Money back within seven days if your flight is cancelled – that's what consumers have the right to. But currently, travelers have to wait considerably longer than that.
”"Those who would have traveled with us in March, we hope to be able to pay that money in June," says Freja Annamatz, press manager at SAS Sweden.
In a number of guiding decisions, the Swedish National Board of Travel Complaints (ARN) has now set out the guidelines for what applies in the event of cancelled trips during the corona pandemic. Among other things, ARN clarifies what applies to trips cancelled by the airlines themselves: that the traveler is always entitled to a cash refund.
No surprises, according to the airlines SAS and Norwegian.
”"We follow the applicable rules. If a flight is canceled, you as a customer are always entitled to a refund or rebooking. We also offer a voucher to those customers who want to receive it instead of a refund, but it is a voluntary voucher," says Freja Annamatz at SAS.
”"Everyone who is entitled to compensation for canceled flights will receive it and there are an extremely large number of customers who have already received their money back from us," writes Charlotte Holmbergh Jacobsson, head of communications at Norwegian, in a comment.
None of the cases in which ARN has made a decision concern SAS or Norwegian, but both companies note that they have difficulty complying with the provision that travelers have the right to receive a refund for a canceled scheduled flight within seven days.
SAS is significantly behind schedule and refers to the large number of cases.
”"Those who would have traveled with us in March, we hope to be able to pay that money in June. I understand that many are frustrated, but SAS and other travel companies have been hit by a situation that we have never experienced: an operation that has basically been at a standstill for two months and a majority of employees on short-term layoffs," says Freja Annamatz.
She cannot state how many refund cases SAS is currently processing.
”"We have a lot of customers and many trips have been canceled from March until now, so unfortunately many travelers have had their trips canceled," says Freja Annamatz.
Norwegian's processing times are also unusually long, according to Charlotte Holmbergh Jacobsson, which is due to several factors, including the fact that large parts of the workforce are laid off. All cases are handled in order and everyone who is entitled to it and wants to get their money back gets it.
”"We have already paid back several billion kronor to travelers affected by canceled flights," she writes.
Freja Annamatz also wants to emphasize that everyone who has requested a refund for canceled trips will receive their money, in due course.
”"We continue to work on refunds. However, processing times are now significantly longer than usual and we regret that. All customers who have had their trip cancelled and have applied for a refund will receive their money back."”
What should you do if you are not satisfied with the delay in receiving your money?
”If you are not satisfied with how we handle a matter, you can report it to ARN,” says Freja Annamatz.
Source: TT
