• Law has already recognized the fundamental right of passengers to be refunded
• Credit card companies could step in
• You could try frustration of contracts

MONTREAL Many Canadians are worried about losing thousands of dollars if they cancel an international trip during the COVID-19 pandemic , but there are legal and consumer avenues to get all your money back, even in these exceptional times.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other federal officials have urged Canadians to avoid all non-essential international travel , not only to minimize the spread of the novel coronavirus, but also due to the possibility of border closures in different countries.

Air passenger rights advocate Gbor Lukcs believes that any passenger who cancels a trip overseas because of the coronavirus health crisis is legally entitled to a refund, regardless of their airlines specific policy. And to be clear, I mean refund to their original form of payment, not just a credit for future travel, said Lukacs, who is based in Halifax.

Canadian airlines, such as Air Canada, WestJet, Sunwing and Air Transat, have all implemented flexibility policies in response to the pandemic to allow some travellers to rebook their flights for free or cancel them in exchange for a credit, depending on their original departure date.

[Airlines] put out those flexibility policies as a way of steering people away from exercising their rights, said the mathematician and volunteer advocate, who has filed more than two dozen successful complaints with the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA). They really dont want to give you back your money.

If any segment of an itinerary is cancelled, the law is clear that passengers are entitled to a full refund, whether or not the reason for cancelling is within the airlines control.

In a 2013 decision following a complaint by Lukcs against Sunwing, the CTA noted that it has already recognized the fundamental right of passengers to be refunded for the unused portions of their tickets if the carrier is unable to provide transportation on its services or on the services of other carrier(s) within a reasonable period of time.