Skylux Travel is keeping my Delta Air Lines refund
DEAR TRAVEL TROUBLESHOOTER >>
My wife and I had reservations made by Skylux Travel for a Delta Air Lines flight from San Francisco to Paris and Athens for October 2020. Delta canceled the flight because of COVID-19. I asked for a refund.
Delta refunded my fare to Skylux Travel last November. Since then, despite numerous calls and emails, I have been unable to get them to refund my money. I keep being told it is coming, but it never does. Can you help me get my $7,399 back?
— Alan Rubin, Tiburon
ANSWER >> Skylux Travel should have returned the money to you as soon as it had the refund from Delta. Under federal regulations, when an airline cancels a flight, you’re owed an almost immediate refund to your credit card.
So, what happened? Like so many other refund cases that have crossed my desk in the past year, I can only chalk this up to the COVID-19 effect. Companies dragged their feet with refunds — in your case, it wasn’t the airline but the travel agent.
You handled this one by the book. You kept your correspondence in writing, both with Delta and Skylux Travel. You had case numbers and emails that you could pass along to me, which you did. Good work!
This is one of the drawbacks of working through a third party like a travel agency. Your airline refund has to go through another company, creating a potential for delay.
When I checked on your case, it seemed as if Delta was looking into who had the money. But a few months later, it appeared as if your refund was still actually in the works. I share the Skylux executive contacts at elliott.org/company-contacts/skylux-travelcustomer-service-contacts and reached out to them on your behalf.
“At first we could not see any incoming funds from the carrier for this ticket,” a Skylux representative told me. “We contacted the carrier’s travel agency support desk to clarify it. We are happy to confirm that the funds are to be received by us next week, and once that happens the refund will be immediately processed. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused in connection with this request.”
You received every penny of your fare back.