Cancelled flights- refunds

T

Trug

Well-known member
My daughter booked flights for her and her boyfriend to S Korea and Japan in January. BA have now cancelled the flights and refunded the travel agent the full cost of the flights. The travel agent have given my daughter the fare back less £75 per person admin fee. Doesn't seem right to me. Any views on this?
 
Still waiting for ours when KLM cancelled our Canadian flights & no it's not right, what do they justify for £75, why not £300, £500, why not £1-50, they didn't cancel it why should they be out of pocket
 
To the OP, its because you have used a travel agent and not booked directly with the airline. It will be within their T&C's that cancellations may carry an admin fee, to cover the activities they have undertaken on your behalf (the original booking, managing the refund and cancellation, transferring you the refund) as these activities are not free for them. I agree with @Erimus74 statement but at the same time, why should the TA be out of pocket as they didnt cancel it either, but have had to pay someone to go through the original booking and pay someone to manage the case refund paperwork.

This is fairly common for travel agents that aren't the airline (i.e all-in-one firms). All comes down to reading the terms that you sign up to and understanding what happens if something goes wrong in advance, not afterwards, but not many people read through the terms they are given so often comes as a surprise.
 
Trug said:
My daughter booked flights for her and her boyfriend to S Korea and Japan in January. BA have now cancelled the flights and refunded the travel agent the full cost of the flights. The travel agent have given my daughter the fare back less £75 per person admin fee. Doesn't seem right to me. Any views on this?
Click to expand...


Shocking thing for them to do (The Travel Agent) but - as pointed out, probably within their rights. We have a small chain of travel agents and wouldn’t dream of doing it.

I’d tell them if they persist with that attitude you won’t book with them in the future and you will blast it all over social media so everyone else knows.
 
I had flights booked with KLM which have been cancelled and they've offered me a voucher. Can I ask for a full refund? Their 'FAQ' seem to say not but its not clear and I suspect they aren't being forthcoming with the truth?
 
If you book direct and the flight gets cancelled you are almost certainly likely to be encouraged to transfer to another flight without a penalty or given a voucher for the fare equivalent.

However you are entitled to a cash refund but airlines make it so that it is very difficult to request. Instead of being able to apply on line instead they insist that you have to speak to a customer service agent. It goes without saying you will find it virtually impossible to get through.
 
Yep. I've booked with Lufthansa and been offered a voucher. However entitled to a refund under EU law.

Problem is a lot of airlines would struggle to survive if they had to refund all passengers immediately. Think the German government for one would like too see the law changed so they don't have to bail them out.

Apparently if you can get through you can request a refund, but even if you manage that it's taking them a long time to issue.
 
Thanks for all your replies. Just for clarity. The flights were booked in January this year for travel to S. Korea and Japan for May this year.
The admin fee charged by the travel agent for BA cancelling was £75 per booking so that was £150 for the two of them.
My daughter paid £2400 for the flights so she is happy to receive what she has considering the trouble a lot of other would be travellers are going through.
As has been pointed out, it probably is in the T&C's of the travel agent but £150 seems a lot of money for "admin".
Anyway, with the money saved she is treating her dad for a trip to watch Fort William FC play in the Highland League when all this kerfuffle is over.
 
Trug said:
Thanks for all your replies. Just for clarity. The flights were booked in January this year for travel to S. Korea and Japan for May this year.
The admin fee charged by the travel agent for BA cancelling was £75 per booking so that was £150 for the two of them.
My daughter paid £2400 for the flights so she is happy to receive what she has considering the trouble a lot of other would be travellers are going through.
As has been pointed out, it probably is in the T&C's of the travel agent but £150 seems a lot of money for "admin".
Anyway, with the money saved she is treating her dad for a trip to watch Fort William FC play in the Highland League when all this kerfuffle is over.
Click to expand...
Each time we phone KLM regarding a, refund the voice on the phone say 'we are dealing with a high volume of calls, please hold on'' then the phone goes dead
We are entitled to a, refund but an email says credit voucher, god willing, we will be going to Canada next year but anything could happen to airlines over the next 12 months
 
Zoophonic said:
If you book direct and the flight gets cancelled you are almost certainly likely to be encouraged to transfer to another flight without a penalty or given a voucher for the fare equivalent.

However you are entitled to a cash refund but airlines make it so that it is very difficult to request. Instead of being able to apply on line instead they insist that you have to speak to a customer service agent. It goes without saying you will find it virtually impossible to get through.
Click to expand...
That's a bit harsh. I think someone else has mentioned they can't just give out refunds to all cancelled flights immediately. No one has that much operational cash and so many airlines would go bust. The law is actually a lot better for the consumer than I would have expected in this case. I would have hoped the default would be getting a voucher for future travel (you were going to fly there anyway) and only as a last resort you get a refund. Sadly this doesn't seem to be the case.

Interestingly we were supposed to be flying to New York next week. Virgin originally gave os vouchers and I thought "fine, we can go when this all dies down" Last week, without any prompting from us, they refunded us the entire cost.
 
SmallTown said:
That's a bit harsh. I think someone else has mentioned they can't just give out refunds to all cancelled flights immediately. No one has that much operational cash and so many airlines would go bust. The law is actually a lot better for the consumer than I would have expected in this case. I would have hoped the default would be getting a voucher for future travel (you were going to fly there anyway) and only as a last resort you get a refund. Sadly this doesn't seem to be the case.

Interestingly we were supposed to be flying to New York next week. Virgin originally gave os vouchers and I thought "fine, we can go when this all dies down" Last week, without any prompting from us, they refunded us the entire cost.
Click to expand...
My flight was to Bilbao for a Euro 2020 match. No way of knowing when/where that match will be now, so I can't really just move the date. May even need to move the venue as well.
 
FWIW - I got a refund from BA last week for some flights. Thre first few times I called I had to go through their menu system, and then finally got a message saying that there were too many callers, and to call back later.

When I finally got through to a holding system, I was on the phone for absolutely ages waiting to speak with an agent. It probably took an hour or so to finally get it all sorted. If you're doing that as a business for multiple clients, I reckon you've probably got to charge something for it at the moment?
 
We booked through an agent for Houston with Singapore Airlines. We have been told we will be getting a credit note but not until the Airline coughs up to the agent, which is understandable. Should be in the States now but it looks like a blessing in disguise, we would probably get blamed for bringing it in to the Country.
 
I'm actually an adjudicator for airline disputes. If your flight is cancelled and falls under EC261 (which generally means takes off or lands at an EU airport) then the airline is obliged to refund your fare in full. It doesn't matter if you booked through a travel agent or not.
 
I was due to fly to San Francisco today with BA. They cancelled the flights, so that made things slightly simpler. I booked through an online agent via Skyscanner, It took a few emails and a phone call but they have finally agreed to a refund rather than vouchers, who knows when we will next be able to travel?
 
Paterson said:
I'm actually an adjudicator for airline disputes. If your flight is cancelled and falls under EC261 (which generally means takes off or lands at an EU airport) then the airline is obliged to refund your fare in full. It doesn't matter if you booked through a travel agent or not.
Click to expand...

the airline has refunded his flight in full, therefore meeting that obligation, however if you book with a travel agent it’s not you that makes the booking and pays the airline; it’s the TA. If you google this, it’s a very common issue and is covered in the T&Cs at the TA, which they have agreed to. His dispute is not with the airline, but with the TA.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top