If ABD cancels trip are you stuck with airline credit?

[lpm23]

Just curious if ABD will pay you back for your airline ticket if your trip is cancelled or are you stuck with getting a credit from the airline?

With 5 first class flights to Europe that's a lot of cash and I really don't want to be stuck with just a credit. I want my money back.

Any ideas?

 

[sayhello]

I was told if there was a cancellation fee, they *MIGHT* (heavy on the *might*) cover that. It's being evaluated on a case-by-case basis. But that's it. They are not paying for your tickets as far as I can tell. I'm waiting to see if Delta cancels my flight or not, or changes it so badly that I can get a refund.

Sayhello

 

[lovetotravel]

I was told if there was a cancellation fee, they *MIGHT* (heavy on the *might*) cover that. It's being evaluated on a case-by-case basis. But that's it. They are not paying for your tickets as far as I can tell. I'm waiting to see if Delta cancels my flight or not, or changes it so badly that I can get a refund.

Sayhello

Changes are key for a refund. Delta once changed my arrival airport to another city and I was able to cancel the ticket.

 

[Rapunzellover]

Changes are key for a refund. Delta once changed my arrival airport to another city and I was able to cancel the ticket.

My understanding is if the airline changes your time by more than 2 hrs, they have to offer cancellation.

 

[lovetotravel]

My understanding is if the airline changes your time by more than 2 hrs, they have to offer cancellation.

90 minutes

 

[christannj]

In our case the key to a complete refund was if they cancel your flight. We were scheduled to do the Egypt trip at the end of April. When the trip was cancelled on 3/12 I went on the British Airways website and they were going to charge a ridiculous cancellation fee to cancel so I waited. We were notified on 3/19 that BA had canceled the first flight to Heathrow and I then was able to get a complete refund.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

My understanding is if the airline changes your time by more than 2 hrs, they have to offer cancellation.

That is incorrect; it depends on the airline. For example, UA has a new rule that they will not refund tickets unless the flight time change is up to 25 hours.

 

[neurosx1983]

I believe the poster is asking If ABD will refund you the flight ticket if they cancel the adventure. Not if the airline will offer you a refund. ABD in the past has stated that they will help you with change fees only but I don’t know that they ever refunded people airline tickets completely. I think they just refer you to go back to the airline. But I might be wrong?

 

[TXTransplant]

United quietly changed their policy on March 7, shortly before the SHTF. They said they would no longer issue a refund for flight changes as long as they can get you to your destination within 25 hours. As expected, there was a huge outcry, and they changed the policy THREE more times.

On March 14, they changed the policy to this:

And on Saturday, March 14, United changed the policy for the fourth time — and made it much harder to get a refund. Now, the latest policy is that if your international travel is changed by six or more hours, you’ll receive a travel credit to use within a year of your original ticket purchase date. If you want a refund, you need to wait until that full year elapses, and only then can you request a refund.

https://thepointsguy.com/news/united-schedule-change-policy/
Article isn't clear what the policy is for domestic flights.

 

[AquaDame]

United quietly changed their policy on March 7, shortly before the SHTF. They said they would no longer issue a refund for flight changes as long as they can get you to your destination within 25 hours. As expected, there was a huge outcry, and they changed the policy THREE more times.

On March 14, they changed the policy to this:

And on Saturday, March 14, United changed the policy for the fourth time — and made it much harder to get a refund. Now, the latest policy is that if your international travel is changed by six or more hours, you’ll receive a travel credit to use within a year of your original ticket purchase date. If you want a refund, you need to wait until that full year elapses, and only then can you request a refund.

https://thepointsguy.com/news/united-schedule-change-policy/
Article isn't clear what the policy is for domestic flights.

I'm surprised they aren't forced to honor the terms of agreement from when you purchased the flight..?

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

United quietly changed their policy on March 7, shortly before the SHTF. They said they would no longer issue a refund for flight changes as long as they can get you to your destination within 25 hours. As expected, there was a huge outcry, and they changed the policy THREE more times.

On March 14, they changed the policy to this:

And on Saturday, March 14, United changed the policy for the fourth time — and made it much harder to get a refund. Now, the latest policy is that if your international travel is changed by six or more hours, you’ll receive a travel credit to use within a year of your original ticket purchase date. If you want a refund, you need to wait until that full year elapses, and only then can you request a refund.

https://thepointsguy.com/news/united-schedule-change-policy/
Article isn't clear what the policy is for domestic flights.

United's flip flopping and attempt to circumvent the DOT rules is horrible. I'm waiting for them to cancel my flight, and if they try any of this I will be filing a complaint with the DOT. They are already one of my least favorite airlines, and going forward I will only fly them if there is no one else.

 

[TXTransplant]

I'm surprised they aren't forced to honor the terms of agreement from when you purchased the flight..?

According to everything I've read, these new rules are retroactive. I'm in Houston, and United was already despised around here after the Continental takeover. Unfortunately, their big hub is based in our largest airport.

 

[neurosx1983]

United's flip flopping and attempt to circumvent the DOT rules is horrible. I'm waiting for them to cancel my flight, and if they try any of this I will be filing a complaint with the DOT. They are already one of my least favorite airlines, and going forward I will only fly them if there is no one else.

Agree. I hate united. I actually hated them before they started beating people up who didn't get out of their seat that was oversold.

Being located in northern NJ, however, we are pretty much stuck with UA because they basically control Newark...they've monopolized the area completely. I would love to switch to Delta if I could.

 

[Diana Risco]

In our case the key to a complete refund was if they cancel your flight. We were scheduled to do the Egypt trip at the end of April. When the trip was cancelled on 3/12 I went on the British Airways website and they were going to charge a ridiculous cancellation fee to cancel so I waited. We were notified on 3/19 that BA had canceled the first flight to Heathrow and I then was able to get a complete refund.

That was my case as well. Wait to the last minute. Although my ABD Italy trip 3/27 was cancelled almost a month ago, Virgin Airways told me to wait till 72 hours prior to the departure to cancel. By the time I called the trip had been cancelled and I got a full refund, where as my first call would have resulted in credit and change fees.

 

[Eastridge]

I'm confused on the policy. If you book a trip with ABD and also buy your airfare through ABD, and then ABD cancels the trip, what happens? Does ABD refund the full airfare, or do they only offer some airfare voucher or credit?

 

[Sakura1017]

I'm waiting for united to cancel my flight for a disney cruise, that disney is definitely not sailing, but hasn't canceled yet. IL has shelter in place till April 30. So theoretically my flight with United should be canceled because of traveling before that time frame. Yet, you can't call them until 72 hours before your flight. I haven't booked any airfare yet for ABD in September since it's mostly likely going to get canceled if China is still a level 3

 

[neurosx1983]

I'm confused on the policy. If you book a trip with ABD and also buy your airfare through ABD, and then ABD cancels the trip, what happens? Does ABD refund the full airfare, or do they only offer some airfare voucher or credit?

That's the exception. If you book air with ABD, and they cancel, they refund your air completely.

This whole experience has made me consider using ABD to book air if and when we do another trip, just because of that policy. Apparently also they use published air rates, so it should be the same price as booking OYO. Anyone with experience booking air with ABD can chime in but that's what I've heard.

 

[sayhello]

That's the exception. If you book air with ABD, and they cancel, they refund your air completely.

This whole experience has made me consider using ABD to book air if and when we do another trip, just because of that policy. Apparently also they use published air rates, so it should be the same price as booking OYO. Anyone with experience booking air with ABD can chime in but that's what I've heard.

That is correct. ABD's travel group use published air rates, they aren't doing any special group rates like, say, DCL does. They are basically acting as a TA for your flights. That's why you have to pay for the flights in full when they book them. They can *usually* find the exact flights I want, frequently at the same or a lower price. But I've had a couple of times that they just couldn't pull up the flights I wanted, or their price was significantly higher, or they could not guarantee me they could book it in a way that I could upgrade to Premium Economy. So in those instances I booked the tickets myself. Unfortunately for me, this year was one of those cases.

Sayhello

 

[Theta]

For what it is worth, Delta Airlines has been fantastic! I have had 3 different trips fully refunded, including 4 tickets to Japan, as legs were completely cancelled or there was a change of 90 minutes in others.

About four years ago, I had a bad experience with United and have avoided them ever since.

 

[lovetotravel]

My hesitation with booking ABD air was my creative pre or post trip plans. Don't quote me on this, but I was told that they could only book me directly from my airport to the ABD arriving/departing airport. So if I wanted to make a stopover at another country or city before or after my ABD, they could not book it. I often combine OYO and ABD trips so it has not yet worked out for me to book air with ABD. It makes me also wonder if I should use ABD air and not do OYO side trips to have the fully refundable air option.