AY Cancelling "most" Flights April 1 onwards. Refunds?
 

From AY

"We are now adjusting our traffic and will cancel the majority of our flights temporarily as of 1 April until the situation improves. We are now cancelling flights from 16 March – 30 June from our systems."

So if AY have cancelled my flight, they have to give me a refund right? I don't want to change dates, I just want my $ back.

Full refund, applies even if only one segment of your ticket is cancelled.

I booked my tickets at Orbitz.com and I received email from Orbitz regarding flight changes if I accept the changes or not.
I already picked "I DO Not Accept, Call Me" option and responded to the email, but I haven't heard from Orbitz yet.
I also received 4 emails from AY regarding the flight changes, but that doesn't help to get a refund.
I believe I still need to contact Orbitz for the refund...so frustrating.

When booking flight tickets, rule #1 , always pay with a credit card. Rule #2 , always book directly with the airline.

But, apparently OP did not. So, he will need to reach out to Orbitz and request a refund. If he does not hear back in seven business days, initiate a chargeback with his credit card issuer (bank). Don't waste time following up or spending hours on the phone. But, do keep copies of whatever is submitted so that you can demonstrate that you asked.

This is an easy chargeback and it is unlikely that either Orbitz or AY will even respond to contest.

I agree. But sometimes, you can't. Just last year, I've had to use Expedia two times to book 105-stock tickets that Finnair.com wouldn't sell to me (luckily the flights were flown before the crisis).

Typical problems include complex itineraries, interlines, or more prosaically too many possible connections on a single day for a pair of cities.

I am not familiar with Orbitz, but many OTA also have their own loyalty program, which stacks on top of the airline's (unlike hotels).

I recommend you have written evidence when you Chargeback - I was once approached by a debt collector for a cancelled (airline) ticket - six months later!

This is a bit a piggyback on the OP's question but with a more specific route in mind. I'm slated to fly out JFK to HEL in mid-June. I'm reading the cancellation announcement of Finnair, and I'm sensing that, at some point, they will probably cancel this flight? Does this jibe with what other folks are understanding? Also, the flight is co-run w/ AA and BA--I got my tickets though AA, but looking at my flight information, it seems that I have a Finnair reservation # and e-ticket: can I just use Finnair to get a refund once the money comes back?

TBH, I'm on the fence on whether or not to take a refund if the flight gets cancelled, or try to book something later in early July or so. I was supposed to go to Finland, Russia, and Central Asia for massive trip. Sigh: not sure what to do now.

Refund is always from who got your money. Presumably your ticket number has a 001 prefix. If so, you need to wait until the flight is effectively cancelled, and only then get the refund from AA.

Super helpful. Thanks a ton.

Be careful. It is not "effectively" cancelled, but, in fact cancelled. Carriers want you to cancel so that they can issue a credit under their Covid-19 rebooking policy. But, once the carrier, in fact, cancels, you are entitled to a refund.

Thanks for the heads up. Have you or anyone heard that if YA typically cancelling cross continental flights only a few days out or have they been sending out cancellations weeks in advance?

how will this show up? For example my first flight is AY 6 on 5/5. Right now on EF it’s zeroed out in every class even though the seatmap is wideopen. Seems they have stopped selling tickets in preparation to cancel but they haven’t trimmed it from the schedule yet.

Flight officially cancelled, AY email just came. I spent 2h on hold w AY earlier and didn’t get through. Any way to process refund?