This is certainly unprecedented – the entire travel industry at a halt due to the coronavirus pandemic, travel restrictions and lockdowns. Like millions of travelers, our Mediterranean vacation last month was cancelled and we are now navigating through the unknown on how to get refunds, or the least desirable credit, for our cancelled travel bookings.
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WestJet
The moment our flights to Europe were grounded, WestJet immediately returned the full value of our airfare as a credit to my “Travel Bank” with the credit valid for 24 months from the date our flights were cancelled.
Updated July 5, 2020 – WestJet is the first Canadian airline to offer cash refunds on select flights cancelled due to covid. I am not entirely sure how they choose which bookings to refund but I have received a full refund for our international flights from Edmonton to London.
Air Canada
A friend of mine who had flights to Italy with Air Canada had the full value of her airfare returned to a future credit, also valid for 24 months from the date the flights were cancelled. For those who were to travel before April 30, 2020, you can change your booking free of charge but the changed travel date has to be completed by December 31, 2020.
Vueling Airlines
Vueling cancelled most, if not all, their flights as many European countries imposed flight restrictions. Our flight from London to Barcelona was one of them. We were notified of the cancellation by email and given the option to request a refund or rebook our flights.
Updated May 28, 2020 – I received a full refund including baggage fees to the same payment method used to make the booking.
Hotels.com
I had no issues cancelling our three nights in London at Hotels.com without penalty. While my reservation allowed for free cancellation up to 24 hours before arrival, Hotels.com was offering refunds for all reservations including non-refundable reservations as long as the reservation was made on or before March 14, 2020.
Expedia
If you have a refundable booking, you can cancel with a single click from your Expedia account. For non-refundable bookings, I encourage you to reach out to the property to negotiate a refund or credit as Expedia is leaving decisions regarding cancellation to the individual hotels. Feelathome Gran Via Apartment would only offer us a credit for our three nights stay in Barcelona with the condition that we rebook the same property by December 31, 2020.
Updated January 3, 2021 – We obviously weren’t able to rebook our vacation to Europe and since the property wouldn’t budge on their cancellation policy despite Spain continuing to be on lockdown, we lost the full amount paid.
Royal Caribbean
Prior to the global suspension of all sailings, our western Mediterranean cruise itinerary was modified a few times. At first, all Italian ports were removed from the itinerary then all the French ports, then the entire sailing. Royal Caribbean sent an email about the cancelled sailing and gave us two options: 1) accept a 125% future cruise credit in lieu of a refund, or 2) obtain a refund.
The Future Cruise Credit for 125% of the cruise fare paid can be used to re-book a new cruise by December 31, 2021 for sailings departing on or before April 30, 2022. Any pre-purchased amenities and packages will automatically be refunded.
We opted for the lower value in a full refund, which included our non-refundable deposits. We were to expect to receive the refund 45 days after we submit the request via the link provided within the email.
Updated May 31, 2020 – I received a full refund of our cruise fare via Red Tag Vacations since we used the third-party online travel agency to book our cruise.
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