refund advice for prepaid Rome Hotel & Air Canada

Air Canada is offering vouchers with no expiry date, but I haven't read the fine print. My experience is with WestJet and not Air Canada but I firmly believe you're better off calling and not trusting the website.

We had a trip planned for Rome, Florence, and Venice starting on June 20. I did exactly the same as you, booking each hotel's non-refundable rates directly back in December, no thought of a worldwide pandemic crossing my mind. I bought travel insurance thinking I'd be covered if I couldn't go. Of course that's useless now, but the insurance company is offering a voucher for the insurance policy to be used on future travel. See if your insurance company will give you a voucher as well.

My flights were cancelled so I attempted to recover something, anything, from the hotels. I sent out an email respectfully requesting consideration for a refund or voucher to each hotel, despite having booked non-refundable rates. I had varying levels of success:

Florence - no response from two emails

Venice - official looking voucher for the full amount to be used 1 year from issue, extensions possible, transferable

Rome (the most expensive booking) - they reduced my credit to 2/3 the original payment, to be used by 11/30/20, non-transferable (basically I'm out this sum because it doesn't look likely I'll be going this year)

You have nothing to lose to ask, but consider waiting until your flights are cancelled to give you a reason for the request. Also, I sent my requests when my outbound flight was cancelled a month before the trip, but in hindsight I would have waited till closer to the start of the trip, since the hotels based their voucher expiration date from the date of my request, not the dates I originally reserved. I don't know when you were due to travel, but consider asking for a voucher about two weeks ahead of the stay.

Oh, and like you, I learned to never book non-refundable again!

Although we live in the US, our flights were n/s direct from
Toronto/Rome and Rome/Toronto. We live near the border and had planned
to drive to/from Toronto. Therefore, I think we are subject to
Canadian rules re refunds -- and my understanding is they no longer
permit refunds. Has anyone successfully negotiated getting refunds or
vouchers? Our flights are still scheduled as booked.

If you are flying Toronto to Rome with Air Canada Canadian rules apply, but the EU rules also apply to your trip back.

Call Air Canada and ask them. It will be up to them; particularly as the flight has not been cancelled.
Something you should know about AC vouchers, however, is that the value needs to be used all at once....no multiple cheaper flights drawing on it like a bank account. Also, the voucher is transferable. This may come in as a handy option if you can sell it off to some family that can use the value if you don't anticipate using the airline again.
During covid, they never offered refunds that I saw and they have been very rigid about it when requested.
I have an AC voucher for flights they cancel, but there is an end date...sometime late 2021. But there have been so many changes to policy it may now be 'no end date'.

We had no success obtaining a refund fro m Air Canada, even on a flight that they cancelled and that had to be rebooked with them. However it may depend on what you had purchased, ( ie a fully refundable ticket). Maria is right about them being transferable, however we had to pay a fee to transfer it as well.

Hi Ruth,

Not sure how much this would help, but regarding the hotel, I feel you have nothing to lose by asking. We had a one night stay booked through booking.com at Hotel Aberdeen which was not refundable. Through the booking.com website I asked for a refund. They told me I had to contact the hotel. The hotel was very gracious and refunded our money. I realize it's a different hotel, but it might not hurt to ask.