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Who receives an APPR refund, and can the airline replace it with an expiring credit?

An APPR refund normally goes to the person who bought the ticket or service using the original payment method. Another form requires written information and written choice, and the alternative must not expire. An expiring travel credit is therefore not the default substitute for a refund owed under these provisions.

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What this answer depends on

  • Travel within the applicable APPR scope, including the ticketed journey and the event-specific conditions. The consolidated source displays current-through 2026-07-21; check for later changes.
  • Refunds under the APPR must be paid to the original purchaser using the original payment method unless the alternative-form conditions are met.
  • The alternative requires written information about the monetary value and the original-method refund right, a nonexpiring form, and written confirmation that the purchaser knowingly chose it.
  • The carrier must provide the refund within 30 days after the day on which its obligation to refund arises. This is a refund rule, not the response deadline for a compensation request.
  • For an agency booking, distinguish the passenger from the purchaser and document how payment reached the carrier. Ask both businesses to identify the refund path without assuming the agency’s own service charges are an APPR airfare refund.

Important exceptions

  • The rule applies once an APPR refund is owed; it does not make every cancellation refundable. A closed card account, agency collection arrangement or corporate payment may require payment tracing. This refund provision does not itself require the alternative to be worth more; APPR compensation alternatives have different conditions.

What to do next

  1. Identify who actually purchased the ticket and the payment route. A traveler, family payer, employer and agency may not be the same person or entity.

  2. Ask for the refund decision and its trigger date in writing. Keep the unused itinerary and the disruption-related choice that created the refund entitlement.

  3. Before selecting a credit, read the consent screen, expiry terms and original-payment option. Preserve what you accepted, and do not assume a larger headline value makes an expiring alternative compliant.

  4. If the payment is missing, ask the carrier and any booking intermediary to trace the original payment path. Send a focused request about the statutory refund rather than opening only a general dissatisfaction complaint.

  5. Keep the purchaser’s identity, original payment evidence, refund eligibility decision, consent records, any credit terms and the dates the obligation and payment arose.

More booking questions

Can the traveler insist that the refund go to a different person?

The default in the reviewed rule is payment to the purchaser by the original method.

Checked againstAir Passenger Protection Regulations, SOR/2019-150

Is an expiring credit valid simply because I clicked a button?

The described APPR alternative-refund conditions include a nonexpiring form, as well as the written information and choice requirements.

Checked againstAir Passenger Protection Regulations, SOR/2019-150

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