When Aerolíneas Argentinas changes Christina Skinner’s flight schedule by nine hours, she asks the airline to cancel her ticket and issue a refund. The response: silence. How do you get a refund for your canceled flight?
Ask
I want to get a refund for my cancelled flight and need your help. I recently booked a round-trip flight with Aerolíneas Argentinas from Miami to Buenos Aires. The flight was scheduled to depart at 5:15 p.m. Two months before my departure, I received an email from the airline informing me that the flight would now depart at 8:05 a.m. that same day.
This was not possible for me as I had flown from my hometown of Atlanta to Miami earlier that day.
I tried calling the Aerolíneas Argentinas toll-free number six times, but each time there was no answer – the connection was simply disconnected.
I went to the airline’s website and filled out the cancellation request. I received an automatic confirmation and a case number, but I have not heard anything from the airline since.
I sent the airline two emails in a row and tried to communicate with them via WhatsApp, but I didn’t receive a response.
I want Aerolíneas Argentinas to cancel the reservation and issue a full refund. Can you help me get my $571 back? — Christina Skinner, Lawrenceville, Georgia.
Answer
Aerolíneas Argentinas should have sent you a refund within a week. That’s not just my opinion, it’s a government requirement. If you pay by credit card, the Department of Transportation (DOT) gives the airline 7 days; if you pay by cash or check, the airline has 20 days.
Why not? Well, no airline wants to refund a ticket, so Aerolíneas Argentinas is not the only one. I’ve seen them stalling and trying to push passengers onto another flight. But this was a significant schedule change, which means you can ask for a refund.
The other problem is that your ticket change came at a turbulent time for Argentina. It was in the middle of an election, and Aerolíneas Argentinas was almost certainly affected, as it is the state-owned airline.
How to request a ticket cancellation and refund through Aerolíneas Argentinas
Canceling a ticket with Aerolíneas Argentinas and getting a full refund should be relatively easy. Let’s go through the steps:
Whose rules apply?
There are regulations in place in Argentina that affect your ticket purchase, but tickets booked in the United States departing from there are subject to DOT regulations.
Check your tariff conditions
Take a minute to read the fare rules of your ticket, which determine cancellation fees and refund eligibility. You can find them on your Aerolíneas Argentinas booking confirmation or on the company’s website.
The sooner the better
If you cancel within 24 hours of booking, you’ll get an instant refund, no questions asked. However, if you wait longer, most fares will require you to accept a ticket credit. My advice: don’t wait.
How to request a refund for your cancelled flight
You can cancel online through the website or call the Aerolíneas Argentinas phone number to cancel. If you booked through an online travel agent, contact the agent to request your refund. (It is always better to do this in writing.) You can also visit an airline ticket counter to cancel and request a refund.
Don’t forget to get a cancellation number from the airline and keep all documentation. You may need it if the refund is not processed promptly.
What happened to your refund from Aerolíneas Argentinas?
But I don’t want to make excuses for the airline. They should have refunded you immediately. Interestingly, it was a direct booking, so no online travel agent was involved. They did a great job of keeping documentation between you and the airline, although it was mostly emails to the airline with no response.
They could have tried to forward this to one of the executives whose names I publish on this website, but given everything that was going on at the time, I’m not sure they would have responded.
I contacted Aerolíneas Argentinas on your behalf and a few weeks later you sent me an update.
“I wanted to share the happy news that Aerolíneas Argentinas has responded and today issued a full refund of my flight to my American Express account,” you wrote. “Thank you for your help in contacting them and for prompting them to take action!”
