My flight refund was confirmed but the money never arrived. What now?
What to ask for when an airline or booking site says your refund is processed but nothing has reached your account, and how to get it back.
Ask for proof the refund was actually sent. A confirmation or a processed status is not money in your account, so ask in writing for the date, the amount, the card or account it went to and the refund reference, and give 7 days. If no proof comes, your bank decides a credit not processed chargeback and a state tribunal can order payment.
Rather not chase this yourself?
Ajust writes to the business, tracks the deadline and escalates if they don't fix it.
Does a confirmed refund mean the money has been sent?
No. Processed or approved usually means the refund has been agreed, not that it has left the business. Until you have a date, an amount and a reference for the payment, the refund is a promise.
The Australian Consumer Law (ACL), Schedule 2 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010, bans misleading conduct (section 18) and false or misleading claims about your rights and remedies (section 29). Telling you a refund has been paid when it has not can be the kind of conduct those sections deal with.
Qantas says it refunds only to the original form of payment. If that card has since been closed or replaced, tell your bank and the airline, because the refund will be looking for the old card.
What you ask for depends on how you paid and who you paid:
| How you paid | Who should send the money | What to ask for |
|---|---|---|
| Card, direct with the airline | The airline, to the same card | Date sent, amount, last 4 digits of the card and the refund reference |
| Through a travel agent or booking site | The agent, once the airline has paid it | The date the airline paid the agent, then the date the agent paid you |
| Bank transfer or overseas payment | Whoever took the transfer | Date sent, amount, receiving account and the transfer reference |
Qantas requires travel agents to pass refunds on to customers within 4 weeks. Gotogate has said in public replies to customers that it pays about 6 days after it receives the airline's funds. Ajust's recommended channel for Aunt Betty complaints is email to assist@auntbetty.com with your booking reference, so the request and the reply sit on one written record.
Ajust has handled over 100 cases about flight refunds that were confirmed but never arrived, and secured a confirmed result in 56% of closed cases.
- People in these cases had typically waited 2–3 months before coming to Ajust.
- The typical amount at stake is about $1,170.
- When Ajust secured a result, it typically came in about 12 days.
Under the Australian Consumer Law, a major failure entitles you to a refund, and a business can't override that with its own refund policy.
What should you do first?
Step 1: Find the confirmation and check the right account
Save the email or screenshot that says the refund was confirmed, with its date and amount. Check the statement for the card or account you paid with, not the one you use now, and check whether you paid a travel agent or the airline itself.
Step 2: Ask in writing for proof of payment and set a deadline
Write to whoever took your money: the airline if you booked direct, the agent if you booked through one. Ask for the payment details, not another status update, and give 7 days.
Subject: Refund confirmed on [date] for booking [reference] has not been received
On [date] you confirmed a refund of $[amount] for booking [reference]. As of today it has not reached my [card ending / account].
Please send me, in writing, the date the refund was sent, the amount, the card or account it was sent to and the payment reference, so my bank can trace it.
If the refund has not been sent, please pay it to my original payment method now. Telling a customer a refund has been paid when it has not can be misleading conduct under sections 18 and 29 of the Australian Consumer Law.
If I do not have the payment details or the money within 7 days of this email, I will ask my bank to dispute the original payment as a credit not processed and take the matter further.
[Your name]
Step 3: Give the reference to your bank
If the business sends a date and reference, call your bank, read them out and ask it to look for the refund. If the business only repeats that the refund is processed, tell your bank that too, because a refund with no payment details is the start of a dispute.
Step 4: Dispute the payment if nothing turns up
Ask your bank to raise a chargeback for a credit that was promised and not processed. Card schemes set time limits on these disputes and they keep running while you wait, so ask your bank for its deadline on the first call.
What if the money still doesn't arrive?
Move up this ladder. Your bank can reverse the original payment and a tribunal can order the business to pay, and you can run a chargeback and a complaint at the same time.
| Where | Covers | Time limit | What it can do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Airline or agent complaints team | Whoever took your payment | None, but go straight away | Send the payment details or pay |
| Chargeback through your bank | Card payments | Set by the card scheme; ask your bank on the first call | Reverses the original payment; a decision can take up to 8 weeks |
| Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) | How your bank handled the dispute | Generally 2 years from the bank's final response | Free; its decision binds the bank if you accept it |
| Travel industry scheme (ATIA) | Accredited travel agents | After the agent has had 21 days to respond in writing | Investigates; its appeals committee can make binding decisions |
| State Fair Trading or Consumer Affairs | Any business | None | Contacts the business; cannot order a refund |
| State tribunal (NCAT, VCAT, QCAT) | Any business selling in Australia | NCAT 3 years | Orders payment. NCAT hears claims up to $100,000, QCAT up to $25,000 |
Banks that subscribe to the Banking Code must claim a chargeback where a right to one exists.
If the airline or agent still doesn't pay, it can be taken to your state consumer agency or tribunal, and for Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin Australia to the Airline Customer Advocate, a free service. Ajust handles the escalation for you.
If the money is stuck with a travel agent, see what to do when the airline says it refunded your agent.
Tell Ajust what happened and we do the heavy lifting for you. Emails, calls, escalations until it's resolved. While you get on with your life.
Get help from Ajust
What doesn't work
- Accepting processed as proof. A status is not a payment. Only a date, an amount and a reference can be traced.
- Waiting out the quoted timeframe and then another one. Card dispute time limits keep running while each new estimate passes.
- Checking the wrong account. Refunds go back to the original form of payment, including a card you have since replaced.
- Chasing the airline when you paid an agent. The airline pays the agent; the agent is the one that owes you.
- Chasing by phone and live chat only. Your bank, AFCA and a tribunal all ask for the written request and the written reply.
Common questions
The business sent me a refund reference. What do I do with it?
Give it to your bank with the date and amount the business says it sent. Ask the bank to confirm in writing whether a refund with that reference reached your account. If it did not, send that answer back to the business and ask it to pay again or explain where the money went.
The airline says it refunded my travel agent. Who owes me now?
The agent. Once the airline has paid the agent, the agent is holding your money and the request goes to it in writing. Qantas gives its agents 4 weeks to pass refunds on, and the chargeback goes against the agent because it is the merchant on your card statement.
My old card was cancelled. Where does the refund go?
Back to the card you paid with. Qantas refunds only to the original form of payment, so check the old card first. Tell your bank the old card number and the date the business says it sent the refund, and ask whether it arrived on that account. Then give the business the bank's answer in writing.
AirAsia says my refund is approved. How long can it take?
AirAsia's support pages say refunds generally take 30–90 working days to process, then up to 14 business days to reach a card. Once that time has passed, ask for the payment details in writing. If they do not come, this is the point most people hand it to Ajust.
Should I keep waiting or raise a chargeback now?
Raise it once your 7-day deadline for payment details has passed with no proof. Card dispute time limits do not pause while you wait for a business to act, and a late dispute cannot be fixed later. Tell your bank the refund was confirmed and attach the confirmation.
Still stuck? Let Ajust take it from here
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