Originally Posted by
uastarflyer
I meant the TSA fee. WN provides the option at the point of cancel to refund or roll over
On award ticket cancellation the money comes back automatically
Award tickets are refundable. I'll have to take your word for it that WN has a separate policy for the TSA fee. It's not on their website, but I've also never cancelled a WN ticket. It seems to be within UA's power to provide a mechanism to refund the $5.60, and, in fact, the law seems clear that they should (
49 CFR 1510.9(b)).
Originally Posted by
drewguy
So it is like buying the "no returns" discount rack clothing. You could walk out of the store and toss them in the trash, but you couldn't get a refund on the tax.
Precisely.
Originally Posted by
moondog
I brought UA to arbitration over this exact issue, and they settled in a heartbeat.
Your profile says you're based in Shanghai. Was this for an international or domestic (US) ticket? I'd foresee a much greater chance of success with an international ticket.
Originally Posted by
FlyingBeanCounter
The taxes pretty clearly have to be refunded.
PFCs pretty clearly do not.
14 CFR 158.45(3)ii (Passenger Facility Charges):
Failure to travel on a nonrefundable or expired ticket is not a change in itinerary. If the ticket purchaser is not permitted any fare refund on the unused ticket, the ticket purchaser is not permitted a refund of any
PFC associated with that ticket.
The US Transportation Tax (US) and Flight Segment Tax (ZP) are a little less clear.
26 USC §4261. It defines the taxable event as "the beginning of the domestic segment," but it doesn't really define "beginning," and the definition is buried in a section describing indexing the taxes for inflation. However, it also contains a provision that the segment tax doesn't change if the number of segments changes without a re-fare.
Originally Posted by
FlyingBeanCounter
I tend to think that the carriers and the government collude on this using various flimsy excuses and regulations to keep from refunding the money.
Why? Only one party gets to keep the money; what does the other party get from this collusion?
Originally Posted by
FlyingBeanCounter
I also think the carrier imposed fees would probably have to be refunded as well as the taxes (the FAA still has some influence and fees are different than actual airfare).
What carrier-imposed fees are you talking about? The DOT does
require that airlines refund optional service fees -- so E+ fees, for example, have to be refundable (and are).
Originally Posted by
FlyingBeanCounter
This would take a class action suit though to obtain the refund. It is simply a case of too little return for anyone but a greedy lawyer to take up.
If there's enough money at stake for airlines and the government to collude over, surely you can find a "greedy lawyer" willing to take the case...