should I try a chargeback?

yz324

Hi first post here, apologies if this post should not belong to this forum.

Situation:

3 months ago, my girlfriend bought a return flight tickets to China. On the return trip, she missed her flight...

she arrived exactly 30 minutes before the flight was bound to depart - she has a parking receipt from the airport to prove.

The check-in only just closed then. At the airport, someone else faced the same situation. She was also refused entry even though she had no luggage rather than just a hand luggage. The thing is, having only twice before, she was unaware that she had to get there 30 minutes on the flight. There was no indication in any of the emails received from the travel agent Omega, who she bought the ticket from, about how long before the flight she needed to arrive at the airport (we have checked all the emails/tickets we got) She was not avaible to change flight because the ticket was a special offer.

The travel agency, Omega travel refunded her £0, because it was a discount flight.
We went to the Lloyds TSB and asked them if they could help us to recoup some of the costs. The women working there seemed to more keen to tell us from her experience that one should get to the airport at least an hour before the take off time, rather than helping us.

I have only just read the article regarding charge backs. it is still within 120 days since she missed her flight. Do people think it is worth a try?

Thank you

EDIT: to add, as far as I am aware, if nothing else, the travel agent should refund the fuel tax and various other taxes as she did not fly. can we at least get that back?

jonesMUFCforever

You are wasting your time. I can't believe anybody does not know you need to be at an airport early for your flight.
As for the tax etc again I think you will struggle - the flight was there for you - she was late - the airline could not sell that seat to anyone else so why should be refunded?

yz324

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

You are wasting your time. I can't believe anybody does not know you need to be at an airport early for your flight.

yeah I thought the same thing... but she only flew once before ever...

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

As for the tax etc again I think you will struggle - the flight was there for you - she was late - the airline could not sell that seat to anyone else so why should be refunded?

Not sure I agree with this. taxes are paid by people who flew. As she did not fly, she is not liable for this. As the airline company did not need to pay this to the authority, why should she pay?

jonesMUFCforever

I bet there will be an administration fee which by coincidence will be the same as the tax!

yz324

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

I bet there will be an administration fee which by coincidence will be the same as the tax!

Fair point, unless there is a law saying they can't charge that kind of administration fee...

I thought it was a pretty hopeless case. It was plain stupidity the manner she missed it. I still cannot understand how she can think the airline company is partially responsible.

InsideInsurance

Remember that chargeback is a fairly blunt tool. Even if you do get the money back, as many businesses dont bother defending chargebacks, it doesnt change the fact of if you owe the money or not.

You will find several posts on here of people saying they've done a chargeback and gotten their money but then shortly after had a solicitors letter arrive demanding payment of the original sum plus legal costs with the threat of a CCJ if it isnt paid within 7 days

pvt

yz324 wrote: »

she arrived exactly 30 minutes before the flight was bound to depart - she has a parking receipt from the airport to prove.

How does that provide evidence of when she turned up at the check-in desk?

If she has a good reason for being late then I presume her travel insurance would meet her losses?

I'm surprised an airline would allow check-in up to 30 mins prior to departure of an international flight - sounds very reasonable to me. The departure time is the time the aircraft is meant to take off, not the time it is meant to start boarding.

As for rebate of the "tax", it is usually listed as taxes and charges, the recoverable statutory taxes will be a minimal part of it.

Total waste of her time and effort trying to recover anything. She should learn from her mistakes and move on.

chattychappy

I fly alot, mostly long haul. I have never been told it is OK to turn up 30 mins before a flight. I have "top frequent flyer status" with the airline I use most. One hour to 3 hours is the usual recommendation. Even in business class with access to fast track etc., I've been told I'm "cutting it fine" when I've checked in 45mins before departure. Sometimes the check-in staff from LHR T3 have phoned to see if I'm coming when they haven't seen me an hour out - I use flexible tickets, so they want to know if I'm coming at all. The closest I've cut it is 35mins for a LHR departure for Taiwan. The check-in had closed but the supervisor recognised me. They re-opened the desk and got a buggy. The aircraft door closed behind me and we pushed back. I did tell her it was OK for me to fly the next day. I was in business class and the only top level frequent flyer on the flight. Normally I check-in an hour before the flight if I'm in business class/have frequent flyer status, else 90 mins unless otherwise advised.

SO why all these stories? Because it is just custom and practice. 30 mins is just too late to arrive at check-in for an international flight. In the absence of a specific instruction your gf wasn't entitled to assume 30 mins would be OK. What about 20 mins? What about 5 mins?

She should have checked, not assumed. Travel tickets are always sold subject to conditions - you accept this when you buy the ticket even if you haven't seen them. Any chargeback would be prone to reversal or a direct claim.

Tax
This is not a tax on your girlfriend for flying. It is a tax on airlines for carrying pax. Even if separately itemised, it is not part of a separate contract. Just because the airline doesn't have to pay the tax doesn't entitle your gf to recover. This is the same for any other part of their cost structure - eg the fuel that wasn't loaded because her luggage wasn't loaded.

Some airlines do have a policy of refunding taxes for unflown sectors. But it's alot of hassle for agents to process. So some agents charge for this - you need to check. If it was a Chinese airline, it could be tricky. Many passengers even struggle to get refunds on refundable tickets.

One more thing, UK taxes are amongst the highest in the world. Countries tax outbound sectors only. I expect the vast majority of the tax on the ticket was outbound from the UK. The Chinese element on the return sector could be quite small.

rs65

yz324 wrote: »

There was no indication in any of the emails received from the travel agent Omega, who she bought the ticket from, about how long before the flight she needed to arrive at the airport (we have checked all the emails/tickets we got)

From their website

b) The recommended check-in time is 3 hours prior to departure.

meer53

Does your girlfriend have no common sense at all ? What would she think would happen if all the people on her flight turned up 30 minutes before it was due to leave ?

Hominu

yz324 wrote: »

3 months ago, my girlfriend bought a return flight tickets to China. On the return trip, she missed her flight...

she arrived exactly 30 minutes before the flight was bound to depart - she has a parking receipt from the airport to prove.

What was the reason for this? If she just left it 30 minutes before departure then she is very silly for doing so. Checking in, passing security and then calculating fuel usage in 30 minutes I would have thought would be almost impossible. I'd aim to make sure I was there with at least 2 hours to spare. If it was an early morning flight, then 3 - 4 hours to give me time to have breakfast. My last holiday flight I was there a good 4 hours before departure, thinking it was nothing compared to heavy trafffic causing me to be late.

Basically, you've not got a chance - it was her fault and not the airlines.

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

As for the tax etc again I think you will struggle - the flight was there for you - she was late - the airline could not sell that seat to anyone else so why should be refunded?

Chances are they DID sell that seat to someone else. Depending on the airline, you can sometimes get cheap tickets which don't guarantee a seat, but if you have no luggage and someone doesn't turn up, you can take there seat. Last time I did that I got a bargain. I believe that was about 30 minutes prior to departure as well, but you had to be past security well before that.