Jetstar is under fire as a class action lawsuit has been launched against the airline, accusing it of failing to refund customers for flights cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The lawsuit, initiated by Echo Law, has been filed in federal court on behalf of hundreds of thousands of affected customers, who allege the budget airline benefited financially at their expense.
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Despite allegedly being legally obligated to issue refunds, the airline provided travel credits instead of cash refunds to customers whose flights were cancelled between 2020 and 2022.
These credits were reportedly of much lower value and came with restrictions, leaving many customers frustrated and out of pocket.
Andrew Paull, a partner at Echo Law, stated that Jetstar customers were misled into accepting travel credits, often paying more than their original booking to use them on new fares.
“Many Jetstar customers ended up paying the airline more than their original booking to use their credits on new fares, as they were led to believe they had little choice but to do that or else lose the value of the flights they paid for,” Mr Paull said.
Echo Law alleges that Jetstar breached its contract with customers and engaged in misleading, deceptive, and unconscionable conduct.
“Jetstar customers were pushed into holding hundreds of millions of dollars in restricted travel credits, even though this wasn’t what those customers had agreed to as part of the airline’s terms and conditions.”
Jetstar is currently reviewing the claims, which were served earlier today.
The class action is open to anyone who held tickets for flights cancelled between 1 January 2020 and 1 November 2022, with registrations available on Echo Law’s website.
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