How to get your money back when an airline won’t refund.
Getting money back from an airline when it’s unwilling is difficult. But you have a few options:
Contact the airline and make a polite but firm request
Many refund requests happen either by phone or on the airline website. You have to take it up a notch if you want to move to the top of the stack A polite but firm request sent to a manager in writing may be enough to fast-track your refund request. If you booked through a large online agency, try contacting it. Contact information can be found here (https://www.elliott.org/company-contacts/)
Ask regulators to help you with your refund
The Department of Transportation can assist with tickets purchased in the United States. If you’re owed a refund but haven’t received it yet, a complaint sent to the DOT (https://www.transportation.gov/airconsumer/file-
consumer-complaint) may motivate your airline to move faster. If you’re in Europe, you’ll need to find the country’s
regulatory agency (https://www.easa.europa.eu/domains/international-cooperation/easa-by-country) and file a
complaint. It may feel like you’re sending your information into a black hole, but complaints often get results.
File a credit card dispute
Under the Fair Credit Billing Act, you can file a chargeback for goods or services purchased but not received. Some banks will tell you that you have 60 days to file a chargeback from the time you receive your credit card bill. But both Visa and MasterCard allow chargebacks up to 120 days from the transaction date. They extend it by another 120 days when there’s a bankruptcy. Remember, a credit card dispute should be your last resort when you need a refund. Give the airline a chance to do the right thing.
