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Air France states that for COVID-19 related cancellations:

"... or complete the online form below to obtain a travel voucher. This voucher is valid for 1 year on all Air France, KLM, Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic flights. This voucher will be refundable after one year if it is not used."

Source

That seems like a ploy to circumvent EU261 regulations which I believe require a full refund in cases of cancellations. Air France is offering sort of a refund but with one year delay built in.

Background: we have an US<->India ticket booked on Expedia with an Air France ticket. We obviously can't fly this and some legs have already been cancelled anyway. We like a full refund, not airline credit.

Question: What's the best strategy to approach this? We shouldn't really call Expedia until 72-hours before departure, Air France says "call your travel agent" and I'm worried that Expedia will simply say "airline is offering credit: take it or leave it. EU261 is not our problem". Does anyone have some experience with Air France cancellations recently?

gerrit
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Hilmar
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1 Answers1

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I would say that at least Air France is being fairly up front in light of the (probable) fact that their cash flow does not suffice for the refunds that they are obliged to provide. If they hadn't come up with this voucher policy and instead decided to acknowledge their obligations up front, they would probably nonetheless drag their feet a year or more before actually giving you the money.

That said, the regulation does in fact specify reimbursement within seven days. So you could pursue them if you want to. Short of hiring a lawyer, the regulation provides that you can seek enforcement through the national enforcement body designated under Article 16(1). A list of such bodies is found on the website of the European Commission.

phoog
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