Dubai’s Emirates airlines offered on Tuesday new options for travellers who have flight tickets issued before May 31 for travel before August 31, allowing them to either keep exchange or request a full refund for the tickets.
The three options Emirates is offering to its customers affected by flight cancellations and travel restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic are as follows:
Keep the ticket
All Emirates tickets booked before May 31 for travel up to 31 August will be automatically extended for 760 days. Customers holding such tickets can be assured their tickets will be honoured, and they can rebook when they decide to travel.
When the customers are ready to travel again, within two years from the day their ticket was originally issued, they need to contact Emirates or their travel agents to reschedule their flight.
Their ticket will be accepted for any flight to the same Emirates destination or to another city within the same Emirates region with no additional fees. Those who wish to rebook their ticket to travel to another region can also do so – Emirates will not charge re-issuance fees, only any applicable fare difference.
Request a travel voucher
Travel vouchers are valid for one year from the date the voucher was issued and can be extended for a second year. The voucher can be used for any Emirates product or service, which means customers can use it to offset charges for flights to any destination in any cabin class, or other services. No change fees apply to this voucher.
Refunds
Customers who have opted to keep their ticket or opted for a travel voucher can still apply for a refund if they are unable to travel. There will be no refund penalties.
Adnan Kazim, Emirates’ Chief Commercial Officer said, “The travel and airline industry have complicated rulebooks for how fares, re-bookings, or refunds are applied, which also differ depending on market regulation.”
“We sincerely hope that our customers will choose to rebook and fly with us again at a later time… We would just like to seek our customers’ understanding that refunds will take time as we have a significant backlog to manage.”
