COPA cancellation fee within 24 hours
 

I recently purchased a ticket on COPA from Santiago de Chile to Dulles, and then Ft. Lauderdale back to Santiago. About 90 minutes after making the purchase I realized that I couldn't actually use the ticket and called the airline to cancel.

When I spoke with COPA they said that there was a $140 fee associated with cancellation since they do not offer a grace period(!?) on purchases. I don't understand all of the specifics of the law, but my understanding is that because I purchased this ticket from a US-based version of their site (though I am not a US citizen) and paid in dollars, I should be entitled to a full refund if I cancel within 24 hours.

The representatives I spoke with, including a supervisor, were adamant that they will be charging the fee because it's in the ticket's terms. I sent an e-mail with the relevant Department of Transportation document stating the 24 hour cancellation refund law but they told me it might be 15-20 days before I get a response.

Any idea who is right here? $140 is not the end of the world but I really hate to throw away that money if I am legally entitled to it...

There is no US law that requires a grace period of 24 hours. Some airlines, like UA offer that. Others, including AA and COPA, allow you to hold your reservation for some period without paying, but once you pay for ticket, you are stuck with the contract.

I'm a 1K and I did something similar about 18 months ago. I picked the wrong departure date by a day and called in as soon as I saw the email confirmation. I was only looking to have them change the departure day, not cancel, but they would not budge.

That's where I'm confused. This document seems to suggest that any airline with a site that caters to US citizens has to give a refund within 24 hours if the passenger wishes to cancel. This airfare watchdog article essentially summarizes the same thing: http://www.airfarewatchdog.com/blog/...ange-policies/

http://www.dot.gov/sites/dot.gov/fil...al20130530.pdf

24 hour grace period
 

Curious as to what you make of this particular article: http://consumertraveler.com/today/co...fter-purchase/

Likewise, the Department of Transportation document that I found seems to suggest that a 24 hour grace period is now the law of the land for any carriers wishing to do business in the United States: http://www.dot.gov/sites/dot.gov/fil...al20130530.pdf

Am I mistaken?

I've been bit by Copa's policies a few times, and this one is a real PITA. I've never gotten them to budge, and usually end up paying the charge. It is further complicated by their website (when it works) that has the payment page without any of the flight info, and if you want to go back to review the info it wont let you, so you have to start over. As I buy tickets for my employees also, and their payment page on the website has been failing, I have started using Orbitz for my Copa flight purchases. They provide the 24 hour cancellation free of charge, I get 1% orbitz bucks and I can store more employees names in their page and just get the whole thing done a lot faster.

The downside is I lose the 25% milage bonus for my own flights, but I already hit 1K for the year and can live with it.

CM allows you to reserve the ticket for (more than) 24 hours without paying, and that satisfies the DOT regulation.

Ah, bummer. The reason I'm so annoyed is that I really just bought the ticket to "hold" it and see if I could get a partial refund on another flight I already had for the same itinerary -- this ticket was literally 1/3 the normal price and cheaper than I have ever seen by hundreds. I just figured it was safe because I've never really heard of a major carrier that doesn't give you the "grace period."

Unfortunately I don't think I can get any $$ back on my original ticket, so it looks like I'm out a few extra hundred. Live and learn, I suppose -- though if anybody else has additional info, I'd be happy to hear it!

Yes, you are. Read the DOT rule itself. Relying on various articles is a bad thing. The Rule specifically permits carriers to either provide a cancellation with full refund or cost-free hold for 24 hours.

So long as COPA provides you with a means to hold a reservation for that time period, it is in full compliance with the DOT rule.

Well, I did read the rules -- which is why I provided the document here, as well -- but I didn't find it particularly clear as to when the rules do or don't apply and was hoping someone could help me to decipher it. Even more annoying is that my e-mail to COPA (which the phone operator insisted is the only way to contact the airline re: my request) bounced back with this message:

"Technical details of temporary failure:
The recipient server did not accept our requests to connect. Learn more at http://support.google.com...Message will be tried for 2 more day(s)"

In other words, I'm not too hopeful I'll ever be able to get in touch with someone at COPA, but if it won't make any difference, I guess it doesn't really matter.

Like I said, lesson learned I guess. I thought the $25 fee was charged to hold the reservation regardless of booking, but it looks like it's only added if you decide to purchase. Looks like I'll have to cough up the $$ to COPA, as irritating as that is.

Life goes on; I shall fly again :p

Opening lines from the document to which you linked:

This notice provides guidance to U.S. and foreign air carriers regarding compliance with the customer service rule that requires carriers to hold a reservation at the quoted fare for 24 hours without payment OR allow a reservation to be cancelled within 24 hours without penalty (the “24-hour reservation requirement”)

I didn't catch that on the first reading, though.

I don't think COPA charges a $25 fee for holding a reservation. I've never been asked to pay it. I'm pretty sure it's free to do so.

FWIW - I learned something from this. I had thought there was no rule at all governing this. I had assumed that carriers offered the reservation hold or 24 hour cancellation as a goodwill service for their customers.

As a US based flyer, I've been conditioned to assume that free 24 hour cancellation is an inalienable right ;) So I understand where OP is coming from.

COPA definitely does not charge anything to hold a reservation. And they'll hold it for three days without payment. Pretty generous IMO. Just never really thought about that policy being in lieu of a 24 free cancellation window.

Ugh, I almost wish you hadn't said that! I do speak Spanish but was reading in a big hurry because the fare was so low and I wanted to snag it right away -- it looks like they charge $25 if you pay using certain methods, but otherwise the reservation is free. I guess I just took it for granted that any decent airline offers free 24 hour cancellation.

Like I said, lesson learned. Major bummer, though.

24 hour remorse period
 

Copa does not offer a 24 hour grace period to cancel and refund, UNLESS you buy your tickets from an online travel agency like Expedia or Orbitz. PRINT THE PAGE where they guarantee you the 24 hour Cancellation service, and then buy with confidence there if you want to ensure you can cancel and refund. Copa does offer a 72 hour HOLD period, which is just as good in many cases, where they will hold the space for you and give you up to 72 hours to buy the ticket at the quoted price. The 24 hour remorse period is not US law- it is commercial practice. I was once taken by surprise when I bought a ticket on Delta.com from Panama to Atlanta. I had second thoughts, and was not given the option to cancel and refund. If I had bought from Atlanta to Panama, I would have had the 24 hour grace period. On Delta, at least in those days, the 24 hour remorse period only applied for tickets purchased for travel originating in the United States. I never bought on Delta again.

Free 24 hour hold or cancel is the law for all tickets sold in the US. It does not apply to tickets sold within seven days of departure, though many carriers have extended their policy to cover such tickets.

14 CFR 259.5(4).

Right, the 48 or 72-hour hold is the device also used, iirc, by american to meet the '24-hour cancel' policy requirements.

if you have no other incentive to use the CM site, book them through an online travel agent. I use expedia when there is some question and have at least 24 hours to cxl (3 days if I book on a friday from what I can tell).