Your Flight Refund Is Taking Forever. What Can You Do About It?

Your flight refund is taking forever.

You requested a full refund for the cancelled flight, and now you are waiting for the money to come in. Maybe, you just got a message with an explanation from your airline, or maybe you haven’t heard back from them yet. Although situations can be different, there’s one thing you should know. In the UK, these things are strictly regulated.  And, according to the law, your flight refund should be paid within 7 days.

What to do if it’s taking longer than that?

Your Flight Refund Is Taking Forever: Step-By-Step Plan

If an airline cancels a flight, they must offer you a refund.

For example, in the UK, if British Airways cancels a flight, they have to offer their passengers a choice between a full refund and a new flight. It’s important to understand that sometimes you can only get a refund, but other times — both refund for cancellation and a full flight cancellation compensation.

1. Contact the Airline

Contact your airline’s customer support using the official website.

Or, try to contact them via WhatsApp, Messenger or social media channels, if such an option exists. You can also call the airline.

Unless it’s something unexpected and huge, like a beginning of a global pandemic, the airline should be getting back to you in less than a week. If you don’t hear back from them after a week, send another message. If you haven’t heard from them after a few days, send a few more messages. Do whatever is necessary to get noticed.

2. Contact the Airline via Social Media

If they aren’t getting back to you, message them on social media.

Most, if not all, airlines use social media platforms for communication with their clients nowadays. If after a couple of weeks of sending e-mails and messages, there’s still no response from the airline, use Facebook and Twitter to reach them. Remind them about the 7-day deadline. 

Refer to the Regulation UK261, Article 5 and 8.

3. Don’t Agree to Vouchers

The refund should be transferred to your bank account.

You don’t have to accept any airline vouchers or coupons.

Unless these are coupons that you can exchange for cash.

4. Contact the National Enforcement Body (NEB)

There’s such an institution in every member state of the EU.

In the UK you will have to contact the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

Contact the National Enforcement Body of the country your flight is from. If your flight is from the UK, submit your complaint to Civil Aviation Authority. If your flight is from Germany, contact the Nationale Beschwerde- und Durchsetzungsstelle Fluggastrechte. If it’s a flight from a country outside the EU and UK, contact the NEB of the destination country. 

You can find the contacts of these organisations on this page.

While contacting the NEB is the most effective option, it’s also the most time consuming. In most cases, it takes around 2 months until the NEB comes to a decision. After that, you still have to wait until the airline makes a refund. For the best result, keep on reminding the airline about your case using the social media and other channels of communication.

5. Take a Case to Court

Sometimes there’s no other option left but to take a case to court.

But, definitely, try to contact the NEB first. Because it may eliminate need for court action altogether. Apart from that a positive NEB ruling will hugely benefit you in the court, by highly improving your chances for a positive outcome.

By Europe and EU here on this website, we mean all EU Member States, the United Kingdom (UK), Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique, Reunion, Mayotte, Saint Martin (French Antilles), the Azores, Madeira, the Canary Islands, Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland.

Refund, Flight Cancellation Compensation or Both?

When a flight is cancelled, passengers are typically entitled to either a refund or a rebooking at no additional cost under most airlines’ policies and many jurisdictions’ laws. This means you could choose to get your money back (refund) or arrange for another flight (rebooking). Mostly, you’ll have the same rights also in case of extraordinary circumstances.

Did it happen up to 2 weeks (14 days) before the departure?

If your flight is cancelled, and the cancellation notice was given up to 14 days before the scheduled flight, you may also be eligible for flight compensation. As long as it’s due to the airline’s fault, and you have arrived to your destination at least 2 hours later than planned.

Note than technical problems with the airplane are considered airline’s fault.

Here are all the possible scenarios (and what law protects you in each case):

• You are flying with a EU airline
• You are flying with a UK airline
• You are flying with a non-EU, non-UK airline

What About Flight Cancellation Compensation?

Here you have two options:

1. You can do it yourself;
2. You can hand it over to flight compensation company.

Our partners offer such a service.

When choosing this option, here is all you will have to do:

And that’s it — the rest is handled by professionals.

* Your boarding pass and passport or ID copy.

Read more: Why Seek Legal Representation to Claim UK Flight Compensation?

Here’s how much you can claim for flight cancellation.

When your destination is within the UK / EU:

When your destination is outside the UK / EU:

There is one exception. If the distance of your flight is greater than 3,500 kilometres, and you reach your destination with a delay between 3 to 4 hours, you will be receiving £260 not £520 (50% of the compensation). If the delay is longer than 4 hours, you will get full compensation of £520.

What If You Cancel a Flight, Can You Get a Flight Refund?

If you cancel a flight, your eligibility for a refund depends on the specific terms and conditions of your airline ticket. While some airlines will offer a full refund if you cancel your ticket within 24 hours of booking, others won’t do the same. This vary based on the type of ticket you purchased and the airline’s cancellation policy.

For example, if you purchased a non-refundable ticket, you may not be entitled to a refund if you cancel your flight. Some airlines may offer vouchers or credit for future flights instead of a refund. It’s important to read the fine print when purchasing your ticket to understand what your options are in case you need to cancel.

Share your experience with airline refunds in the comments! Have you ever requested a cancellation refund? Did the airline give a refund?

Featured photo by Nataliya Vaitkevich from Pexels