Qantas customers who accepted flight credits instead of refunds between 2020 and 2022 now begin receiving notices from Echo Lawyers, which is administering the process. Those notices explain eligibility for payments under a March class action settlement where Qantas agreed to distribute about $105 million. Compensation starts at a minimum of $50 for each customer who was refused a refund and issued credits instead. Notices roll out to more than 1 million affected travellers over time, not all at once.
The settlement centres on customers whose flights were cancelled during the height of the pandemic disruption and who say they should have received money back, not vouchers. Echo Lawyers is contacting those passengers using details tied to their original bookings and credits, guiding them on how to lodge a claim. Qantas retains responsibility for paying the agreed compensation once claims are verified and processed. The structure aims to turn previously locked-up travel credits into direct financial redress for those customers.
Qantas also continues to deal with customers who still hold unclaimed COVID flight credits from that period. The airline removed the expiry date on those credits in 2023, allowing eligible passengers to seek refunds at any time instead of being forced to rebook travel. Customers are encouraged to contact Qantas directly if they prefer a refund rather than using the remaining credits. That option runs in parallel with the class action payments, giving affected travellers two separate avenues to recover value from cancelled flights.
