Naabala na, lugi pa! AirAsia under fire for 3-year delay in refunds

AirAsia has been at the receiving end of criticism from passengers whose fares have yet to be refunded for flights canceled three years ago.

Travel agency Tekabreak Travel & Tours is actively sharing complaints from clients on the difficulties of getting their money back from the low cost carrier owned by Malaysian billionaire Tony Fernandes.

A Facebook group called Air Asia Refund Victims, which was created in April 2021, has since garnered over 6,700 members. Many of them said they have yet to be reimbursed by the airline.

One said they’ve finished an entire Asian trip with no word from Air Asia on how to get their refund from a cancelled flight.

“We booked (4 adults 2 children) to Airasia flying from Bali to Manila last July 2022 and flight will be April 2023. A month before the flight, March 2nd to be exact, Airasia cancelled the trip due to operational reasons daw. We have no choice but to buy new tickets from Cebupac,” user Antoinette Carino said. “Until now nakabalik na kami dito Canada wala pa din result sa refund. I tried chatting sa chatbot but it’s so useless!”

“Kayo ang nag-cancel ng flight kaya ibalik nyo na lang refund namin!,” she added.

Many had the same fate, saying all social media and customer service channels of AirAsia were unreliable and useless.