Canceled flights, events and trips: who and how can ask for a refund

Canceled flights, vacation packages already booked but not available due to coronavirus emergency restrictions.

The Consulcesi legal protection network, which is handling several requests for disoriented people who do not know how to behave, has drawn up a series of useful tips, based on the decree of the President of the Council of Ministers which provides for urgent measures in favor of these citizens.

The costs incurred may be reimbursed: those who have been placed in quarantine or who are resident or domiciled in the municipalities of the so-called “red zone”; private individuals and companies that have planned trips and transfers to restricted areas; those who, having booked trips or transfers to participate in competitions, events and shows of any kind that have been canceled due to the emergency; and finally who, in Italy, has purchased tickets for foreign destinations where disembarkation is prohibited by local authorities.

If one of these conditions occurs, the citizen must send a communication to the travel agency or to the airline to request a refund of the cost incurred, attaching a copy of the travel document and, if it is a canceled event, documents certifying it the expected participation.

Communication that must be submitted within 30 days of the cessation of the ban imposed, the cancellation or postponement of the scheduled event, the date scheduled for departure to a country where the entry ban has been imposed.

The recipient of the application must refund the amount paid or issue a voucher of the same amount within 15 days of receiving the request.

As for tourist packages, the organizer can also offer a replacement package of equal or greater value or issue a voucher of the same amount valid for one year.

(Unioneonline / L)