Can I claim money back from airline, as I've had to cancel flights due to illness.?

Question

I booked four seats through Qantas airways to OZ next month and paid the full amount on credit card, Unfortunately I will be unable to fly as I have undergone major surgery and have a letter from doctor confirming this, and will now be undergoing treatment over the next six months at least. My travel agent tells me that the flight seats are already over booked so Qantas will not loose out on my cancellation in fact they are now charging more for the seats. I was not insured but I did pay by Mastercard although they say they cannot help, are Qantas obliged to repay my costs as they are going to profit from my cancellation and although I have broken the contract, they will not loose out financially. They have offered to hold my flights but as it could be over a year from now before I can fly again I think I would prefer my money back minus any fees off course

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

The lesson learnt here, is always get travel insurance! You should right to QANTAS customer services, explain your situation and ask for them to refund your tickets. If they are not able to do it, but will allow you to change the booking for a later date, at least you will not lose your money and will still get that trip to Oz. Read the terms and conditions of carraige very carefully before you write to them, as you may be able to use your circumstances to get a refund.

Edit: From QANTAS T&C

6.9 Events Beyond Your Control
If:

You are travelling on private travel and not on business
You have been prevented from travelling by Events Beyond Your Control, and
all or part of the fare for Your Ticket is non-refundable
We will give You a credit for the non-refundable part of the fare for future travel on Us provided that You:

have a completely unused Ticket
have told Us promptly about the Events Beyond Your Control, and
have given Us satisfactory evidence of these Events Beyond Your Control
The credit can be used for future travel on Qantas flights (ie, a flight with a QF Airline Designator Code if You were originally travelling on a QF flight)within 12 months of the date of original Ticket issue. We may deduct a reasonable service fee from the credit to cover Our administration costs.

Source(s):

http://www.qantas.com.au/travel/airlines…

Asker's Rating:

Asker's Comment:

Good reply,
Thx I will write direct to Qantas and hope they are sympathetic.

Answer 2

Your tickets will say whether they are "refundable" or not.

Answer 3

If you had holiday insurance, you should be able to claim off of that if the illness was unforeseeable

Answer 4

if you purchased a non-refundable ticket, Qantas does not have to (and probably will not) give you your money back. They will, however, hold your ticket open for a period of time. Usually a year, but they may extend that due to your circumstances.

You're not owed any money back, since you purchased a non-refundable, and probably non-transferrable ticket.

Answer 5

No, they are not obligated to give your money back if you purchased a non-refundable ticket, and it sounds like that was the case. The most they are required to do is give you a credit/hold your ticket open, and you still may be liable for a fee. Since they have offered to do that, they have met their obligation. You may be able to get in touch with someone there who will be willing to go beyond that, but it's not likely. Try calling the airline and speaking with a supervisor.

Answer 6

If you bought discounted tickets and were not insured then you've lost your money. Sorry.

Answer 7

Unless you paid full fare, which the overwhelming majority of people do NOT do, than you will not get your money back. You should be able to get credit towards a future flight (within a year) though.

As for preferring your money back - not gonna happen. It doesn't matter that Qantas will not lose out on any money - you accepted the terms when you purchase the ticket so you will have to accept the consequences

Sorry......

Answer 8

Everyone here are correct. Just to add, you book FOUR seats and you are the only one who cannot fly, so the other passengers won't be able to get any kind of refund> But yours, with a doctor's letter and hospital statement, you may have a slight chance to get some money back due to unforeseen circumstances, but again about 0.001% chance.

Answer 9

It depends on your ticket, and was in the T&C's when you booked. The airline is not obliged to give you anything.
This is what travel insurance is for, you can claim back the cost of your ticket as you have appropriate proof from your doctor.

Answer 10

I had exactly the same situation with a flight to Canada. The airline would give me absolutely nothing, not even the unused government taxes and charges.