Originally Posted by
Tafflyer
The other side of this argument is that, as passengers, we know we are at the mercy of airlines if we fly at the moment. Service, timetables as well as passenger rights are diminished or out of effect. This is not a very encouraging situation to incentivise the economic activity governments and airlines both want to happen. One route I would still consider flying right now is indeed subject to these "random" cancellations and as such, I am staying home, since I know if the flight I booked does get cancelled, nobody will refund me this side of Christmas either.
As for a refund, you always have chargeback as recourse (both for card and PayPal payments), and most banks will issue a temporary refund during the examination, in practice closing the case for the customer.