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EU court: Airlines must not charge cancellation fees
The European Court of Justice (EJC) has ruled that airlines cannot levy additional charges if a consumer cancels a flight. German judges had asked the court to rule on airberlin’s refund policy and disclosure of additional taxes. (atwonline.com) Más...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
Wow this is awesome even though there are not many AMERICAN airliners that charge them
Wow! Something positive coming from the Eurocrats? Whatever next?
Please read the article more closely! It is not about the airline needing to refund every ticket fully. It is about that Air Berlin charged a cancellation fee for a cancellation, no matter if refundable ticket or not! This is not correct.
Also, what many people don't know, even if you cancel a non-refundable flight, by European law the airline has to refund all taxes and fees, only thing they don't need to refund is the flight fare. That is why the ticket price has to be split up on the website for the customer.
With todays ticket prices, if you buy a cheap fare 90% of the price can be the taxes and charges. So in case of cancellation you have the right to ask back for a big part of the paid amount, as the airline will not have to pay for that themselves. For example, I have a flight booked from Vienna to Hong Kong for 515,90 Euro. The stated fare is 55 Euro. So in case I cancel the flight, the airline would have to give me back 460,90 Euro and can only keep the 55 as compensation for me not flying.
Also, what many people don't know, even if you cancel a non-refundable flight, by European law the airline has to refund all taxes and fees, only thing they don't need to refund is the flight fare. That is why the ticket price has to be split up on the website for the customer.
With todays ticket prices, if you buy a cheap fare 90% of the price can be the taxes and charges. So in case of cancellation you have the right to ask back for a big part of the paid amount, as the airline will not have to pay for that themselves. For example, I have a flight booked from Vienna to Hong Kong for 515,90 Euro. The stated fare is 55 Euro. So in case I cancel the flight, the airline would have to give me back 460,90 Euro and can only keep the 55 as compensation for me not flying.
>> Please read the article more closely! It is not about the airline needing to refund every ticket fully. It is about that Air Berlin charged a cancellation fee for a cancellation, no matter if refundable ticket or not! This is not correct.
Spot on: Let's say, Air Berlin sold a ticket for 500€ and stated that in the case of cancellation 350€ are refundable (150€ cancellation fee).
Then, when you actually did cancel, they said that in order to refund te 350€, you would have to pay a 25€ processing fee, which was hidden somewhere in the T&Cs. It's not really a surprise (in Germany/Europe at least) that this would be challenged by the the consumer protection agencies and that the courts would follow suit.
Had Air Berlin simply charged a 175€ cancellation fee, nobody would have batted an eye. Air Berlin didn't want to do this because they wanted to look better than their competition.
JCS.
Spot on: Let's say, Air Berlin sold a ticket for 500€ and stated that in the case of cancellation 350€ are refundable (150€ cancellation fee).
Then, when you actually did cancel, they said that in order to refund te 350€, you would have to pay a 25€ processing fee, which was hidden somewhere in the T&Cs. It's not really a surprise (in Germany/Europe at least) that this would be challenged by the the consumer protection agencies and that the courts would follow suit.
Had Air Berlin simply charged a 175€ cancellation fee, nobody would have batted an eye. Air Berlin didn't want to do this because they wanted to look better than their competition.
JCS.
>> For example, I have a flight booked from Vienna to Hong Kong for 515,90 Euro. The stated fare is 55 Euro. So in case I cancel the flight, the airline would have to give me back 460,90 Euro and can only keep the 55 as compensation for me not flying.
I'm sorry to disappoint you. Lufthansa has long been hiding the fuel "surcharge" (because fuel is currently more expensive than ever (this was sarcasm, in case it didn't become clear)) in the "Taxes and Fees" section. And a couple of years ago it realized that it did not have to refund the fuel surcharge hidden in there.
If there is one piece of legislation that I am really hoping for, it would be that "fuel surcharge" is to be abolished. The cost of fuel should be included in the fare. If the cost of fuel changes, just change the fare.
JCS.
I'm sorry to disappoint you. Lufthansa has long been hiding the fuel "surcharge" (because fuel is currently more expensive than ever (this was sarcasm, in case it didn't become clear)) in the "Taxes and Fees" section. And a couple of years ago it realized that it did not have to refund the fuel surcharge hidden in there.
If there is one piece of legislation that I am really hoping for, it would be that "fuel surcharge" is to be abolished. The cost of fuel should be included in the fare. If the cost of fuel changes, just change the fare.
JCS.
Here in the Philippines you can not even get a Cancellation or Refund when the Customer is under Doctors Care in the Hospital. Case in point: I was in the Philippine Heart Center for irregular Heart Beat and Arrhythmia Issues. With letter IN HAND from the Heart Surgeon, stating we needed to CANCEL a Manila to LAX flight (more than 90 days away) for an indefinite Period of Time. The carrier Philippine Airlines told us that Refund was OUT OF THE QUESTION, unless we would file a Request to the DOCTORS that the Airline has On Call for a SPECIAL Examination (at our own cost). But we could CANCEL the Reservations for a FEE! That FEE was equal to the Penny, of the total cost including TAXES of the Tickets. So you would have to pay all the Costs, Taxes and VAT on a Flight that you would not be going on! You can see that once you Book a flight in the Philippines your SCREWED if you need to make ANY CHANGE AT ALL. NOT GOING TO HAPPEN! One more thought... On my LAX Flight the Airline has now made 3 CHANGES to the Reservation! Even CANCELLING the actual FIGHT I WAS BOOKED ON, and BOOKING ME ON A DIFFERENT FLIGHT 12 HOURS LATER. And not even ASKING US if we could USE a Flight that was 12 hours LATER. That would have caused us to MISS the Connecting Alaskan Airline Flight we had booked as part of the ORIGINAL TRIP.. They still told us we could not get a REFUND of the Manila to LAX, and we should not have Booked the Connecting Flight until we were ACTUALLY IN LAX!