Flights canceled and refunds nowhere to be found, until Troubleshooter Diane Wilson gets involved

The pandemic is continuing to cause problems for some travelers when it comes to vacation plans. Airline cancellations and the ever-changing COVID-19 restrictions are leaving travelers out of their money.

"His flight was actually canceled and they didn't even notify him," La Toya Cade said when talking about her father-in-law's flight on Spirit Airlines in August.

He was part of the massive cancelations when Spirit canceled more than 2,800 flights in an 11-day stretch this summer. The only option Cade said they were offered was to rebook him on a flight a few days later.

"It was pretty frustrating to deal with especially because he needed his medication and other issues and we just wanted to make sure he got back to his family safely and in a timely manner," Cade said.

Her father-in-law paid out of pocket to fly home on a different airline. Cade thought she had gotten an acceptable solution from customer service, but not so fast.

"I talked to one person and they said they were going to issue a refund and it would be seven to 10 days, and then a few days later I called to check on the refund and they said the refund wasn't even put in."

Similar frustrations for Okoji Hdukwe when the flight he had to Nigeria for March of 2020 was canceled due to the pandemic. He booked the flight through a third-party travel website and was given a flight credit. He used the credit to book a flight for December of 2020 but that flight was also canceled.

"They said in six weeks you will get your money back," Ndukwe said. However, the six weeks turned into months of waiting for his $944.00 refund and he said he was frustrated.

Troubleshooter Diane Wilson got on both cases, and Cade's father-in-law got his full refund from Spirit. As for Ndukwe, he also got a full refund.

"I've been running around close to a year--in two weeks, I got the refund back. I'm very thankful and grateful," Ndukwe said.

When booking air travel, make sure you read the fine print, especially if booking through a third-party site. Check to see if there are charges for change fees and if the flight is refundable, or do you only get an airline credit. Also, you should always consider travel insurance that has a cancel for any reason policy for the best protection.