Refunds with The Works
 

Refunds with The Works is painful. Some of this has been discussed in other threads, but I thought a focused thread would be useful

I cancelled 2 one-way flights for May 7 days ago using:

https://flyfrontier.custhelp.com/app/refund_request

I got a response with a tracking number that same day. The next day or so, I had refunds to my credit card. All worked well.

Then 4 days ago, I requested refund using the same method for 2 one-ways which were scheduled for yesterday and tomorrow. I initiated these requests at least 3 days prior to the first flight. The same day, I got an response, again with a tracking number.

The trouble is that I have not gotten any refunds or response since. I appear to have no-showed for my flight yesterday. So, I went in and cancelled my flight for tomorrow online and got a future flight credit.

Here is where more pain lives. The app shows your upcoming flights and some ability to 'manage' the flights, but not the ability to 'cancel' the flight for credit. So, off to the website on a desktop. Here, after logging in, it says that I have no upcoming flights. So, on that same profile page, I enter the PNR for my flight. It responds that that trip is already included in my future flights and goes no further.

So, I back out of my profile and use the Manage button at the top under Travel. I put in my name and PNR and up pops the more extensive Manage page which includes the Cancel button. So, I cancel my flight for tomorrow and get a future credit for it.

We are now at a point where the different interfaces between the app and website are a problem, and the inability for the website to see your future booking makes it even more difficult. Plus, I love the inconsistency of using the form to request credit card refunds with The Works before the scheduled flight.

I am going to stick with $19 flights and consider the money dead.

Personally, I'm at the point where I don't bother with trying to get refunds - instead, I'm happy with the future flight credit when I cancel.

In fact, it seems like I get the future credit even if I cancel less than 24 hour before the flight, which I was not expecting.

Being a Diamond Elite, the credits last a year, so I'm definitely going to end up using them.

Forgot to add: Canceling seems pretty easy and consistent if I use flyfrontier.com, choose My Trip/Check-In, and enter the confirmation number from my reservation email.

Yes, you get a credit so long as you can cancel anytime before the flight.

You can only get a cash refund if you cancel more than 24 hours prior. That's the policy.

Its a little oddity, but nothing in F9 land should suprise us anymore.

Do they no longer offer "The Works" with refund as an option? I tried to do a booking today and the bundles only gave flight changes as an option instead of full refundable.

It also appears that no bundles include stretch (premium) seating, so you have to buy the bundles then pay for stretch or the new blocked seat. I always saw included stretch and refundable to be the greatest advantages of "The Works".

I wonder if Frontier will encounter a class action lawsuit by not making it practical to refund your Works ticket. The last time I tried it, the Chat agent insisted the website would do it, but that's a lie. You can only get a credit.

As a Diamond, I know I'm going to use my cancellation flight credits so I don't try to get these tickets refunded by Chat (of course, I have to keep track of the credits, which I don't really want to do). Life is too short to engage in lengthy Frontier Chats when I don't need to. But I think their current practice stinks, is certainly unethical, and may be unlawful.

So, I needed to cancel a flight and went to:

https://flyfrontier.custhelp.com/app/refund_request

...to get a refund. I wanted a refund this time because I am starting to acquire too many credits with Frontier, and this ticket for 2 was a total of $220.

The link to the refund form does not work anymore.

So, I initiated a 'chat' session. The bot was happy to 'cancel' my flight, but it gave no indication whether I would get credit or a refund. So, I typed 'agent' a dozen times.

Agent comes on the chat, I say 'cancel and refund'. He says I can only get a credit. I say 'It has The Works'. He goes away for 10 minutes and then says 'OK'. Then takes another 20 minutes to actually get it done.

It is all just so difficult to deal with them about anything.

So, of course, it just gets better and better with Frontier...

I just got an email with the ticket amount as a 'flight credit' in a 'credit shell'. This is just like any other 'cancel for credit' email that I have ever gotten.

So, I start a chat with them again. They say that I should not use the flight credit but that it will actually be refunded in another week or so.

Why are they confusing people in this way by sending out travel credits for 'refund to form of payment' The Works cancellations??

As I've said, this is class action stuff. They advertise that the tickets are refundable. They have to have normal processes to get a refund. They don't. It's very wrong.

Dispute the charge with your credit card.
File a complaint with the DOT.

These actions will get attention.