Data point: I had a UA mileage ticket where the operating airline (BR) canceled the flight and the trip dropped out of my account entirely -- I was still able to pull it up at UA using the UA PNR, but not at BR using the BR PNR, and although Google Flights still returned it as an option, searching directly at EVA confirmed the flight was canceled.
Overnight/this morning I went several rounds with UA Twitter where each person (~4 hours response time, different initials each time) simply parroted that a refund was not possible, directed me back at the waivers page and said I could either pay the redeposit fee, or cancel and have it as a future credit for 12 months etc.
The travel wasn't within the next 72 hours, but it's in the next week, so I called and got an agent who was very nice and understanding but also quoted the same policy. I reiterated that the airline canceled, not me, and the DOT refunds page:
https://www.transportation.gov/indiv...ection/refunds
says
Cancelled Flight – A passenger is entitled to a refund if the airline cancelled a flight, regardless of the reason, and the passenger chooses not to be rebooked on a new flight on that airline.
and
How quickly is an airline, travel agent, or online travel agency required to process a refund?
- If a passenger is owed a refund, an airline, travel agent, or online travel agency must process it within seven business days if the passenger paid by credit card, and 20 business days if the passenger paid by cash or check.
and did not mention any exceptions for COVID-19. Agent said they would check with a supervisor if I liked, and came back 5-10 minutes later to say they'd granted the proverbial one-time exception but if I booked any other flights, yada yada yada. (It was a cordial conversation throughout.)
I'm not sure if I was strictly correct, as I recognize that a DOT web page for consumers constitutes guidance and not a full legal document, but at least the miles are back in my account
