tomst

I purchased flight RJ 182 in business (D) class from BKK to HKG with my U.S. American Express Platinum card. Since the inbound flight from AMM to BKK (same flight number, and presumably same plane) departed over 4hrs late, I called RJ an hour before the scheduled flight time and asked to be booked on a different flight. She confirmed that my flight would be delayed, and refused to put me on a different carrier (I asked for CX and TG). I then asked to get the ticket fully refunded. She told me to email ibesupport, and they would reply, but couldn’t tell me when. I emailed ibesupport right away and booked an award ticket on TG for a flight that was on time. I got to HKG on time on TG, while the flight on RJ arrived over 4hrs late. ibesupport replied over a day later that there is a 200.00 USD refund fee, and the booking fee (7 USD) and YQ tax (250 THB) are non-refundable.

What do you suggest doing in this case? Would you keep arguing with RJ over the fees or initiate a credit card chargeback?



Fare rules (DLEETH1) say:

CANCELLATIONS

ANY TIME
CHARGE USD 70.00 FOR REFUND.
CHILD/INFANT DISCOUNTS APPLY.
NOTE -
YQ IS NON REFUNDABLE


NOTE -
YQ TAX IS NON-REFUNDABLE IN ALL CASES.
--------------------
FOR NO SHOW / BUSINESS CLASS TICKETS
--------------------
IF A PASSENGER FAILS TO CANCEL / CHANGE HER / HIS
RESERVATION 18 HOURS BEFORE DEPARTURE OF A FLIGHT
A PENALTY OF 200.00 USD FOR ALL DESTINATIONS
MUST BE COLLECTED FOR NO SHOW / CHANGE OF
RESERVATION OR REFUND OF A TICKET .
-/ EXCEPT WITHIN M.EAST AND BETWEEN M.EAST AND
LCA/TUN/IST/ALG AND LY THE PENALTY SHOULD BE
100.00
USD/-
.................
AMOUNTS IN USD ARE TO BE CONVERTED TO THE LOCAL
CURRENCY OF THE COUNTRY OF DEPARTURE .
-------------------
IN CASE OF NO-SHOW ONLY ONE FEE IS TO BE CHARGED.
I.E EITHER THE NO-SHOW FEE OR THE
REFUND/REVALIDATION/REISSUE FEE
WHICHEVER IS HIGHER

BobFF68

IMHO RJ applied their fare rules to the letter, you voluntary decided to cancel (for whatever reason) thus there is no space for argument with the airline, the fact that there was a 4 hours delay is now totally secondary. Your only option is with your CC company if their T&C foresee such kind of situations for a claim.

PVDtoDEL

Next time, I'd recommend going to the airline counter at the airport to process the cancellation.

This is terrible customer service though, and i'm quite surprised they're not willing to refund after a 4 hour delay. Before initiating the chargeback, I would check the RJ Contract of Carriage to see whether a 4 hour delay qualifies for a refund or not. If it does, highlight the relevant section and let AmEx do the rest.

tomst

The Conditions of Carriage say the following:


Unless I missed any other terms, the only question here is the definition of "reasonable".