Couldn't Travel Due to COVID... Crying Twice Over Cancellation Fee Bombshell

Overseas Travel Consumer Complaints Surge 9.5 Times
Airlines Cancel Routes
Consumers Frustrated by Fee Transfers
Refunds Take Months Even After Cancellation

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-gi] Office worker Kim Jaehyun canceled his trip to Thailand due to concerns about the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19). Since the decision was made about two weeks before departure, he lost nearly half of the airfare due to fees. However, he has not received even the half refund for nearly 20 days. Kim said, "Only after calling the travel agency, the credit card company, and the airline was I told that the refund would come in about two months," adding, "It is an incomprehensible situation that the refund is only possible three months after cancellation."

As the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) has entered a global pandemic stage, cases of damage caused by cancellations of overseas trips are also increasing. According to the Korea Consumer Agency on the 17th, among the consultations received by the '1372 Consumer Counseling Center' from January 20 to March 15 this year, overseas travel (7,262 cases) surged 9.5 times compared to 659 cases in the same period last year. This appears to be due to the increasing number of contract cancellations caused by COVID-19 and the resulting disputes.

There are even cases where fees are deducted for cancellations not decided by the consumers themselves, causing frustration. This is the case of Lee Seunghwan, who issued a Chinese airline ticket through a travel agency earlier this month. Lee received a cancellation notice from a Chinese airline regarding the suspension of the 'Korea-China route.' However, he was only refunded the amount excluding a fee of about 40,000 won. Lee said, "It was not my choice, but the schedule was canceled due to the route suspension, so deducting a fee makes no sense." After Lee's strong protest, the airline refunded the fee, and Lee was once again shocked by the 'unprincipled refund policy' of the airline and travel industries amid the COVID-19 situation.

The series of disputes strongly reflects the fact that companies have not been able to properly handle the surge in cancellation requests after the COVID-19 outbreak. A representative of an airline said, "Since last month, most employees have been focusing on processing refunds," adding, "Refunds are usually paid within a week, but this can vary depending on the travel agency booked or the credit card company used."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.