Hi, thanks for taking the time to read this post... we are looking to purchase a round trip ticket on China Air from BKK to San Fran that will be refundable if we do not get a tourist visa to usa. We'll know if we get the visa or not about 12 - 16 days before the scheduled departure.

Thanks again for any advice

Best not to purchase tickets before you get the visas. I believe the US Embassy websites recommend that.

We had to purchase because we wanted the mother in law to fly with her daughter on the same flight.... she'd probably get lost and miss her connecting flight without assistance!

We ended up booking our ticket... if we don't get the visa we get most of the ticket price back. Ticket to usa was 35,000 ... we'd get back around 30,000 if we return the ticket. We booked with an agent in Phuket.

Please note that refunding takes 2 - 3 months if you purchased the tickets with credit card.

Yermanee

I've flown with CI for many years, and never had any problem with obtaining refunds.In my experience refunds to my credit card have never been longer than 4 weeks, and generally in the 1-2 week range.

I fly the BKK-SFO at least 3 times a year, and in my mind its the best option, with the quickest transfer in TPE than any of the alternatives