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Originally Posted by azstar
we were not entitled to a refund
That can't be true. A business class ticket should be fully refundable, and if you are not accommodated in business class you are entitled to a refund between the business class fare and full economy fare. Now, it's possible that by paying the full economy fare you're entitled to business class seating, but if not available then you are not entitled to refund because you actually paid economy class fare. This is also true of some US domestic airlines. Pay full economy class and book (limited number ) available First Class seat and you pay the same price, whether traveling in F class cabin or coach cabin.
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Not all Emirates business class fares are totally refundable. I am currently planning a trip which includes flying from Australia to Hong Kong. I'm flying on Emirates from Melbourne to Singapore in business class en-route to HKG. Here are the restrictions on that portion of the ticket:
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Fare conditions
Below are the fare rules for your booking. These apply to all passengers on this itinerary. Please note that if more than one fare rule is used to arrive at the fare, the most restrictive condition applies.
PENALTIES CHANGES ANY TIME CHANGES PERMITTED FOR REVALIDATION. NOTE - DATE CHANGE BY REVALIDATION IS PERMITTED WITHOUT PENALTY WITHIN THE SAME SEASON AND TICKET VALIDITY --------- AT ANY TIME REVALIDATION IS PERMITTED BY EITHER THE ISSUING AGENT OR EK OFFICES --------- VOLUNTARY REVALIDATION BEFORE DEPARTURE OF THE FIRST TICKETED FLIGHT SEGMENT WILL BE SUBJECT TO ANY FARE DIFFERENCE APPLICABLE TO THE NEW DATE OF TRAVEL PER TICKET CHARGE AUD 100.00 FOR REISSUE.
----------- CANCELLATIONS ANY TIME PER TICKET CHARGE AUD 220.00 FOR REFUND.
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Since VickiOB did not post her origin and destination it's impossible to check the rules of a business class fare in that market however if they are similar then there will at least be a fee to process the refund. It seems though that since the business class fare was paid but the waitlist didn't clear then she is entitled to a refund of the difference.
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Originally Posted by VickiOB
Sorry wrong wording - we needed seats, as in any seat to get home, seats were scarce as it was Christmas that is why we took the option of Economy seats as back up, but definitely paid a business class return airfare.
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I would contact the local Emirates ticketing office in the country where the tickets were issued to see if you can arrange for the difference, less any fees, to be refunded to you. When dealing with non-US based airlines you do indeed have to call locally. I once bought a refundable ticket from Rome to Dublin on Alitalia. My plans changed and I ended up flying to Dublin from Barcelona. Even though the ticket was purchased on the EU website in Euros the ticket office in Dublin couldn't assist me with the refund. I had to contact the Rome office directly for that.