Originally Posted by
Chris2303
Who does have it then?
Who has the money meantime ? An agent of Visa/Mastercard etc called a Merchant Card Processor. See the first post. Because the law requires that the major credit cards are legally liable to refund if the service is not provided, they handle this by not giving the money over in the first place until the event happens, for package operators it is the flight and hotel actually taking place. Mail order places get it even later, there is a process where they have to report when the goods are dispatched. As a business you get to agree the terms (it's rather a one-way discussion) with your MCP when you set up to take credit cards.
If your holiday is cancelled and the money has not been returned apply to Visa etc for a refund. They will get the MCP to do it.
Accountancy bit : Airlines/operators do show the funds held by the MCP for future bookings in their Balance Sheet as Accounts Receivable, so having it refunded does impact on their accounts/creditworthiness, even though the cash is not in their bank.