Refund on return part of ticket

[Exascot]

We have return tickets ATH-JNB-ATH with EK. Their administration is useless, they do not answer e-mails.

We are currently down south and have decided not to return to Greece next year as we usually do for their summer due to building work next to our house there.

I appreciate that a ticket is only valid for one year so I can't change the return date by one year. Can we get a refund on the return part of the ticket? If so what percentage?

[highflyer40]

depends on what the cancelation conditions of your ticket were. it will be on your ticket.

even if it is partially refundable most tickets are 100% non refundable after your departure date. this is because in alot of cases a one way fare is more expensive than a return, so people would just but a return and not use it( which does happen, but airlines don't like it)

[mixture]

As has already been pointed out, it depends on the fare conditions attached to your ticket.... the cheaper your ticket, the less flexible the conditions.

Added to which, what you describe is basically throw-away ticketing.... airlines don't like that as they price flights on the basis of the entire trip being flown. So if you look at it from their shoes, how do they know you're not just another customer doing a throw-away job on them ?

[Hotel Tango]

As above, however it's worth noting that the taxes applicable to the return sector are refundable if you cancel in advance. (Not sure if this is also the case if you're a no-show).

[KBPsen]

It's not difficult.

Originally Posted by Emirates Help Centre

Eticket Refund Request

You may use the form below to request a refund for any ticket purchased directly with Emirates; whether it was purchased online at emirates.com or via our contact centres. If your ticket was purchased through a travel agent, please contact the issuing travel agent for any refund.

Only amounts that are refundable in accordance with the Fare Conditions advised to you at the time of purchase will be refunded. You should not use this form to enquire about the cancellation charges or how much would be refunded. Once you have submitted this form, your booking will be cancelled.

If you purchased your ticket online at emirates.com, your Fare Conditions will be attached to the booking confirmation email sent to you at the time of purchase.

Cancellations and changes : Refunds | Contact Us | Help | Emirates

[highflyer40]

in regards to the taxes the fuel surcharge element will have the same canx conditions as the fare. so realistically the actual tax portion on a half used ticket will be minuscule

[Exascot]

Thanks for all that guys. For the record it was 2 x 2,500 euro business class tickets. Certainly not a throw away job

Once you have submitted this form, your booking will be cancelled.

Obviously I do not wish to do this until I know how much will be refunded.

I have been over and over the ticket and there are no conditions of sale.

[mixture]

For the record it was 2 x 2,500 euro business class tickets. Certainly not a throw away job

Well yes, they may well have been priced up at 2.5k EUR for the return ATH-JNB-ATH. Whilst the one-way ATH-JNB might well have been a fair bit higher than 2.5k.

Hence why some people still like to risk throwaway ticketing and not fly the last leg because its cheaper to buy the return ticket and forget about the last leg.... the airline will always have the last laugh though, they can do an awful lot of data mining very quickly on their databases to pick out suspicious stuff.

Hence good luck with the airline, but I wouldn't hold your breath.

[ExXB]

I went to Emirates.gr and asked for dates in the future ATH-JNB-ATH in Business. The only fare that came up (€2362) had the following conditions:

CANCELLATIONS
ANY TIME
PER TICKET CHARGE EUR 75.00 FOR CANCEL/REFUND.
NOTE -
[...]
---------
WAIVED FOR DEATH OF PASSENGER OR FAMILY MEMBER.
A COPY OF VALID DEATH CERTIFICATE ISSUED BY A
COMPETENT MEDICAL AUTHORITY IS REQUIRED. FAMILY
MEMBERS AS DEFINED IN EK CONDITIONS OF CARRIAGE OR
PASSENGER AIRLINE TARIFF RULE BOOK.
------
FAILURE TO OCCUPY A RESERVED SEAT ON ANY SEGMENT
OF THE ITINERARY WILL RESULT IN ALL SUBSEQUENT
SEGMENTS OF THE ITINERARY BEING CANCELLED. IN SUCH
CASES REFUND WILL INCUR A CHARGE OF EUR150.
------
IN CASE OF NO-SHOW ONLY ONE FEE IS TO BE CHARGED
I.E. EITHER THE NO-SHOW FEE OR THE REFUND FEE
WHICHEVER IS HIGHER AND NOT BOTH.


CHANGES

ANY TIME
PER TICKET CHARGE EUR 50.00 FOR REISSUE/REVALIDATION.
NOTE -
[...]
-------
WAIVED FOR DEATH OF PASSENGER OR FAMILY MEMBER.
A COPY OF VALID DEATH CERTIFICATE ISSUED BY A
COMPETENT MEDICAL AUTHORITY IS REQUIRED. FAMILY
MEMBERS AS DEFINED IN EK CONDITIONS OF CARRIAGE OR
PASSENGER AIRLINE TARIFF RULE BOOK.
------
FAILURE TO OCCUPY A RESERVED SEAT ON ANY SEGMENT
OF THE ITINERARY WILL RESULT IN ALL SUBSEQUENT
SEGMENTS OF THE ITINERARY BEING CANCELLED. IN SUCH
CASES REEBOOKING WILL INCUR A CHARGE OF EUR100.
------
IN CASE OF NO-SHOW ONLY ONE FEE IS TO BE CHARGED
I.E. EITHER THE NO-SHOW FEE OR THE REISSUE/
REVALIDATION FEE WHICHEVER IS HIGHER AND NOT BOTH.
NOTE -
CHANGES -
BEFORE DEPARTURE----
IN THE EVENT OF VOLUNTARY CHANGES TO ANY FLIGHT
THE FARES AND CHARGES FOR THE PASSENGER JOURNEY
SHALL BE RECALCULATED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE FARES
AND CHARGES IN EFFECT ON THE DATE ON WHICH THE
CHANGE IS MADE AND IS REFLECTED ON THE TICKET.
-THE CHANGE FEE APPLIES PER TRANSACTION IF ANY.
-THE CHANGE FEE APPLIES PER FARE COMPONENT IF ANY.
WHEN MORE THAN ONE FARE COMPONENT IS CHANGED
THE HIGHEST PENALTY OF ANY OF THE CHANGED FARE
COMPONENTS WILL APPLY.
AFTER DEPARTURE----
-THE CHANGE FEE APPLIES PER TRANSACTION IF ANY.
-THE CHANGE FEE APPLIES PER FARE COMPONENT IF ANY.
WHEN MORE THAN ONE FARE COMPONENT IS CHANGED
THE HIGHEST PENALTY OF ANY OF THE CHANGED FARE
COMPONENTS WILL APPLY.
--------------------------------------------------
RE-ISSUES ONLY PERMITTED TO FARE OF EQUIVALENT OR
HIGHER VALUE.
--------------------------------------------------
CANCELLATION BEFORE DEPARTURE -[...].
--------------------------------------------------
CANCELLATION AFTER DEPARTURE -
1. [...]
------
2.WHEN COMBINED WITH A REFUNDABLE
FARE
- DEDUCT THE ONE-WAY FARE IN THE SAME OR HIGHER
RBD FOR THE FLOWN PORTION.
- IF TRAVEL ON THE INBOUND FARE COMPONENT HAS
COMMENCED NO REFUND APPLIES.
--------------------------------------------------

So from the information available it would seem that you are travelling on two refundable fares (ATH-JNB + JNB-ATH). Your return journey is refundable less a per-ticket fee of €75, or you can change the dates of travel for €50, per ticket. Any taxes applicable to the return journey would also be refundable.

What I would do is pick up the phone and talk to EK's reservations agent to either rebook for a later date, or to request a refund.

You are partially correct, tickets normally have a validity of 1 year, but this does not mean that a new ticket can't be issued in exchange for the old one. The new ticket would normally have a vanity of 1 year from the date of its issue.

What you don't want to do is to no-show, your penalties double.

[mixture]

ExXB,

There are actually 9 business class fare possibilities on EK for the ATH-JNB route, ranging from 1043EUR to 6450EUR. Note that this does not take into account any historical sales fares that the OP might have bought his ticket on.

The two currently showing in the 2k range are 2054 and 2604 (CEEESGR1 and JEEEFGR1)

Reading through the rules now...

Hmm... well I'm no expert but seems to be those fare rules certainly look quite generous, so I'm guessing when you hit the 2k+ mark on EK, you are in semi or fully-flex territory.

So, to the OP, I guess its a case of as ExXB says... get on the dog & bone to EK and see what you get.

[highflyer40]

that's not the way I see it at all. it says "deduct the one way fare for segment flown" which as discussed can be higher than the return journey purchased. so if you paid 2500 and a one way is 1250. you get 1250 back, BUT if the one way is say 2500 you get nothing back.

[Exascot]

Thanks again guys. What I would really like is to delay the flight by a year. Obviously I would be happy to pay price increases and admin fees. I have dropped an e-mail to a contact I have for EK at ATH. He is back in the office in two weeks so perhaps I will get a solution from him.

[mixture]

that's not the way I see it at all. it says "deduct the one way fare for segment flown" which as discussed can be higher than the return journey purchased. so if you paid 2500 and a one way is 1250. you get 1250 back, BUT if the one way is say 2500 you get nothing back.

Yeah, I thought the wording sounded too good to be true, but I didn't have the time to read it slowly and properly digest it. I did check their cheaper fares, and on the cheaper fares they have a specific non-refundable/non-changeable clause (or rather a phrase hidden in the text).

Well spotted.

[highflyer40]

exa - there is no way you will get more than a year validity ( and that is from first sector flown irregardless of when it was ticketed or reissued ) as the computers are physically unable to extend it beyond a year. that is the same with every airline world wide.

if there is any fare rule which is inviolate it is the 1 year max validity, sorry

[ExXB]

Agree that any ticket cannot have a validity of more than 1 year. What I was suggesting is that the original ticket could be used as partial payment towards a new ticket. It's as if the airline gave the passenger a cash payment of the refund amount, and then took it back as payment towards the new ticket. That new ticket would have a validity of not more than 1 year after the date of its issue.

Btw, I understand that a certain national airline based in a country to the west of Japan has issued tickets with a two year validity (catering to the needs of a specific market). How they did this is unknown, but ...

[mixture]

[pedant mode]
computers are logically unable
[/pedant mode]

fixed that for ya'

(its a business logic issue, as programmed, not a physical hardware issue)

[ExXB]

Oops, just rereading the various posts. High flyer, you are right. It is one year from date of first flight, not date of issue. But that goes back to the days before computers when you could book a flight more than 360 days in advance.

[beamender99]

But that goes back to the days before computers when you could book a flight more than 360 days in advance

.

The BEACON Univac computer system of British European fame would happily book 18 months in advance. ( in the 1960s ). Many bookings for "Wakes weeks" were made that far in advance.
All the many IBM based airline reservations systems that I worked with could only cope with about 360 days in advance i.e. a year minus a few days.

[PAXboy]

360 days is about the maximum my brain can deal with. A potential client just asked me about a date in June 2016. I haven't thought about 2015 yet.

[Exascot]

Thanks again everyone. It is interesting if nothing else. As I have said I am sure that I can't extend over one year. I have asked if I can be given credit. I am a silver member and have flown with them for years either 1st or business. However we are talking EK admin