Flight cancellation 5 months before travel

perc

Hello

In December 2014 I booked flights through GoToGate to Alicante for August 2015. I received a confirmation booking reference and these were registered on the British Airways website.

Today I checked our booking and to my horror have discovered that the return flight has been cancelled. I had received no notice of this cancellation.

I called BA up and they said an email had gone out which they could not resend to me. They told me that they could not help me as I had booked through a travel agent and I must go through the travel agent. He would not let me speak with a manager or tell me his managers name.

Unfortunately my travel agent is closed until Tuesday and now we are worried that the flights are going to cost us a massive amount more as alternatives have now gone up by over £1000 for my family and we cannot afford this.

Am I entitled to free alternatives of my choice? Do I have to have what they offer even though the times are inconvenient (very early in the morning)? Do I have to go through the travel agent as the airline has cancelled the flight and surely should be responsible for offering an alternative?

When I searched for this information all I could find is information on compensation for short notice cancellations and this is not relevant.

Many thanks for any help you may be able to give.

Steve

Archergirl

Sorry but another reason to book dierct with the airline, why did you use Gate2Gate?
You will have to wait until they open and speak to them.
I wonder why you didn't get the email, would it have gone to the agent perhaps?

perc

Archergirl wrote: »

Sorry but another reason to book dierct with the airline, why did you use Gate2Gate?
You will have to wait until they open and speak to them.
I wonder why you didn't get the email, would it have gone to the agent perhaps?

Thank you for the reply. I booked through G2G as they were considerably cheaper for the flights then going direct as our finances are very tight.

Archergirl

But it sometimes works out more expensive as you may be about to find out.
I hope you can get it sorted out though. good luck.

photome

AFAIK yes you have to through the agent (always better to book direct), you may well find they have booked you on an alternative, you may be able to sort a better alternative with the agent or you could cancel for a refund

Caz3121

BA will have advised G2G of the cancellation and it is down to them to notify you and confirm whether the alternative offered is acceptable. As this is a cancelled flight you would get a choice of rerouting or refund.
Have a look on the BA website for suitable alternatives then call G2G and tell them that the current alternative (I assume you can see this in MMB) is not acceptable (hope they have not confirmed this flight on your behalf!) and you wish to travel on flight BAxxx instead, GTG will then need to contact BA and ask them to move your flight
I have had cancelled flight with BA a few times (always a possibility when you book so far out) and they have been great at moving flights, dates and even airports. However I have always booked direct and been able to deal with them direct whereas you will have to do everything through G2G