Viking Hellas grounded along with my flight refund

Chasing a cancelled flight refund became a journey of discovery about the continued existence of the airline itselfIn October 2012 I booked a flight from Athens to Manchester with Viking Hellas airlines and paid by credit card. On the day before the flight I received a phone call informing me that the flight was cancelled and I was offered a full refund. I was forced to take a flight three days later at considerable extra cost. The original flight was �130.48. The replacement flight with easyJet cost me �291.29.On returning to the UK I found that the money had not been refunded. I checked the internet and discovered that the company was in financial difficulty but it was promising to pay back any money owed. An address at Manchester airport was provided advising people to write to request their money back. I did this, but my letter was returned as undelivered several weeks later. I have contacted my credit card company, Nationwide, but, I assume, because of confusion over what has happened to Viking Hellas, I was told the process could take several months to sort out. I am currently having severe financial problems with the resulting stress. JW, Golcar, W YorksInformation about what has happened to Viking Hellas is scant. We contacted the Civil Aviation Authority to clear things up. Although it does not licence or regulate Viking Hellas ? it is licensed by the Greek aviation authorities ? it has confirmed that the airline is no longer operating and that you should be able to claim your money back through your credit card provider.Nationwide says that you should receive a refund for the original flight, �130.48, and that you can also expect to obtain the difference between that cost and what you had to pay easyJet, which is �160.81. So, assuming the claim is valid, you will receive �291.29. It says it will aim to process it within a week once you return the form it has sent you.Other Viking Hellas customers, who paid by Visa debit card, can use a similar process known as chargeback. Bob Atkinson, of travelsupermarket.com points out that anyone with travel insurance that includes "end supplier failure" would be able to make a claim that way.We welcome letters but cannot answer individually. Email us at consumer.champions@guardian.co.uk or write to Bachelor & Brignall, Money, the Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please include a daytime phone numberConsumer affairsConsumer rightsTravel insuranceInsuranceFlightsLisa Bachelorguardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

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