By Christopher Elliott | Travel Troubleshooter
Q: I paid $7,155 for a business-class ticket from Hartford, Conn., to Dublin on Aer Lingus. When a pilot strike threatened my trip, the airline emailed me three options, including a full refund, which I selected.
Aer Lingus refunded me $6,096 but withheld $1,058, claiming business-class tickets only qualify for an 85 percent refund. I filed multiple claims, called repeatedly, and even sent a registered letter to the CEO. No one responded. How can I get back my money? — Martha Rhine, West Hartford, Conn.
A: Aer Lingus owes you the full refund it promised. Period.
Under EU Regulation 261, passengers are entitled to a full refund if their flight is canceled because of a strike. Airlines can’t impose arbitrary refund caps based on fare class in that situation.
Aer Lingus’s 85 percent policy appears to violate EU 261. Worse, the airline ignored your documented requests for months, and that’s a blatant violation of consumer trust.
Aer Lingus should have processed your refund promptly after you asked for it. Its customer service department should have stated its policies up front and escalated your case when you had a problem. And, of course, the CEO’s office should have acknowledged your letter when you wrote, rather than stonewalling.
Maybe Aer Lingus got confused when refunding your ticket. It thought you had requested a refund of the ticket for reasons other than the strike, and the rules for your business-class tickets only entitled you to an 85 percent refund.
You did everything right: You saved correspondence, pursued multiple channels, and contacted executives. But when companies dig in, persistence alone isn’t enough. That’s when involving an advocate or regulators like the U.S. Department of Transportation or the Irish Aviation Authority becomes critical. Filing a complaint with one or both of these agencies might have been enough to light a fire under Aer Lingus to give you what it promised.
By the way, you don’t have to send the CEO a letter next time. You can start at the beginning of the executive chain, which might result in a faster response. I publish the emails of all the Aer Lingus executives on my consumer advocacy site, Elliott.org.
I contacted Aer Lingus on your behalf.
“Aer Lingus sincerely apologizes for the delay in processing this customer’s full refund,” a representative responded. “The outstanding amount has now been processed as a matter of priority.”
Christopher Elliott is the founder of Elliott Advocacy, a nonprofit organization that helps consumers solve their problems. Email him at [email protected] or get help by contacting him on his site.
