[CaptainZapp]

Not necessarily so.

A couple weeks ago Oman Air cancelled the return leg of a long distance flight due to a change in schedule.

They offered to reroute me with the Qataris via Doha.

I preferred to cancel the (in principle non-refundable) flight and make different arrangements.

The money,~2'500$, was credited to my card 4 days later. Including fees paid for preferred seats.

It's a shame that they stopped service to my city. Beause it's a great airline, which always provided stellar service.

[rowyourboat]

Those are your basic rights: You entered into a contract with the airline, and the airline failed to deliver. Of course you get your money back if the alternative solution is not satisfactory - whether or not the ticket was refundable doesn't even enter into it, as it was the airline that failed to deliver in the first place. That's not stellar service, that's just fulfilling their legal obligations.

[csomar]

I am not sure which airline represent your average experience; but in my experience, almost all airlines will fight to "your death" not to give you anything back. In the times they do (especially European), it's because there is a law that requires them to.

What happened to the OP is, therefore, unusual.

[throwaway2037]

I think the point being made: It was refunded very quickly and without hassle. Other, less scrupulous / ethnical airlines were try more tactics to redirect to worse flight or delay refund (if at all -- "oh, it was a lost in our system").

[csomar]

Oman Air is trying to offer good service in a tight, extremely cut-throat market (the Middle-East) where its competitors are giants (Qatar and Emirates) or cash drunk (Saudi Airlines).

I flew through them last year. Check-in was a bit of a hassle but the plane/service and the layover were great. The price was very competitive (cheapest) and yet the plane was empty. I expected them to either fold or downsize.

[j7ake]

My experience with United emirates was similar. Extremely generous refund policies and fast action.