Can one get a refund for their airplane ticket if their visa is rejected?

Upvote:4

In case you really need to get a ticket up front, you have a few different choices here.

  1. Buy a refundable tickets. This may or may not be a good option, since these are often very expensive (compared to a regular ticket).
  2. Buy a fully refundable ticket and cancel it as soon as your visa has been issued. These tickets tend to be very expensive. Make sure you fully understand the terms and conditions of the ticket. Not all tickets that are marketed as "refundable" are fully refundable for cash for any reason. Also make sure that the Visa application isn't tied to this specific flight (which would be unusual)
  3. Buy a throw away ticket. Buy the cheapest ticket that meets the Visa requirements and just let it lapse.
  4. Buy the ticket you actually want to fly and hope for the best. That depends a bit on your details and what the likelihood is, that your Visa will be delayed or denied
  5. Try travel insurance. That's rarely a good idea: most insurances do NOT cover Visa problems so you would have to go for a "cancel for any reason" insurances which are a) ridiculously expensive and b) cover only a part of your cost.

there is no chance for a refund due to the special case

Generally no. Visa's and proper documentation to enter the destination country are responsibilities of the passenger. All airlines state this clear in their terms conditions that you have to agree to when you buy the ticket.

Upvote:7

If you are buying something that you know you may need a refund for, and the vendor sells two versions of it, one refundable and one not, you must buy the refundable one even if it costs more. You cannot buy the non-refundable one and then explain that you have a special circumstance you can't control. The airline certainly can't control it and isn't responsible for it. They aren't going to refund your nonrefundable ticket just because you want them to.

That said, careful reading of the terms and conditions may help you find an airline whose specific terms and conditions include that they will refund it if you don't get your visa. This answer to a related question lists some but more importantly tells you how to check for yourself.

But the refundable version costs more money! Yes it does. Perhaps, if cheaper tickets are still available when you get your visa, you can refund the expensive one and buy the cheap one. Or perhaps you can look at the extra expense for plane tickets as yet another way needing a visa makes travel more expensive for you. It's not fair, but it is reality.

But first, double and triple check that you truly do need to book tickets. Since many people book refundable tickets and cancel them if they don't get the visa, this requirement is really more "you have a few thousand dollars you can tie up for a while" more than it is "you are committed to this visit" and many countries have dropped the requirement as a result. I know you're sure: I also know many people have been completely sure about countries that in fact do not require plane tickets to be pre-booked. Check again. Also check whether it needs to be just "booked" (something a travel agent can do for you without you paying for the ticket) or actually paid for and issued. Reading the fine print will help you.

More post

Search Posts

Related post