Cancelling QF flight bookings made with Amex Travel Credits

[Ken1]

Has anyone had to cancel a flight booked using Amex Travel Credits and how were you refunded?

We had bookings with QF for SYD-DRW return for next Sunday and the following Friday that were booked on 6 February using Amex travel credits from my Amex Charge card ($450) and Platinum Reserve ($400) booked as two one way tickets for 2 passengers. I phoned Amex Travel to cancel the bookings at 7am this morning, the time they open, and after one hour the call was answered. I was told that they were cancelled and that we would have a credit with QF that would have to be used for the same two passengers on any QF flight until 6 February 2021 and that I would have to call Amex Travel again and that the change fee would be waived. I asked about a confirmation and was told that an email would be sent in a few minutes saying we have a "Credit Hold" and confirming that the change fee would be waived.

When the emails for each booking arrived they were the same as the emails we had received when we booked, except that in place of "Booking Status - THis booking has been confirmed" with booking number and booking date, all they had on was
"BOOKING STATUS FAILED
Dear - - - - -,
Your booking has been cancelled.

Booking Date Failed"

and as below in the email showing $0.00 refund and no mention of a QF credit hold or of the change fee being waived. I'll have to call Amex Travel again to get confirmation of the QF credit hold.

TOTAL AMOUNT (in Australian Dollars) Refunded

Price Includes: All taxes and surcharges.

Total Price $0.00 Tax $0.00 PAYMENT RECEIVED: $0.00 Balance Due

 

[33kft]

I suspect that given this is an airline-driven process and deviates from how AMEX would normally handle such a situation, it's likely that the above is how they represent it in their system - ie it is not AMEX Travel issuing you with a credit, but AMEX Travel instructing the airline to cancel your booking and credit it.

I will be doing the same today, so I'll be able to compare notes later on how it's handled by AMEX Travel.

 

[asterix]

I cancelled a Virgin Australia flight that was booked using AMEX Travel credit and this is what I received. The flight was for April 19th and was originally booked on 05/11/2019.

 

[Ken1]

Thanks for your replies 33kft and asterix.

I have now received another email confirming the credit hold:
"Dear ....,

It was a pleasure speaking over the phone with you. Please see below for your Credit Hold Regulations:

Re; Booking Reference: - xx_xx_ & xx_xx_
Thank you for contacting our office in regards cancelling your travel arrangements with us. I am emailing you to confirm that the itinerary has now been cancelled, and your booking has been held as a credit for you.

Following on from the cancellation of your trip here are the brief details of your Qantas credit. Please note this credit can only be utilized by re-booking with American Express.

The ticket has been held in credit until 06 FEBRUARY 2021 by which date all travel must be completed.

If travel is not completed by this date the ticket will expire and its cash value will be lost.

As per the terms and conditions provided at the time of booking and on your travel itinerary, you will be liable for the applicable change fees (AUD0.00 waived by Qantas) and all/any fare and/or tax difference at the time of re-booking. Your consultant will advise the total additional cost at time of re-booking.

As per the airline and fare conditions there are no name changes or name transfers permitted on the ticket. All other conditions are as per your original ticket rules.

We appreciate this information may be a lot to understand, so if you require any further clarification please do not hesitate to contact one of or friendly consultants who will be more than happy to assist you. Alternatively, when you are ready to re-book the flights please call 1800 059 388 option 2 and it will be our pleasure to assist you in re-booking your travel arrangements."

 

[Pug1]

hi Ken1,
this is encouraging as I was just checking our situation on the Amex travel website. It says there are cancellation fees of $55pp and the travel credit is not refundable. We booked two one way Adelaide to Canberra using the credit at a net cost of $189 and our tour has been cancelled (end May). So fees of $110 and losing the credit wasn't very palatable. I'm trying to get onto Amex travel now but getting the engaged tone. Was a refund of net costs offered or only the credit, which I assume in your case was the $450 credit plus the net cost of your bookings?

 

[Ken1]

Hi Pug1,
For the SYD-DRW leg I used the Platinum Reserve travel credit of $400 and the total fares for two passengers was $438 so I was charged $38 to the card. For the DRW-SYD leg I used the Charge card travel credit of $450 and the fare was $438 so I lost $12 of the travel credit then. The Refunded amount of $0.00 I copied into my original post was from the DRW-SYD leg. Below is the amount listed for the SYD-DRW leg that shows the Payment Received amount of $38.00 . I don't know if the $438 for each leg, the amount we paid for the tickets, is included in the Credit Hold with QF although I assume that will be the case. I originally thought when I read the email showing $38 and Refunded meant that I may have the $38 refunded to the card but it is not showing as Pending so I'm thinking now that the total fare paid will be the amount held for a future booking since that is the amount that was paid to QF, whether by the travel credit or by cash.

I was told after she processed the cancellation that I wouldn't be charged a cancellation fee either by QF or Amex but the email I received does not mention Amex fees at all. It just says "As per the terms and conditions provided at the time of booking and on your travel itinerary, you will be liable for the applicable change fees (AUD0.00 waived by Qantas) and all/any fare and/or tax difference at the time of re-booking. Your consultant will advise the total additional cost at time of re-booking."

When I phoned Amex Travel yesterday morning I dialled as soon as the clock went to a couple of seconds past 7.00am (I have accurate time on terminals at work) and got a recording saying to call in office hours between 7am and 6pm. I then re-dialled and was connected and a recording said that the expected wait was one hour, and they answered right on 8.00am. They mustn't have too many staff rostered on early in the day.

TOTAL AMOUNT (in Australian Dollars) Refunded

Price Includes: All taxes and surcharges.

Total Price $0.00 Tax $0.00 PAYMENT RECEIVED: $38.00 Balance Due Refunded

 

[Pug1]

Hi Pug1,
For the SYD-DRW leg I used the Platinum Reserve travel credit of $400 and the total fares for two passengers was $438 so I was charged $38 to the card. For the DRW-SYD leg I used the Charge card travel credit of $450 and the fare was $438 so I lost $12 of the travel credit then. The Refunded amount of $0.00 I copied into my original post was from the DRW-SYD leg. Below is the amount listed for the SYD-DRW leg that shows the Payment Received amount of $38.00 . I don't know if the $438 for each leg, the amount we paid for the tickets, is included in the Credit Hold with QF although I assume that will be the case. I originally thought when I read the email showing $38 and Refunded meant that I may have the $38 refunded to the card but it is not showing as Pending so I'm thinking now that the total fare paid will be the amount held for a future booking since that is the amount that was paid to QF, whether by the travel credit or by cash.

I was told after she processed the cancellation that I wouldn't be charged a cancellation fee either by QF or Amex but the email I received does not mention Amex fees at all. It just says "As per the terms and conditions provided at the time of booking and on your travel itinerary, you will be liable for the applicable change fees (AUD0.00 waived by Qantas) and all/any fare and/or tax difference at the time of re-booking. Your consultant will advise the total additional cost at time of re-booking."

When I phoned Amex Travel yesterday morning I dialled as soon as the clock went to a couple of seconds past 7.00am (I have accurate time on terminals at work) and got a recording saying to call in office hours between 7am and 6pm. I then re-dialled and was connected and a recording said that the expected wait was one hour, and they answered right on 8.00am. They mustn't have too many staff rostered on early in the day.

TOTAL AMOUNT (in Australian Dollars) Refunded

Price Includes: All taxes and surcharges.

Total Price $0.00 Tax $0.00 PAYMENT RECEIVED: $38.00 Balance Due Refunded

thank you for that info. I will get hold of Amex travel as soon as possible and see if we get the full credit for the amount we paid plus the travel credit. Will post the result here. If the travel credit is not refundable under more normal circumstances (that's what their site says in the fine print), it makes the card slightly less attractive.

 

[Mark3000]

Super helpful response from Amex Platinum Travel today. Definitely do the chat, it connected really quickly and then she called me. She said if I had called, the phone wait time is 2.5 hours (Saturday morning 9am)
She put all 3 bookings back into credit. These were Qantas flights and she said Qantas has now extended expiry of these to Dec 2021
When we are ready to rebook we need to call Amex travel back.
Even though one of them was from our amex explorer which we have since closed, the booking will be put on hold as a credit
Definitely have all your booking numbers ready when you call and put those in the chat

 

[Pug1]

Super helpful response from Amex Platinum Travel today. Definitely do the chat, it connected really quickly and then she called me. She said if I had called, the phone wait time is 2.5 hours (Saturday morning 9am)
She put all 3 bookings back into credit. These were Qantas flights and she said Qantas has now extended expiry of these to Dec 2021
When we are ready to rebook we need to call Amex travel back.
Even though one of them was from our amex explorer which we have since closed, the booking will be put on hold as a credit
Definitely have all your booking numbers ready when you call and put those in the chat

I have the Qantas Amex card so nil status. How do you access the chat? Just tried to call them and the call dropped out after a couple of minutes.

 

[Pushka]

I have the Qantas Amex card so nil status. How do you access the chat? Just tried to call them and the call dropped out after a couple of minutes.

It should pop up or show on the screen. I have no status either. Maybe in the Contact area? I put our booking into credit a few weeks ago using chat. Very quick. Operator actually suggested it as I thought I'd lose the $450.

 

[Pug1]

It should pop up or show on the screen. I have no status either. Maybe in the Contact area? I put our booking into credit a few weeks ago using chat. Very quick. Operator actually suggested it as I thought I'd lose the $450.

Thanks Pushka, there is a chat option on login but it says it won't deal with travel matters. I can't see a chat option in the travel section. Will try to phone at 7am tomorrow.

 

[Pushka]

Thanks Pushka, there is a chat option on login but it says it won't deal with travel matters. I can't see a chat option in the travel section. Will try to phone at 7am tomorrow.

Damn. They've changed it. That wasn't there when I did it. Maybe you could try anyway.......

 

[Daver6]

I suspect I'm going to be in this situation soon, but slightly more complicated. MrsDaver6, myself and another couple were booked on the Rockford PS Marion paddle steamer for early June. We booked the flights from PER to ADL using Amex travel and using the Plat credit (paid with the charge card).

Now the main purpose of the two week trip was the paddle streamer in the middle and that's been cancelled. I really don't want a QF or Amex travel credit to deal with. I'd happily take my money back and retain the travel credit of $450 for another day. However, I don't see this happening without a fight. I'm wondering if I could just claim on the Amex travel insurance for a the full amount since the main purpose of the trip, the cruise, has been cancelled.

Any thoughts here?

 

[Pushka]

I suspect I'm going to be in this situation soon, but slightly more complicated. MrsDaver6, myself and another couple were booked on the Rockford PS Marion paddle steamer for early June. We booked the flights from PER to ADL using Amex travel and using the Plat credit (paid with the charge card).

Now the main purpose of the two week trip was the paddle streamer in the middle and that's been cancelled. I really don't want a QF or Amex travel credit to deal with. I'd happily take my money back and retain the travel credit of $450 for another day. However, I don't see this happening without a fight. I'm wondering if I could just claim on the Amex travel insurance for a the full amount since the main purpose of the trip, the cruise, has been cancelled.

Any thoughts here?

You WILL lose the credit. And the cruise is kind of extraneous to the flight so....

 

[levelnine]

I opted to turn mine into a credit voucher because I have cancelled the AMEX Card so would not be able to get back the $450 travel credit.

Only on hold for about 5 minutes.

 

[Daver6]

You WILL lose the credit. And the cruise is kind of extraneous to the flight so....

My point being is with the travel insurance, there is a clause in there that if the main purpose/event for the trip is cancelled then you can claim the flights etc if they're not refundable, which they aren't. A travel credit isn't a refund and I'm loving out the Amex travel credit. So say the flight costs were $1000 of which I paid $650 and the travel credit is $450. If Amex wont give me back the $450 travel credit, wouldn't I be entitled to claim $1000 (minus the excess) from travel insurance?

 

[levelnine]

wouldn't I be entitled to claim $1000 (minus the excess) from travel insurance?

I would think not because you only paid $650 for the flights. I doubt travel insurance will reimburse you the $450 because they will say you didn't buy it -- it was a benefit of a card you hold.

 

[Daver6]

I would think not because you only paid $650 for the flights. I doubt travel insurance will reimburse you the $450 because they will say you didn't buy it -- it was a benefit of a card you hold.

Do you think the outcome would be difference if it was partly paid for by a QF voucher I had previously purchased? I can argue I did pay for the $450. It was part of the $1450 annual fee that I paid for.

 

[Pushka]

Do you think the outcome would be difference if it was partly paid for by a QF voucher I had previously purchased? I can argue I did pay for the $450. It was part of the $1450 annual fee that I paid for.

They'd argue the $450 was a perk of having the card not a paid for voucher.

 

[Pug1]

hi everyone,
I just got onto Amex travel with a wait of around 30 minutes. They have given me a Qantas credit for the full amount of our flights, including the $450 card credit. I can use it for domestic flights of equal or greater value before 31 December 2021. So all good. This was to be an APT 4WD tour, which they have cancelled and have given us a credit for our full payment to a future tour. We're happy and there is no need for an insurance claim.