Business Platinum Card from American Express
130,000 MR points
Refunds & Chargebacks on Cancelled Flights: What You Need to Know
Share this Article
Business Platinum Card from American Express
- Earn 90,000 MR points upon spending $15,000 in the first three months
- Plus, earn 40,000 MR points upon making a purchase in months 14–17 as a cardholder
- And, earn 1.25x MR points on all purchases
- Also, receive a $200 annual travel credit
- Transfer MR points to Aeroplan and other frequent flyer programs for premium flights
- Unlimited airport lounge access for you and one guest at Priority Pass, Plaza Premium, Centurion, and other lounges
- Credits and rebates for business expenses throughout the year with Amex Offers
- Bonus MR points for referring family and friends
- Qualify for the card as a sole proprietor
- Annual fee: $799
22 Comments
Prince of Travel is the leading resource for using frequent flyer miles, credit card points, and loyalty programs to travel the world at a fraction of the price.
Join our Sunday newsletter below to get weekly updates delivered straight to your inbox.
Have a question? Just ask.
Platinum Membership
Our Platinum members get access to a Circle community, exclusive live learning sessions, and in-person gatherings with like-minded travellers.
Top Offers
Latest News
Prince of Travel Elites
I have been fighting my credit card company for the last year for a charge back or get my points i used for flights that were cancelled due to Covid and now the airline I booked with has stopped flying to Canada so I will never be able to redeem the voucher that ends this week. My Visa card says they do not give back points!
I’m not without sympathy; but my eyes are not about to shed any tears for these pirates. No way I’m going to eat a seven hundred dollar loss. My (end of February) WestJet booking was a "one off" trip. I’m seventy years of age, and have no future travel plans. Even if I did: Will WestJet still be in business? Will they offer the same flights? I chose to book early to take advantage of more flight choice, and pre-paid for the ones that were the most convenient. As I said; it was a one-off trip. I have not yet been able to launch my chargeback/dispute through Mastercard. "We’re sorry; due to the high call volume…blah blah blah." I call back later: "We’re sorry….our call queue is full; we are not accepting any more today. Alas….I’ll keep trying. When I finally get through; they will not bull***t me. By the way; Message to WestJet: I’m not your "guest." I’m a paying customer. You can stick your vouchers where the sun don’t shine. Best Buy and Amazon wouldn’t get away with this crap. Neither will you; even if I have to drag my aging buns into small claims court.
Great article… you said "bleeding the airlines dry through a prolonged loss of revenue like never before, and that the airlines are hanging onto your money as a matter of survival" … if that IS the case then how are these airlines able to provide free vacations. As an example Sunwing is offering 100 free vacations as of today, May 14th and so is Air Canada… how are they able to do this? Doesn’t this money belong to the people that have reqested refunds?
What about booking sites like expedia or kiwi? If they aren’t Canadian companies but you’re using a Canadian credit card do these rules apply? Thanks!
Thanks for addressing this unprecedented situation from both sides and asking readers to stop, pause and asked themselves if asking for a refund or a chargeback is the best solution for them at this time ????
The step by step link is a phishing link. It should be taken down.
This seems to be happening because the file was hosted on Facebook’s servers. I’ve since replaced the link with the actual post within the APR Facebook group.
British Airways let me cancel my avios booking for a full refund of points and taxes. Online options were limited to only FTV. Just had to call in, use the Executive Club phone number, had a 12 minute wait and the lady on the phone was great about it and in great spirits!
Did you actually receive the refund of the taxes to your credit card? BA promised me a refund of the taxes for an Avios booking that was cancelled. Although the Avios points were returned right away, it’s been almost two weeks and I still haven’t received a refund to my credit card for the taxes.
The Canadian Transport Agency has issued a special statement that says that it is appropriate for airlines to issue vouchers instead of cash refunds during this time.
This is an unsigned statement that merely indicates the CTA’s current position that they will not force airlines to provide refunds, not a legally binding ruling.
Don’t be fooled that this absolves airlines of their legal obligation to provide refunds on services not fulfilled – it does not.
I called Amex for a trip booked on my cobalt. They said they weren’t doing refunds or chargebacks, and that you had to go through the airline. I’ll try again after I call the airline, but they’ve been quite hard to reach.
Amex cannot refuse to do a chargeback. Call back, ask for a supervisor, and insist on filing the dispute. If necessary, I’d recommend seeking further help on the APR Facebook group.
What about just claiming the Trip Cancellation Insurance on your AMEX Platinum. Is this an easier way to get your money back?
If the amount is below the stated maximum of $2,500 per person / $5,000 per household, it could definitely be.
I had originally booked flights and Disney World and Universal tickets to take my daughters on a father – daughters – granddaughter trip to Orlando scheduled for this week. I cancelled twelve days ago. Air Canada gave me a credit for one flight good for 12 months. Aeroplan gave me my miles and money back for four flights. I accepted a credit plus $100 for each of five tickets on Sunwing, Orlando to Toronto.
Universal and Disney World refunded all my money for tickets to their theme parks. Because the Canadian dollar has depreciated vs the US dollar, I ended up with $200 extra on the exchange.
The timeshare rebanked the week for nothing.
The car rental was an easy cancellation.
As long as Sunwing stays in business I feel I am OK.
All the companies have treated me with kindness and good will. I have no complaints.
Happy to hear that, John. There’s definitely another case for accepting the credit (if you’re willing of course) – it’s much easier than pursuing the chargeback option for the refund.
Question I have is, were the cancellations voluntary on the part of the airlines or was it mandatory. If the airlines kept the flights open, then that leaves travelers to roll the dice on the virus, get nothing if they want to cancel or go through their insurance (if they have one). Even with a government bailout, no one knows when that is or what the amount would be. This whole situation is unprecedented.
Well, they could’ve kept operating flights, but they’d be hemorrhaging money while doing so because of a lack of demand. So it was voluntary in that sense, which only places further burden on the airlines to issue a full refund.
Please do up a guide on if you paid using miles (united miles, BA miles, etc).
Here’s a crowdsourced document (that I found on APPR) which I feel sums everything up more comprehensively than I could: https://bit.ly/2WFz7Xb
It’s important to note that these are the airline’s policies, which may or may not be representative of your full consumer rights under the law.
isn’t the air canada/aeroplan one listed on that spreadsheet incorrect? it says you get a voucher only but clearly on aeroplan’s website it states all travel cancelled before mar. 31 receive a full refund on taxes and have the miles re-deposited into their account.