Cancelation of Ticket problem with no refund at all

[mustafamit]

Hi
I bought a ticket from a travel agent in melbourne for singapore airline. I have to travel on 15th april 2011. i want to cancel the ticket. but they are saying that its cheap ticket and i will not get my money back even 1 dollar.
i bought it for nearly 1000 (975) aus dollars. its not a cheap ticket.
i dont know who to contact. i contact singapore airline ticket in melbourne. they told me to contact travel agent. travel agent said that no money will be returned.
what should i do and who shoud i call?
i call travel agent, and waiting for his answer for 2 days.​

 

[Danger]

It is quite possible that your airfare is non-refundable. Almost all of the less expensive fares (in comparison to other fares available on the same flight) will have heavy cancellation penalties, including as far as 100% loss of fare.

You need to consult the fare conditions to determine what penalties apply. The itinerary should have a big long list of conditions or fare rules. Additionally, on your ticket receipt or itinerary there will be a single letter, probably in brackets. I'm sorry I can't be more specific but I'm not familiar with SQ (Singapore Airlines) fares. You'll be looking for a letter such as G, K, L, N, O, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W or X. I understand these to be the least expensive fare codes for SQ. Once you've found it, post it in this thread and someone with SQ experience will likely offer more advice.

 

[anat0l]

Hi
I bought a ticket from a travel agent in melbourne for singapore airline. I have to travel on 15th april 2011. i want to cancel the ticket. but they are saying that its cheap ticket and i will not get my money back even 1 dollar.
i bought it for nearly 1000 (975) aus dollars. its not a cheap ticket.
i dont know who to contact. i contact singapore airline ticket in melbourne. they told me to contact travel agent. travel agent said that no money will be returned.
what should i do and who shoud i call?
i call travel agent, and waiting for his answer for 2 days.​

Hi mustafamit, welcome to AFF

As said by Danger, you need to check the fare conditions and rules to see if your fare is refundable. You can normally find this out by checking any fine print or the like given to you by your travel agent regarding cancellations, changes to date or flight, etc.. If not, you will have to contact the travel agent, although it seems you've already done this.

Typically, the cheaper the fare, the less flexible it becomes. Less flexibility normally means that if you want to change the date or time of your ticket, you need to pay a fee (along with, for example, the difference in cost of the fare priced today versus what you paid for it originally). For cancellations, less flexible fares may only allow you to claim a refund after taking a fee away (e.g. everything refunded minus $50 or whatever), and some do not allow refunds at all, but you may be able to use the amount you paid for the ticket as a credit for a future flight (again, perhaps minus a fee).

As you purchased what I assume is a return fare ($975 for Melbourne - Singapore return), I have to say that is not a bad deal for that sector for a return fare! A ticket which allows you to cancel with no penalty (flexible fare) may cost almost twice as much as what you paid.

Your first objective is to get a hold of your travel agent. Singapore Airlines won't do much for you right now unless you need to drag your travel agent over hot coals. Get your agent to explain the conditions and rules of your fare, and then explain your options if you do not want to take the flight as scheduled (i.e. what would happen if you changed the fare to another date, time or place; or cancelled (would you get some money back minus the change fee, or you may not be allowed to cancel at all - only change). Perhaps it might be a good idea to arm yourself with a few dates or times or future travel plans if the only option you available is to change your flight.

 

[zeiron]

Whilst i sympathise with the OP, It never ceases to amaze me that people expect to pay very little for a flight and then expect the benefits of a fare that they refused to pay for. Its not just SQ, but pretty much every airline out there, legacy or otherwise (LCC) that have restrictive fare rules and as a general rule of thumb, the less you pay, the less flexibility you have. Hopefully the OP may be able to date change for a fee, plus fare difference, otherwise as i was once told by an ever so helpful AA reservations staffer, "use it or lose it"!!
good luck!

 

[Timtammi]

Don't forget that depending on your reason for cancellation even if you can't get a refund on the ticket you MAY be able to get a refund through your travel insurance, assuming you have a policy in place.

Cheers

 

[Moody]

If it was a "Super Deal" airfare then no cancellations or changes are allowed, so you can use it or lose it.

If it was a "Sweat Deal" airfare then no cancellations are allowed, though you can change the dates for a fee.

If the travel agent made you aware of these conditions (or at the very least they were included in the documentation they sent) then it is a case of caveat emptor - "buyer beware".

But if they did not warn you of these restrictive conditions, then please name them so that we can all give them a wide berth.

 

[Joshua]

The relevant fare types are listed here.

If it was MEL-SIN r/t for $1000 then you should be preparing to make a date change and certainly not expect a refund. Not much time either so I wouldn't wait for them and chase it up, go in person ideally.

 

[niemann]

i bought it for nearly 1000 (975) aus dollars. its not a cheap ticket.
​

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Unfortunately your definition of cheap ticket and their's are totally different. Sounds pretty cheap to me for SQ. The best you can hope for is a date change, and even that might be hard to get. SQ are notoriously inflexible with this stuff. Your agent is your only hope, if and only if they can maybe call in a favour with their SQ rep. Once bitten twice shy: chalk this one up to experience, or at the very least, take out insurance if there's a genuine reason for the change.