Any consumer protection laws in Japan relate to cancelled flights?
 

All,

I had NRT-MEX-YYZ in April on Aeromexico as the return portion of a round trip. AM has made numerous cancellations and some rebookings to my ticket without my consent. They currently aren't even flying MEX-YYZ. I have made my own way home from Japan via other means, and just seek a refund for the unused portion of the ticket covered by the cancellations. AM is refusing to refund. I know that there are some consumer protection laws in Canada that apply to my ticket. Does Japan have anything that applies here?

ETA: it's covid-related cancellations, of course

I would not say there is none. But it is difficult to pinpoint an exact one.

Try to contact TC and see how they can help.

Thank you. Who/what is TC?

Transport Canada.

oh of course, sorry, thanks. I was thinking about Japan. Honestly, I don't expect much help from regulators. Laws will help some but I expect the regulators to be busy for a while.

For Japan? You want to have a chat to the Consumer Affairs Agency. You can wade through the laws here if you want.

In theory you are protected, but in practice I'm not sure you have much leverage to force compliance unless the CAA takes up the matter. You might find this interesting (it's not recent though) about Small Claims in Japan.

Thank you!

Aeromexico (like others) are digging in and refusing to refund for cancelled flights.

I am not saying Japan can't handle the problem. But FWIW - I would say OP prefers speaking in English or French rather than Japanese.

Given the trip started from YYZ, as well as OP's background, I would say TC is a better choice.

Beside - TC takes matters seriously sometimes.

I wouldn't count on there being much, if any, consumer protection of any kind in Japan, especially for non-Japanese.

On my last trip to Japan, travel home was interrupted by a typhoon. United and other American carriers did their best (and usually succeeded) to protect people who booked through them, even if the actual booked flight was on Japanese carriers. ANA, the one we had tickets booked on, completely abandoned us, never volunteered any info, and were 100% unhelpful. I don't know about other foreign carriers, but I certainly wouldn't expect ANY help from the Japan side.

They asked about the Japan end. I gave a couple of links for that end. What they decide to do or are able to do isn't in the remit.

I appreciate all advice and information provided by responders.

The information that JamesBigglesworth provided is specifically the information that I sought, so even if it turns out to not be a particularly fruitful avenue, it is still helpful for my overall plan.

I am not counting on any regulator to help me. I am mainly seeking to understand and catalog the various ways and venues in which this may be illegal in order to bolster my eventual court and/or chargeback case(s).

Contact CTA https://www.canada.ca/en/transportat...-in-force.html , or self proclaimed "airline passenger rights advocate" Gábor Lukács.

CTA is not going to help. I've been in touch with Gabor. I'd never heard of him before this mess, but I understand from my canadian FT friends that he has a bad reputation here. I have to say that looking only at his activities during this event, he has seemed to be a tireless supporter of people who need help and guidance dealing with the laws and regulations.

Can you do a credit card chargeback for the return portion of your ticket?

yes - I can do, and have done a dispute, since Aeromexico has flatly refused multiple times. I don't know how Amex will resolve the dispute. Still, I wanted to give it a maximum shot to argue my way into a refund directly from AM before going that route. Thank you to everyone who made suggestions or provided data here and elsewhere.