Airline refund
 

If an airline cancels your return leg of your journey, on a fully booked and paid flight, before the journey has begun, where do we stand with getting a refund just for the return portion so we can book with another airline to travel on the required day? The airline in question is saying that they have a flight the next day that we can travel on, so they don't need to refund, however travelling the next day is not suitable for work reasons. Not to mention the cost of accommodation for the extra night. Has anyone else any input?

That seems absurd that the airline is making the decision regarding whats good for you and whats not. I would ask to speak to a Manager or a supervisor if you havent already done so. I had a similar issue with Singapore Airlines, but they put me on another flight to ensure that I got there around the same time ( a few hours later) as originally scheduled.

Of course they have to refund, but not necessarily just the return portion. But do you really want them to just refund the return? You are probably going to pay a lot more for just the one-way to come back (whether you buy an one-way or buy a r/t and throw away the return).

If you haven't done your outbound, you may want them to refund the whole thing and look for a new ticket elsewhere.

Or negotiate with the airline and have them pay for a room.

Be careful about asking for a full refund and starting over -- the flights available to you today may be at much higher fares.

Research what other airlines offer flights on your original return date. Pick the one that's best or you and tell your airline to book you on that one, leaving your outbound trip the same.
Be polite, and ask for a supervisor or hang up and try your luck with tne next agent who answers if you aren't successful on your first try. Good luck.

It would help to know which airline, when and destination.

If we're talking about RyanAir, well?...
If it's Delta, then it's different.

It is actually Air Pacific, a subsidiary of Qantas. We are flying to Fiji. They originally had 2 flights a day, 9am and 6pm. We booked our return on the 6pm, giving us a full last day. They have now cancelled the 6pm flights, meaning you have to stay an extra day, which we hadn't budgeted on, or cut short out trip, because of having to come in from the islands a day early and overnight on mainland, to enable you to catch the earlier flight. As this is not what we had planned, booked and paid for, I thought it a bit rough. We were advised of all of this over a week ago, and Air Pacific are still deciding what to do regarding refunds etc. I thought that there may be a standard policy as this certainly can't be the first airline to cancel flights.

Can you descibe in fuller detail the flights you're scheduled on, as well as how you book your tickets. US-Australia-Fiji or what? Through Qantas or Air Pacific directly? One ticket for all, or two seperate tickets, etc? The more info you can give us, the better we can understand the situation.

And since there aren't that many flights into Fiji, you may just have to work with them. It's not like you can purchase a different on a 2nd or 3rd airline easily or cheapily out of there.

The legal rule on this actually depends on the country in which you purchased your ticket and is generally based on legal principles, not what the airline wants to do.

For example, if you purchased the ticket in the US and after purchase a flight time is changed (by more than some small number of hours which I don't know offhand, but certainly if the flight is cancelled and moved to the next day) you have the right to a 100% refund, even on a nonrefundable ticket, and the carrier has no further obligations.

You also have the option to request they put you on an earlier flight or on another carrier, but they are not legally obligated to do so.

If you want a partial refund (as you state) they are not obligated to do so.

I concur with <b>noflyzone</b>. You have 2 options, a full refund or accepting their schedule change. AFAIK there is no 1/2 refund, and if there was, the airline would charge you a one-way fare for the first part of your trip, usually a very expensive option. Buying another one-way fare would also be VERY expensive.

I'm sure that it's not the answer you were looking for, but airlines do not guarantee schedules. The ONLY thing they do guarantee is to get you from point A-B, and if it takes a little longer so be it. That's part of travel that most people have a hard time understanding because of the jet age, but the fact is, it has always been that way.