Christina

LGW is within the same metro area, I wouldn't want to bet that just because they switched airports, the flight is cancelled. I've been on several flights that had to land at an alternative airport for weather reasons, that didn't "cancel" the flight. This is a legal issue but I suspect just landing at a different airport doesn't cancel the flight..

RubyTwins

Our flight to Sicily was canceled in March.
We were told we would have a refund in 4 weeks and that was 8-10 weeks ago.
Lufthansa says we have to go through Ovago and Ovago says (when they answer the phone or return a call) that Lufthansa is only providing vouchers.

Hours on hold only to get disconnected. Associates promising to call back and never do. Try to escalate the case but apparently they don't have supervisors??? Really? Now Ovago says that canceled flights are NOT entitled to refunds?


We tried a credit card chargeback and the result was Lufthansa said we can have a voucher and our credit card closed the case.

This is MADDENING. They are wearing us down. Waiting on hold with Ovago is another job we have in addition to working full-time and teaching Algebra 2 and Living environment to our children. I get its a crisis (I am in NYC... believe me I GET IT) but in the US at least, airlines got a nice $25 billion bailout.

I thought legally we are entitled to a refund because the flight was canceled?
Any tips for next steps besides avoid Ovago at all costs next trip if we are fortunate enough to be able to take one?

Thank you for any tips and enduring my tale of woe.

mowmow

I got an email from BofA travel that our Lufthansa flights home from Greece in Sept have been cancelled. We’re going to request a refund, not a rebooking. Hopefully it will go better than the above posters experience with Ovago

whitehall

EU Regulation 261, which has been clarified by EU authorities to airlines, DOES REQUIRE the option of a refund for cancelled flights; same as requirements in the US. Please re-open your chargeback request with your credit card. Mention that regulation. Each time you open or re-open a credit card dispute (and I believe you can do it three times before arbitration is necessary), the funds will be taken out of the merchant's account. This is a good pressure point for you.

Right now, this may be your only short term option since Lufthansa is reportedly sitting on $2B in refund requests and is being sued by a passenger rights group in Germany. Outside of court or with assistance from your credit card company, you probably have no other option at this point.

We had Bank of America VISA reverse a charge with one European airline. We had two other airlines that eventually (up to 90 plus days) pay up after we filed disputes with AMEX. Best of luck! ×

tailsock

2 separate flights to Switzerland were eventually cancelled by American and United. Both tried to get me to call in to "rebook". American even patched together a joke of a rebooking without my permission a couple of months before it was formally cancelled. The advice to let the airline cancel your trip is crucial to receiving a refund. American sent me an email that said I was issued a voucher shortly after my trip was cancelled. Because the airlines are hemorrhaging money, this is their preferred option and they want you to think that's the end of it. I use American at least once a year but there are instances in which a competitor will have a better deal on the flight I'm looking at so a refund was the way to go. A voucher would've appealed to me if there were perks but it was flat credit for what I paid.

In both cases I filled out their online refund form, waited, and received a full refund within a week.

tailsock

I know an executive that works for Bank of America in Charlotte. He said that credit card companies DO NOT want to process chargebacks and insist that airlines and consumers work things out amongst themselves. The sad part is that a voucher is normally satisfactory as far as the bank is concerned in resolving the issue. Many have updated policies on their websites concerning validity of chargeback disputes.

mowmow

We finally got our refund from Lufthansa RE our flight to Athens for 8/27 cancelled. I had purchased the tickets through BofA travel and used points for about half of the purchase. BofA travel notified me of the cancellation, and processed the refund request after I called and requested it. We got all of our points back immediately; the $ refund took about another two weeks. Aside from being on the phone for a really long time with BofA travel, it all worked out.

Now we have to file a claim with insurance to get a refund for a few hotel nights, a nonrefundable rental car, and the nonrefundable small boat cruise deposit.

All in all though, we've been able to recoup most of our money. We are not accepting vouchers for next year as we don't know if we'll be able to travel then.

schmerl

WOW! You are very lucky. I filed a request for a refund with SAS after they cancelled our flight. That was June 16. I still haven't received any refund. They keep telling me I'm "in the queue".
Others who filed for refunds in April still haven't received their money!

HappyTrvlr

IcelandAir canceled our flights in late May and June and we received a full refund to our credit card about two weeks ago.

schmerl

I filed a dispute with my credit card company and lo and behold, a credit to my account appeared today. Our flight was cancelled June 16 and I filed for a refund that day. SAS just kept telling me we were "in the queue" for the refund.
I kept checking the SAS Facebook page and people who had flights cancelled with SAS way back in March have still not received their refunds.
The moral of the story is, if you can't get satisfaction from the airlines, file a dispute with your credit card company.

Fodorite018

I too filed a dispute with our credit card company and they came through like a champ. We had the provisional credit right away, but then received the actual credit this past week.

Macross

We just got an extension with eurostar, that was a lot of work. Will see if the refund comes through on Sept 20th from Virgin Atlantic. How is everyone else doing with refunds and vouchers?

eliztravels2

I’m about 10 weeks in to what I was told by Air France would be a 12 week wait for a refund. I have a request pending with Virgin Australia for either a voucher (24 months validity, transferable) or a letter for my insurance company. Allegedly it will be dealt with after the shareholders meeting on September 23 approves the sale to Bain Capital.

Earlier this month I got a response on a credit card dispute regarding a refund from a small tour company in Australia which had been promised it back in March. The tour company issued the refund, and a day or two later I also got a conditional refund from Visa. So for now I have a credit balance on my card. It took Visa a little less than the 60 business days it said it would take to issue the refund. No doubt it will be snatched back in a much shorter time.

eliztravels2

Update: Air France told me it would be up to 12 weeks to get my refund. I called at 13 weeks and after some issues with the automated phone system (no option to connect regarding a complaint) and only a 10 minute wait I was able to talk to a live operator. Because my claim was overdue I was put on a ‘priority’ list and was told it would be another 1-3 weeks. Wait and see.

Fodorite018

eliztravels2--I would just call the credit card company for the airline refund. Ask for a chargeback.

schmerl

SAS Airlines cancelled our flight June 16. We requested our refund that day. After two months no refund had come through and they kept telling us we were "in the queue" for a refund. I filed a dispute with my credit card company and had a credit to my account within a week. However, that is basically temporary and if the cc company looks further and decides I need to wait for SAS, it can be taken away.
Just two days ago, three and a half months after the refund request, SAS emailed saying they'll give me an extra $35 if I agree to a voucher rather than a refund. They owe me $3074 and offer an extra $35 in a voucher??!!!!
They should be ashamed of themselves. There are people on their Facebook page who are still waiting after six months!!!

eliztravels2

MMS: thanks for your interest, but no point in starting a whole new process now. AF is required by law to refund for cancelled flights and both agents I have spoken to assured me I was entitled to a refund and so I am confident it will come in time. The Visa charge back time is also exceedingly slow because of of the huge volume.

Fodorite018

eliztravels2--I just know we were in the same boat. Iceland Air was required to give us a refund and they said they would. I was not going to wait months for it though. We have 5 tickets, so we were looking at almost $4500. The chargeback time was less than 2 weeks. This was just within the last month. It is pretty cut and dry for the CC company. They ask the airline for any proof other than what you supply them, and of course if the airline can't offer that up (which is the case for you as it was for us), then they process the chargeback. We had immediate provisional credit, but then it was 2 weeks until it was settled in our favor and the money was credited back to us. I just did not see the point in waiting months and letting someone else hang on to our money.

Raven4

I booked airline tickets in Jan. 2020 for United from Detroit to Zurich, Switzerland for May 2020. I did buy insurance too. I made the mistake of cancelling the tickets in late March 2020. About July, I got an email from United saying I have a voucher for the tickets. No Refund. I called United and the person I talked to explained about the voucher and I have till Jan.2022 to use it. When I told her I bought insurance for the flight. She basically said that the insurance doesn't work if you cancel. Even though I cancelled after Americans wasn't allowed to fly to Europe. I said so I spent money on insurance for Nothing and her reply was Yes!
My question, is that how it works? Insurance doesn't work if you cancel a flight? What's the point of insurance? I still have all my papers and receipts. I paid for my tickets with my debit card. I don't mind using vouchers. But was wondering if the lady from United lied to me about insurance?

janisj

OK -- the sad fact is you cancelled and received full value back from the airline in the form of a future travel voucher. So there is probably nothing for the insurance company to pay. IF you had waited it is almost certain United later either cancelled the flight or made more than a 4 hour change in the schedule . . . and if so you'd likely be eligible for a full refund. So next time (I know that doesn't help this time ) if you must cancel, wait until just a few days before the flight (or really anytime before the flight starts to board).

If the airline cancels - you can get a refund - if you cancel while a flight is still scheduled you're probably out of luck and a voucher is all you are due.

BUT it never hurts to try so you could 1) file an insurance claim 'just in case', and/or 2) HUCA (an important term I've learned from flyer talk ) Hang Up and Call Again since not every airline customer service agent knows everything. Just don't get your hopes up . . .


edit: meant to add, airlines have greatly liberalized their cancelation/credit policies due to covid but most did so after you booked and cancelled so another reason HUCA 'might' help