mcbg1

I have a flight next month YOW-LHR, DUB-LHR with Air Canada which I can cancel and get a refund for. I had a side trip booked to Iceland and I bought a flight from KEF to GLA with Icelandair for a concert which has been cancelled. I was then supposed to head to DUB before I fly back home.

It seems that Icelandair will only let me change my travel date for the KEF-GLA flight but since I likely won't need to go to GLA now, I can't use that flight even if I reschedule it to later.

Do I have any recourse or am I out for the cost of this flight?

I asked them if I could get credit for the flight and book a return YOW-KEF flight with them via Toronto but they said no...

Fredd

They are out of step with the majority of airlines and travel companies in general. We will be complaining vociferously and urge you to do the same. Start with their Facebook page.

dawntreader380

I am due to fly DUB-KEF-YYZ next week... I am hoping they will cancel the flights..

Often1

Don't think that FI cares. This is a conscious policy and not an error.

UKtravelbear

Why should the airline give you a refund because an event you want to attend has been cancelled but the flights have not?

This is what travel insurance is for,

It makes no difference what other airlines are doing or what their policy is. It is simply not relevant.

Are there any restrictions on flying KEF-GLA? Not at the moment no. If there are later then you might have case but otherwise you have no claim against Icelandair

Fredd

Actually, most reasonable consumers judge the behaviors of the company they’re dealing with in light of the industry’s common practice, and that includes behavior in unusual circumstances.

We canceled our JFK-KEF-BRU flight after the US President’s speech and in light of the State Department’s level 3 “reconsider travel” warning. We also happen to be in the high-risk age group.

After many hours trying to make contact via phone, Facebook, and Twitter, we learned that Icelandair is not allowing the flight credit of up to a year that major airlines are offering.

Instead, they require passengers to rebook new flights with the same origin and destination to be completed by August 31, paying any fare difference. Their Saga class fares would more than double our costs and make the flights more expensive than flatbeds on other carriers.

Their alternative offer is a refund of “some” of the taxes, less than 10% of the fare paid.

IMO that is tantamount to exploiting an already extraordinary situation. YMMV

drseagrass

I agree that Icelandair seems an outlier among airlines and their attitude is not excusable relative to how they treat their customers. Earlier posters had their needs to travel to specific cities end because of event cancellations or due to valid medical concerns. Oh, and Iceland currently also has one of the highest per capita rates of Covid-19 infection of any country globally. We can also add actions by many countries (USA, New Zealand, Denmark, Israel and others) to restrict inbound travel imposed after ticket purchases, so in some cases travel cannot occur because of national entry requirements. All due to a global pandemic and the median response by most airlines is to provide more flexibility to travelers---a credit for a year for future flights to any destination served or a full refund. In my case, I have Icelandair tickets to Akureyri, and Icelandair is your only choice for an international ticket from North America. But the conference I was going to was moved to all-online and Icelandair will only allow penalty-free re-booking (once) and travel still has be to Akureyri by 31 August (now extended to 31 December) at whatever the ticket price is for that date. Although I don't think the new 30-day European entry restrictions to the US will be effective in any way since community transmission in the US is well underway, it looks like they will facilitate my getting a full refund. The airline hasn't bothered to tell me yet, but it looks like they will drop service service from Washington Dulles to three days a week, and there won't be a flight the night I am scheduled to fly. I would think the cancellation of that flight should be enough to force them to provide a full refund.

mcbg1

It's not about the concert being cancelled. I'm Canadian and won't be able to make it to the UK or Iceland next month because of the coronavirus situation. At this point, they should allow people to cancel their flights and get credit instead of forcing them to just change their travel date while keeping the same origin and destination.

Anyways, they seem to have cancelled their KEF-GLA flight today so if this tend continues, my flight will also be cancelled.

Cloud Lounger

The idea that FI wants me to select my future travel date now is absurd given the circumstances. I don’t even mind that they insist on the same departure/arrival airports or if they want to put a reasonable time limit to use the credit, just let this covid business blow over (or become more manageable) before I drag my family there on holiday (which we still want to do.)

Fredd

I agree completely. It would be a challenge to put together a less customer-friendly policy in these extraordinary circumstances. Our "refund" appears to be about a third of the total "taxes and fees" we originally paid, about 10% of the total fare.

Our flight was scheduled to depart about 24 hours after the President's speech. We spent hours simply trying to make contact via phone, Twitter, and Facebook. There is no way on earth we would commit to pay more money to commit to the same trip by the end of August. As we expected, other countries (e.g. Australia) are setting up quarantines for incoming travelers. Quite a take-it-or-leave-it attitude in this situation! The comments on their Facebook page are 99% + negative.

I know Icelandair will take a hit overall, but they are definitely profiting from us over the pandemic.

Fredd

https://icelandmonitor.mbl.is/news/n...gh_risk_areas/

A little ironic in light of FL's refund/change policy?

Often1

The government advice not to travel ought to trigger a refund via one's travel insurance. That's what insurance is for.

Fredd

The advice of numerous governments not to travel, as well as the various restrictions on entering different countries, ought to trigger appropriate modifications by Icelandair of its policies.

They appear to be an industry outlier, and not in a good way.

mcbg1

Well Icelandair reached out to me on Twitter and offered me a gift certificate for the value of my flight with an added value of 15% which I can use on any flights. Seems like an acceptable solution to me so I took it.

Fredd

I'm pleased for you! I've seen no sign of anybody else receiving anything similar.