§ 260.4 - Refunding fees for ancillary services that consumers paid for but that were not provided.

§ 260.4 Refunding fees for ancillary services that consumers paid for but that were not provided.

(a) 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. If a ticket agent is the merchant of record for fees for all other ancillary services, the carrier that operated the flight and failed to provide the service through no fault of the consumer is responsible for providing a prompt and automatic refund.

(b) In situations where the ancillary service the consumer paid for (other than the service of transporting a checked bag) is not available for all the passengers who paid for that service (e.g., Wi-Fi not available for all passengers on a flight, lounge access not available for all passengers on a certain date), a carrier's obligation under paragraph (a) of this section to provide a prompt and automatic refund begins when the information about the unavailability of the service is known by the carrier that failed to provide the service, and, if applicable, relayed as provided in paragraph (d) of this section to the carrier responsible for providing a prompt refund as specified in paragraph (a) of this section.

(c) In situations where the ancillary service the consumer paid for (other than the service of transporting a checked bag) is not available to an individual or several individuals, rather than to all the passengers who paid for that service, a carrier's obligation under paragraph (a) of this section to provide a prompt and automatic refund begins when the consumer affected by the service failure notifies the operating carrier that failed to provide the ancillary service about the unavailability of the service and that information has been confirmed and, if applicable, relayed as provided in paragraph (d) of this section to the carrier responsible for providing a prompt refund as specified in paragraph (a) of this section. Notification of the unavailability of the ancillary service by a consumer is considered a request for a refund.

(d) In situations where a carrier is the merchant of record for a fee for an ancillary service and the carrier that operates the flight where the ancillary service was not provided are different entities, the operating carrier that failed to provide the ancillary service must timely notify the carrier that is the merchant of record about the unavailability of the ancillary service. Notification by the operating carrier as set forth in this paragraph is necessary for the obligation to provide a prompt refund of ancillary service fees in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section to apply. The obligation set forth in this paragraph for the operating carrier to timely notify the carrier that is the merchant of record does not apply when the failure to provide service relates to transporting checked bags. Timely notification requirements pertaining to refunds for fees charged to transport checked bags are set forth in § 260.5(c).