THAI AIRWAYS Bad Flexible Refund Policy - Be Aware

[Roger44]

I recently purchased, fully refundable, business class seats from Mel to LHR and back. Unfortunately I had to cancel as Thai changed the schedule to one which didn't suit. They accept that the tickets are refundable, but claim it takes 180 working days to process the refund (8 months). Be aware, if you book with them and need to cancel, this is what they will say. There is a Facebook page devoted to trying to get money back from them with 7,400 members. This is not a covid cancellation issue, tickets were purchased this year for flights this year and cancellation was made with 4 months notice. Note, they have $2.2bn in the bank, so cannot claim they can't afford it.

 

[Quickstatus]

Welcome to AFF @Roger44
Sad to see.

There are various avenues to pursue
1) Did you pay by Credit card, if so initiate a credit card chargeback??
2) see here for your state consumer tribunal
3) report to the ACCC - they won't act on your behalf but will act against the company if its breaches consumer law.

 

[Steady]

Welcome aboard @Roger44 - thanks for sharing

 

[luckypierre]

Welcome to AFF @Roger44
Sad to see.

There are various avenues to pursue
1) Did you pay by Credit card, if so initiate a credit card chargeback??
2) see here for your state consumer tribunal
3) report to the ACCC - they won't act on your behalf but will act against the company if its breaches consumer law.

We had a different experience dealing with Swiss Airlines. We had fully refundable J fares for 2024 , in which we had to cancel. We had some similar concerns about repayment time frame. We were pleasantly surprised Swiss Airlines refunded us in full within a few days. As @Quickstatus suggested register a chargeback on your credit card. You’ll need to have a copy of emails, on line chat screen captures etc to demonstrate that you have tried to resolve the repayment problem direct with Thai.

 

[Dr Ralph]

Welcome to AFF. I'd encourage you to post this in the appropriate thread, otherwise very few people will see it.

 

[Nemeca]

Welcome aboard!

 

[Hina]

I recently purchased, fully refundable, business class seats from Mel to LHR and back. Unfortunately I had to cancel as Thai changed the schedule to one which didn't suit. They accept that the tickets are refundable, but claim it takes 180 working days to process the refund (8 months). Be aware, if you book with them and need to cancel, this is what they will say. There is a Facebook page devoted to trying to get money back from them with 7,400 members. This is not a covid cancellation issue, tickets were purchased this year for flights this year and cancellation was made with 4 months notice. Note, they have $2.2bn in the bank, so cannot claim they can't afford it.

Hello Roger

did you get your refund back???I am also struggling and i applied in june 2023.

 

[Hina]

I recently purchased, fully refundable, business class seats from Mel to LHR and back. Unfortunately I had to cancel as Thai changed the schedule to one which didn't suit. They accept that the tickets are refundable, but claim it takes 180 working days to process the refund (8 months). Be aware, if you book with them and need to cancel, this is what they will say. There is a Facebook page devoted to trying to get money back from them with 7,400 members. This is not a covid cancellation issue, tickets were purchased this year for flights this year and cancellation was made with 4 months notice. Note, they have $2.2bn in the bank, so cannot claim they can't afford it.

Hey Roger

I am also in similar boat, did you get your refund back??? I applied in june 2023 for 4 passengers but no response yet.
Thanks

 

[Ade]

To some info, not just TG, UL also has a 6 month refund timeline. So buyer beware.

 

[oz_boater]

Just discovered this as well.
Just had to cancel a flight from BKK to Syd and was told 180 days.

Say what you want about QANTAS, but when I had to cancel the outward legs of this trip with them, the money was refunded in the next few days

 

[GoldenTouchdown]

Seriously, 180 days to refund is ridiculous for so called fully flex fares. It seems airlines are demanding max flexibility to refund as part of the (ofter rather overpriced) bargain!

The interest airlines are earning from hoarding the money, honestly should be paid back on top of what customers receive in their refund at this point!

My experience with refunds/credits on QF/JQ has been reasonably quick for the most part.