Lets get back ontopic.

I called the Gold line since today's flight had been canceled. Asked for a refund in cash and was told to expect the refund in ~3 weeks. Surprised, as my other refund request is still outstanding for over a month. She explained that all cancellations before a certain date are still processed manually (and take a long time), while new refund requests are now being processed in a more automated way - meaning that these are expected to complete in a few weeks.

So that is great news I'd say. I'll report back if and when the fare is refunded.

And one other observation; I was considering using the 'open ticket' option, however was told that this only applies to tickets with flights not canceled. When a flight is canceled you can only reschedule at that time or ask for a refund/voucher.