Originally Posted by
DeanB
Is this normal?
I just cancelled a one-way IB+ award flight from MAD-GUA.
Apparently I'll get the Avios re-credited (I'll wait & see), but no refund at all of fees / fuel charges / taxes.
According to the IB booking, I paid £120 in fees, plus another £45 in "taxes and surcharges", plus another £20 or so in airport charges and so on. The agent on the phone informed me that "fuel surcharges" (she actually said fuel "taxes") would not be refunded. Apparently though, that covers £165 = £120+45, so both sets of fees charged. The remaining £20 of my original payment is soaked up by the £25 change / cancellation fee.
In other words, I get back my Avios, but it's cost me £185 to book and cancel the flight itself. I'm pretty unhappy about that - is it right?
No, you should get it all back minus the £25 cancellation fee. If you don't actually get it back, call in a few days to claim it. Avios as well, assuming it was all a plain vanilla award ticket on IB alone.
The agent (in the UK?) was probably confused since airlines usually manage to argue that fuel surcharges aren't refundable on paid tickets. (whereas taxes must be, minus a "processing / admin fee" they usually can get away with)