Originally Posted by
Yahtzee
Posting to provide some data on a booking made through American Express - and not directly through Emirates. Scheduled to travel JNB-DXB-BOS on 9 May. Called into Amex this morning to cancel in light of the updated guidance. The agent could not do it online so called Emirates. He was told that a refund was not possible because the flights were still scheduled. He volunteered to call again and push; of course, I said yes. On the second call, he confirmed that a refund (less nonrefundable taxes ???) would be granted. We proceeded to cancel. Total time on the phone was 29 minutes. Within 10 minutes of the end of the call, booking disappeared from Emirates site. He said refund would be seen from Amex in 1-2 billing cycles - which seems long but I guess not surprising. Very good agent. Hopefully, everything goes through as promised.
Thank you for posting this data point. I came to this thread to ask for advice. I have a booking made with a travel agent for travel at the end of April, within the cancellation window. I contacted the travel agent this week who came back saying that it was not possible to cancel the flights without penalty because they were still scheduled. I will contact them again and ask them to call Emirates.
For those wondering why I booked with a travel agency, it’s because I was able to get some very significant benefits by booking using this travel agency that is linked to the employee benefits scheme from my employer.