Airlines are cancelling flights left, right, and centre.
Seems in most (or all?) cases they are offering flight credits and not refunding money.
In 2020-21, I was fine with it as we were all suffering so felt supporting these companies was looking out for them.
But its late 2022 now and it seems this has become a trend.
In my case a flight was cancelled in Jan 2021 and was converted to a credit expiring in Jan 2023.
I booked a flight now which again got cancelled, but the airline is refusing to extend the expiry let alone process a cash refund.
It's textbook fraud and not just unethical, and if I had the time I would pursue this further.
It's straight up illegal if the airline cancels the flight (not you) and do not return your money.
Do we need to shake up the duopoly of Qantas/Jetstar & Virgin? The attitude of their customer service is appalling if you compare to the rest of the world.
EU mandates compensation on delays and has strict guidelines.
Parking my situation aside, I am just amazed how has the general public accpted this as status quo.
The OzB classifieds have a ton of posts pople selling off credit on a discounted price.
I spoke to a few colleagues who had flights cancelled, just resigned to the fact, that it's not worth the hassle for "a few hundred dollars".
So wanted some thoughts from people here, especially the penny pinchers like me who get excited by $5 off on $50 gift card offers.
How has this become the norm? Isn't there something we can do about it?
If you paid with a flight credit then it is reasonable to expect that they refund you in flight credits.
I don't agree that airlines are still not giving cash refunds for new bookings paid in cash if the airline cancels the flight.