A refund the airline owes and will not pay can be reversed by your card provider. A chargeback works on debit or credit cards under Visa and Mastercard scheme rules. UK Section 75 makes a credit-card issuer jointly liable with the airline where the cash price is over £100 and no more than £30,000.
Chargeback or Section 75
| Chargeback | Section 75 (UK) | |
|---|---|---|
| Card type | Debit or credit | Credit card only |
| Basis | Card-scheme rules (Visa, Mastercard) | Consumer Credit Act 1974, section 75 |
| Amount | Any | Cash price over £100 and up to £30,000 |
| Covers | A service paid for and not provided | Breach of contract or misrepresentation by the airline |
| Window | Set by the scheme, not by law — ask your bank | No short statutory deadline, but claim promptly |
Use a chargeback for a debit card or a cheap ticket. Use Section 75 for a UK credit-card purchase inside the limits in section 75(3)(b): it makes the issuer jointly and severally liable with the supplier, which is the stronger position. You can raise both, and many issuers will look at the chargeback first.
[Your full name]
[Your address]
[Email]
[Phone]
[Today's date]
[Bank or card provider] — Disputes and Chargebacks
Re: Card dispute, service not provided
Merchant [Airline name]
Transaction date [Transaction date]
Amount [Currency] [Amount]
Card ending [Last 4 digits of card]
Dear Sir or Madam,
I am disputing the transaction above. On [Flight date] my flight
[Flight number], from [Departure airport] to
[Final destination airport], booking reference [Booking reference], was
[cancelled by the airline / not operated]. Under the airline's own
conditions of carriage and the applicable air passenger rules I am
entitled to a refund. I requested it on [Date you asked for the refund]
and the airline has [refused to pay / not replied].
The service I paid for was not provided. I ask you to raise a chargeback
of [Currency] [Refund amount] under the card scheme's rules.
In the alternative, I hold you jointly and severally liable under section
75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, this being a credit card purchase
with a cash price of more than £100 and not more than £30,000.
I enclose the booking confirmation, the airline's cancellation notice, my
refund request and the airline's reply. Please reverse the transaction
and confirm in writing.
Yours faithfully,
[Signature]
[Your full name]
How to use it
- Ask the airline in writing first with a short deadline. Schemes expect you to have tried, and the reply is your best evidence.
- Delete the Section 75 paragraph unless this was a UK credit card inside the section 75(3)(b) limits.
- Attach the booking confirmation, the cancellation notice and your unanswered refund request.
- Send it to the disputes team, not the branch, and note the date you sent it.
- Ask the bank in the same letter what its deadline is, and diarise the answer.
The chargeback window is a card-scheme rule, not a law. Visa and Mastercard set their own limits — commonly quoted as around 120 days — and the clock usually runs from the date the service was due, meaning your flight date, not the date you paid. Because it is a scheme rule your issuer administers, its answer is the one that binds you. Do not spend six months arguing with the airline first.
Will a chargeback work for EU261 compensation?
Usually not. A chargeback reverses a payment for a service you bought and did not get, which fits a fare but not a statutory compensation sum you never paid the airline for. Claim the fare through your card and pursue the compensation separately against the airline, then escalate to the regulator if it refuses.
Can I do this while the airline is still considering my refund?
Yes, and it is often the right move, because the scheme clock does not pause while an airline deliberates. Say in the letter that a refund request is outstanding. If the airline pays before the dispute concludes, tell your bank at once and withdraw it — a double recovery will be reversed.
What if the airline has gone out of business?
Then your card is the main route rather than a backstop, alongside ATOL if a travel company sold you the trip. Work through the order in the insolvency guide before you file, because ATOL and Section 75 can both be stronger than a chargeback.
For the demand that goes to the airline before this one, use the Article 8 refund letter. On a US itinerary the refund duty is automatic and has its own deadlines — see the DOT refund letter. If the dispute is a cancelled return leg after a missed outbound flight rather than a straightforward refund, see the no-show return flight ban letter instead.