Adam Smith

A couple of updates on my recent cancellations.

I got a refund notice on May 10th for a booking that I cancelled April 10th. The money showed up on my credit card yesterday (May 12th), dated May 11th.

My infamous February 24th cancellation, still nothing from Aeroplan/AC, and my CC issuer hadn't even posted the temporary credit yet. I phoned Aeroplan again today, and after previously being told it was "in the queue" and I just needed to wait, I explained to the guy that it had now been 80 days since I cancelled it, and that yesterday I had received a refund for a booking cancelled only 30 days before, so I wasn't waiting around anymore. Surprisingly, he put me on hold to talk to ticketing and got it done in about 5 minutes, with refund notices sent by e-mail for both tickets (2 tickets, 1 PNR). Hopefully the funds will show up quickly on my credit card again and I can finally have my damned $287.30 back.

Polytonic

So my refund finally came through on May 11th. Counting from date of original request (March 17) that's 1 day shy of 8 weeks, i.e. 55 calendar days or 39 business days.

So not three months, but definitely way longer than I would have liked. Anyway, now I can sleep again.

expert7700

Data point: cancelled and requested refund for a ticket Monday 5/11 7:50pm; Amex issued refund alert email Thurs 5/14 11am.
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Adam Smith

It took seven days for my last refund to actually show up on my Visa card. Only four business days given the long weekend, but still, much longer than Amex. The transaction was also back-dated to the day after the refund notice was issued. At least I finally have the money back, although it had to come only hours after I had paid this month's bill

sinus

A question for the ones who were receiving refunds from AC. How long after this kind of e-mail you received the money back?

I have submitted my refund request in January. In March, they have sent me this confirmation. Now it's May, two months after they issued the refund and still no credit to my card. AC plays fool and assures me it's the fault of my credit card company and their financial institution processed a refund correctly. I doubt it's my bank's fault, as I receive other refunds with no problem, usually 1-2 working days after it's issued by seller. It's obviously an automated process. So I disputed the transaction and requested the chargeback, this is so unacceptable to wait 4 months for the money back...

Polytonic

I never received email confirmation of refund. The funds just appeared on my statement one day.

farnorthtrader

I feel like it must be in here somewhere, but I couldn’t find it.
How long are people having to wait for the refund of award fees and taxes? When I cancelled my booking at the beginning of May, I was told six weeks for refund of fees and taxes. At six weeks, I checked on the AC refund page and it said 6-8 weeks, so I remained patient. But now I am approaching ten weeks and still no sign of my refund.
It is all well and good to offer free cancellations in your marketing, but if never actually give the money back, it really isn’t a great feature and doesn’t give people a warm and fuzzy feeling that makes them want to book with you again.
I was tempted by the 50% rebate offer, but if things don’t change and I still can’t go to the US in the fall, I didn’t want to wait forever to get my money back, so I didn’t book it.

CanadaDH

My experience is that it typically takes 2 to 3 days for most of my cancellations, but on perhaps 20% of my cancellations, the refund has to be issued manually, and it takes roughly 9 weeks to come through.

A couple of recent examples... I cancelled one on Feb 4, and I didn't see it on my Amex statement until the first of April. I cancelled one last week on July 1, and had the credit on my Amex for July 3.

Adam1222

Are people finding anyway of speaking with anyone? I received confirmation of my refund request on May 6, the online status check shows "Open" with a "status date" of 06/05/2020. I have tried many options on the phone menu and just get sent to the website, and the customer support email form says they wont respond to issues about ticket cancellations.

hitek0007

I'm having the same problem. My status has been showing "Open" for 2 months as well, and there is no one to talk to...

CanadaDH

I would just hang in there another week. You might be surprised and receive it any day now. All of my manual refund requests have taken 9 weeks to come back to my credit card, give or take a few days. You're right at 9 weeks now.

Adam Smith

farnorthtrader, Adam1222, hitek0007, it might be worth calling Aeroplan and just seeing if they can do something about it. I posted upthread about an even lengthier delay, and it didn't sound like it was ever going to get addressed unless and until I phoned in. Find something else you can do while on hold and worst case, you've wasted a bit of your time, best case they talk to ticketing and get it done in 5 minutes like with mine.

Just phone the general Aeroplan number and follow the prompts for flights and change an existing flight. When you get through, tell them you tried to cancel online but it doesn't seem to have gone through as you've waited a couple of months and still haven't gotten the refund notice.

Adam1222

Unfortunately I've tried following the prompts and it just tells me to go online.

Adam Smith

I don't think you read my message carefully enough

Follow the prompt to change an existing flight, not to cancel one. Option #2, not #3, after getting in to flight rewards. But for what it's worth, I JUST called in and got connected to an agent immediately when choosing either option 2 or 3. And that's calling the regular Aeroplan 1-800 line, without entering my Aeroplan number, i.e. no priority for elite status, just the same as anyone else calling in.

I know that, at times, it has directed people to go online when choosing #3 to cancel a flight, but Aeroplan bookings can't be changed online, so I don't see how they could ever tell you to go online after choosing #2.

Adam1222

Gotcha. Unfortunately, I had called Aeroplan before and they told me I had to talk to Air Canada.