A traveler called Air China for basic flight information—and the airline cancelled their Milan-to-Phuket booking without consent, offered a tiny refund, then demanded they buy a Business Class ticket at their own expense to fix the mistake.

The incident raises serious questions about airline accountability and passenger rights under EU Regulation 261/2004.

According to the detailed account posted on r/travel, the passenger called Air China two days before their scheduled flight purely to ask about cancellation and change policies. The operator quoted a €250 cancellation penalty with a €300 refund—but the traveler authorized nothing.

The next morning, an email arrived: "Your refund has been processed." The airline had cancelled the entire trip without permission. Worse, they processed a refund of just €71 for a full international booking—ignoring even the policy they'd quoted 24 hours earlier.

What followed was hours on the phone with multiple agents. When the passenger asked Air China to listen to the recorded call to verify no cancellation was authorized, agents refused and changed the topic. When pressed for what kind of proof would satisfy them, one agent replied: "We don't know, but you need to prove it."

Requests to speak with a supervisor resulted in 30+ minutes on hold before the line went dead.

Air China's proposed "solution" was even more absurd. They suggested the traveler buy a new ticket at their own expense, complete the trip, and then they'd "consider" refunding the original fare. The catch: Economy was sold out. Air China told the passenger to buy Business Class—thousands of euros more—but would only refund the original Economy fare.

the traveler wrote.