New Post Advanced Search
Important update! We have recently reviewed and updated our Forum Rules and FAQs. Please take the time to familiarise yourself with the latest version.

Urgent problem, return ticket, no outbound flight

edited 30 November -1 at 12:00AM in Flights, Currency & Car Hire
25 replies 2.6K views
TinuelTinuel Forumite
387 posts
Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
✭✭
edited 30 November -1 at 12:00AM in Flights, Currency & Car Hire
Hi all,
I am in the States currently due to a wedding, travelling tomorrow back to London. My daughter could not make the outbound flight due to suspicion of swine flu, but she made it with my mother at a later date with a differente airline.
Now she was due back to fly with me tomorrow on AA but to my surprise the ticket was cancelled. I informed the AA desk in London twice, by phone and on the day of my travel, that she would not make the outbound but would make the inbound.

AA in the States have no record of my communication and now want to charge me a one way ticket for her. The problem here is that the flight is full and the only tickets available are business or the most expensive economy.
What are my options here? I gave them plenty of notice and nobody in London told me that a ticket would have to be re-issued. She starts school on Monday so needs to get back with me asap....

Thanks guys.
Member 7 of 100 to 10k - £100 to £10k = £149
«13

Replies

  • TinuelTinuel Forumite
    387 posts
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    ✭✭
    I am in great stress because I will have to pay a huge amount for a mistake that wasn't mine. I told them twice that she would not be able to make the flight, by phone and on their Heathrow desk. To my surprise today I log in to do the online check-in and I see only myself as passenger, with 24 hours to go...
    Member 7 of 100 to 10k - £100 to £10k = £149
  • It's standard practice to cancel a return if there is no outbound. Precisely because they want to charge you loads for a one-way ticket!
  • Caz3121Caz3121 Forumite
    14.1K posts
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    ✭✭✭✭✭
    I think the problem is you were not advised that this was the case when you contacted them. A lot of these carriers charge more for a one-way than a return so people buy a return and throw away one part. If they throw away the return they may be ok (think the airlines say they 'can' charge you for the one-way fare but not heard any instances of this happening) if you throw away the first part the return will be worthless.
    Might be worth contacting London again and see if they have any notes, they should have advised you the return would be cancelled if she did not show for the first flight.
  • So are you saying that you informed them/queried this twice by phone and again in person at the desk on the day of travel and on each separate occasion you were advised that this would be OK? I am baffled for the reason given by MH above.

    Do you have a note of the time and date that these calls were made and to whom you spoke? I am just wondering if you have no option but to buy a further ticket, if you would be able to prove that you had been advised incorrectly previously if the phone calls were recorded.
  • TinuelTinuel Forumite
    387 posts
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    ✭✭
    Thanks Mark, but shouldn't they have re-issued the ticket 12 days ago when I first told them? And also, can't they admit an error on their side for not entering on the database my communication? Shouldn't they use good faith on this case, they are looking to charge me $1500 for a 7 year old.
    Member 7 of 100 to 10k - £100 to £10k = £149
  • TinuelTinuel Forumite
    387 posts
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    ✭✭
    Incapuppy wrote: »
    So are you saying that you informed them/queried this twice by phone and again in person at the desk on the day of travel and on each separate occasion you were advised that this would be OK? I am baffled for the reason given by MH above.

    Do you have a note of the time and date that these calls were made and to whom you spoke? I am just wondering if you have no option but to buy a further ticket, if you would be able to prove that you had been advised incorrectly previously if the phone calls were recorded.

    As hard it is to believe I did it (contact them) out of gut feeling. I did not know this policy but I informed them anyway. I told AA in the US to call London and investigate but their customer services just say that they have no record. I would never expose my daughter with 24 hours to go... Call me an idiot for not taking down names, I accept that, but I called them. Like I said, I logged in online thinking that it was ok, to my surprise her name was off the list.

    Can I claim on my travel insurance?
    Member 7 of 100 to 10k - £100 to £10k = £149
  • But did you just inform them or did you ask a question and received a categoric reasurrance that everything would be ok?

    I think your best bet to minimise your outgoings for now may be to try and throw yourself at the mercy of AA in the States and see if they would allow you to transfer to another flight at a later time/date on which there may be a cheaper economy seat still available for your daughter.

    I'm guessing that travel insurance itself may not cover it but that you would be looking at taking AA to court if possible, providing your conversations with them have been recorded - but that is only a guess (and probably a bad one) on my part.

    I hope you can get this resolved to your satisfaction some way or other.
  • I would just like to add - if your daughter has medical proof that she was unable to fly on the original flight due to possible swine flu then her travel insurance may pay out for that, thus off-setting the cost of a new ticket?
  • TinuelTinuel Forumite
    387 posts
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    ✭✭
    Incapuppy wrote: »
    I would just like to add - if your daughter has medical proof that she was unable to fly on the original flight due to possible swine flu then her travel insurance may pay out for that, thus off-setting the cost of a new ticket?

    Thanks for your input, I will look into the medical proof once I get to London. She was seen by her GP, it wasn't swine flu in the end. It's just so frustrating that I will have to take a big hit (1500 USD) and with no guarantees of travel insurance covering it, when I could have paid for a re-issued ticket at a much cheaper price when I first called. I am not disputing paying, it's only not fair to pay so much due to bad customer service. 1500 USD hits me badly, a big portion of my savings gone...
    Member 7 of 100 to 10k - £100 to £10k = £149
  • 1500 USD is a huge amount of money. If you were categorically advised via phone that your proposal of ditching the outbound but using the return ticket was acceptable then I would hope that the calls may have been recorded and you can use that as proof (I would think you could track the date/time of calls from a phone bill?)
This discussion has been closed.

Quick links

Essential Money | Who & Where are you? | Work & Benefits | Household and travel | Shopping & Freebies | About MSE | The MoneySavers Arms | Covid-19 & Coronavirus Support