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My family's flights with AlItalia later this month have of course been affected by Coronavirus. We cannot get refunds, only vouchers are offered, as with basically all airlines at the moment. We booked through an agent, Supersaver.

If I look at the sum we paid (about € 1520), insanely enough only about € 90 of that is for the tickets, and the other € 1430 is for "taxes and fees". Presumably not all the taxes and fees will need to be paid by AlItalia if we don't go on the flight.

For which sum will I get vouchers if I accept them, the ticket price or the price including everything?

RemcoGerlich
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  • Wouldn't a voucher typically cover the total amount of money you paid, to be used against a future flight that would also include tax and fees? It doesn't really matter how they slice and dice it or what they would have paid if they hadn't cancelled the flight... The only situation where it might make some difference is when you cancel your flight. – Relaxed Apr 13 '20 at 21:34
  • Incidentally, “tax and fees” is slightly misleading, it would typically include various “carrier-imposed fees” or “fuel surcharge”, which is just another part of the fare that is charged as a fee for various reasons. It's not something Alitalia is paying to some other party. – Relaxed Apr 13 '20 at 21:36
  • From your comment on the linked question, I gather that the flight wasn't cancelled (or you are not sure whether the EU261 rules apply). If the flight is still being operated and you cannot make use of it then you are in the same situation as https://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/91005/can-i-recover-anything-from-a-non-refundable-ticket The airline doesn't really have any reason to care whether it's due to mere convenience, a visa problem, a serious personal issue or a global pandemic. A separate travel insurance might cover some (but not all) of these scenarios. – Relaxed Apr 15 '20 at 13:01
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    Does this answer your question? Do vouchers offered by EU airlines for Coronavirus cancellations turn into a full refund if not used? – leggewie Apr 19 '20 at 08:04

1 Answers1

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First of all it's important if your flight was actually cancelled. If it wasn't, you will not be able to get your money back.

  1. If it was cancelled you have the right to get refund. The issue might be that you booked via agent. Most agents don't have proper customer support and it will be really hard to get hold of them. As they operate on thin margins, I would expect lot of agents to go out of business. That said first thing I would try is to call them up.

  2. Is it packaged holiday ? I know in UK there are different rules around packaged holidays and all of them needs to be insured. (check if that applies in your country)

  3. Do you have travel insurance? If yes contact them and check if you are covered, you might be able to get your money back

  4. Did you pay via Credit Card ? Most EU countries have laws which protects you when you pay via credit card. You could shift the problem to credit card company and they would have to refund you.

Hope this helps.

Vojtech Vrbka
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