Qantas is facing a class action over its pandemic travel credits. 

Echo Law, a class action firm, has initiated legal proceedings against the airline on behalf of hundreds of thousands of affected travellers. 

The lawsuit seeks to secure refunds for unused flight credits and compensation for lost interest on customer funds held by Qantas.

Echo Law accuses Qantas of engaging in deceptive conduct when communicating with customers about their rights regarding cancelled flights due to COVID-19 restrictions in early 2020. 

Additionally, the airline is alleged to have breached its own contract by failing to promptly provide cash refunds. 

The lawsuit contends that Qantas has unjustly benefited by retaining a substantial amount of customer funds that should have been refunded, violating Australian consumer law through unconscionable conduct.

Despite the disruptions faced by the aviation industry due to the pandemic, Qantas is accused of unlawfully retaining customer funds, leading to increased profits.
Andrew Paull, a partner at Echo Law, says Qantas should not have taken advantage of its customers by treating their money as interest-free loans exceeding $1 billion. 

Paull also criticised Qantas's flight credit scheme, highlighting that some customers were pressured to pay more than their original booking to use their credits on new fares. 

He argued that Qantas should have automatically refunded the money years ago and called for both refunds of remaining credits and compensation for customers' losses.

The class action is supported by CASL, a class action funder, which is urging affected customers, including those who have already used Qantas flight credits, to join the lawsuit.

Qantas says it “completely rejects these claims”, and claims to have processed well over $1 billion in refunds from COVID credits.

Qantas's flexible COVID credit policy has included multiple extensions of credit expiry dates, and it has sought to accommodate its customers. 

In June, the airline alleged that approximately $400 million in COVID credits remained unspent, with 80 per cent of eligible customers having the option for a refund.

Qantas has been the most complained-about company to the ACCC in recent years, and is expected to announce a multibillion-dollar profit in its financial results later this week.