airlines are legally required to refund cancelled flights - it falls back to their conditions of carriage and Australian Consumer Law, which gives businesses a "get out" clause if the failure to provide the service is due entirely due to circumstances beyond the business's control. Virgin Australia also relies on this and has a similar policy on refunds to Air NZ.

The best you could possibly hope for from Air New Zealand, IMHO, is a compassionate refund due to ill health or financial hardship.

FWIW, I have been avoiding booking new flights directly with Air NZ because of this policy. (My last flights with them have been booked using miles from other airlines.)
 
Wonder if it is possible to get a refund if you purchased a ticket before they changed their conditions of carriage to require covid - 19 vaccinatio?

Surely if they are changing their conditions of carriage as a policy decision and it is not a force majeure they have to refund no? There are plenty of other international airlines that do not require covid 19 vaccination so that should be enough to say that it is not necessary and is simply a company policy decision by Air NZ

Thoughts?
 
Wonder if it is possible to get a refund if you purchased a ticket before they changed their conditions of carriage to require covid - 19 vaccinatio?

Surely if they are changing their conditions of carriage as a policy decision and it is not a force majeure they have to refund no? There are plenty of other international airlines that do not require covid 19 vaccination so that should be enough to say that it is not necessary and is simply a company policy decision by Air NZ

Thoughts?

See https://p-airnz.com/cms/assets/AU-Agents/Vaccination-FAQs.pdf

This is the info currently being given to travel agents on this:

Q: My customer has a ticket booked to travel internationally in February next year, but they have said that they do not intend to get vaccinated therefore wish to get a refund, the ticket is non-refundable will you allow a refund?

A: We are currently reviewing the Customer Flexibility Policy to determine whether any changes are required due to the implementation of this requirement, more information will be shared in due course. If your customer requires an answer now, please refer to the Customer Flexibility Guide for the options that exist outside of the fare conditions aligned to the original ticket purchased.
 
Thanks @Mattg

Nothing like implementing policy with no idea or decisions on how to deal with common scenarios lol
 
Hi all

On the topic of Air NZ credits, have any of you had any luck in using Air NZ credits on Air NZ-codeshared Qantas domestic flights (i.e. within Australia) but without purchasing an onward fare to NZ?

It looks like this is possible with AirPoints, but the one call centre rep I got through to today suggested not with credits. The best I can find on the Air NZ website is "Credits can be used as payment for any flights available for purchase by the general public via the Air New Zealand website, our contact centre or offshore travel centre", which I believe should include an unconnected Qantas domestic flight codeshared with Air NZ.

Thanks for any insights you can provide
 
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