Like a lot of others, I've had to cancel an upcoming family of 6 summer holiday in Europe and I thought I'd share my experience. I was able to get a refund or credit on almost everything (still waiting on $22.50 from a local train operator in Sweden), but a little persistence was needed as not everything was automatically refunded/credited.
- Flights - If you think you flight will likely be cancelled, wait until the airline cancels it before taking action, this way you will be more likely to get a refund. My flights were booked on American Airlines (but operated by BA). American made it pretty easy to get a credit but to get a refund you had to jump through a few hoops. First, I waited until my original flight was cancelled (this usually is not done until 3 weeks before the actual flight). I then called and asked about a refund and they directly me to their special refund site. The first attempt at a refund was denied and I had to call again then get directed to a customer service website to fill out another form after which they admitted the error and gave me a refund. Total time - about 2.5 weeks.
- Hotels - These I cancelled before my flight cancellation if possible. My STF hostel booking was able to be cancelled/refunded 30 days before the trip. My booking.com was able to be cancelled/refunded. My AirBnB originally was outside the date they were giving credits but I waited and they extended the dates for which they would give a credit (used these credits to book something local and secluded later in the summer).
- Transport - I only had train tickets booked and the rail operator was only offering credits to be used within 180 days. Another forum member suggested contacting them directly and I did and was able to get a full refund (minus a short local transport section).
Summary, be hyper aware of any cancellation deadlines and don't miss them. If you think your flight will likely be cancelled, wait until it actually is to get a refund rather than a credit. Plan to spend some extra time contacting companies directly rather than just accept what they post online regarding refunds/credits.
Hope this helps someone else,
DJ