More than a year after travelers learned most airlines would not give refunds if trips were canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic, two senators are demanding the airlines refund money or at the very least make sure travel credit vouchers have no expiration date.
The airlines are sitting on more than $10 billion in unused travel credits, most of which expire in two years or less, the lawmakers said in letters to the companies. This comes after the airlines received billions of dollars in bailout money from different stimulus programs.
Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said the airlines should have the same refund of credit policy no matter who — the customer or the airline — canceled the trip.
The senators called the airlines’ decisions not to refund money “unconscionable,” noting that the credit policies can be confusing. In limited circumstances, some airlines issued refunds, but the vast majority offered vouchers.
“Across the airline industry, current policies governing flight credit expiration are complex and can differ considerably from company to company,” they wrote. “This patchwork creates significant confusion for consumers, some of whom are discovering their credits have already expired or will expire before they feel safe traveling again.”
They said some airlines have multiple types of flight credits with different restrictions and expiration dates, leading to consumer confusion and causing them to be “at risk of losing the billions of dollars they were effectively forced to loan to the airline industry interest-free.”
When the airlines started issuing credits during the pandemic, consumer complaints soared. The Department of Transportation received 107,000 complaints since March 2020, and nearly 90% of those were about refunds.
The letters from the senators went to Alaska Airlines, Allegiant Air, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Frontier Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines, Spirit Airlines and United Airlines.
In response, Delta said it is giving customers more time to plan and rebook a trip than any other U.S. airline with a travel credit that extends through Dec. 31, 2022.
“Meanwhile, Delta continues to provide full refunds to eligible passengers requesting them when we have cancelled a flight or made a significant schedule change. Last year, we processed more 6.7 million refunds, totaling over $3 billion,” the company said.”
United said it extended its voucher expiration dates for tickets purchased between May 1, 2019 and March 31, 2021 until March 31, 2022. Tickets purchased April 1, 2021 and after have a 12-month expiration date from the date of purchase, it said, but it did not specially address the senators’ letter.
Southwest, American and JetBlue directed questions to their industry association, Airlines for America (A4A), which said many carriers have “bolstered their commitment to consumers by offering voucher and credit opportunities exceeding the Department of Transportation’s guidelines.”
It said throughout the pandemic, airlines have updated travel policies to offer increased flexibility for customers.
“In 2020, U.S. passenger airlines issued $12.84 billion in cash refunds to customers — up 72 percent year over year – in addition to issuing billions of dollars of travel credits,” spokeswoman Katherine Estep said. “For A4A carriers, cash refunds issued in 2020 equated to nearly 20% of operating revenues, compared to 4% in 2019.”
The other airlines didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
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Karin Price Mueller may be reached at KPriceMueller@NJAdvanceMedia.com.
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