Cancelled flight
Discussion
At Christmas my flight was cancelled due to snow. So with the same airline company I re-booked for the next day. So for the original flight I paid £70, the flight the next day was £200.
I've applied to the airline for a refund on the understanding my second flight would be refunded. They aren't playing ball, and have refunded my first flight.
Where do I stand? Can I push for a refund on the difference?
I've applied to the airline for a refund on the understanding my second flight would be refunded. They aren't playing ball, and have refunded my first flight.
Where do I stand? Can I push for a refund on the difference?
As I understand it, the airline has a contract to get your from A to B. If they cancel the flight because of the snow, they either get you from A to B via alternative means at their expense, or offer you a refund. Sounds like you took the refund option and they have refunded you the correct amount.
At least they had a good reason. In 2009, BMI Baby cancelled two separate flights to Almeria and mallorca, Almeria because they announced and later cancelled the route. I lost two deposits on villas as they no longer flew there and couldn't afford any alternative flight to Mallorca.
Luckily I rang about the refund as they hadn't cancelled the flight back which for some reason they thought I might still want!!!
Obviously this was so far in advance that we hand't got travel insurance. BMIBaby thought they'd still keep the credit card booking fee for one which I had to get back off the credit card company.
Luckily I rang about the refund as they hadn't cancelled the flight back which for some reason they thought I might still want!!!
Obviously this was so far in advance that we hand't got travel insurance. BMIBaby thought they'd still keep the credit card booking fee for one which I had to get back off the credit card company.
Bugeyeandy said:
Your flight was cancelled and they didn't rebook you for free. Which airline was it?
I don't think they'll ever refund you for a flight you actually took but it's a bit of a cheek to charge you £200 to re-book.
It was Flybe. They've told me they can't refund for a flight I've used. What I don't get, is they're obliged to get me to my destination if my initial flight in cancelled, even paying for accommodation if flights aren't available straight away. I haven't asked for any of that, just my second flight which they'd have put me on anyway? I'm not happy as I thought it was a given I'd get the £200 back. I don't think they'll ever refund you for a flight you actually took but it's a bit of a cheek to charge you £200 to re-book.
EarlOfHazard said:
It was Flybe. They've told me they can't refund for a flight I've used. What I don't get, is they're obliged to get me to my destination if my initial flight in cancelled, even paying for accommodation if flights aren't available straight away. I haven't asked for any of that, just my second flight which they'd have put me on anyway? I'm not happy as I thought it was a given I'd get the £200 back.
I think the point is - the airline is obliged to get you to your destination OR give you a full refund. You took the option of receiving a full refund. The airline complied with this. That is the end of the transaction.The fact that you made a new booking for a new flight to get to your original destination is a separate transaction and independent of the first. The airline have no obligation to give you this for free.
What you should have done is not taken a refund for the original flight but made the airline get you to your destination at their expense. Hindsight is a wonderful thing and all that, but the airline are applying the rules correctly as far as I can see it.
EarlOfHazard said:
At Christmas my flight was cancelled due to snow. So with the same airline company I re-booked for the next day. So for the original flight I paid £70, the flight the next day was £200.
I've applied to the airline for a refund on the understanding my second flight would be refunded. They aren't playing ball, and have refunded my first flight.
Where do I stand? Can I push for a refund on the difference?
How did you re-book and how did they get your extra 200 - I assume you went online and made a new booking and paid?I've applied to the airline for a refund on the understanding my second flight would be refunded. They aren't playing ball, and have refunded my first flight.
Where do I stand? Can I push for a refund on the difference?
In my experience with these matters I have been told (on the phone with the airline) not to cancel and rebook online but do it over the phone with them and they assign me the next flight available at no cost. They advised me if I cancelled the booking and rebooked it would be treated as new booking and I would not be entitled to anything but the original amount paid.
I suppose you couldn't get through to them on the phone though....in my cases I had been trying for up 3 hours...and then got told because I booked via agent they can't help me so had to get the agent to do it for me (Swiss dealt with even on agent booking though but not all do)
I had a flight cancelled on me last year, flying from Manchester to Boston, via Heathrow with American Airlines. They cancelled the Man LHR leg, due to it being operated by BA, and BA being on strike.
I called them, and asked what the situation was, and they then did the necessary changes to get me to Boston at no additional cost to me. They put me on the more expensive MAN-JFK flight, and then an internal JFK-BOS flight.
The moral of this, is speak to them in person, and get them to make whatever arrangements are necessary to get you to your destination. That way they cannot ask for any additional money.
I called them, and asked what the situation was, and they then did the necessary changes to get me to Boston at no additional cost to me. They put me on the more expensive MAN-JFK flight, and then an internal JFK-BOS flight.
The moral of this, is speak to them in person, and get them to make whatever arrangements are necessary to get you to your destination. That way they cannot ask for any additional money.
AndrewTait said:
The moral of this, is speak to them in person, and get them to make whatever arrangements are necessary to get you to your destination. That way they cannot ask for any additional money.
True but they can make it hard to get hold of a human at times like these though...last year was fun with strikes, volcanic ash and snow...Dino D said:
True but they can make it hard to get hold of a human at times like these though...last year was fun with strikes, volcanic ash and snow...
Yep, from the safety of our internet arm chairs after the event its all very easy. Must have been very stressful at the time particularly at Christmas. Dino D said:
EarlOfHazard said:
At Christmas my flight was cancelled due to snow. So with the same airline company I re-booked for the next day. So for the original flight I paid £70, the flight the next day was £200.
I've applied to the airline for a refund on the understanding my second flight would be refunded. They aren't playing ball, and have refunded my first flight.
Where do I stand? Can I push for a refund on the difference?
How did you re-book and how did they get your extra 200 - I assume you went online and made a new booking and paid?I've applied to the airline for a refund on the understanding my second flight would be refunded. They aren't playing ball, and have refunded my first flight.
Where do I stand? Can I push for a refund on the difference?
In my experience with these matters I have been told (on the phone with the airline) not to cancel and rebook online but do it over the phone with them and they assign me the next flight available at no cost. They advised me if I cancelled the booking and rebooked it would be treated as new booking and I would not be entitled to anything but the original amount paid.
I suppose you couldn't get through to them on the phone though....in my cases I had been trying for up 3 hours...and then got told because I booked via agent they can't help me so had to get the agent to do it for me (Swiss dealt with even on agent booking though but not all do)
EarlOfHazard said:
Yeah I rebooked flight online, then sent an email explaining the situation. They refunded my first flight instead. Game over I suppose.
With Jet2 during last years Ash Cloud fiasco, we had to re book each time our flight was cancelled. In our case we had to rebook two or three times, each at a considerable higher price than our original booking cost. These bookings all had to be made by the internet, no chance of speaking to anyone on the phone when all this was going on or even afterwards. However they honoured the original booking price and refunded all the higher cost flights (eventually)
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