Department of Transportation success with getting a full refund from TAP Air

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I’ve been trying to help my parents with their trip to Europe that was supposed commence yesterday.Â This included a few days in Lisbon, Zurich and then a river cruise on the Dunabe River. In mid-March their TAP Air flight to Lisbon was canceled and changed to depart out of Newark Airport (instead of Boston). Eventually all flights to the US were canceled on TAP Air, but that still didn’t help us getting a refund.

For about a two week time frame, my parents and I spent many hours contacting TAP Air to receive a refund. This included calling them, sending them messages via social media and emailing them. It didn’t matter who we spoke to or how we contacted them, the answer was always the same â€” TAP Air was only issuing vouchers to be used a year from when they were received. This continued to go on even after the Department of Transportation (DOT) continued to notify airlines that they must refund passengers whose flights were canceled.

Since TAP Air was not willing to do anything, I went ahead and filed a DOT complaint. This was by far the easiest process I’ve ever been through when it comes to travel. Within 36 hours of filing the complaint, I received a personalized email back that my situation falls within the DOT ruling and that they’d help me out. They forwarded my complaint to TAP Air directly and helped me fight the battle. Exactly three days later, I heard from TAP Air that they were fully refunding the fare for the two passengers. This was a direct response from the DOT email where they even including the DOT representative onto the email to know that the situation was resolved. They still have yet to respond to any of my emails outside of the DOT one, which shows how much weight the DOT holds.

Moral of the story is, do not give up. If you are trying to receive a refund for a flight that was canceled, you are entitled to a full refund. And the DOT can help you make the process much easier. Filing a complaint took just a few minutes and we heard back from the airline within a week.

Have you had any luck with involving the DOT?

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