UNITED KINGDOM - Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA)
Need Help?
General Refund Rules
Updated on 01 Oct 2024

An airline ticket is valid for 1 year from the date of issue, whether to fly, reissue or refund.

Before the 1-year period has elapsed since the ticket was issued, the agent may refund the ticket according to the fare rules.

Refund methods:

  • Direct (via GDS) - preferred form of processing.
    If refunds via GDS are closed in a particular market, the refund rate in BSP Link will not be applied.
  • Indirect (via BSP Link) - an MF fee of EUR40.00 (USD50.00/CAD60.00) will be charged.
    This fee does not apply to refunds due to irregularities (INVOL/SKCHG);

Any refund requiring prior authorisation from TAP and submitted in GDS without such authorisation will be subject to ADM.

EMDs are non-refundable. However, all EMDs can be reused for the same service within one (1) year of issue.

 

VOLUNTARY REFUNDS 

Amadeus GDS users can process voluntary refunds of TAP tickets using Amadeus ATC Refund, a fully automated refund calculation tool, eliminating the risk of errors and consequently the number of ADMs. In two steps the tool calculates the amounts to be refunded for fares and taxes and checks any penalties.

  • By legal imposition under consumer protection law at DOT (USA) and CTA (Canada):

    • Refund requests made within 24 hours and for sales up to 7 days before travel are exempt from the service fee; in the case of refund requests made within 24 hours and sales within 7 days before travel, the respective fee will be charged if the refund request is made in BSPLink.

 

Notes: 

According to the IATA Passenger Air Tariff (PAT) Manual, on tickets with non-refundable fares, the US, ZP, XF, J9 and WA fees are non-refundable. 

DV, DU and OB airline fees are non-refundable on voluntary refunds.

We have gathered a series of examples to help calculate voluntary refunds, whether they involve fares with or without penalty, on partially flown tickets or still to be flown. The examples given were produced in Amadeus, but their translation to other GDSs is intuitive. Download the document here

INVOLUNTARY REFUNDS (DUE TO IRREGULARITY)

In compliance with the General Conditions of Carriage and European Regulation EC 261/2004(1), full or partial refunds in the event of irregularities are only permitted in the following cases:

Ticket 047 - TAP operator or other Airline - duly proven cancellations and/or schedule changes (e.g. delays).

  • Schedule change (more than 5 hours) - full refund
  • Cancellation (UN) where the passenger does not accept the alternative offered by the airline - full refund
  • Delay makes it impossible to connect flights (on the same ticket) and/or requires an overnight stay - contact TAP 

 

NOTES:

Refund requests in cases of UN/TK that occur only due to flight renumbering - fare rules apply.

Refund requests due to delays of less than 5 hours - refund according to fare rules.

You can submit an involuntary refund directly in your GDS (if the facility is open on the market) without contacting TAP - however, in the following situations it is strictly necessary to contact TAP for authorisation:

  • Cancellation of another company's flight or TP marketing flight
  • Schedule change that makes it impossible to connect flights 

Lack of authorisation in these cases will result in an ADM.

(1)and also the Rectification to Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 February 2004 establishing common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding and of cancellation or long delay of flights, and repealing Regulation (EEC) No 295/91.

 

OTHER AUTHORISED REFUNDS

Refunds will be allowed in the cases described below according to the fare rules:

  • Visa refusal 
  • Death of passenger or direct family member* (attach death certificate and proof of kinship)

*Direct family members are:

  • husband/wife
  • cohabiting partners
  • Biological or adopted children
  • Father/mother
  • Stepfather/stepmother
  • Siblings
  • Grandparents
  • Parents-in-law 
  • Brother-in-law/sister-in-law
  • Sons/daughters-in-law

In all these cases, the necessary documentation for approval of the refund must be sent to your usual Agency support. 

 

For further information, please consult the Responsible Booking Practices Manual.

 

Couldn't find what you were looking for?
Try other support topics
Couldn't find an answer to your question?Send your question / request to TAP's helpdesk