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[quote=jmb;12355] please, do not point out again that they are not penalizing me - they cannot penalize me since i did not cancel this, they did.[/quote]
jmb, as you are aware, the airline for its own purposes, decided to breach the contract with you after you paid for a flight. As you can see posters in here are reminding you that the airline is not charging you a cancellation fee. How grateful you should be for such kindness by the airline!
True the airline has given you notice but the price of the flight has gone up. I would suggest that if you can't get another airline operating between those points to allow you to fly for the same price as your ticket, book for the best price you can get. Then go to the airline and claim for the cost of your new ticket instead of a refund.
When one party to a contract is in breach, he must restore the innocent party to the same position as if there was no breach. You don't need an bill of rights to establish this. That is already the law under the common law and the United States follows the common law principles of contract