Airfare question after cruise cancelled

[susiesan]

United is supposedly waiving all fees to cancel award bookings and re deposit miles.

 

https://viewfromthewing.com/united-now-waiving-fees-for-award-ticket-cancellation-and-mileage-redeposit/

[Paulchili]

1 hour ago, susiesan said:

United is supposedly waiving all fees to cancel award bookings and re deposit miles.

 

https://viewfromthewing.com/united-now-waiving-fees-for-award-ticket-cancellation-and-mileage-redeposit/

That’s good news - thanks.

I wonder if this translates to cruise lines as well:

• And remember to dispute with your credit card because a merchant cannot keep funds for a service they haven’t delivered.

[KS&JW]

2 hours ago, susiesan said:

United is supposedly waiving all fees to cancel award bookings and re deposit miles.

 

https://viewfromthewing.com/united-now-waiving-fees-for-award-ticket-cancellation-and-mileage-redeposit/

 

I was just able to cancel my May BCN-SFO FF flight with no redeposit fees and full refund of taxes.  

Thanks for the heads up.  I was waiting for this. 

[Paulchili]

1 hour ago, KS&JW said:

 

I was just able to cancel my May BCN-SFO FF flight with no redeposit fees and full refund of taxes.  

Thanks for the heads up.  I was waiting for this. 

As soon as we hear that our 5/13 cruise is cancelled, I will do the same and be glad that UA will not charge for redeposit of miles.

[KS&JW]

39 minutes ago, Paulchili said:

As soon as we hear that our 5/13 cruise is cancelled, I will do the same and be glad that UA will not charge for redeposit of miles.

 

My April TA cruise is not yet canceled but I was confident enough that it will be to cancel the flight home.  Still waiting on canceling the flight to MIA since it was paid with real money.  My stock pile of 'credit' at United is much larger than I like.  

[Paulchili]

2 minutes ago, KS&JW said:

 

My April TA cruise is not yet canceled but I was confident enough that it will be to cancel the flight home.  Still waiting on canceling the flight to MIA since it was paid with real money.  My stock pile of 'credit' at United is much larger than I like.  

At least I know about UA. On this trip we also have award tickets with BA, Iberia and KLM - have to investigate their redeposit policies but I DO have lots of time on mind hand 😃

[LHT28]

1 hour ago, KS&JW said:

 

My April TA cruise is not yet canceled but I was confident enough that it will be to cancel the flight home.  Still waiting on canceling the flight to MIA since it was paid with real money.  My stock pile of 'credit' at United is much larger than I like.  

I am missing something?

All cruises  up to May 10th are cancelled now

 

[KS&JW]

2 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

I am missing something?

All cruises  up to May 10th are cancelled now

 

 

They were not canceled when I posted this. 

[clo]

I'm not going to read all these posts but will share some info. We've had flights canceled on Norwegian Air and their website makes it look like they're non-refundable. They'll offer future travel credit. But I just found this info on "The Points Guy."

 

https://thepointsguy.com/guide/refund-for-canceled-flight/

 

Go in strong. I sure will tomorrow.

[Zesty Italian]

15 hours ago, clo said:

I'm not going to read all these posts but will share some info. We've had flights canceled on Norwegian Air and their website makes it look like they're non-refundable. They'll offer future travel credit. But I just found this info on "The Points Guy."

 

https://thepointsguy.com/guide/refund-for-canceled-flight/

 

Go in strong. I sure will tomorrow.

Very helpful. Thanks!  And I don't mind you not reading all these posts like some people here!!

[susiesan]

For those who booked airfare with United miles this is good news:

 

We have removed some redeposit fees for the rest of the year.

 

• We are currently waiving all award redeposit fees for travel through end of May 2020.   • We are now also waiving all redeposit fees for award ticket cancellations made more than 30 days before departure for the remainder of 2020.

[clo]

29 minutes ago, susiesan said:

United

I've been very pleased with their regular contact over these last weeks.

[KS&JW]

I was able to successfully get a refund on my flight to Miami this morning.  In the past couple of days they changed the flight so much I was arriving a day later.  This gave me the right to get a refund.  It was no trouble at all.  I could not do it online, but the phone call was quick and painless.    

[YoHoHo]

Though there was confusion as to what I would get when I requested a refund , AA did credit my CC with the full amounts so happy with them (and their "call back " service worked very well for me.

 

And the refund vs credit fight continues

"The Transportation Department on Friday issued an enforcement notice, telling airlines that they remain obligated to pay out refunds for flights that they have canceled. 

 

The order was prompted by an increase in complaints from ticketed passengers who have been denied refunds, the DOT said. Airlines instead are often giving travel vouchers. "

 

IATA is lobbying hard to relax the refund rules and just go with vouchers:

 

"With airlines already struggling due to enormous losses in revenue, IATA has been lobbying governments to suspend refund requirements. Thus far Canada, Germany, the Netherlands and Colombia have issued favorable rulings for airlines.

 

Airlines have also acted individually to make refunds more challenging to obtain. Some have stopped processing them entirely while many others are making it difficult for customers to find information on applying for refunds. In the U.S., United recently altered its refund process so that international ticket holders will have to wait a year to get repaid for a flight canceled by the airline." (bolding is mine)

 

Perhaps those who have done well with United it is because they have been domestic flights. "Wait a YEAR". Based on the angst on this forum over waiting "up to 90 days" one year would pop some corks
 

[Zesty Italian]

51 minutes ago, YoHoHo said:

Though there was confusion as to what I would get when I requested a refund , AA did credit my CC with the full amounts so happy with them (and their "call back " service worked very well for me.

 

And the refund vs credit fight continues

"The Transportation Department on Friday issued an enforcement notice, telling airlines that they remain obligated to pay out refunds for flights that they have canceled. 

 

The order was prompted by an increase in complaints from ticketed passengers who have been denied refunds, the DOT said. Airlines instead are often giving travel vouchers. "

 

IATA is lobbying hard to relax the refund rules and just go with vouchers:

 

"With airlines already struggling due to enormous losses in revenue, IATA has been lobbying governments to suspend refund requirements. Thus far Canada, Germany, the Netherlands and Colombia have issued favorable rulings for airlines.

 

Airlines have also acted individually to make refunds more challenging to obtain. Some have stopped processing them entirely while many others are making it difficult for customers to find information on applying for refunds. In the U.S., United recently altered its refund process so that international ticket holders will have to wait a year to get repaid for a flight canceled by the airline." (bolding is mine)

 

Perhaps those who have done well with United it is because they have been domestic flights. "Wait a YEAR". Based on the angst on this forum over waiting "up to 90 days" one year would pop some corks
 

May I ask you if the AA flight was cancelled for you?  Ours was the Wis. to Miami portion which was not cancelled on Mar. 31, and we are only getting voucher for short time not refund.  Did you get a refund because they actually cancelled?

[YoHoHo]

11 minutes ago, Zesty Italian said:

May I ask you if the AA flight was cancelled for you?  Ours was the Wis. to Miami portion which was not cancelled on Mar. 31, and we are only getting voucher for short time not refund.  Did you get a refund because they actually cancelled?

Um... like so many of these issues, its in the details that might be misleading, or might be relevant.

 

The flight was at first changed. Checking my bookings to compare flight numbers ... I'll say the flight was cancelled by AA. I found out when they sent an email with "flight confirmation" and the original PNR locator number. The new flight was many hours later than the original and does indeed have a new number.

 

So it appears the original flight (actually it is the 2nd itinerary as they did this same thing on this same PNR number last year) was cancelled and I was automatically rebooted on a later flight.

 

I am guessing I got a refund because the flight time had changed significantly. That said, I really don't know the reason why it was allowed.

 

When I spoke to the CSR she cancelled the booking for me and instructed me to go to a website where it displayed I could cancel or (in smaller font) I could request a refund. I assumed (oops) it would be a "done deal" but when I entered the information requested, the page advised I did not automatically qualify for a refund (why not it did not say) and that the request would be sent for a manual review. A week later (?) I got an email it was credited back. Note as well the original purchase was $868 each but the web pages (cancel, request a refund, submit for review) all showed these were now $52 each . I did get the original amount,

 

[Zesty Italian]

I'm sorry to make you relive that!  Glad it finally got you your refund and appreciate the info.  I know our flight was changed only by a half hour.  Didn't look to see if original was cancelled.  Will keep trying.

[Zesty Italian]

YoHoHo and Clo, thanks so much.  I checked the United flight we had after your advice about cancellations and found out ours was cancelled and rebooked an hour earlier on a different flight number.  I thought I'd try your advice about them cancelling.  First was told by automated voice we didn't qualify for cancellation so asked to speak to agent.  She said we'd get a waiver so I politely said "DOT regs say if you cancelled flight I am entitled to a refund."  (We couldn't make the earlier connection with our other flight).  When I mentioned that, she immediately asked if I wanted refund to original CC.  I said yes and she went to speak to supervisor.  It took a bit, but she said we could go to online refund and fill out form.  Hopefully, that works.

[clo]

3 hours ago, Zesty Italian said:

"DOT regs say if you cancelled flight I am entitled to a refund." 

YAY!

[Zesty Italian]

On 4/8/2020 at 2:23 PM, Zesty Italian said:

YoHoHo and Clo, thanks so much.  I checked the United flight we had after your advice about cancellations and found out ours was cancelled and rebooked an hour earlier on a different flight number.  I thought I'd try your advice about them cancelling.  First was told by automated voice we didn't qualify for cancellation so asked to speak to agent.  She said we'd get a waiver so I politely said "DOT regs say if you cancelled flight I am entitled to a refund."  (We couldn't make the earlier connection with our other flight).  When I mentioned that, she immediately asked if I wanted refund to original CC.  I said yes and she went to speak to supervisor.  It took a bit, but she said we could go to online refund and fill out form.  Hopefully, that works.

Well, that didn't work as hoped.  I filled out the online form to ask for refund, and when I hit submit, I was told we had open tickets that needed to be cancelled.  Was apprehensive about cancelling, but did it.  A message said, "your refund will be manually audited." That night we felt unsure whether the refund had gone through as it was on a different screen from the cancellation so I called.  We received ticket vouchers online.  I explained that I didn't want vouchers, but had requested a refund.  She talked to supervisor and after a lot of trying they told me since we had vouchers they couldn't change it.  I had to re-submit refund online.  So back to refunds I went.  Filled it out again explaining that we had been sent vouchers even though I asked for refund and agent even said , "oh, you want it refunded to your credit card?"  YES!  We waited another week and just got an email: "Congratulations on your United voucher".  Not sure where to go from here.  Anyone have experience with this?

[Flatbush Flyer]

53 minutes ago, Zesty Italian said:

Well, that didn't work as hoped.  I filled out the online form to ask for refund, and when I hit submit, I was told we had open tickets that needed to be cancelled.  Was apprehensive about cancelling, but did it.  A message said, "your refund will be manually audited." That night we felt unsure whether the refund had gone through as it was on a different screen from the cancellation so I called.  We received ticket vouchers online.  I explained that I didn't want vouchers, but had requested a refund.  She talked to supervisor and after a lot of trying they told me since we had vouchers they couldn't change it.  I had to re-submit refund online.  So back to refunds I went.  Filled it out again explaining that we had been sent vouchers even though I asked for refund and agent even said , "oh, you want it refunded to your credit card?"  YES!  We waited another week and just got an email: "Congratulations on your United voucher".  Not sure where to go from here.  Anyone have experience with this?

Sounds like, when you received the itinerary change email, you may have ended up inadvertently accepting it through action or inaction. If I remember correctly, that can happen with United if you continue to a next screen (e.g., to check seats) or do something else like check a box or even do nothing (and let it sit there for days/weeks/etc). That you later were told you had "open tix" would indicate that you didn't contest the newer flight assignment in a timely manner.

 

FWIW, in the future IMO, when you get a flight change notice, deal with it immediately and do it over the phone with an actual agent. I've used that occasion to request (and get) a better routing (which I have on hand when I call) on United (or occasionally on a Star Alliance partner assignment).

 

One question you have to honestly answer to yourself is: "When did I want to cancel? Was it when I got the United change email or was it when I read someone's interpretation of a DOT regulation on a later date?"

 

[Zesty Italian]

We never received an itinerary change!  We had been waiting to see which airlines would cancel.  The UA flight was after our transatlantic which finally cancelled a couple weeks back.  At that point, we decided to ask for a refund from UA as we couldn't use i,t and that's when we found the original flight was cancelled.  I talked to an agent at that point.  The interchange is in my other post, but I've been assured by two supervisors that we can have a refund, but have to request online.  After two tries, I'm not sure who to talk to. 

[Flatbush Flyer]

38 minutes ago, Zesty Italian said:

We never received an itinerary change!  We had been waiting to see which airlines would cancel.  The UA flight was after our transatlantic which finally cancelled a couple weeks back.  At that point, we decided to ask for a refund from UA as we couldn't use i,t and that's when we found the original flight was cancelled.  I talked to an agent at that point.  The interchange is in my other post, but I've been assured by two supervisors that we can have a refund, but have to request online.  After two tries, I'm not sure who to talk to. 

Not receiving an itinerary change from United is a rare occurrence (though I have seen it happen). Of course, if they don't have your email address (you can turn than feature on/off in your online United account), you're SOL if you don't check regularly.

 

We usually book bizclass air (mostly FF points/money or FF upgrade from economy) soon after flights are posted 330 days out. Then we regularly check itinerary (even though we get emails).

 

FWIW, when it comes to digital management of flights, IMO, no other airline comes close.

 

Good luck.

[Zesty Italian]

We thought it odd that we didn't get the change as we had for Aer Lingus and AA.  I just talked to my third agent and he assures me that he put the money back on our cc rather than voucher.  Let's hope!

[Flatbush Flyer]

2 minutes ago, Zesty Italian said:

We thought it odd that we didn't get the change as we had for Aer Lingus and AA.  I just talked to my third agent and he assures me that he put the money back on our cc rather than voucher.  Let's hope!

I truly do understand your angst. But, as I've suggested before: Be patient (though do file CC complaints if it gets your mind off that angst).

 

By design or by accident, you picked two companies that will not screw you (Oceania and United).