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What recourse does one have when an airline (Aloha) goes bankrupt?

T

travelplanner70

TUG Member
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I paid for my Aloha Airlines tickets on Mastercard. Does anyone know the law as to whether the charge card company will refund my money? I called Mastercard and the service agent said any refund has to come from Aloha. Aloha says the credit card company has to do it. I am upset since I bought 4 tickets from Hawaii to the mainland.

Please reassure me I will get my money back. :eek:

Thank you.
 
That is one reason I use American Express....they stand behind the customer, not the business that hosed you.

I would demand to speak with a supervisor at Mastercard and threaten to cancel your cards...it might work to help get a refund.
 
I'd file a claim with Master Card real quick stating that they took your money and have publically announced that they will not be flying the route.

GEORGE
 
My post on the Hawaii thread is about this. When Canada 3000 folded in 2001, we immediately called our Mastercard. It is the credit card that should put a dispute in, the airline will do nothing for you - you are an unsecured creditor. We got our money back but it took about 3 months, our friends did not get their money back on their credit card.

Insist on speaking to a supervisor to dispute the charge.
 
If you have a U.S. credit card, you can get a refund from the credit card company, if the charge for your tickets appears on a credit card statement mailed to you within the past 60 days. Otherwise, you might well be out of luck, unless your credit card company has a specific provision designed to protect you.

See this Federal Trade Commission link for the rules as to what to do. Note that unless you send a written dispute letter via certified mail, your claim will probably not be approved.

There was a federal law enacted after 9/11 which generally required airlines (e.g., Hawaiian Air) to transport people holding tickets on defunct airlines (e.g., Aloha) for a nominal fee. The law, which was originally in place for about 18 months, was extended twice, but was allowed to expire a few years ago.
 
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Sabena

When Sabena went broke, I simply contacted them and I got my money back. It depends on what the company did with the money. They should not have used the money for operating expenses since the flight really hadn't occurred yet. Bankrupcy sets out a pecking order for payment from available funds.
 
I have had Sabena and Braniff tickets. I had used Hotwire for the Sabena tickets and they just found me another flight.....albeit with lots of pressure on my side. The Braniff tickets were disputed on my credit card and I did eventually get my money.
 
If you go the dispute route, do it in writing. Follow the instructions using the link in Dave M's post.

-David
 
The other most important piece of advise is to file a proof of claim in the bankruptcy case itself within the time bar parameters. If you get a refund from a credit card, great. You can assign that claim to the credit card company. If you don't get a refund, you won't have any chance to get anything from the bankruptcy unless you timely file a proof of claim.
 
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jo-jo said:
I paid for my Aloha Airlines tickets on Mastercard. Does anyone know the law as to whether the charge card company will refund my money? I called Mastercard and the service agent said any refund has to come from Aloha. Aloha says the credit card company has to do it. I am upset since I bought 4 tickets from Hawaii to the mainland.

Please reassure me I will get my money back. :eek:

Thank you.
Click to expand...

Jo-Jo, there is an extensive discusion about this on Flyertalk. you may find some answers there. best of luck RT
http://flyertalk.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=447
 
Aloha Airlines has already stated that any customer claims will have to be made through the bankruptcy court, so it appears that they are not giving out any customer refunds.

I would file with my credit card company as quickly as possible.
 
DeniseM said:
Aloha Airlines has already stated that any customer claims will have to be made through the bankruptcy court, so it appears that they are not giving out any customer refunds.

I would file with my credit card company as quickly as possible.
Click to expand...

By law, Aloha Airlines is not able to pay any pre bankruptcy claims without an approved plan or other court order.
 
Steamboat Bill said:
That is one reason I use American Express....they stand behind the customer, not the business that hosed you.

I would demand to speak with a supervisor at Mastercard and threaten to cancel your cards...it might work to help get a refund.
Click to expand...

We were SAVED by our Costco American Express card. Our flights from Lihue to Maui are Friday, which we purchased through Aloha just 3 weeks ago..... but because of the TUG postings on Aloha, Rick and I went down to the clubhouse here at Shearwater, got on the net, schedule flights for Hawaiian for Friday flights, just two hours later, called American Express and are now released from the obligation.

Thanks to all of you here who posted this valuable information. We didn't pay much more to fly Hawaiian. I hope Aloha is able to re-organize and start up again. GO needs to go............ but then again, I have no ill will against them. My opinion is tainted due to the local news. I used to like GO but it seems they really hurt the local airlines with their price wars.:(
 
mshatty said:
By law, Aloha Airlines is not able to pay any pre bankruptcy claims without an approved plan or other court order.
Click to expand...

I'm not questioning that, but I have seen several ticket holders say they are going to "wait and see what happens." I believe that would be a mistake.
 
I called MC today to dispute 3 roundtrip tickets for Ohua to Maui for next Sept. I purchased the tickets at the end of October 2007. The MC rep said they would initiate a claim since it was still in their system(within 6 months). I had to claim each individual ticket so I have 3 claim numbers. I will receive paperwork in the mail within a week and I have to fill them out and return within 10 days. I also have to send a copy of the purchase info with the amounts paid and the dates of the transactions. They could not give me a timeframe for resolution but I do believe they said I can deduct the amount from my next CC payment if I chose to. I also rebooked on Hawaiian for about $90.00 more.

Good luck to everyone.
 
United has a posting on how they will "help" Aloha customers on their site.
Guy
 
I called my MC company today (Capital One), and was told that since we were MC customers and not VISA customers, they can process my refund over the phone. He said that VISA makes their customers fill out paper work. I was on the phone for over 1/2 hour, but was told that the charges will be reversed within 2-3 days. He also said that VISA won't issue refunds until after the date of the flight (to make sure you actually didn't use it). MC refunds right away.

Sounds like everyone is getting different information.

Theresa
 
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