No Refunds For El Al Protect, Even If The Flight Didn’t Operate; Is El Al Violating US Law?
From 2020-2022, El Al gave passengers the ability to convert their tickets into a voucher without charge. While US airlines allow free changes, this allowed you to use the voucher to book travel for anyone, not just for the same passenger.
We broke the news in 2023 that the service would return, at a $29 charge for long-haul flights. It was rebranded as El Al Protect.
Last year, El Al Protect moved to dynamic pricing, with an add-on fee that can reach $100 for long-haul tickets purchased in advance.
Many readers have reached out about El Al refusing to refund their El Al Protect fees on flights that were canceled by El Al. Interestingly, there have been some reports of refunds from people who booked directly with El Al, but travel agents have been unable to provide any refunds for the El Al Protect fee.
The US DOT’s final ruling published in 14 CFR 260.4 states that is it illegal for an airline to refuse a refund on an ancillary fee on a canceled flight to/from the US,
“A covered carrier that is the merchant of record shall provide a prompt and automatic refund to a consumer for any fees it collected from the consumer for ancillary services if the service was not provided through no fault of the consumer (e.g., prepaid ancillary service not utilized by the consumer because of flight cancellation, significant change, or oversale situation; service not provided because of aircraft substitution, equipment malfunction, etc.). If a ticket agent is the merchant of record for a checked bag fee and the checked bag service was not provided (or was significantly delayed) through no fault of the consumer, the carrier that operated the flight, or for multiple-carrier itineraries, the carrier that operated the last segment of the consumer’s itinerary is responsible for providing a prompt and automatic refund of the checked bag fee, consistent with § 260.5”
DansDeals reached out to El Al to learn why El Al Protect wasn’t being refunded as an ancillary purchase on canceled US flights.
The airline first pointed to the terms of El Al Protect, which state,
“Subject to any applicable law, EL AL Protect cannot be cancelled once purchased (in the event of flight cancellation for any reason, the cost of purchasing EL AL Protect will not be refunded).”
I argued that while it can state that it’s non-refundable, it also says subject to applicable law. Shouldn’t El Al Protect on canceled flights to/from the US be refunded?
After several weeks of investigating this further, the airline provided this statement to DansDeals,
“EL AL’s Protect service allows customers to cancel their ticket for any reason and at any time up to 48 hours before departure and receive a credit voucher for the full ticket value, including ancillary products purchased with the booking.
The service provided customers with flexibility and confidence from the time that they booked until the date of their flight, regardless of whether they ultimately chose to use it.
In addition, customers who chose an alternative flight ticket continue to benefit from the Protect product for the alternative flight as well.”
The airline’s argument seems to be that customers enjoyed the peace of mind from El Al Protect, at least up until the airline canceled their flight.
However, that’s little consolation for people who had to scramble and wound up booking alternate travel to/from Israel (or Egypt/Jordan in many cases) when most El Al flights were canceled in March. They purchased El Al Protect to turn their ticket into a voucher in case they decided not to travel and the flight was operational, not in case El Al canceled their flight. If an airline cancels a flight, they have to give a cash refund, but El Al’s position is that El Al Protect isn’t refundable because the Protect benefits applied from the time of purchase until the flight was canceled.
I have written many times about informal and formal DOT complaints against airlines and have cited Ben Edelman’s explanation of the formal DOT complaint. Ben holds a Ph.D. from the Department of Economics at Harvard University as well as a J.D. from the Harvard Law School, and graciously helps consumers in disputes with airlines. Last year, he helped a longtime DansDeals reader in an award ticket dispute with Virgin Atlantic’s overzealous fraud department.
I reached out to Ben to hear his thoughts on the position that El Al is taking, and he agreed that El Al’s position here is not compelling,
“DOT rules are clear: If an airline cancels a ticket, it must refund all ancillary services. El Al should do what the rules require.”
As many readers are at an impasse here with El Al, if they still want to pursue a refund, they could try to dispute the portion of the charge on their card for the El Al Protect fee. However, if a travel agent processed the charge, that may unfairly hurt the travel agent.
The next step would be to file an informal complaint DOT here.
If the informal complaint doesn’t work, you can move on to filing a formal DOT complaint.
What do you think of El Al’s response to refusing to provide refunds for El Al Protect on flights that they canceled? Will you try to pursue a refund for it on your canceled flight?
