How Soon Will You Receive a Refund After a Canceled Flight?
So your flight has been canceled. And after the initial anger and tears have subsided, you realize that rebooking for a later flight with this airline isn’t ideal, perhaps because you’ve found a better deal elsewhere. But while airlines are, in fact, legally obligated to offer you refunds in the event of a flight cancellation, you should be aware that money is probably not easy to get.
In the Elliott Advocacy program, one traveler desperately needed help after Alaska Airlines canceled his flight; it took more than five weeks between the airline and the online travel agency (and Elliot Advocacy acted on their behalf) before the refund was finalized.
How exactly do airlines manage to store your money for weeks after they have not provided any service? Well, for example, they are bad. But there are a few things you should know if you ever find yourself in this scenario and in any situation in which you are eligible for an airline refund (for example, you canceled a refundable ticket).
First, you are eligible for a refund of the ticket price and “associated fees” as stated on the Department of Transportation website , so please be aware that you must be refunded the full price of your ticket and any booking fees. In terms of timing, all travel agencies and airlines are required to process refunds within seven business days of canceling your flight if you paid by credit card (and 20 if you paid by cash or check).
This is where it gets tricky; As Christopher Elliott writes, “processing” a refund does not mean that the refund will be credited to your account within seven days (or even close). In fact, this usually means that the airline can only initiate the process at your bank, and in fact it can take one to two months before the refund finally arrives at you. In other words, it takes time and there is nothing you can do to get the airline to run faster, given the vague wording of the DoT.
Where will it leave you? Well, this is a waiting game. You should still contact the airline if you are not advised of an approximate timeline and throughout the return process. If you’ve used a travel agency or third-party booking site, well, that will almost always delay the process even further. (For example, the airline may reimburse the travel agent first.) Again, contact them to at least make sure the refund process has started.
And if the worst happens and you’ve been waiting for months for any sign of rescue, ask your credit card company to file a chargeback and file a complaint with the airline via the Department of Transportation website . If you need to change your flight at the last minute, here’s another guide on how much you can expect to pay.