Can a flight purchased with a credit card be cancelled and refunded?

geordieFatBloke

Hi,

I bought plane tickets yesterday and something has come up which means I'd like to cancel the tickets if possible, but the site says they are non-refundable. However, I bought them with my credit card, and I recall reading that with credit card purchases you often have additional rights. Does anyone know if they apply to this problem? The flights aren't until Dec so its not as if the airline won't have a chance to sell them on ...

Many thanks in advance for any assistance!

Cheers
Paul

[Deleted User]

No. The airline hasn't failed to deliver on your purchase. You'll need to take the hit if they're non refundable.

lisyloo

No statutory rights I'm afraid.
If you had travel insurance in place and whatever has "come up" (like sickness) is covered then you should be able to claim back from your insurance although there may be an excess.

geordieFatBloke

Fair enough, thanks for the responses, I suspected that was the case. It was my wife who made the booking but what "came up" was the ridiculous additonal charges (flybe for those who would care to know) which have still got me infuriated today (e.g. both "transaction charge" and "credit card" charged 4x as it was four flights, even though it was only one transaction), so I was tempted to take my business elsewhere even if it cost me more money. Ah well ... I'll know better for next time.

Thanks again,
Paul

chattychappy

Not applicable here, but for completeness for anyone else searching and finding this thread...

For "normal" airlines:

1) Do check ticket conditions with the airline or the printed fare rules. Many tickets are refundable (perhaps for a fee) or can be changed to another date. Some travel agents will wrongly tell you a ticket is non-refundable because they don't want to be bothered with the admin involved (for which they might also charge).

2) Some airlines have a policy of allowing free changes on compassionate or sickness grounds. It is worth asking if you have a serious reason not to fly. This could prove easier than making an insurance claim.

3) If all else fails, try phoning the airline on the day of travel or the day before. If the flight is overbooked they might be happy to change the date. This could save them the cost/hassle of denying boarding to someone, having to upgrade somoene or it could allow them to take someone on a higher revenue ticket. Of course, if you "no show" then they've had the benefit of not having to fly you as well as having someone else in your seat. So they must think that you do intend to fly if they don't make the change. NB this is a "long shot" - as a policy airlines don't want to unwind restrictions. The best way to achieve it is to arrive at check-in and mention it there. Hardly convenient!

SecLender

I booked a flight once through expedia that was non-refundable according to the T&Cs.

I needed to cancel it so I called up expedia and they let me cancel it for £100 fee. So it's worth calling whoever you bought them from up and asking.

Ben8282

geordieFatBloke wrote: »

Fair enough, thanks for the responses, I suspected that was the case. It was my wife who made the booking but what "came up" was the ridiculous additonal charges (flybe for those who would care to know) which have still got me infuriated today (e.g. both "transaction charge" and "credit card" charged 4x as it was four flights, even though it was only one transaction), so I was tempted to take my business elsewhere even if it cost me more money. Ah well ... I'll know better for next time.

Thanks again,
Paul

Although these charges may have been hidden at first you would have become aware of them before you finished your booking and paid. They therefore didn't 'come up' AFTER you entered your credit card details.

The refundability etc of a ticket depends on the fare conditions and has nothing to do with the form of payment.

lisyloo

you would have become aware of them before you finished your booking and paid.

Yes, your wife would have been aware of the cost.
I'm afraid the bottom line here is that you don't like what you wife has agreed to and I'm afraid there are no statutory rights in that case :-)

geordieFatBloke

Hi,

"Came up" was the wrong expression, you are absolutely right, I saw the charges at the time (although they were added in a trickle effect and not stated up front, initial quote was £160 and by the time we got to the end it was £230!) and accepted them. However today I noticed that we could have flown with someone else (this was not apparent last night) and as I was still infuriated I wondered if I could do anything about it. But I entirely accept that it was my own fault in the first place.

Cheers
Paul

Venusflytrap

It can be annoying when a carrier 'lures you in' with a "special price" but by the end of your booking the fare's upped.

Same happened when I booked with a local airline to Geneva few days ago, the return fare was the cheapest I found but when it came to paying, there was an additional £4.50 CC fee/pp (£9.00 for my husband and I). I have to say though that it was clear to see before booking confirmation so I cannot complain... just moaning a bit .

geordieFatBloke

It is annoying, and its also annoying when any reasonable person would consider it unfair practice to charge something x4 because its four flights rather than consider it as one single transaction. Flybe also have a special "fuel surcharge" which they've just brought in, its "fair" because it will not be charged if the price of Brent Crude is under $75 for a period of 28 consecutive days ... I'm no commodities expert but as far as I can tell this hasn't happened anytime in the last three years .. but thanks Flybe for the effort