The following e-mail was sent to [email protected] on November 30th:

It is well over 8 months since you cancelled my redemption flight XXXXXX. According to EU 261 and the related European Commission legal clarifications this year, you should have refunded my credit card within 7 days of cancellation.

In your e-mail of May 5th 2020, you informed me that 'the refundable amount is €144.53 in total.' Please again find above full IBAN and BIC details for my ZZZ Bank account. Kindly repay what I am owed at the earliest opportunity and inform me when the bank transfer is made.

Failure to make this payment will leave me no option other than to place the matter in the hands of my lawyer XXXX and Co. LLC who are the legal representatives of Lufthansa for South Europe.

It is shocking that you think you can get away with treating your A3 gold card holders in this way without it having long-term implications for your business.

I look forward to hearing from you in the near future.

It took Aegean only 7 days to reply: Please accept our apologies for the delay. We would like to inform you that the deposit of €144.53 regarding the reservation XXXXXX has been completed and you can confirm it with your bank. Please check the attached document.

Similar action has been undertaken with various other claims totalling around €2,000. Whether the rapid repayment is due to the threat of legal action from a serious lawyer or to a change in Aegean policy remains to be seen.