Canadian Affair, flight time changes - warning

Discogod

You'll have to excuse my extremely long rant here, i'm not best pleased, sorry if i've wasted anybody's time with this post, i'm just needing to share my experience here.

I booked with Canadian Affair several months ago to travel from Gatwick to Montreal at the end of may & then Return from Toronto to Gatwick partway through june. I received a letter today from them saying my flight times have changed as follows:

(all times local times)
Gatwick> Montreal
Depart Arrive
OLD: 13:30 15:40
NEW: 15:15 17:40

Toronto>Gatwick
OLD: 17:00 06:00
New: 15:45 05:00

I have also already booked my bus tickets using national express - funfares between Nottingham (where i live) and London, and a return ticket between London & Gatwick. times as follows:

Nottingham > London
06:10 09:20

London > Gatwick
10:00 11:20

Gatwick > London
07:15 08:20

London > Nottingham
08:30 11:30

Funfares for National express on non refundable. I have checked already tonight & the cheapest they have available is £8 per ticket to London (i booked when £2), or you pay the full price of around £10 per ticket at a more convenient time.

The return ticket between London & Gatwick are changable for £2 if i wish, that's not bad. The problem is, the 08:30 bus back to Nottingham is the earliest bus back so there's no point changing that part of the journey from Gatwick to London. Equally, there's no point changing the first part because of the extra cost involved in travelling down to London.

So, national express were next to useless. I then called Canadian Affair.... the lady there said the T&C's of the tickets were that the flights could change at any time, i said i understood that but what about the bus tickets i've already bought & the fact i'd have to wait for 3 hours now, couldn't you help towards the extra cost of changing my tickets? SHe said no... the T&C's state the flights could change at any time & they often do (apparently, usual garbage).

So, i'm just annoyed, if i'd known ages ago about these new flight times, then i could of made cheap travel plans for the same cost as what i've got now - but because of Canadian Affair it means a lengthy wait for my transfers & connections. Neitehr company were ready to help me with my situation. I'm not a happy bunny. this is just a warning to others really, something that could happen to anybody. So, watch out.

pin

Hate to say it, but did you read the T&C's before you committed? I'm guessing Canadian Affair is a charter company? It is common for them to change their flight times, especially when you book so far in advance.

Also why should National Express help you, especially if the tickets you bought were very cheap and non-refundable (knowing this was the case when you bought them)? You could just suck up the extra £8 (or £10) and pay up.

Personally I don't think either National Express or Canadian Affair have done anything that is dubious. The terms are there for you to read before you commit. In any case the flight changes are not that bad, less than a couple hours either way.

Finishrich

Can your travel insurance help?

Discogod

we all like a good winge pin, this post was mainly an outlet for me to vent some steam & to warn others. I just hate the thought of being inconveienced especially when i was organised in booking early enough to get good deals only to find they weren't as peachy as i was expecting.

Travel insurance pays up for every full 12 hours of delay.... i didn't see anything else there that suggests anything along these lines. (i've got the free alliance & leicester insurance.

MarkyMarkD

I can't see your problem, honestly. Your outward flight is leaving a bit later, and the return flight arrives back a bit earlier. So none of your pre-booked coach travel is wasted.

In any case, your original coach times were unbelievably risky! You really thought it was OK to book a coach which arrives at the airport only 2 hours and 10 minutes before take-off, after allowing only 40 minutes for a connection in London???

I think that's rash in the extreme - the chances of one or other coach being delayed and the connections being missed are fairly great.

And then on the way back, you have only 1 hr 15 between the plane arriving back and the coach leaving - with all the hassle of retrieving luggage and going through customs and passport control - and then only TEN MINUTES for your connection in London.

Honestly, your original plans were batty.

Discogod

I understand your point & from my point of view it's like this...

all travel is on a sunday which is less busy & obviously less likely for traffic jams (obviously no-one can ever account for accidents/appaling weather conditions). I've been on several NE trips to london & all have been on time/early, maybe i've been lucky but that's my experience. I think 40 mins is ample time to be honest, but we'll see.

returning, i know the 10 mins is risky, have always done. It was either that or book the bus an hour later. I'm sure as long as there is room on the bus that NE will accomodate us - put it this way, if they can't deliver a service (on time busses) then surely it's their fault i miss the connection? Sure there's accidents which i wouldn't blame them for, but the time expected for a coach trip given by NE should surely take into consideration the amount of traffic usually present at the given time. I'm happy to wait the extra hour if we miss it, if we get there on time - after a long flight, i just wanna get home as quick as i can & so that's why i booked the 10 minute one.

nelly_2

Discogod wrote:

- after a long flight, i just wanna get home as quick as i can & so that's why i booked the 10 minute one.

Im with you on that theres nowt worse than being messed about coming home, its worse than on the way out imo.

You just want to get home have a brew with your own kettle and sit on your own setee and say that was a great holiday, where to next year

gobbyash

I'm with MarkyMarkD on this one. It would appear that the flight time changes (if there has to be any) are the right way for you.

Imagine if they had changed to fly out earlier on the outward leg and later on the inbound flight.......then you would have had a gripe.

Take a chill pill and enjoy your holiday, you sound like someone that has done their research to get the best deal so you will know that you have probably saved several hundreds of pound rather than flying with another airline.

PS I fly with Canadian Affair for the first time in less than 3 weeks (Man/Gat, Gat/Van)....can't wait

gobbyash

cleopatra_2

No need to book National Express so far in advance. I always do that just a week or 2 before I fly. If it's any consolation you can wait for your baggage for anything up to an hour. It's getting longer every time.

MarkyMarkD

Exactly why my 40 minute comment. We have never got our luggage back at Gatwick in less than 30 minutes.

I am interested to find out from someone who knows, rather than suspects/hopes, what National Express's view on missing the coach due to a connection is. I have certainly been charged HUGE amounts extra by Midland Mainline for missing trains and catching the next one, although in that case it wasn't due to a mainline rail delay.

WiseInvestor_2

Travellers can either book package deals where connections are the responsibility of the tour operator or have water-tight Travel Insurance when booking individual itineraries. No company (bus, train, plane) is obliged to re-book you for missing their on-time service because your planning was inadequate.

It's long been accepted that package deals are usually more expensive so a bit of Travel DIY can save a fortune. Perhaps some of that saving should be put into a more comprehensive Insurance plan in case things go wrong?

It sounds to me as though Canadian Affair have done you a favour. Good Luck