How I finally got my Iberia refund

Iberia’s website is, to put it mildly, a mess. I’ve encountered countless errors when logging into my account, searching for flights or making a booking.

When I needed to cancel an Avios flight a few years ago however, it was a smooth experience. As far as I can remember, it was just a matter of clicking a button on their website and the refund was on the way, not any harder than with any other airlines.

It seems to have gone for the worse though. I had to cancel another Avios flight, booked through Iberia, about two months ago. It wasn’t possible online, and I was told to call an Iberia Plus number.

It took the agent a while to process my request, and he somehow needed to calculate the refund amount on the call. Afterwards I could see my booking cancelled on Iberia’s website, but neither the Avios or the fees were ever returned to my account.

If it were a cash ticket I’d have had applied for a chargeback from Amex before long, but with Avios involved it’s much more complicated. I’m not sure what’s going on with Iberia, but my case is definitely not isolated. In fact some people are reported to have waited for more than one year now!

You could keep calling Iberia Plus’s customer service number but don’t expect a positive outcome. Fortunately someone shared an email address [email protected], which seems to be Iberia’s Legal / Service Recovery department.

With the original e-ticket sent, I received an Avios re-redeposit email, and a response from them within five days:

We apologise for the inconvenience caused in relation to flight IB0000 of 1/01/2022.

With regard to your request, we have processed a refund of 32.48 USD, which you will receive in a few days’ time through the same channel you used to make payment.

They didn’t bother to change the email template, but I was happy about the quick turnaround. The refund hit my credit card account two days later.

If you are requesting a refund from Iberia, try the aforementioned email address and fingers crossed!