No credit, no refund no option to travel on dates to suit us

Sausmeister

Booked flights in February to fly out on September 27th. Flights cost £1300 for two via Ebookers.

Found out a month later that my mrs is pregnant and will be 35+ weeks gone !by September 27th so cannot use these flights.

In the terms and conditions it states that we can reschedule our travel dates so long as we use the flights within 12 months of initial departure, I.e. September 26th.

So as refund or credit note is not available we requested to change flights to sept 2013. They said no, nothing available. They said the same for august, July and June too. Therefore we have to use the flights by may 2012 at the very latest and this had to be organised before September 27th this year!!

I know they have made the contract very restrictive and are well covered against any possible claims but surely there is something I can do........ !As they are not making any flights available to us beyond 8 months after booking surely they are breaching something. They clearly state a 12 month window in which we can use the ticket but the reality is nothing of the sort.
I have written to the agent, spoken to credit card company, spoken to trading standards all have said tough I have to fly before may or lose my money!!!!!!!!!!

Any sensible suggestions advice would be appreciated. Any lectures on why we should have taken travel insurance before booking our flights would not be.
Thankyou

Sausmeister

Just read an error in my post, we requested to fly in September 2012 not 2013. We simply want to our baby to be as old as possible before taking it to a tropical country. Any date in September 2012 or august would be ok and still falls within the 12 month limit for using the flights. It's a perfectly reasonable request given the terms we are bound by. Offering us zero options in the last four months of that period is not reasonable but it seems we are helpless and set to lose a rake of money for nothing!

Stageshoot

I think you find its not a case of no availability just that flights can normally only be booked 355 days ahead,

So may just be a case of computer says no, and as we move into July.Aug. Sept 2011 dates for Jul,Aug,Sept 2012 will open up automatically on the system

I think the operator you spoke to just did not recognise the problem and maybe a call to a supervisor will confirm the above.

gordikin

You could make enquiries anonymously about flight availablity and see what transpires? What about your insurance?

peachyprice

Just claim on your travel insurance, they will cover you for this.

EDIT: Sorry I've just seen you don't have any

LisaB1970

Is there a reason you want your baby to be as old as possible? If its because its a tropical country and its immunity your worried about then as long as you are all adequately protected your baby will be fine. I took my 2.5 month old daughter to Brunei for 3 weeks a few years back.......she's now 11! If you can't change, then don't worry about taking the little one :-)

vikingaero

As Vicky says it's probably due to non-availability - a lot of airlines simply don't post up schedules that far ahead. For instance go onto the BA website to book LHR to Bangkok and the schedule only goes up to June 2012.

Sausmeister

There are lots of factors. Availability of leave at work, rescheduling of our wedding and time to save up whilest my oh is on maternity pay. But yes am very worried about taking small baby to a tiny island in the phillipines. Am interested to hear about others taking a baby to remote places but remain very concerned over my own baby. The baby is our first and very unexpected unplanned as doctors had said was very unlikely. I know nothing about baby welfare but do l know that heat, mosquitoes and foreign water can make adults unwell so if we are to now travel with a baby, I'd prefer him/her to be as old as possible. But am restricted by flight availability.
I can see from searches that flights are only scheduled a limited time in advance, but that is why we feel hard done by. The ticket says we can travel up to a year later, but the flight schedules are dictating otherwise. I have written and called and persisted so much, but so far it has got us no where. The agent and airline are rigidly hiding behind the contract. Any decent person would allow us the flexibility we require we are happy to pay whatever upgrade cost they ask. But the airline refuse to talk and the agent say the airline decision is final.
Currently we must decide between cancellation and loss of money we will find painful to replace. Or rebooking for June and hoping our employers allow us to travel then and that we ate confident enough to take our baby to such a remote and unfamiliar environment.

mountainofdebt

Leave baby at home with doting grandparents?

LisaB1970

As long as your baby is adequately protected, he/she will be fine. We went trekking through the jungle in Sarawak (Borneo in case you were wondering!) with my little one! If anything the flight was the worst! As long as immunisations are up to date and you use your common sense regarding heat and sun protection there shouldn't be any problems.
However this is your first....your bound to be all worried!
Hope it all works out for you whatever you decide to do :-)

wealdroam

OP, have you not noticed what others have said?

There simply aren't flights scheduled that far in advance on your route.

Look again in another two to three months.
You will almost certainly find flights then.