Hey guys, hoping someone can help me out here.
I booked tickets to Japan for April 14th-28th with China Southern Airlines and now I can no longer go. Is there any workaround, any excuse I can use, any loophole to get a full refund, bar from trying to sell the tickets (is that even possible?).
Please any help would be appreciated, I paid $1050 for them and don't want to lose all that money :(
getting a refund from a carrier is like drawing blood from a stone, impossible
I got a refund from a carrier in June 2013.
it was bitter sweet as I had to cancel the trip (due to medical reasons - Dr provided letter) but the aus dollar had plunged and I had paid in US $ so I made nearly $150 profit on the different exchange rate.
Honestly it's just not affordable for me ATM to go (I booked them 3 months ago mind you). And yes I got insurance.
In that case, it looks like you are out of luck. You can submit a refund request online to your flight and China Southern will refund the price (based on ticket fare rules and cancellation charges).
Depending on your travel insurance policy, you could have got the remaining amount refunded if the reason was covered - like medical issues or work withdrawing leave authorisation - but you would still be up for excess payment.
I obviously wouldnt tell them that's the reason (call it unethical but when you need money you need money) so i was more looking for a good excuse i can use. work withdrawing leave doesn't sound like i would work but at the same time it sorta does lol? have you ever tried it?
Depends on the T&Cs of the insurance policy. I do know a colleague had his leave cancelled and he was able to claim it all on insurance. He just needed a document from the employer stating that they had cancelled his leave.
My sister was able to claim that she was diagnosed with depression and had a doctors certificate saying that she should not travel.
find out how much to change names on the tickets and sell them (if a refund isn't going to happen)
good idea, ill have a talk with flight agency tomorrow. worse comes to worse i cop the loss on the ticket, i sitll can't fly and risk more on hotels/food/going out money over there :(
It is possible to do Japan on the mega cheap. They haven't had inflation for 20 years. Capsule hotel it. Do not just sacrifice the ticket :p turn it into a fun weekend or something.
airBnB can be excellent as well.
eating at convenience stores - convenience store food in Japan is for good - and they often have a small eating area, with microwave and boiling hot water for instant noodles.
Sunkus convenience store used to have a great spaghettie w/ basic tomato sauce for 315yen
shopping at the 99 yen shops as well the rarer 88 yen shop for food.
going to supermarkets in the evening when they reduce all the prepared meals
@sinishta:
I would round trip Tokyo just to eat a $10 lunch at the Kill Bill restaurant inspiration Gonpachi Nishi Azabu. Presidents eat there, soba and unlimited drinks and soup and sort of dessert.
If you have cooking facilities, nice fish are $1, bananas imported from Panama are $1 a kilo. Funny part is that rice is expensive to support the local industry.
So it has nothing to do with all the latest air sales to japan lately such as the 50% or return for free or buy one get one tickets that makes things a lot more affordable now?
No it doesn't it has to do with personal issues that's led me to not being able to afford a holiday. I'm willing to take the $1050 loss if I can't get a refund why would
I then turn around and buy another $600+ ticket cause it's cheaper lol
Oh I didn't know you were willing to take the $1050 loss because I thought you were specifically seeking for loopholes excuses or workaround to get a full refund because you didn't want to loose your money.
I guess I must've misread your original post or missed a follow up comment?
Silly me lol
I had to cancel flights with China southern last year and they do refund, keep in mind you will lose a chunk through a cancellation fee and the refund takes 12 weeks…
oh beautiful, what did you do/say to cancel?
Didn't have to provide any reason - I just cancelled. I was surprised as most airlines don't provide any refund on economy sale fares.
did you go through travel agent or directly ask the airline?
What are the taxes worth? - technically speaking, the taxable event does not occur until the date of the flights so you should, in theory, be able to get this part back.
No chance for refund from airline with the dirt cheap tickets. Cant sell or swap either. Thats the catch with el-cheapo tickets.
But are they the rock bottom no-refund cheap tickets? What are the fare conditions?
At $1050 it sounds like you paid full price economy. Id give it a go.
If you purchased travel insurance and have a legitimate reason such as illness etc try making a claim.
Does your booking confirmation show you what fare class you're booked into? It should say something like "Economy (T)" (which would indicate it is a "T" class economy fare). With that information, you can figure out roughly how much of a refund you'll receive. Alternatively, call your travel agent or China Southern and ask them to provide you with the fare rules in relation to cancellations. The three big Chinese airlines are generally pretty generous in their cancellation policies - you won't get all of it back, but rarely are their tickets completely non-refundable.
If you bought your ticket through a travel agent, you most likely have to contact them for a cancellation - in most cases the airline will not touch the ticket or process a refund for you. Some travel agents also levy a further admin charge on top of the airline's cancellation fees (you can try asking nicely for them to waive it but they probably won't budge if you don't have a super good reason).
If you were planning on lying to the airlines or the insurance company why did you put so many details on the internet? I mean the exatct dates and destination were not necessary lol
What is the reason that you can't go? Can you claim the amount on travel insurance? You did get insurance, right?