Cancel holiday over corona virus?

[john_b 3,387]

Any experience with Air France?

 

I was working in the Caribbean from the end of January onwards and my wife was meant to come out and join me at Easter for a holiday. However the pandemic meant that I had to return to Germany at the end of March; unsurprisingly, her flight disappeared as well.

 

We put in a claim for a refund of her return flight to Air France, and have just received a reply in English (shortened to its essentials here)

 

As it is not possible to provide you full refund we would like to offer you a voucher of the value of the price you paid. As a second option it is possible to change your reservation free of charge until the end of June 2020 for new flights scheduled until the end of November 2020. Please let us know your choice.

The current regulations have been developed with possible local or short-term disruptions in mind. However, the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has led to unforeseen travel bans and restrictions all over the world. Unfortunately, a massive cutback in flight activity was inevitable and a significant number of flights had to be cancelled.  

At Air France and KLM, we believe that the issuance of a refundable voucher is a reasonable balance between the protection of passengers’ rights and the operational realities that airlines have to face because of these exceptional circumstances. Governments around the world have indicated that an approach like this is appropriate during this crisis, provided that these vouchers do not expire in an unreasonably short period of time. Your travel voucher would be fully refundable after 12 months, if you haven’t used it by then.

 

Oh really?! Of course I am aware of the recent ruling on refunds vs vouchers; realistically, I see no prospect of flying anywhere for quite a while. But my position is quite simple: we asked for and require a full refund and believe that we are fully entitled to this.

 

Just had a look at the AF claims website which boldly states:

 

Please note that flight cancellations linked to the coronavirus (Covid-19) are considered to be due to extraordinary circumstances, therefore exempting airlines from paying compensation.

 

https://www.airfrance.de/DE/en/local/transverse/footer/reclamation.htm

 

The question is how best to proceed. Anyone else here pushing a claim from Air France / KLM? 

 

 

 

[keith2011 2,678]

23 minutes ago, john_b said:

Please note that flight cancellations linked to the coronavirus (Covid-19) are considered to be due to extraordinary circumstances, therefore exempting airlines from paying compensation.

 

As I understand it compensation there would refer to payments for hotels etc. and fixed amounts for delays in reaching the scheduled destination, those "extraordinary circumstances" also include weather issues for example. That does not I believe exempt the airlines from refunding the cost of the flight(s), which they are required to do by EU regulation. Maybe the French government have overruled that but I doubt it, keep fighting for your rights.

[McDee 393]

On 4/22/2020, 4:42:15, keith2011 said:

I sent an email to Lufthansa requesting a refund and complaining that there was no online option and their service centre was unobtainable. Got a quick response as follows:- BTW the link for the Service Center contact does not work.WTF!!!!

 

Dear passenger,

 

Thank you for your feedback, which we have already given to our Customer Relations Team for processing with the reference number (Feedback ID #+*+#####). If you would like to send us further information, you can reply to this email. Please always include your reference number in the subject line.

 

Please note: Inquiries regarding ticket refunds, rebooking or fare conditions will not be processed or forwarded by Customer Relations. All relevant information on this topic may be found on our website https://www.lufthansa.com/us/en/flight-information.

 

If cancellation is currently the only possible option for you, please contact our Service Center. Worldwide telephone numbers are available on www.lufthansa.com/en/en/help-and-contact. Thank you for your understanding.

 

Sincerely,

 

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2020/may/20/opodos-guarantees-you-can-cancel-for-any-reason-except-covid-19#img-1

Have a look at the last paragraph about European law. If you book through a third party the airline is still responsible for compensating you.

[keith2011 2,678]

6 minutes ago, McDee said:

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2020/may/20/opodos-guarantees-you-can-cancel-for-any-reason-except-covid-19#img-1

Have a look at the last paragraph about European law. If you book through a third party the airline is still responsible for compensating you.

 

@McDee Thanks for that but things have moved on since the post you quoted, as per my update on page 17 it looks like Lufthansa will give me a refund. Also please note I did not book through Opodo but direct with the airline.

 

[McDee 393]

Hi Keith, sorry that should have been sent to everyone. Now where are my glasses?

[atinherne 69]

Update- my trip to Ibiza in april was booked with Expedia. They refunded the hotel right away when everything got shutdown and EUROWINGS just refunded this week. 
 

[malcolmpow 20]

I cancelled my trip with Lufthansa on April 2, and the guy said it would be a few months to get my cash back as it had to be processed manually, fine.

 

got an email today from them saying

Quote

Dear Passenger,

First of all: Thank you for choosing Lufthansa. We received your request for a refund of your flight

 

and then pushing again for the vouchers, sigh. then a nice little cherry on top of the cake

 

Quote

If a refund remains your preferred option, you don’t have to take any action and you can disregard this email.

Open refund requests will be processed in the next 6-8 weeks. Due to high volumes, we would like to thank you for your patience and understanding for the processing delay.

 

[atinherne 69]

Me too they canceled end of march and it took this long to get it back.

[keith2011 2,678]

Same email here, they cancelled my flights mid April for travel in May and I'm still waiting. I paid with Paypal and have disputed the payment, which Lufthansa have had since early January, with them.

[keith2011 2,678]

Just wanted to give a further update:-

Still no refund from Lufthansa and Paypal have rejected my dispute of payment on the basis that it was older than180 days! I have raised an issue with the

söp (Schlichtungsstelle für den öffentlichen Personenverkehr e.V.) which is free, https://soep-online.de/en/ if anyone else needs it.

Waiting.

[LeonG 14,850]

I'm still waiting for news from opodo. People who booked directly with the same airline got their money back months ago.

[malcolmpow 20]

Just received the refunds from Lufthansa today.

[mawun 2]

I'm lucky that I booked my vacation in August this year and that no flight is necessary. I'll spend a week in the hotels dolomites and go hiking there. That will be great! 

[keith2011 2,678]

Still no refund from Lufthansa and it is now exactly 3 months after the scheduled flight departure, over 4 months since the informed me they had cancelled the flights and10 weeks since their last email saying the refund would be processed in 6-8 weeks, lying thieving bars#&$!s.

Also nothing from söp so that looks like it might have been a waste of time.

[LeonG 14,850]

My friend who booked for me with Opodo told me this past week that he got a refund from them finally but he's currently on holidays so we'll have a look at it when he's back.

[keith2011 2,678]

Lufthansa finally did the decent thing almost, I got an email this morning from Paypal informing me they (Lufthansa) had sent me a refund. On checking the amount though I found it was €50,- light, looks like they forgot to include the 1 pierce of non-cabin baggage I paid for (€25,- each way). I contacted the LH service centre who confirmed the error and promised resolve it in 7 days, seeing will be believing.

[keith2011 2,678]

Well it took longer than the promised 7 days but I have now received the missing €50,- from the refund.

Thanks Lufthansa, I promise never to fly with you again!

[kiplette 8,795]

They have an interesting elasticity in their attitude to time. 

[optimista 5,925]

That's very poetically put. Thank you

[robinson100 12,853]

I have a flight booked to London on October 29th, with BA.

Personally, I am on the verge of cancelling it, since my region has hit the "red zone" as regards number of Corona cases.

Any thoughts?