Is this an illegal practice by an airline?
#31
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Washington, DC
Programs: DL PM; IHG PlatAmb; Hilton Dia; Marriott Plat; Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 7,273
I experienced the contrary of your situation. I received an email from my home airline telling me that my flight was cancelled and they had rebooked me for the next day. However when I checked the airline website, the flight was still available for purchase. I phoned the company and was told that the flight was still scheduled and they couldn't see that it was cancelled. Several days later, the flight disappeared from the website. I think this could be an illegal practice since they can collect airfare knowing that the flight would not be operated. Also they are very slow to reimburse cancelled tickets, it takes 2 to 6 months...
whether 8 weeks to issue a refund is "illegal" depends on a number of factors, but I think you'd be hard pressed to obtain any relief in any scenario simply because it took 8 weeks to obtain a refund in a pandemic.
#32
I am guessing that the airline is American. Because US Air used to do this all the time. And the current management of AA is the old US Air. But then you mentioned an EU airline. In some instances the alliances are moving passengers around so instead of DL and AF both running a similar timed flight to Paris, they proactively move passengers. UA and LH are doing something similar. The alliances code share all these TATL flights. Have you called/messaged your airline and asked them what is going on? A simple call, may be all you need.
In this Covid era, I do not think a court would look upon a fraud case too kindly. With constant cancellations to flights and cruises, you would have to show willful fraud. Not an easy thing to do. I used to be a travel agent. I used to help clients with similar situations all the time. Maybe the airline is giving you the opportunity to change the flight to something more suitable, before they cancel it. Proactively? If you really need to go, the airline should be able to accommodate you. Contact the airline before your choices become smaller.
In this Covid era, I do not think a court would look upon a fraud case too kindly. With constant cancellations to flights and cruises, you would have to show willful fraud. Not an easy thing to do. I used to be a travel agent. I used to help clients with similar situations all the time. Maybe the airline is giving you the opportunity to change the flight to something more suitable, before they cancel it. Proactively? If you really need to go, the airline should be able to accommodate you. Contact the airline before your choices become smaller.
Last edited by not2017; Nov 16, 2020 at 6:38 pm Reason: add info