Screen shot of Mexicana.com on Friday August 27. Copyright CareerBreakSecrets.com
I made one last pass at Twitter tonight and I happened to see a tweet from the LA Times stating that Mexicana Airlines was suspending its flights. As I had previously written, this was my way back to the US from my home in Bogota, Colombia to head up the Meet Plan Go Austin event. Almost 3 weeks ago, I feared for the worst so I went ahead and booked another ticket to Texas just in case. Looks like my fears were justified.
I take no joy in Mexicana suspending it flights. With my family in Texas, I rely on the few options that exist to get me from Bogota to San Antonio. Last year, you could get a round trip flight for $400. This year, the cheapest I’ve seen is about $550 with the average being more like $700-800. By comparison, if you want to fly in between Bogota and the East Coast, you can still pay around the $400 range. Why? Competition.
A side effect of Spirit Air leaving the San Antonio market last year was a rise in prices between Colombia and Texas. There is a route with Jet Blue to Austin. But, because you cannot connect between Bogota-Orlando-Austin in the same day, that budget effectively doesn’t exist once you add in the cost of an overnight hotel. Continental is usually my choice since it’s an easy 5 hours to Houston + short layover + 1 hour to San Antonio or Austin.
The cheapest (by far) way for me to get to Texas was to buy a ticket on Jet Blue to Orlando and then hop on Southwest to San Antonio. Not ideal. But, it is what it is. That experience should make for a fun post at my expense.
Refund
Mexicana states on its site tonight that
- If you have not yet begun your journey, we recommend you make alternative travel arrangements.
- For information on how to apply for a refund, visit mexicanainforms.com
I went ahead and applied for my refund. Given how badly the airline is doing, I figured I better get in line for what financial scraps might be left for passengers. The process was easy. Besides your name, all you have to supply is your email, ticket number and PNR. In theory, i should notice a refund on my credit card.
I will keep you posted on the progress of my refund. If you are booked on Mexicana past August 28th, I suggest you apply too.
UPDATE: Mexicana Refund Process Fails Passenger. What To Do Now
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Tags: travel advice
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We were booked to travel to San Jose from Calgary in November. I have as well submitted for a refund. Attempted to call the 1-800 numbers today however I was unable get through.
My thoughts are with those left stranded. Very unfortunate situation for the employees of Mexicana Air as well.
Good luck on your refund and keep me posted. I hope you’re able to see get down to Costa Rica! I just think that it could be worse and we could be in the middle of our trips right now. Hope all those people get home soon.
[...] Mexicana Refund I was supposed to fly between Bogota and San Antonio in September. Since that isn't going to happen, I applied for a refund on their site. I'm not hopeful I will ever see that money. Here is my full story on my blog. Good luck to all who are in the same boat as me. And good luck to those stranded away from home. http://careerbreaksecrets.net/3566/j…-refund-begins [...]
I am going to Mexico City and had made backup plans as well. As far as a refund, I applied through the Mexicana website but also applied through my credit card company since Mexicana doesn’t seem to give any acknowledgement or any way to track my claim.
Your comment about competition is also a good one. Getting to Mexico City from the East coast is cheaper than it is from California.
I’m nervous about getting my refund. I booked 2 tickets to Panama City, Panama in March, for my XMas & New Years vacation. I thought I was being pro-active. I can’t afford to loose all of that money & really wanted to escape the cold for the holiday. I plan on speaking with my bank 1st think in the morning, as well as submitting a request for a refund! Has anyone received a refund & how long did it take?
Bob and Sharona. Thanks for sharing. I also did not receive any sort of email confirmation from Mexicana when I submitted for my refund which makes me even less confident any of us will receive anything. I’m taking Bob’s advice to call my credit card company. Sharona, good luck with your bank.
We were to fly to Puerto Vallarata in October. In an attempt to not use my credit cards so much I paid with a check card. Big mistake. Bank of AMerica cannot help because I purchased these tickets more than 90 days ago. I applied for a refund on Mexicana’s website. If I get it back in hte next two weeks I will look elsewhere for tickets if not I can’t take that financial hit.
@ Bryan. I am really sorry to hear that. This is definitely one instance where using a credit card would have helped you. I am thinking good thoughts for you and hoping that the refund comes through!
@All. I just got off the phone with my credit card company. It looks like there is some hope in that department. I am going to post a follow piece with some information for you all. Good luck and keep after them!
Hello all, I purchased two tickets to go to Puerto Villarta. After hearing about this, I’started the process in trying to get a refund through Mexicana. However that doesn’t seem too likely so I also filed a claim with AMEX thinking their system will be able to get me back the money. Hoping this works and I’ll be sure to keep everyone updated as soon as I hear anything.
I have applied for refund, since I have not received any information about my application. I tried to do that through the credit card and the answer was that they will do something but after the day that my ticket was schedule for. So I guess we need to way,
I did buy tickets to fly in December. I did fill up the forms trough the internet to make the claims, they will give you a number (claim number) to keep for your records and follow up. The Credit card will process any claim after the date of the travel if the airline don’t pay it back before that time. It will take more than 3 months to get the money back if we have some luck. tx
anyone get their refunds yet?
So heres my story. A good chunk of our family bought round trip tix to cancun for my little brother’s wedding. We werent even informed, we found out via the news/radio that mexicana was filing for bankruptsy. they didnt even care enough to let us know we had to get new flights!!!! We called, emailed, we did everything and mexicana still claimed that everything was fine and under controll. yea right, we knew better. we all (bride and groom included) ended up having to buy all new tickets just a ouple of weeks before the wedding. (ouch to wallets!) Do you know how hard it is to find at least seventeen people a flight to cancun in the summer on the same date around the same time?! ugh!!! we all worked soooo hard all year to be able to pay our bills, save up and take care of our resposibilities (something mexicana airlines knows NOTHING about) all to be a few hundred dollars short on our family vacation to witness and celebrate my brothers wedding. we were all so sad. its been 12 weeks and counting and still nothing. im super bummed to see how little mexicana cared about their customers and how many of you there are that this happened to, but in a way a little glad to see that were not alone. guess well just have to keep waiting and desputing. thanx for the support!!! by the way the wedding was beautiful
we made the best of it with what we had to work with. with friends and family pulling together we pulled it off 
CONTACT THE BELOW FOR IMMEDIATE ASSISTANCE WITH REFUNDS
theresabravo@mexicana..mx
phone:(310) 258-0395
fax: (310) 646-0465
How can i get my refund over my tickets ?