oliver2002

Call LX and tell them your flight got cancelled and you want a full refund. Don't wait for any email.

AntonS

Data point: ZRH-BKK-ZRH Z fare $2400. Flew outbound in March, but return was cancelled, had to buy new ticket on KLM to get back home.

Ticket booked through Expedia. Expedia made multiple attempts to contact Swiss about refund with no reply.

In August disputed half of the charge with Amex (DL Skymiles). I received $1200 credit immediately and now I see that dispute status changed to CLOSED, so I assume everything went well. Probably Swiss did not bother to reply to charge back .

chris63

AMEX were excellent with chargebacks IME , however LX should have got you back to ZRH & you should not have had to buy another ticket

AntonS

Thanks. LX offered to rebook on BKK-FRA-ZRH which I initially accepted but it was getting changed +/- 2 days every day back in April and then Genrmany added a note to Timatic that connections in Germany allowed << only if no other reasonable alternative existed >> whatever it means. I decided not risk and reject new schedule change. Netherlands explicitly allowed connections with Swiss work permits, so I went with a safer option and even then I was scrutinized at BKK check in and AMS immigration.

Amlb

Time scale for refund improving?

i had notification of a significant change to flights on 16th August ( LHR to Sri Lanka in November in including Edelweiss)
Decided to cancel

I had money back on Credit card 22 September

DangerM55

Just wondering if anyone has had a similar experience to me... Booked First LHR > DAR for October and flight was cancelled back in June . I called immediately and requested a refund but never got any confirmation emails etc. I tried chasing for the refund by email a couple of times but have never had a response. I eventually disputed through Amex (UK) who have now reinstated the charge saying that Swiss have given documentation showing the charge is legitimate. I've not been able to see the details of what Swiss are saying as I'm away currently, but I can't for the life of me think what they are playing at. Anyone got any suggestions? I'd quite like my Ł3000 back!

KARFA

amex should give you a copy of what Swiss are giving them, usually comes in the post a few days after they reverse the credit. You can reopen the dispute and you would be recommended to upload some supporting evidence that you are due a refund for a cancelled flight and this should have been paid within 7 days in accordance with Ec261.

i had a similar situation with KLM. Please feel free to use some of the stuff I used with them - see this post https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/32542496-post70.html

capedreamer

I (and others upthread) had similar experiences as you. For the unlucky ones (including me), LX will keep contesting and the credit card will take their side. You can check out my post history if you are interested in the full (and painful) saga. At one point, it looked like because I got into the chargeback dispute with LX, even my normal refund request had been invalidated. But after many many calls to LX, my credit card, and Expedia (the OTA in my case), I ultimately got the money back via the normal refund process, some 4 months after my flights were cancelled.

In another case, a posted reported that LX even admitted to him that the department of LX dealing with chargebacks has been instructed to contest all chargebacks, regardless of circumstances, while a separate refund department will (slowly) process the refund requests that are due.

vbroucek

Just for the record, two return business airfares (HBA-MEL-HKG-ZRH-PRG||BCN-ZRH-HKG-SYD-HBA) for myself and Mrs booked in October 2019 through brick and mortar TA for outbound on 4 May 2020 that have been cancelled by LX about two weeks prior original departure were finally fully refunded last week.

citricut

Joining the club, I've had several flights cancelled this year and so far I've received refunds for all of them except the first and most expensive one (CHF 1000+) for which I made a chargeback.
Swiss presented some generic paperwork and Visa cancelled the chargeback and debited me again, this was back in April.
I've called Swiss several times and the reply is always that the refund was not processed because I made a chargeback. Upon explaining that the chargeback was cancelled they don't know what to say, only that they transfer the claim to the refunds department again.
Not really sure what to do next, would filling a claim with the BAZL be of any help?

capedreamer

I went through a very similar experience (with a chargeback that 'backfired'). In the end, the re-submission to the refund department is what got me the money back. Yes, I had to wait for another multiple weeks, but the money did arrive.

KARFA

can't you reopen the chargeback with visa?

Viennafly

I had booked a super-cheap (non-refundable) P-fare (FRA-ZRH-LAX RT) in April for the second week of December to travel to a conference. At that time, I had the hope that the COVID-19 situation would have calmed down and international travel would be possible again without major restrictions. With my conference being moved to a virtual format and the current development of the pandemic, I will not need/want to go to LAX in December.

This morning, I received an email from LX that flights LX40/41 (ZRH-LAX/LAX-ZRH) are cancelled and that they offered to re-book my trip on the direct LH flight LH456/457 (FRA-LAX/LAX-FRA) outbound and inbound on the same days than the original trip. Outbound would leave at almost exactly same time (and arrive in LAX ~3 hours earlier), but the inbound would depart 4 hours earlier than initially planned. With the unclear development, I also do not want to accept the offer from LX to rebook my flight to a later date (free-of-charge, but with a hefty charge for the fare difference).

Will it be a problem to ask for a cancellation+full refund? Or will I need to argue with LX that a 4h earlier departure on the return does not suit my schedule (and flying a day later instead is neither an option for me). Or should I wait until the travel warning for the US is extended to December by the German government, which very likely will happen?

Carpacchio

Pretty sure you can just tell them that this rebooking doesn't arrange you and you want a refund.
EU rules should apply and there you have the choice of refund, too, in case a flight gets cancelled.

KARFA

You are entitled to a full refund for the whole booking if any flight is cancelled - that is very clear in the Regulations. What you are offered as an alternative doesn't detract from that at all.