credit card dispute travel agency

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Travel troubleshooter: here's why filing a credit card dispute too soon can foul up your travel refund.

Q: Last year, I booked a trip to Las Vegas through a site called Traveluro. My airline canceled the flight, and I could not get another flight. So, I had to cancel my hotel reservation.

I contacted Traveluro, and a representative agreed to cancel my reservation and give me a full refund. But the refund showed up in my account as "pending" and then completely dropped off. It was never fully processed.

I filed a credit card dispute with my bank, but my bank denied my request. Traveluro is extremely hard to get in touch with. I call, and it rings once, then hangs up on me. I've been trying for months!

The one other time I got through, a representative said they would escalate the situation and that somebody would call me within 24 to 48 hours. That never happened. Please help me get my $444 back!

A: If Traveluro promised you a refund, it should have delivered one.

First of all, you might be wondering what Traveluro is. It's an online travel agency operated by Holisto, a company based in the United States and Israel. Traveluro offers support in several European languages, which is perhaps where the "uro" part comes from.

So, why didn't Traveluro refund your hotel? First, online agencies don't control refunds on nonrefundable rooms. They would have to ask the hotel in Las Vegas for a waiver, which would take some time. It looks as if Traveluro tried to get your money back — hence the "pending" refund. But it ran out of time when you decided to file a credit card dispute.

A credit card dispute means you are asking your bank to reverse a transaction because it's fraudulent, or you didn't receive the product or service you ordered.

So, what went wrong? It turns out the company was able to secure a full refund for your hotel, according to Elad Shmilovich, Holisto's chief operating officer. "However, in parallel, the customer submitted a chargeback, which prevented the refund from being fully processed," he says. "That's why the customer saw a pending notification, which disappeared."

"Not to worry," Shmilovich added. "I've asked my ops team to issue a new refund, which should already be in her account."

Ah, I love a happy ending! But there's an important lesson here. When a company promises a refund, you have to give it time. Sometimes a refund to your credit card can take up to two billing cycles. If you lose patience and file a credit card dispute, it doesn't just stop the refund process. It can actually reverse it, ensuring that you never end up getting your money.

Christopher Elliott is the founder of Elliott Advocacy, a nonprofit that helps consumers. Contact him at [email protected] or elliottadvocacy.org/help .

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Can My Credit Card Help Me Get a Refund on Canceled Trips?

Erin is a credit card and travel rewards expert at NerdWallet, based in Baltimore, Maryland. She has spent nearly two decades showing readers unique ways to maximize their investments and personal finances. Prior to joining NerdWallet, Erin worked on dozens of newsletters and magazines in the areas of investing, health, business and travel with Agora Publishing. Her love of travel led to a passion for credit card and loyalty rewards to subsidize trips, and she thrives on teaching others how to harness the power of credit card rewards. When she's not writing or editing, Erin is planning her next adventure for her family of four using points and miles. Erin recommends this card as the cornerstone for all travelers looking to build up their rewards portfolio - see it here.

Mary Flory leads NerdWallet's growing team of assigning editors at large. Before joining NerdWallet's content team, she had spent more than 12 years developing content strategies, managing newsrooms and mentoring writers and editors. Her previous experience includes being an executive editor at the American Marketing Association and an editor at news and feature syndicate Content That Works.

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Whether you’ve booked your trip a year in advance or you just planned it a few weeks ago, sometimes life gets in the way. Maybe you have a family emergency, or you get a nasty ear infection right before you’re due to fly. And who could have predicted the coronavirus outbreak that brought virtually all travel to a screeching halt?

If you’re wondering if your travel credit card can help you get a refund on your canceled trip, the answer is maybe. There are many circumstances where a credit card would give you protection, but there are also many scenarios that won’t be covered.

Here’s what you can do if you’re faced with nonrefundable charges for a trip you can’t take.

Check your card’s travel protection

The Platinum Card® from American Express and the Chase Sapphire Reserve® , like some other cards , offer varying levels of trip cancellation insurance that’s designed to protect you for some unforeseen circumstances like:

Sickness, accident or injury that affects either you or an immediate family member or traveling companion.

Severe weather that affects the start or continuation of your trip (Note: if the severe weather is already a known event, like a declared hurricane, it may not be covered).

Jury duty or court subpoena.

Terrorist activity.

It’s important to note that the travel must have been booked on the credit card that offers travel protection. Simply holding the card but paying with a different one won’t help.

While that coverage can be very useful in some situations, it doesn’t cover everything. During the coronavirus crisis, for example, the credit card would likely only cover your trip cancellation if you or your traveling partner contracted the virus and were unable to travel. If you canceled your trip because you were afraid of getting sick, your credit card would probably not refund your trip.

Here are a few other things that most travel protection from credit cards explicitly will not cover:

Change of plans or financial circumstances.

Pre-existing conditions.

Travel arrangements canceled or changed by a tour operator or any travel agency unless it is the result of severe weather or an organized strike affecting public transportation.

Traveling against the advice of medical professionals.

If you have to cancel a nonrefundable trip, the first course of action is to check the benefits of your credit card. If your canceled trip is covered, you’ll need to file a written claim within 20 days of the event with Chase, or 60 days with American Express.

Chase Sapphire Reserve®

» Learn more: 9 credit cards that provide travel insurance

Know your rights with flights

There are times when you’re entitled to a refund on your canceled flight, but it may be hard to get if the airline insists on offering a voucher instead. If you’re having trouble getting the refund you’re due, your credit card company may be able to step in and help.

According to the Department of Transportation, passengers are due a refund if their flight is canceled. Even if the airline offers to put you on a different flight instead, if you choose not to travel, you are entitled to a refund. Sometimes airlines will offer vouchers in place of a refund, but you don’t have to settle for a voucher if it doesn’t make sense for you.

» Learn more: What to do if an airline changes or cancels your flight

Even if your flight is changed instead of canceled, you still may be eligible for a refund. This rule is a bit more vague. According to the Transportation Department, you’re entitled to a refund if the airline has made a “significant schedule change and/or significantly delays a flight.”

The problem is that the DOT has not explicitly defined what “significant” means. In general, if your flight is changed by many hours, or changed from a nonstop to one with multiple connections, you have a good case for getting a refund.

First, pursue a refund directly with the airline. If you’re not making progress or it's flat-out refusing a refund, you can consider disputing the charge with your credit card. Make sure you can show that you’ve made good faith attempts to resolve this directly with the airline.

» Learn more: 3 effective ways to get airlines and hotels to bend their rules

How to refund a nonrefundable airline ticket

Using a credit card dispute for a nonrefundable airline ticket should be your last resort after exhausting all other possibilities. Under the Fair Credit Billing Act, credit card chargebacks give consumers a way to recoup costs when a merchant doesn't deliver the product promised at the point of purchase.

As noted above, you're going to need to show that you've made a good faith effort to resolve the issue with the airline first. A successful chargeback often hinges on documentation.

Save screenshots and relevant emails documenting both the reason your flight ran into issues and the airline's response to your refund request. It can be difficult to document the content of phone calls, so it would help to stick to email and customer service chat services when pursuing a refund directly from the airline.

So what happens if you dispute an airline charge? That will depend on the airline's willingness to play ball. Chargebacks can be long and drawn out, so be ready to remain persistent. It's in the airline's best interests not to approve a chargeback, so even if your credit card company is willing to process the chargeback, you may still face pushback from the airline.

Merchants are free to appeal chargebacks and, ultimately, arbitration may be necessary if the airline refuses to cooperate.

The bottom line

There are many cases when your credit card can help you get a refund on your canceled trip. Next time you book travel, make sure you use a credit card that provides travel protection. Or, explore adding extra travel insurance to your trip to guard against other scenarios that your credit card won’t cover.

Insurance Benefit: Trip Cancellation and Interruption Insurance

The maximum benefit amount for Trip Cancellation and Interruption Insurance is $10,000 per Covered Trip and $20,000 per Eligible Card per 12 consecutive month period.

Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. Terms, Conditions and Limitations Apply.

Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details.

Underwritten by New Hampshire Insurance Company, an AIG Company.

How to maximize your rewards

You want a travel credit card that prioritizes what’s important to you. Here are some of the best travel credit cards of 2024 :

Flexibility, point transfers and a large bonus: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

No annual fee: Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card

Flat-rate travel rewards: Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

Bonus travel rewards and high-end perks: Chase Sapphire Reserve®

Luxury perks: The Platinum Card® from American Express

Business travelers: Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card

Planning a trip? Check out these articles for more inspiration and advice: Find the best travel credit card for you Snag these hotel loyalty perks, even if you’re disloyal Earn more points and miles with these 6 strategies

on Chase's website

1x-10x Earn 5x total points on flights and 10x total points on hotels and car rentals when you purchase travel through Chase Travel℠ immediately after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually. Earn 3x points on other travel and dining & 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases.

60,000 Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $900 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Travel℠.

1x-5x 5x on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3x on dining, select streaming services and online groceries, 2x on all other travel purchases, 1x on all other purchases.

60,000 Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 when you redeem through Chase Travel℠.

1x-2x Earn 2X points on Southwest® purchases. Earn 2X points on local transit and commuting, including rideshare. Earn 2X points on internet, cable, and phone services, and select streaming. Earn 1X points on all other purchases.

50,000 Earn 50,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.