Airline Ticket-No Show/Refund?

MissAA1970 · 15 August 2014 at 12:01PM

Hi I booked with a Travel agent 5 tickets to NYC for Virgin Atlantic . Four months before our confirmed flight , I spoke to the agent and explained that I might have to cancel one of the tickets and how much cancellation fees would be ? she advised me with costs, but then I decided to wait nearer the time , so I sent her an email explaining that I decided to keep the tickets , but will contact her if I changed my mind . Approx 5 days before we where due to travel , I sent her this email
“
Hello , I would like to cancel xxxx xxxx ‘s Ticket . Our party is now four people . Please confirm that you have received this email and that xxxx xxxx booking is cancelled .
Kind Regards

Later evening we decided to visit family and stay over for a few days and then onto our holiday (I didn't give the ticket a second thought) as I assumed that the ticket was cancelled , due to my very direct email, also no API or anything was filled out for the Person’s whose ticket was cancelled . When I got back it took me a while to go through my emails . Eventually I found an email from the Travel Agents quoting me cancellation cost and requesting that I should reply if I wanted to continue with the cancellation . Obviously I didn't see this email by then so I didn’t reply it . I emailed the company and explained the situation and was told firmly that the person whose ticket was supposed to be cancelled was a no show because I didn’t reply the email sent . I am interested in everyone’s opinion as to whether I should try and get a refund or just leave it and put it down to experience .

tomtontom · 15 August 2014 at 12:09PM

Put it down to a learning experience - you can't consider the ticket cancelled until it has been confirmed as such. You may be able to reclaim a small about of tax.

Caz3121 · 15 August 2014 at 12:20PM

was it actually a refundable ticket that they had? (a refundable VS economy ticket from London to New York is over £1,600.) If non-refundable then you would be able to reclaim the taxes whether you cancelled in advance or not.

MissAA1970 · 15 August 2014 at 2:14PM

it was non refundable and no way near 1600 so I am going to put it down to experience .

Caz3121 · 15 August 2014 at 3:16PM

you should still be able to reclaim some taxes

MissAA1970 · 16 August 2014 at 12:17AM

I will check for taxes. Many thanks

pennylane99 · 16 August 2014 at 7:48AM

I assume if it was booked through a travel agent that any refund from the airline will go back to them who will no doubt take a cancellation fee before being passed on to OP

Blue264 · 16 August 2014 at 10:30AM

MissAA1970 wrote: »

Obviously I didn't see this email by then so I didn’t reply it . I emailed the company and explained the situation and was told firmly that the person whose ticket was supposed to be cancelled was a no show because I didn’t reply the email sent . I am interested in everyone’s opinion as to whether I should try and get a refund or just leave it and put it down to experience .

I would ask the agent if you can get a partial tax refund. It won't be much, but you can always ask.

Basically, an agent has to notify you of any costs involved in cancelling a flight ticket before proceeding. I can't count the number of times clients have changed their minds about cancelling once they realised how much it was going to cost them.

Because you didn't respond to the email, the airline has put the ticket down as a no show. From that point, there's precious little any agent can do, except try to reclaim some of the taxes...if the airline will allow it. Some won't. The biggest one of the taxes, the fuel surcharge, is non-refundable.

Jbwightman · 3 September 2015 at 8:01PM

Hi,
I was hoping someone might be able to help me. My family have just returned from Turkey, booked with Thomas Cook (flights only). We originally had 10 people coming but a few months ago one dropped out, but rather than cancel we decided to keep the ticket for the extra seat as my mother in law is recovering from a masectomy (which has made her left side very sore and with restricted movement) and we thought her having an empty seat next to her would help (the seat we had already paid full price for). But when we arrived at the airport they said that they have the right to resell the ticket and we are not guranteed a spare seat. The plane was full, the seat was resold and my mother in law was left quite uncomfortable. We had booked reserved seats but these were not honoured as the plane was changed without us being notified. My question is can i claim a refund on the ticket? I know that normal policy for a no show is that you dont get a refund but in this instance we actually wanted the spare seat that we had paid for. This was taken from us and resold and therefore the airline sold the same seat twice. Surely this is wrong! I understand a single flyer not turning up cannot reasonably expect the airline to still keep their seat empty, but we did want to keep the seat that we paid for empty. Surely the airline should give you the option of keeping the seat or offering it up to be resold and if it is then you get a percentage of your money back etc. Does anyone know where i stand on this? Thanks

stoneman · 3 September 2015 at 8:24PM

Jbwightman wrote: »

Hi,
I was hoping someone might be able to help me. My family have just returned from Turkey, booked with Thomas Cook (flights only). We originally had 10 people coming but a few months ago one dropped out, but rather than cancel we decided to keep the ticket for the extra seat as my mother in law is recovering from a masectomy (which has made her left side very sore and with restricted movement) and we thought her having an empty seat next to her would help (the seat we had already paid full price for). But when we arrived at the airport they said that they have the right to resell the ticket and we are not guranteed a spare seat. The plane was full, the seat was resold and my mother in law was left quite uncomfortable. We had booked reserved seats but these were not honoured as the plane was changed without us being notified. My question is can i claim a refund on the ticket? I know that normal policy for a no show is that you dont get a refund but in this instance we actually wanted the spare seat that we had paid for. This was taken from us and resold and therefore the airline sold the same seat twice. Surely this is wrong! I understand a single flyer not turning up cannot reasonably expect the airline to still keep their seat empty, but we did want to keep the seat that we paid for empty. Surely the airline should give you the option of keeping the seat or offering it up to be resold and if it is then you get a percentage of your money back etc. Does anyone know where i stand on this? Thanks

Best to start your own thread instead of hijacking someone elses, you might get more replies.

Airline Ticket-No Show/Refund?

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