Cancelled Flight, Endless Excuses, Still No Refund From Gotogate

Absolutely terrible experience with Gotogate / Booking.com.

We booked Etihad flights through Gotogate on 9 February. The flight was cancelled, and we requested a refund on 13 April. We were told it would take “around 15 business days.” Since then, I’ve had to follow up repeatedly, and I mean repeatedly, only to be fed the same script every single time: “You should receive the refund within the next 3 business days.”

Three business days apparently means forever.

To make matters worse, while trying to rebook through Gotogate/Booking.com, the price magically increased by nearly $1000 every time I got to the payment stage. It honestly felt like a bait-and-switch tactic. Eventually I had no choice but to book elsewhere out of my own pocket because we still had no refund.

Meanwhile, family members who booked directly with Etihad for the exact same cancelled flight were refunded weeks ago. That tells me everything I need to know.

Gotogate has been nothing but delays, excuses, scripted responses, and zero accountability. Holding onto customers’ money for this long after a cancelled flight is unacceptable.

I will NEVER use Gotogate or Booking.com for flights again. Learn from my mistake and book directly with the airline. Saving a few bucks upfront is not worth months of stress, chasing support agents, and being left stranded while your money disappears into a black hole.