THAI Airways ticket refund

[ExpatOilWorker]

From the below (https://www.thaiairways.com/en_TH/news/news_announcement/news_detail/news98.page)

 

Proof of debt: For example,
In case of debts arising from ticket refund, the supporting documents are, namely, a copy of passenger ticket, a copy of document showing evidence of payment, and a copy of document confirming a request for ticket refund.

 

It appears that each individual ticket holder need to file a petition at the below link in order to qualify for a refund.

 

http://www.led.go.th/tgreorg/index.asp?lang=en

Edited October 12, 2020 by ExpatOilWorker

[wordchild]

I am not sure this is the case.

I spoke to the Thai call center about this a couple of days ago and what they said (to me at least)   was that ticket refunds were outside the bankruptcy process and there was no need for those waiting for refunds to formally join it.

They confirmed my refund was in the system but they were unable to process refunds until they had Bankruptcy  Court permission and they hoped to get that in the next couple of months.

We shall see.

[madmen]

19 minutes ago, wordchild said:

I am not sure this is the case.

I spoke to the Thai call center about this a couple of days ago and what they said (to me at least)   was that ticket refunds were outside the bankruptcy process and there was no need for those waiting for refunds to formally join it.

They confirmed my refund was in the system but they were unable to process refunds until they had Bankruptcy  Court permission and they hoped to get that in the next couple of months.

We shall see.

In other words you can kiss your refund and any frequent flyer points good bye. It's nearly impossible to get refunds from non bankrupt airlines. I'm waiting 8 months for Phillipine air and not a single email reply 

[Fat George]

6 hours ago, wordchild said:

I am not sure this is the case.

I spoke to the Thai call center about this a couple of days ago and what they said (to me at least)   was that ticket refunds were outside the bankruptcy process and there was no need for those waiting for refunds to formally join it.

They confirmed my refund was in the system but they were unable to process refunds until they had Bankruptcy  Court permission and they hoped to get that in the next couple of months.

We shall see.

Thanks - this is how I see it at as well. I am regular contact with my travel agent. 

 

They have offered me a Thai Airways 'voucher' valid for up to 2 years, but I don't really want that option. I paid for my journey in cash ( BKK - LHR - BKK ) about 6 months early back in January. The flight was then cancelled by them in in late May, a few weeks before departure. A full cash refund is what I'm after. 

 

Going forward, I don't think people will be so quick to pay for 'good deals' on prices 6 months in advance. As a result, airlines' cash flow will look a lot different when this is all over ( and so will mine ). I believe companies with last minute deals will come out of this in a stronger position. 

 

 

Edited October 13, 2020 by Fat George

[Pib]

 

Quote

Proof of debt: For example,
In case of debts arising from ticket refund, the supporting documents are, namely, a copy of passenger ticket, a copy of document showing evidence of payment, and a copy of document confirming a request for ticket refund.

To me this is relating to some debt caused by the ticket cancellation; not the ticket refund itself. 

 

Like some travel agency providing a refund but incurred costs/debt in doing that and therefore the travel agency is trying to recover that debt.  Just some additional/relate debt occurred because a ticket refund occurred....maybe even other alternate transportation and hotel costs incurred because of ticket cancellation....just other debts incurred besides the actual ticket refund.

 

I say this because of some key phrases such as "in case of debts arising from ticket refund"....."a copy of document confirming a request for a ticket refund"  which implies it's some debt "other than the ticket refund itself."

[scorecard]

On 10/13/2020 at 4:34 PM, Fat George said:

Thanks - this is how I see it at as well. I am regular contact with my travel agent. 

 

They have offered me a Thai Airways 'voucher' valid for up to 2 years, but I don't really want that option. I paid for my journey in cash ( BKK - LHR - BKK ) about 6 months early back in January. The flight was then cancelled by them in in late May, a few weeks before departure. A full cash refund is what I'm after. 

 

Going forward, I don't think people will be so quick to pay for 'good deals' on prices 6 months in advance. As a result, airlines' cash flow will look a lot different when this is all over ( and so will mine ). I believe companies with last minute deals will come out of this in a stronger position. 

 

 

I'm hoping some/many countries might make it law that airlines must accept (when the customer wants it) an initial deposit to confirm (at a first step level) they want a booking.

 

Then perhaps a further part payment say 3 weeks before departure date and final payment no later than say 4 days before departure.

 

Complicated? Not really their payment systems can easily be set up for this, and if the airline has to have a small team to administer the payments then so be it. 

 

In reality, seems to me that flying, after most of the world has been vaccinated for Covid 19, will never be the same as before Covid. Many aspects of flying may well change. 

 

AND/OR

 

Airlines required, by law, to keep ticket payments in a separate locked depository, cannot be accessed by the airline until each flight has arrived at the destination.

Edited October 14, 2020 by scorecard

[mtls2005]

On 10/13/2020 at 6:12 AM, wordchild said:

They confirmed my refund was in the system

 

The check is in the mail...

 

You may have better luck with a chargeback?

 

 

[dutchweller]

I just contacted my AMEX credit card and had them reverse the charges.

No issues 

Had the credit back on my card in 5 days.

Was reversed under services  not rendered clause.

THAIAIRWAYS will never pay people back.

They are even accepting payments for bookings still every month then they just cancel the bookings weeks out from departure and have more suckers chasing money from them.

 

[Max69xl]

On 10/13/2020 at 6:12 AM, wordchild said:

I am not sure this is the case.

I spoke to the Thai call center about this a couple of days ago and what they said (to me at least)   was that ticket refunds were outside the bankruptcy process and there was no need for those waiting for refunds to formally join it.

They confirmed my refund was in the system but they were unable to process refunds until they had Bankruptcy  Court permission and they hoped to get that in the next couple of months.

We shall see.

Refunds are as far as I know not outside the bankruptcy process. Normally,refunds to private customers you'll find at the bottom of the list. That's why Thai Airways when they officially went bankrupt, told people they had to wait maybe 6 months for refunds. If you don't want any problem at all when your flight for some reason gets cancelled, fly with Qatar Airways. Thai Airways has always been one of the worst airlines when they have problems. Especially flights from abroad. 

[Finlaco]

IF you have paid with a European  cc or debit-card, contact your bank.  I use an N26 and got two refunds from two different Thai Airlines within 6 days.  The supplier had 20 days to challenge the refund.

 

I usually pay using my Kasikorn bank and with two other flights, they (Kasikorn) advised me it would only take 90 days for the process to be completed.

[Onrai]

After waiting 2 and a half months for a refund from Thai Air Asia I finally contacted my credit card company and they credited my refund amount. If you really want a frustrating experience try using Thai Air Asia’s AVA system.

[steven100]

12 minutes ago, Onrai said:

After waiting 2 and a half months for a refund from Thai Air Asia I finally contacted my credit card company and they credited my refund amount. If you really want a frustrating experience try using Thai Air Asia’s AVA system.

agree ..... took me 7 months to get my refund back, they try every trick in the book to keep your money.

Never again .....   imo

[Peterphuket]

48 minutes ago, dutchweller said:

I just contacted my AMEX credit card and had them reverse the charges.

No issues 

Had the credit back on my card in 5 days.

Was reversed under services  not rendered clause.

THAIAIRWAYS will never pay people back.

They are even accepting payments for bookings still every month then they just cancel the bookings weeks out from departure and have more suckers chasing money from them.

 

They do this trick for many.

We call that scam, facilitated by the Thai government.

An yes, I am one of the many who still has to get money from them

[Peterphuket]

20 minutes ago, Max69xl said:

Refunds are as far as I know not outside the bankruptcy process. Normally,refunds to private customers you'll find at the bottom of the list. That's why Thai Airways when they officially went bankrupt, told people they had to wait maybe 6 months for refunds. If you don't want any problem at all when your flight for some reason gets cancelled, fly with Qatar Airways. Thai Airways has always been one of the worst airlines when they have problems. Especially flights from abroad. 

I agree with you, I always make choice for Thai because they have a direct flight from Europe, but now I'll make choice for Qatar/Emirates and will accept a stop.

[DaLa]

16 minutes ago, Finlaco said:

IF you have paid with a European  cc or debit-card, contact your bank.  I use an N26 and got two refunds from two different Thai Airlines within 6 days.  The supplier had 20 days to challenge the refund.

 

I usually pay using my Kasikorn bank and with two other flights, they (Kasikorn) advised me it would only take 90 days for the process to be completed.

So you are saying Kasikorn and Thai banks can make a charge back?  As a family group we had flights with Thai Airways booked to China. Thai cancelled and since then I have been trying to obtain a refund, however they now say they cannot find the booking reference in their system.

 

If this was in the UK they would have had a small claims court notice on their desk within 21 days.

 

I am with others on this regarding paying up-front for services. It always appeared to me that the t's + c's were vastly in favour of the supplier.

[dsj]

On 10/13/2020 at 6:36 AM, madmen said:

In other words you can kiss your refund and any frequent flyer points good bye. It's nearly impossible to get refunds from non bankrupt airlines. I'm waiting 8 months for Phillipine air and not a single email reply 

Actually Cathay Pacific is really good in timely refunding money. I had to cancel 3 tickets, I booked for Expedia and I had the refund credited back to my credit card with in 4 days. I had other Cathay's tickets that got cancelled and the longest that I waited was 1 week.
I agree with you about Philippine Air, as they cancel my return flight in March and I am still waiting for the refund.

[scorecard]

42 minutes ago, Finlaco said:

IF you have paid with a European  cc or debit-card, contact your bank.  I use an N26 and got two refunds from two different Thai Airlines within 6 days.  The supplier had 20 days to challenge the refund.

 

I usually pay using my Kasikorn bank and with two other flights, they (Kasikorn) advised me it would only take 90 days for the process to be completed.

Do you mean K Bank:

- Credit card?  or

- Debit card?  or

- KCyber direct funds transfer?

[cme]

On 10/13/2020 at 7:34 AM, Fat George said:

Thanks - this is how I see it at as well. I am regular contact with my travel agent. 

 

They have offered me a Thai Airways 'voucher' valid for up to 2 years, but I don't really want that option. I paid for my journey in cash ( BKK - LHR - BKK ) about 6 months early back in January. The flight was then cancelled by them in in late May, a few weeks before departure. A full cash refund is what I'm after. 

 

Going forward, I don't think people will be so quick to pay for 'good deals' on prices 6 months in advance. As a result, airlines' cash flow will look a lot different when this is all over ( and so will mine ). I believe companies with last minute deals will come out of this in a stronger position. 

 

 

I would suggest buy tickets from a European airline, there are strong EU laws to protect consumers, I used half of a KLM return to get back to EU and have just received a 50% refund for the unused half.

[Leaver]

On 10/13/2020 at 12:34 PM, Fat George said:

Going forward, I don't think people will be so quick to pay for 'good deals' on prices 6 months in advance. As a result, airlines' cash flow will look a lot different when this is all over

Yes, posing a further problem for international tourism, post Covid. 

 

It will be a long time before tourists can have confidence that the flights they buy, will actually take off.   

[ExpatOilWorker]

On 10/14/2020 at 8:08 PM, Pib said:

 

To me this is relating to some debt caused by the ticket cancellation; not the ticket refund itself. 

 

Like some travel agency providing a refund but incurred costs/debt in doing that and therefore the travel agency is trying to recover that debt.  Just some additional/relate debt occurred because a ticket refund occurred....maybe even other alternate transportation and hotel costs incurred because of ticket cancellation....just other debts incurred besides the actual ticket refund.

 

I say this because of some key phrases such as "in case of debts arising from ticket refund"....."a copy of document confirming a request for a ticket refund"  which implies it's some debt "other than the ticket refund itself."

Very good point and going through the petition process indicate you are right. You can add accrued interest and support for other expense, not only the ticket cost.

I got half way through the debt registration process and then the "next" bottom was blocked.

Just not worth the effort and I will NEVER fly Thai again!

[Leaver]

3 hours ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

Very good point and going through the petition process indicate you are right. You can add accrued interest and support for other expense, not only the ticket cost.

I got half way through the debt registration process and then the "next" bottom was blocked.

Just not worth the effort and I will NEVER fly Thai again!

Are you saying it's theft, or a scam?  

 

Did you try the website again, at a later stage?

[ExpatOilWorker]

2 hours ago, Leaver said:

Are you saying it's theft, or a scam?  

 

Did you try the website again, at a later stage?

No, it is not a scam. It is just cumbersome to sign up and submit all the documentation. 

THAI airways was quick at taking our ticket money, they should refund us with equal speed.

[pandora501]

Just got a refund, from Kasikorn Bank, of my Thai Airways airfare purchase . I paid for the fare by my Kasikorn Bank debit card in March 2020, the flight got cancelled  soon after that. Initially I kept calling Thai Airways customer service asking about a refund and every time was asked to wait for a few more months. After about 6 months of these fruitless calls I decided to submit a transaction dispute form to Kasikorn claiming that the service paid for was not provided. I kept calling the bank reminding about my claim. They were supposed to resolve it within 90 days but after that period told me they had to give Thai Airways more time to respond to my claim. And then, all of a sudden, a full refund was credited to my account.

[richard_smith237]

20 minutes ago, pandora501 said:

Just got a refund, from Kasikorn Bank, of my Thai Airways airfare purchase . I paid for the fare by my Kasikorn Bank debit card in March 2020, the flight got cancelled  soon after that. Initially I kept calling Thai Airways customer service asking about a refund and every time was asked to wait for a few more months. After about 6 months of these fruitless calls I decided to submit a transaction dispute form to Kasikorn claiming that the service paid for was not provided. I kept calling the bank reminding about my claim. They were supposed to resolve it within 90 days but after that period told me they had to give Thai Airways more time to respond to my claim. And then, all of a sudden, a full refund was credited to my account.

 

Not Thai Airways..  but my refund story was with Qatar Airways via an agent. 

(maybe useful for others who are waiting for refunds).

 

A £1726 business class ticket - in July, flight cancelled. 

Credit Card company didn’t want to get involve because the Travel Agency was a member of ABTA. 

 

Got ABTA involved and filed an official complaint. 

 

I initially received an incomplete refund in December. Incomplete because the there was apparently an intermediary agent who was refusing to refund their fees.

Thus: Qatar Airways refunded the travel Agency, but the Intermediary refused to refund the travel agency its chargers. 

 

I rejected the refund, 3 weeks later at the end of December I received an e-mail from ABTA that I’d received a refund and they wanted to close my case. I checked my account and the full refund was present. 

 

-------

 

Note under EU Law the airlines have to refund within 7 days. They are completely ignoring this law and took 4 months to refund !!!!... 

 

The ABTA process was slow, but it did work. 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 28, 2021 by richard_smith237

[soi3eddie]

 

I bought tickets in early September for travel with THAI from BKK-LHR-BKK for October/November 2020 for about 38,000THB. THAI cancelled the return before travel so decided not to go (would have been a hassle returning anyway). Called THAI for refund, was offered voucher but insisted on refund (recorded the call). Was told "may take 6 months". Said OK thanks and hung up. Submitted chargeback online with AMEX adding in PDF copy of THAI flight cancellation email. AMEX approved chargeback within hours and the fee was credited to my account within 3 days. I expected THAI to try to dispute but guess they knew they would lose. 

 

Edited January 28, 2021 by soi3eddie

[ExpatOilWorker]

3 hours ago, pandora501 said:

Just got a refund, from Kasikorn Bank, of my Thai Airways airfare purchase . I paid for the fare by my Kasikorn Bank debit card in March 2020, the flight got cancelled  soon after that. Initially I kept calling Thai Airways customer service asking about a refund and every time was asked to wait for a few more months. After about 6 months of these fruitless calls I decided to submit a transaction dispute form to Kasikorn claiming that the service paid for was not provided. I kept calling the bank reminding about my claim. They were supposed to resolve it within 90 days but after that period told me they had to give Thai Airways more time to respond to my claim. And then, all of a sudden, a full refund was credited to my account.

Can you elaborate a little of how to submit a transaction dispute claim with Kasikorn?

I will certainly give it a try.

[pandora501]

On 1/28/2021 at 3:04 PM, ExpatOilWorker said:

Can you elaborate a little of how to submit a transaction dispute claim with Kasikorn?

I will certainly give it a try.

Sorry for a late reply. What happened in my case was that I called Kasikorn Bank customer service and said I wanted to dispute a transaction. They emailed me a แบบฟอร์มทักท้วงรายการใช้บัตร (CARDHOLDER’S DISPUTE FORM, it's in English and Thai). I filled it up and emailed back. Then called again to make sure they registered my claim in the system. After that just called them every few weeks enquiring about progress of my claim.

[ExpatOilWorker]

On 2/11/2021 at 9:26 PM, pandora501 said:

Sorry for a late reply. What happened in my case was that I called Kasikorn Bank customer service and said I wanted to dispute a transaction. They emailed me a แบบฟอร์มทักท้วงรายการใช้บัตร (CARDHOLDER’S DISPUTE FORM, it's in English and Thai). I filled it up and emailed back. Then called again to make sure they registered my claim in the system. After that just called them every few weeks enquiring about progress of my claim.

I did as you suggested  and got a full refund today.

Thanks for the tip.

[ExpatOilWorker]

On 10/13/2020 at 6:36 AM, madmen said:

In other words you can kiss your refund and any frequent flyer points good bye. It's nearly impossible to get refunds from non bankrupt airlines. I'm waiting 8 months for Phillipine air and not a single email reply 

That goodbye kiss turned out to be a welcome hug. I got a full refund from Thai Airways.

[bunnydrops]

On 10/15/2020 at 10:53 AM, dsj said:

Actually Cathay Pacific is really good in timely refunding money. I had to cancel 3 tickets, I booked for Expedia and I had the refund credited back to my credit card with in 4 days. I had other Cathay's tickets that got cancelled and the longest that I waited was 1 week.
I agree with you about Philippine Air, as they cancel my return flight in March and I am still waiting for the refund.

Lucky dog. I have been waiting 12 months for mine from Cathy.