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Cancelling a Flight

Can anyone advise on rights to cancelling or transferring a flight which I cannot go on?

It's end of August, which is many months away and the airline and agency are saying that they cannot refund or transfer the flight.

On the basis that there is more time to sell the seat to someone else, there must be a way?

The airline is TAM and the agency is Tripsta.

Any advise would be helpful.

Thanks

Kerry
«13

Comments

  • Can anyone advise on rights to cancelling or transferring a flight which I cannot go on?

    It's end of August, which is many months away and the airline and agency are saying that they cannot refund or transfer the flight.

    On the basis that there is more time to sell the seat to someone else, there must be a way?

    The airline is TAM and the agency is Tripsta.

    Any advise would be helpful.

    Thanks

    Kerry
    Depends what kind of ticket you have. Cheaper ones tend to be non-refundable, except for taxes.
    Are you for real? - Glass Half Empty??
    :coffee:
  • pem
    pem Posts: 122 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10 Posts
    edited 20 March 2015 at 11:50AM
    If you bought and paid for a non changeable or non refundable seat you will have to bite the bullet.

    I would not cancel because you will probably not get any refund of airline taxes as they would be absorbed by the "administration charges"

    Its your paid for seat at the moment and you do not have to notify them you will not be flying

    Cancelling would give them 5 months to resell your seat and keep the full amount themselves.
  • Thanks for your responses.

    So there's no room for me to do anything else apart from to bite the bullet?

    Is it worth me contacting them as to whether I could get a refund on the taxes if I was to cancel?

    A few hundred is better than losing all of my flight money.

    Thanks

    Kerry
  • littlereddevil
    littlereddevil Posts: 4,752 Forumite
    If the taxes are a few hundred then it is worth claiming them back as you say.
    travelover
  • callum9999
    callum9999 Posts: 4,443 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Thanks for your responses.

    So there's no room for me to do anything else apart from to bite the bullet?

    Is it worth me contacting them as to whether I could get a refund on the taxes if I was to cancel?

    A few hundred is better than losing all of my flight money.

    Thanks

    Kerry

    Yes it is worth asking for the taxes back. You don't have an assigned seat on the plane yet so even if you don't cancel they can effectively sell your seat - making that suggestion pointless.

    Depending on how many people you booked for, you won't get hundreds back - more like £50 max depending on the admin fees.
  • jackieblack
    jackieblack Posts: 10,666 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Depending on the reason that you cannot travel, travel insurance might cover this
    Everything will be alright in the end so, if it’s not yet alright, it means it’s not yet the end
    Quidquid Latine dictum sit altum videtur
  • Caz3121
    Caz3121 Posts: 15,917 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    A few hundred is better than losing all of my flight money.

    don't confuse "taxes and fees" with refundable taxes
    The biggest % of the taxes and fees will likely be the YQ/airline surcharge/fuel surcharge which could make up to 80% of the taxes and fees and is non refundable
    If you put your route through ITAMatrix you will get a breakdown of the taxes eg LHR-RIO in economy shows £258 of YQ which will not be refundable. The £71 APD should be but TAM may well charge an admin fee
    TAM do sell different fare types; Access, Flex, Plus and Premium Business Plus - the first 2 are non-refundable and the latter 2 (more expensive) are refundable
  • Blue264
    Blue264 Posts: 1,570 Forumite
    edited 20 March 2015 at 8:27PM
    pem wrote: »
    Its your paid for seat at the moment and you do not have to notify them you will not be flying

    Cancelling would give them 5 months to resell your seat and keep the full amount themselves.
    Please don't follow this piece of advice. TAM are not a low cost carrier and, as such, would probably charge you for a 'no show'. This can often be a few hundred pounds with some airlines.

    Please read the T&C of your ticket carefully. If you have a full set of the fare rules, check paragraphs 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 15 - 16. Paragraph 16 is the most important, but there can be other restrictions on your ticket in the other paragraphs such as advance purchase and minimum stay rules.
  • jpsartre
    jpsartre Posts: 4,093 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Blue264 wrote: »
    Please don't follow this piece of advice. TAM are not a low cost carrier and, as such, would probably charge you for a 'no show'. This can often be a few hundred pounds with some airlines.

    I've never heard of any airline charging such a fee.
  • photome
    photome Posts: 16,752 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Bake Off Boss!
    Blue264 wrote: »
    Please don't follow this piece of advice. TAM are not a low cost carrier and, as such, would probably charge you for a 'no show'. This can often be a few hundred pounds with some airlines.

    Please read the T&C of your ticket carefully. If you have a full set of the fare rules, check paragraphs 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 15 - 16. Paragraph 16 is the most important, but there can be other restrictions on your ticket in the other paragraphs such as advance purchase and minimum stay rules.

    which airlines charge a no show fee ?
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