Refund For Unused Leg On Return Ticket

[meadish_sweetball]

Is it generally possible to get a refund for an unused return trip?

I have a ticket Sweden-Thailand-Sweden with Thai Airways but won't be using the return trip. Obviously I will call Thai to ask about the refund to make sure, but I still thought this might be a good topic in general.

Cheers,

Meadish

[jdinasia]

Ummm a standard answer would be NO. Refunds before the first leg is used only.

that being said ... you might get lucky ... particularly if you are very frequent flyer and can get above the first 2-3 people that tell you "no" with the airlines. Even then you probably won't get a refund but you might get a flight coupon.

Edited August 27, 2006 by jdinasia

[geoffphuket]

Is it generally possible to get a refund for an unused return trip?

I have a ticket Sweden-Thailand-Sweden with Thai Airways but won't be using the return trip. Obviously I will call Thai to ask about the refund to make sure, but I still thought this might be a good topic in general.

Cheers,

Meadish

I'm sure you'll have no problem with Thai if it was a full price ticket. I've done it with Malaysia Airlines several years ago. That was a refund for the return ticket to Thailand, back in the UK.

Good luck

[meom]

It is possible but it depends a bit on how much you paid for the ticket and what's written in the small print.

Some of our employees when we send them on holiday with a return ticket decide not to come back for whatever reason. Some had the courtesey to mail us back the unused ticket which we reimbursed with the travel agent.

I am not 100% sure but it seems logical that any reimbursement can be done only at the place where the ticket was issued except maybe if you buy direct from the airline.

[Thaiquila]

I have found that at least from the US, one way tickets cost the same or MORE than a round trip ticket, so in that case asking for a refund would result in a bill. One exception I found is Korean Airlines.

[Charma]

I got a full refund on an unused return leg of a BKK-LHR ticket with EVA. I has to send it to the head office and did wait a rather long time (3 months), but they did pay it in the end. Some low cost bucket tickets are not refundable, but give it a try.

[jdinasia]

Good points guys ... I have always gotten less than full fare Tickets!

[meadish_sweetball]

This is a discounted ticket and although I fly fairly often and have a Silver card, I guess my chances will be slim.

Thank you very much to everyone for sharing your experiences. I will get post back when I have talked to Thai and the issuing agency.

[IMA_FARANG]

It is possible but it depends a bit on how much you paid for the ticket and what's written in the small print.

Some of our employees when we send them on holiday with a return ticket decide not to come back for whatever reason. Some had the courtesey to mail us back the unused ticket which we reimbursed with the travel agent.

I am not 100% sure but it seems logical that any reimbursement can be done only at the place where the ticket was issued except maybe if you buy direct from the airline.

I have done something similar. From my experience it will be difficult to get a refund, but you might get lucky. You will need proof that you purchased the ticket where you claim you did. It may need a cable to the agent/place where the ticket was purchased to confirm your purchase. Did you purchase the ticket with cash or credit card? Cash would be more likely to get you a refund.

The other possibility is to take the unused portion of the ticket (return portion) and apply it as CREDIT towards another flight with that airline. For example, if you were planning to go to Hong Kong, and the return portion of the original ticket (Sweden- Bangkok- and return) is still valid the airline would be more ready to let you use the return portion as credit toward a Hong Kong return ticket. I have done that before with a Copenhagen - Bangkok return ticket. However, I had purchased that ticket with CASH in Copenhagen.

Good luck.

[kayo]

according to regulations, no matter how many legs you DO or Do NOT use, you still pay the same price.

The same applies to arms and other limbs.

[briley]

I was told, but have not tried it, even if you are not entitled to a refund for whatever reason you can get the tax for the return leg refunded as the airline only pays the tax if you fly.

[ovenman]

I can practically guarantee that an airline won't refund the unused return portion of a discounted round-trip ticket. Since it is oftentimes cheaper to purchase a discounted return ticket rather than expensive one-way ticket, it's a common ploy for travelers to purchase a round-trip ticket to get from point A to point B and subsequently throw away the return part of the ticket. The airlines are hip to this and won't allow people to travel one-way at half the discounted round-trip price (full-fare tickets would be a different story).

[AmeriThai]

I can practically guarantee that an airline won't refund the unused return portion of a discounted round-trip ticket. Since it is oftentimes cheaper to purchase a discounted return ticket rather than expensive one-way ticket, it's a common ploy for travelers to purchase a round-trip ticket to get from point A to point B and subsequently throw away the return part of the ticket. The airlines are hip to this and won't allow people to travel one-way at half the discounted round-trip price (full-fare tickets would be a different story).

Not necessarily Ovenman. It may depend on what the policy of the airline company is. I'm not sure how THAI handles these matters though.

My wife and I had R/T Fixed Date tickets on NW Airlines that we bought at a discount. We planned to leave Thailand in 30 days. At the last minute, my wife decides she wants to spend a few more months there.

As soon as I got back to the US, I called NW AIR about it, explaining the situation. They told me if I had bought the ticket direct from NW, they could issue a refund, but in my case I needed to go through the same agent that sold us the ticket.

Okay, the short version. I was able to get a refund, but NW Airline's policy for refunds on a fixed date r/t ticket meant a significant penalty. At a guess, if we had bought direct from the airline, it probably could've been processed more quickly. But dealing with a Travel Agency might be slower, depending on the agency. I think it took about one month before I received the refund. But again, depending on the agency, it could take much longer.

[CMguy]

I have personally returned for a refund the return portion of a round trip flight with TG. They did require that the unused portion be returned to the place of purchase ( the thai airways office that issued the ticket not the travel agent if used) I did not recieve 50% of the total price paid but as memory serves me I got back about 35% of the total return fare. The whole process took about 2 months or so.

You need to pay careful attention to the terms for your ticket purchase to ensure returns are not forbidden, of course this is found in the fine print so get your handy electron microscope and read it carefully.

Good luck, CMG

[Jockstar]

I think you will be lucky to get anything. But you gotta try.

[Minburi]

I doubt it but try. You may get only a voucher for a future trip but that is better then nothing right

[lomatopo]

Every fare has a "fare basis code" and associated fare rules. 99.95% of the time the airline will observe the fare rules re: changes, cancellations, refunds etc. (The other 0.05% of the time extenuating circumstances might alter the interpretation of the fare rules, e.g. death, illness.) The fare basis code is usually, but not always, a six-character code usually found in the details of your itinerary (paper ticket, e-ticket confirmation).

You might try to determine the fare basis code then ask a friendly TA to print the fare rules for you. Given that this was probably a Q/V/W fare basis, the best outcome would be a residual amount in the form of travel credits less any fees, while the worst outcome would be that you get added to a no-fly list because you did not complete your travel. (Just joking, the worst outcome would be that you get nothing.)

[In the Rai!]

Every fare has a "fare basis code" and associated fare rules. 99.95% of the time the airline will observe the fare rules re: changes, cancellations, refunds etc. (The other 0.05% of the time extenuating circumstances might alter the interpretation of the fare rules, e.g. death, illness.) The fare basis code is usually, but not always, a six-character code usually found in the details of your itinerary (paper ticket, e-ticket confirmation).

You might try to determine the fare basis code then ask a friendly TA to print the fare rules for you. Given that this was probably a Q/V/W fare basis, the best outcome would be a residual amount in the form of travel credits less any fees, while the worst outcome would be that you get added to a no-fly list because you did not complete your travel. (Just joking, the worst outcome would be that you get nothing.)

Pretty much spot on,

Basically there are different fare levels (prices). Example Thai may have 3 or 4 or sometimes more different fares released for travel from Thailand - Sweden. The higher 2 are generally very flexible and not restrictive at all. The lower 2 are generally alot more restrictive eg no date changes to the outbound flight or no changes to the imbound flights etc. So basically the more you pay with that airline the less restictive the fare is. Alot of the time the travel agent will tell you it is a special even when it is not, just to close the sale (commission driven). Seats on the cheapest fares are always the hardest to find so you maybe lucky in that you did purchase a less restrictive fare.

When you purchase a ticket it is the agents responsibility (duty of care) to advise you of the fare conditions eg restrictions, validity, change options etc.

Next time if they dont offer this imformation than ask the agent or airline at the time of purchase.

As for your refund, depending on the restrictiveness of the ticket will determine how much you will get back. You will NEVER and I mean NEVER get a full refund back on the return portion of a ticket (unless it was a 100% published gross fare which would set you back a bucket load of coin and are very seldomly sold). Return portion refunds are always prorated. The way it works is simple. I will try to explain it.

If a return ticket costs 30,000 Bt

A one way ticket costs 20,000 Bt (generally around 60 -70% of a return)

They will deduct the oneway cost from the return and that 10,000 is the amount you will get back minus any cancellation fee after departure or any refund application or processing fee that each airline has. (The fees again vary depending on the restrictiveness of the fare).

So best case and it is likely unless it was a very discounted ticket that you will get some sort of refund back.

Hope this helps

In The Rai!