Beware Qatar [COVID-19] refund policy

[Pug1]

I had a similar situation a few years ago when my flight was cancelled when QR were prevented from flying to Egypt.

I was assured by QR (by email and on the phone) that a full refund was in the process of being paid to my CC, but after a few weeks where nothing had happened, I called Amex to dispute and received the chargeback shortly thereafter.

QR has a lot of form in this area.

Hi Clifford,
I have posted another thread on Flight Centre refunds also with Qatar flights. I initiated a dispute with my American Express card and they've credited back the two amounts. In my case the payments were made last September. I await feedback from Amex once they get a response from FC. I cancelled our flights late March and could not get any response from FC until coincidentally after I had the credits a couple of days ago, and had lodged another FC form on-line. Did you ever find out if QR followed up the chargeback with Amex? I'm curious to know, to judge how my matter will proceed. It appears FC hasn't been refunded by QR or FC is using my money for admin.

 

[siri]

Call Credit card or the bank and ask for CHARGE BACK

 

[clifford]

Did you ever find out if QR followed up the chargeback with Amex? I'm curious to know, to judge how my matter will proceed. It appears FC hasn't been refunded by QR or FC is using my money for admin.

No, I never heard a peep out out QR after I requested a chargeback from Amex. I think QR knows full well what's going on and doesn't go out of its way to be overly helpful.

That said, as an aside, I will need to try and get a refund out of Oman Air (WY) and they are quite a bit more difficult than QR!

 

[MEL_Traveller]

May I ask a question? I've having a great deal of difficulty getting a refund for my Etihad flights, Sydney to London and Dublin to Sydney, via Abu Dhabi (stopover) both ways. Etihad cancelled my flights on 3 April, my first flight was due to depart 14 April. Can I claim under EC 261/2004? and how would I do that?

No, you cannot claim under EU261 because it does not apply to non-EU carriers flying to the EU. It only applies to non-EU carriers flying from the EU. (EU carriers are covered both ways.)

 

[Flyinfish]

No, you cannot claim under EU261 because it does not apply to non-EU carriers flying to the EU. It only applies to non-EU carriers flying from the EU. (EU carriers are covered both ways.)

My return flights leave from Dublin...

 

[Jusrus]

My return flights leave from Dublin...

I'm curious about this also. I have two return flights Madrid-Melbourne in May & July - one is ex Madrid, the other is ex Melbourne, so I'd expect surely one of them is covered by EU261, though I'm super confused! Also with Etihad not Qatar (sorry for thread hop).

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I'm curious about this also. I have two return flights Madrid-Melbourne in May & July - one is ex Madrid, the other is ex Melbourne, so I'd expect surely one of them is covered by EU261, though I'm super confused! Also with Etihad not Qatar (sorry for thread hop).

For a non-EU carrier, if your flight originates in the EU you will be entitled to a full refund. It has been determined that CV-19 is an extraordinary event, so no other rights to compensation exist. Note that some governments, IIRC Germany and France, are saying their airlines won't have to provide a cash refund. Don't know how that will play out.

My return flights leave from Dublin...

In order for EU261 to apply you must have a confirmed reservation and valid ticket. If you had a ticket on a non-EU carrier AU-Europe-AU, and the flight out of Australia is cancelled, the rest of the ticket will also be cancelled. Which I suspect will leave you without one or both of a confirmed reservation and valid ticket for the return for the purposes of EU261, hence the right to a refund would not apply under Eu law (but might well do so under Australian law and the conditions of carriage).

 

[Jusrus]

For a non-EU carrier, if your flight originates in the EU you will be entitled to a full refund. It has been determined that CV-19 is an extraordinary event, so no other rights to compensation exist. Note that some governments, IIRC Germany and France, are saying their airlines won't have to provide a cash refund. Don't know how that will play out.


In order for EU261 to apply you must have a confirmed reservation and valid ticket. If you had a ticket on a non-EU carrier AU-Europe-AU, and the flight out of Australia is cancelled, the rest of the ticket will also be cancelled. Which I suspect will leave you without one or both of a confirmed reservation and valid ticket for the return for the purposes of EU261, hence the right to a refund would not apply.

Thank you MEL_Traveller for this information. Due to the timing of my flights, I'm in a holding pattern, with the only risk that if Etihad (or any carrier) decide to re-activate flights, then I would like lose the option for credit.....

Difficult times, and I appreciate you taking the time.

 

[samh004]

Wanted to add my experience to this thread as I've just received 3 refunds for upcoming QR itineraries:

• HKG-xDOH-LED, DUB-oDOH-HKG;
• MNL-xDOH-LED, DUB-oDOH-MNL;
• MNL-xDOH-CPH, DUB-oDOH-MNL.

The initial flight was for my mother and had to be re-booked through MNL when Russia implemented a requirement to have been 14 days outside of China, and we didn't think COVID-19 would turn into what it has, so we booked a second flight. The third flight was for myself to meet her in Europe but not on the same itinerary. Anyway, been following along for a while, all those flights are still operating I think, however we had planned for a 2-day stop in Doha and they have taken the same hard approach as Australia in only letting their own nationals stay. Because of this, I believe this is why our flights have been refunded instead of forced into a voucher.

All flights were booked through AMEX, so I had phone calls and emails with them and they handled everything for me. Much easier to call the Platinum Priority number on the back of my card and get almost straight through, and then leave them to deal with my issues, than have to call other airlines and wait on hold, like I had to do with Jetstar for example.

While many have panned the benefits of AMEX post-devaluation, I have found them to be really helpful in all aspects of this tumultuous time and I am really happy I chose to stick it out as a card member.

 

[Pushka]

Wanted to add my experience to this thread as I've just received 3 refunds for upcoming QR itineraries:

• HKG-xDOH-LED, DUB-oDOH-HKG;
• MNL-xDOH-LED, DUB-oDOH-MNL;
• MNL-xDOH-CPH, DUB-oDOH-MNL.

The initial flight was for my mother and had to be re-booked through MNL when Russia implemented a requirement to have been 14 days outside of China, and we didn't think COVID-19 would turn into what it has, so we booked a second flight. The third flight was for myself to meet her in Europe but not on the same itinerary. Anyway, been following along for a while, all those flights are still operating I think, however we had planned for a 2-day stop in Doha and they have taken the same hard approach as Australia in only letting their own nationals stay. Because of this, I believe this is why our flights have been refunded instead of forced into a voucher.

All flights were booked through AMEX, so I had phone calls and emails with them and they handled everything for me. Much easier to call the Platinum Priority number on the back of my card and get almost straight through, and then leave them to deal with my issues, than have to call other airlines and wait on hold, like I had to do with Jetstar for example.

While many have panned the benefits of AMEX post-devaluation, I have found them to be really helpful in all aspects of this tumultuous time and I am really happy I chose to stick it out as a card member.

Not sure what happened there as thread disappeared.
Are you saying you did a chargeback through Amex? And timings - when did you start the cancellation?

 

[samh004]

Not sure what happened there as thread disappeared.

Two threads were merged.

Are you saying you did a chargeback through Amex? And timings - when did you start the cancellation?

Nope, I requested (through AMEX Travel) that the tickets be refunded because I wouldn't be able to stay in Doha anymore. They said they would contact QR on my behalf (as they are my travel agent) and process it, but it may take up to 12 weeks! The last call with them was 11th April and email on the 13th April, but I received initial emails that my booking was being changed on 30th March before I called them.

Booking wasn't until May.

Thank you for you patience and for you email,

We like to update you that your Qatar booking xx_xx_ and YYYYYY is now cancelled and raised for full refund. Both the booking are fully refundable. Due to Covid-19, Airline is busy with refunds. So, refund would take 8-10 weeks to be process by Qatar Airline.

If you need further assistance, please feel free to contact us.

Thank you,

Kind Regards,
American Express ANZ Travel Online

 

[Pushka]

Two threads were merged.

Nope, I requested (through AMEX Travel) that the tickets be refunded because I wouldn't be able to stay in Doha anymore. They said they would contact QR on my behalf (as they are my travel agent) and process it, but it may take up to 12 weeks! The last call with them was 11th April and email on the 13th April, but I received initial emails that my booking was being changed on 30th March before I called them.

Booking wasn't until May.

Ok so you booked through Amex travel (not just used your Amex card) and they are therefore your TA. Makes sense.

 

[samh004]

Ok so you booked through Amex travel (not just used your Amex card) and they are therefore your TA. Makes sense.

Well, considering they're part of the discounted airline program, it made sense at the time.

I realise that while my circumstances are different because of who I booked through (not direct), I don't believe the airline caved to what I wanted simply because they were dealing with a TA and not an individual. So I just wanted others to know that refunds can be claimed and they do appear quicker then suggested.

 

[JessicaTam]

I hang QR this morning and I got through straight away. I asked to cancel two bookings as a BA flight as part of one booking had been cancelled by BA. The woman looked it up and confirmed the flight had been cancelled. After briefly trying to convince me to get a voucher, she then asked me to put 'Qatar Airways refund' into a search engine to submit the refund request. The agent also said to call them back if I did not get a 'Refund execution' email in a few days.

The Irish site was the best match (https://www.qatarairways.com/en-ie/Refund-request.html) so I proceeded for both bookings. It looks like it has been thrown together fairly quickly, as one of the 'Full name' fields was actually for my email address.

Within a minute of entering my details I received a confirmation email with a reference number.

We registered your request for a refund (#123456). You will receive confirmation when our support team processed your refund, this may take a several days due to the increased volume of requests.

Now to wait and see.

 

[Pushka]

I hang QR this morning and I got through straight away. I asked to cancel two bookings as a BA flight as part of one booking had been cancelled by BA. The woman looked it up and confirmed the flight had been cancelled. After briefly trying to convince me to get a voucher, she then asked me to put 'Qatar Airways refund' into a search engine to submit the refund request. The agent also said to call them back if I did not get a 'Refund execution' email in a few days.

The Irish site was the best match (https://www.qatarairways.com/en-ie/Refund-request.html) so I proceeded for both bookings. It looks like it has been thrown together fairly quickly, as one of the 'Full name' fields was actually for my email address.

Within a minute of entering my details I received a confirmation email with a reference number.


Now to wait and see.

Yesterday I contacted Amex to see where my refund was as QR had told me in a FB message it had been processed on 12 April. We too received the confirmation email almost immediately about a month prior (13 March). Amex can find no trace of the refund so the chat function suggested I do a chargeback and which was started.
I then PMed Qatar again and told them there was no sign of the refund. They confirmed the process date then told me to ring Qatar. So I did and got through quickly. Explained the situation again and was told it was processed on the 18th April. I said that I'd just been advised it was the week before and they corrected themselves. Hmmmm. Anyways they gave me an email in Qatar so they could trace where the refund is. It was 2 J fares so a few thousand dollars. I received an email back from that Qatar email address and they confirmed the processing date and will likewise launch an investigation.

Its 10 days after the refund was processed, and almost 7 weeks since I cancelled. And no sign.

Post automatically merged: Apr 22, 2020

I just wanted others to know that refunds can be claimed and they do appear quicker then suggested.

I hope Amex comes through for me. Worrying is that Qatar have refunded and it hasn't shown up.

 

[Peter78]

I hang QR this morning and I got through straight away. I asked to cancel two bookings as a BA flight as part of one booking had been cancelled by BA. The woman looked it up and confirmed the flight had been cancelled. After briefly trying to convince me to get a voucher, she then asked me to put 'Qatar Airways refund' into a search engine to submit the refund request. The agent also said to call them back if I did not get a 'Refund execution' email in a few days.

The Irish site was the best match (https://www.qatarairways.com/en-ie/Refund-request.html) so I proceeded for both bookings. It looks like it has been thrown together fairly quickly, as one of the 'Full name' fields was actually for my email address.

Within a minute of entering my details I received a confirmation email with a reference number.


Now to wait and see.

Very similar experience in relation to calling this morning, I got on the phone at 8.05am and no wait time whatsoever. QR had cancelled all four flights of a booking to Europe from MNL, flight out this Saturday, I had requested a refund using their form on Apr 7 but the flights are still showing in 'manage my booking', and no refund has been received.

I was told that his system was showing the status of the ticket to have changed from 'confirmed' (?, flights cancelled) to 'refunded' on Apr 20, and that it would take between 14 and 28 business days for the refund to appear. He also said that I should have received an email (probably similar to the one JessicaTam has mentioned above), this would be generated within 72 hours of the refund having been processed. Nothing yet.

Once the funds have arrived, I will confirm here so, the timeline might be interesting for some.

 

[Pushka]

.....to 'refunded' on Apr 20, and that it would take between 14 and 28 business days for the refund to appear. He also said that I should have received an email (probably similar to the one JessicaTam has mentioned above), this would be generated within 72 hours of the refund having been processed. Nothing yet.

Once the funds have arrived, I will confirm here so, the timeline might be interesting for some.

So from that piece, refunded might not necessarily mean the funds have actually been sent to the card.

 

[Jusrus]

Thought I’d update you on my experience with Etihad from merged thread.

After an hour on hold this morning, I spoke to the call centre via the Abu Dabi number. Result as follows :

ex EU to AU flight - after quoting EU-261 protection, full refund will be processed in 7-21 days back to the credit card it was purchased on

ex AU flight - ‘policy’ (and I believe I am not protected by ACCC) is to offer voucher at this stage - as per previous, valid for 1 year for travel 1 year after that.

From my reading, once you have accepted voucher, it is more difficult/impossible to get cash refund (that has been my experience with our New York March bookings with United). So I am holding off to see if policy changes, or indeed, to lengthen the period of validity of the voucher.

While not the 100% ideal outcome, I’m comfortable that this is probably the best I can do at the moment.

Will be watching the credit card with interest!

JR

 

[Jusrus]

Hi everyone,

Further to my previous post, I have received full refund for my cancelled Madrid-Melbourne return flight departing 6 May, received 5 days after request - very glad.

JR

 

[Flyinfish]

Hi everyone,

Further to my previous post, I have received full refund for my cancelled Madrid-Melbourne return flight departing 6 May, received 5 days after request - very glad.

JR

May I ask... were these return flights from Australia? I thought if the outwards flight from AU was cancelled, then the return flight was automatically cancelled and was no longer a valid ticket.