Qantas shortest I've had is 4 weeks, longest almost 8 weeks, pays to follow up as they can escalate through the finance team if you are over 45 days .. I had one pushed through for me today like this
I had bookings with Iberia, British Airways, Finnair, Qantas, LATAM and Jetstar - all of which were cancelled.
Iberia: called their British call centre, waited only 2 minutes on hold, asked for a refund, was told it would take 6 weeks, but the money was back in my credit card account within 6 days. Outstanding! In the last 5 years I have probably flown Iberia 20 times and I have only had positive experiences.
British Airways: called their British call centre, waited about 8 minutes on hold, asked for a refund, money was back in my credit card account within 10 days.
Finnair/LATAM: booked through Gotogate who are effectively uncontactable. I don't normally book through a travel agent or third party website, and I'm unlikely to do so again in the future. It is so much easier requesting a refund directly from the airline than going through a travel agent. Anyway, I sent an email to Gotogate requesting a refund and mentioned that if I didn't receive a reply within 7 days I would apply for a chargeback. I applied for a chargeback through amex and the money has been credited back to my account. I don't know if Gotogate will dispute this down the track.
Qantas: called their call centre and asked for a refund which took about 6-7 weeks. Yes it is great that I have got my money back, but Qantas have some pretty poor systems for processing refunds. I was quite frustrated that they couldn't even send a basic email confirming in writing that I had requested the refund. I also think the lack of automation is quite pathetic. For example, when I cancelled an airbnb booking the money was back in my account within 48 hours. The airline industry has some big opportunities to save on admin costs by automating some of these booking and refund processes (not to mention the improvement in customer experience and the freeing up of resources for more important things).
Jetstar: applied for a refund through the link on their website that someone posted on this forum last month. They said it would take 10 days, however it has been a month and still no refund. I've received one email saying there would be a delay, but there was no mention how long that would be.
I called Qantas chasing the refund on a QF/BA Europe flight (Saver economy) in late April, 3 weeks after cancelling at the end of March, and was told the processing time was 6 weeks. Which it ended up being. At least they didn't charge a cancellation fee which the website said they would.
I had to request refunds after Qantas cancelled 5 DSC flights after the COVID-19 shutdowns. Quite a lot of money as in addition to my flights, were flights for my wife. Since my work stopped would have been welcomed the money back in my bank account. Qantas originally offered a credit, but I advised due to age and uncertainty with the future, I wanted a refund. They said okay, but would take 14 days.
Then I got a note saying I had been issued with travel credits. Another contact and told this was just process, but all was on track. Then after waiting for the specified refund date and seeing no money I called again. Now the credits had disappeared from my account, but still no refunds. More hold time and finally got through only to be told Qantas needed more details including proof of payment! I provided them (they had them or wouldn't have issued the tickets) and was told another week. Since then, weekly calls (with extended hold times) and given all the sob stories, each time being told 'this Friday'! But only last week got 1 refund after 84 days. I'm still waiting for the other 4! I've had it explained that in spite of Job Keeper, the refund staff only work Fridays, so there are big delays. What a crock. Qantas are playing with people's money! Let's be honest, this stinks. Consumer Affairs say they can't help as Qantas have agreed to a refund. Maybe now I'll go back and try again over the excessive delays.
As a LTG and 15 year plus Platinum, I think it stinks. What is worse, my flights would have made both my wife and I, P for another year and I had a chance of making P1 but when I was advised the DSC would not stay with the credits even if I took that option, I'm really questioning Qantas' Loyalty program.
So the latest is that I had been promised my refunds had been escalated to the highest level and I would receive them by Friday past. Friday came and the refund has once more not eventuated. So I called again over the weekend and after more waits on phone and then the same weak excuse about requests exceeding targets due to the volumes, was advised 2 will be paid this Friday and 2 the next Friday. I'm just waiting.
As I'm also LTG with AirNZ and United I guess I'm being pushed to go elsewhere. Qantas are clearly showing they really don't care. All the effort is going into non-flyer programs, with nothing being done to support loyal Qantas flyers. Until now I have not complained on these sites about the time it's taken, but after being told when my flight was cancelled by Qantas in mid-March that my requested refunds would take 15 days, and been given constant runarounds and piecemeal requests for extra actions, and then getting just one refund after 84 days, it's hard to believe this level of incompetence can keep an airline flying. In these times, the money would be better in my account than in Qantas' bank.
stewardnurse
stewardnurse
Member since 25 Jun 2013
Total posts 46
When Korea was
therealdave
therealdave
Member since 09 Dec 2016
Total posts 5
Qantas shortest I've had is 4 weeks, longest almost 8 weeks, pays to follow up as they can escalate through the finance team if you are over 45 days .. I had one pushed through for me today like this
Lmc
Lmc
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 09 Nov 2018
Total posts 50
I got 1 refund for our family holiday ($3800) back from Qantas after 5 weeks.
Still Waiting on another $1400 from Qantas.
The awesome voucher i got straight away haha
AlexTravAddict
AlexTravAddict
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 17 May 2015
Total posts 44
I had bookings with Iberia, British Airways, Finnair, Qantas, LATAM and Jetstar - all of which were cancelled.
Iberia: called their British call centre, waited only 2 minutes on hold, asked for a refund, was told it would take 6 weeks, but the money was back in my credit card account within 6 days. Outstanding! In the last 5 years I have probably flown Iberia 20 times and I have only had positive experiences.
British Airways: called their British call centre, waited about 8 minutes on hold, asked for a refund, money was back in my credit card account within 10 days.
Finnair/LATAM: booked through Gotogate who are effectively uncontactable. I don't normally book through a travel agent or third party website, and I'm unlikely to do so again in the future. It is so much easier requesting a refund directly from the airline than going through a travel agent. Anyway, I sent an email to Gotogate requesting a refund and mentioned that if I didn't receive a reply within 7 days I would apply for a chargeback. I applied for a chargeback through amex and the money has been credited back to my account. I don't know if Gotogate will dispute this down the track.
Qantas: called their call centre and asked for a refund which took about 6-7 weeks. Yes it is great that I have got my money back, but Qantas have some pretty poor systems for processing refunds. I was quite frustrated that they couldn't even send a basic email confirming in writing that I had requested the refund. I also think the lack of automation is quite pathetic. For example, when I cancelled an airbnb booking the money was back in my account within 48 hours. The airline industry has some big opportunities to save on admin costs by automating some of these booking and refund processes (not to mention the improvement in customer experience and the freeing up of resources for more important things).
Jetstar: applied for a refund through the link on their website that someone posted on this forum last month. They said it would take 10 days, however it has been a month and still no refund. I've received one email saying there would be a delay, but there was no mention how long that would be.
Robs
Robs
Member since 12 May 2020
Total posts 2
I cancelled with Qatar on 15 March and am still waiting after 8 weeks.
HarleyS
HarleyS
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 23 Apr 2019
Total posts 7
I called Qantas chasing the refund on a QF/BA Europe flight (Saver economy) in late April, 3 weeks after cancelling at the end of March, and was told the processing time was 6 weeks. Which it ended up being. At least they didn't charge a cancellation fee which the website said they would.
OZjames70
OZjames70
Member since 15 Mar 2018
Total posts 26
Then I got a note saying I had been issued with travel credits. Another contact and told this was just process, but all was on track. Then after waiting for the specified refund date and seeing no money I called again. Now the credits had disappeared from my account, but still no refunds. More hold time and finally got through only to be told Qantas needed more details including proof of payment! I provided them (they had them or wouldn't have issued the tickets) and was told another week. Since then, weekly calls (with extended hold times) and given all the sob stories, each time being told 'this Friday'! But only last week got 1 refund after 84 days. I'm still waiting for the other 4! I've had it explained that in spite of Job Keeper, the refund staff only work Fridays, so there are big delays. What a crock. Qantas are playing with people's money! Let's be honest, this stinks. Consumer Affairs say they can't help as Qantas have agreed to a refund. Maybe now I'll go back and try again over the excessive delays.
As a LTG and 15 year plus Platinum, I think it stinks. What is worse, my flights would have made both my wife and I, P for another year and I had a chance of making P1 but when I was advised the DSC would not stay with the credits even if I took that option, I'm really questioning Qantas' Loyalty program.
So the latest is that I had been promised my refunds had been escalated to the highest level and I would receive them by Friday past. Friday came and the refund has once more not eventuated. So I called again over the weekend and after more waits on phone and then the same weak excuse about requests exceeding targets due to the volumes, was advised 2 will be paid this Friday and 2 the next Friday. I'm just waiting.
As I'm also LTG with AirNZ and United I guess I'm being pushed to go elsewhere. Qantas are clearly showing they really don't care. All the effort is going into non-flyer programs, with nothing being done to support loyal Qantas flyers. Until now I have not complained on these sites about the time it's taken, but after being told when my flight was cancelled by Qantas in mid-March that my requested refunds would take 15 days, and been given constant runarounds and piecemeal requests for extra actions, and then getting just one refund after 84 days, it's hard to believe this level of incompetence can keep an airline flying. In these times, the money would be better in my account than in Qantas' bank.
OZjames70
OZjames70
Member since 15 Mar 2018
Total posts 26
Got my refunds Saturday. 112 days!