Help Son in Law got Holiday Problems!! Advice Please

PolishBigSpender

wendywhite wrote: »

Yes a travel agent's impartial advice would be great??

The best impartial advice is to read the terms and conditions.

However, anyone booking a holiday without having a passport in hand is quite frankly responsible for their own mistake - and I would expect any reasonable person to think likewise.

wendywhite

Gosh Polishbigspender thank you so much for your helpful advice you are so so right but that is a story for another day and one which is best dealt with on a personal level with my S-I-L, I was looking for constructive advice from someone who knows what they are talking about and not someone who has a problem with the world in general and lacks interpersonal skills, but thanks again.

Horace

How long is the honeymoon for? Perhaps if it is for a longish period then your daughter could fly out and when he has his passport then he could fly out and join her? Tickets may have been issued, but tickets can be changed (I have changed enough in my time when my boss was travelling here there and everywhere), you may be charged for the change but changes can be made.

If the application has been sent and is being processed - can he ring the passport office again, explain the situation and arrange to visit the office in person to collect said passport and have his interview at the same time? If he stresses the point without getting angry that this is his honeymoon then they might be a bit more flexible.

wendywhite

Honeymoon is only a week, the passport probably wont be ready until 3 weeks after that! Thanks anyway for trying!

pelirocco

PolishBigSpender wrote: »

The best impartial advice is to read the terms and conditions.

However, anyone booking a holiday without having a passport in hand is quite frankly responsible for their own mistake - and I would expect any reasonable person to think likewise.

I have to agree with you

which ispretty scary tbh lol

annie123

Just a thought, and a long shot, but is there any holiday insurance that could over loss? or, if he paid by credit card could they help persuade agent to change booking dates?

Blue264

wendywhite wrote: »

Yes a travel agent's impartial advice would be great??

If the flight tickets have been issued as stated (and this is highly likely), the ticket was probably in a restricted class which means that only certain taxes will be refundable (notably not the fuel surcharge) and most of this will be swallowed up with the airline's admin fees. You still stand a fair chance of getting some of the accommodation costs refunded though so it's worth pushing for that much.

Sorry I can't be of more help but it does look like your son-in-law made an error. I will say though...I have heard of some very fast turnarounds from the passport office over the past month or two.
Please let us know if there's any progress.

PolishBigSpender

wendywhite wrote: »

Gosh Polishbigspender thank you so much for your helpful advice you are so so right but that is a story for another day and one which is best dealt with on a personal level with my S-I-L, I was looking for constructive advice from someone who knows what they are talking about and not someone who has a problem with the world in general and lacks interpersonal skills, but thanks again

Then as I say, your best advice is to read the terms and conditions closely.

Was it an independent travel agent or a large chain? You may have some scope with a large chain to get the dates altered as a result of goodwill.

However, given the economic climate, I'd be far more inclined to believe that travel agents will stay firm on the issue, particularly if tickets have already been issued. Perhaps the holiday could be 'sold' and the names changed?

jonathon

"Was it an independent travel agent or a large chain? You may have some scope with a large chain to get the dates altered as a result of goodwill."




Think Thomas Cook is quite big.

casevlloyds

I don't think you've got any chance with Thomas Cook I'm afraid.

Their booking conditions do state that the departure date of a holiday can be ammended up to 56 days (8 weeks) before travel.
Inside of 56 days before travel the change is classed as a cancellation and normal cancellation charges apply which at this stage should be 90% of the holiday cost (rising to 100% of the cost inside 7 days of travel), unless the holiday was booked as a late deal in which case the cancellation charges are 100% now.

I'd be amazed if you managed to get Thomas Cook to budge on these terms. I've had a similar situation myself with them. A client was taken ill having not purchased any travel insurance and wanted to push the holiday back by a month but TC would not allow it and cancellation charges stood.

Travel insurance will not cover this loss either unfortunately.

His only real chance is to keep trying with the passport office I'm afraid!