Six months into the Luzon-wide community quarantine, it’s safe to assume that a large number of Filipino travellers have already had their share of flight dilemmas and remonstrance brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. The most common of all being the series of delayed refunds from cancelled flights, which include those of Cebu Pacific.
In the midst of posts of people expressing their disappointment over these Cebu Pacific refund “fails”, the Philippines’ biggest low-cost carrier released an official statement on 17 Sep 2020 addressing their millions of affected passengers.
Also read: Updated Complete List of Cebu Pacific Flights During Pandemic
Addressing the Cebu Pacific refund situation
“Since the start of this pandemic, we have received an unprecedented number of refund requests due to the flight cancellations brought about by the lockdown,” the airline said. “Our refund process then was originally not designed to handle this volume of requests, and this resulted in a backlog. We have since then revamped our procedures in order to address this.”
According to the airline, they have already refunded more than ₱2.4 billion or 50% of booking cancellations related to COVID-19. “We remain committed to our customers to complete pending refunds, and will update them once these have been processed. We are currently halfway through refund requests filed last April.”
Like several airlines, Cebu Pacific has had major blows amid the pandemic, even resulting in massive employee layoffs in recent months. Domestic and international flights have also been immensely adjusted, with routes remaining unopened or limited. Currently, the airline is only operating 10% of its original flight network, which was also mentioned in the advisory.
“We understand how challenging this whole situation is, and we sincerely apologise for the delay. We thank our guests for their patience and understanding as we continue to enhance our processes for this to be resolved soonest,” the Cebu Pacific refund update ended.
Also read: NAIA New Normal Travel Guidelines Filipinos Can Expect
Other things you can do if you have a flight cancellation
Aside from the traditional refund, Cebu Pacific also offers the option to rebook a flight unlimited times or apply for the Cebu Pacific Travel Fund.
The unlimited rebooking may be done up to two hours before one’s original flight departure. Meanwhile, the Cebu Pacific Travel Fund allows passengers to store the value of their cancelled ticket in a virtual wallet. Now valid up to two years, it lets one book flights as far as 2023. Note that both options are only currently available to passengers with flights until 30 Nov 2020. You may do either option by going to the Cebu Pacific Manage Booking page.
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Featured image credit: Cebu Pacific | Official Facebook page
