Flight refund

LoopyLouLou15

I no longer want this thread as I will wait for the reply from the airline. Thanks for your replies it means a lot :j

Torry_Quine

Do you have insurance and is this an existing condition and if it was was it declared.

Torry_Quine

LoopyLouLou15 wrote: »

I'm afraid we have no insurance and yes it was a pre existing condition, but the deterioration of it to the point of not being able to fly was unforeseeable. I don't know whether that would have any bearing on it. I can see why people get insurance as soon as they book, but like I said it was unforeseeable

Then your chance of getting money back is slim to none. You can only hope.

duchy

If it was a non flexible flight it would be entirely dependent on the goodwill of the airline -and most would expect you to have taken out insurance and covered the risk.

It isn't just pre-existing illnesses that can cause cancelation - anyone can be in a car accident or be diagnosed with a serious illness between booking and travelling. Not taking out insurance is pretty silly regardless.

Quite why you've started a poll is beyond me - It doesn't matter what people think (though I suspect most would think you knowingly took a risk and it didn't pay off and why should the airline pay for your mistake) it's a case of if the airline is prepared to go against the contract you agreed with them as a good will gesture or not.

Incidently all insurance is to cover the unforseeable .. whether it is holiday insurance, home insurance or life insurance !!!

You aren't "entitled" to anything - and the conditions of the fare should have been explained to you when you booked and you should have also been advised to take out insurance. If neither of these things were done it sounds like you booed somewhere very dodgy indeed.

Nick_C

duchy wrote: »

If it was a non flexible flight it would be entirely dependent on the goodwill of the airline ...

Precisely. And conversely if you bought a flexible ticket you can cancel and get a refund without penalty, or change the dates.

Most people buy tickets with restrictions because a fully flexible ticket will typically cost twice as much as the cheapest available ticket.

You get what you pay for.

So without knowing what sort of ticket you bought, no one can say. Read the T&Cs for your ticket type and the airline you bought it from.

duchy

Of course you don't like my words- I'm not telling you what you want to hear !!

Having worked as a travel agent for twenty years as well as a stint working for an insurance company repatriating holidaymakers I've much MORE experience of these matters than the majority of posters.

No-one can tell you exactly what will happen as you've not given enough detail.

Carrier -Most carriers will just say No to allowing a cancellation of a fixed flight ticket- a few (but without knowing which carrier it's impossible to say if yours is one of them) may allow you to change the date or offer credit for a future flight instead.

Destination you've not said but as you are so upset presumably it was a long haul flight so quite expensive.

Fare type - As explained above a flexible ticket to (say) New York can cost a couple of thousand pounds compared to a fixed fare costing a few hundred.
Some (not all) fixed fares will allow you to change the date for a couple of hundred pounds (so if the prognosis is good you could pay to rebook for say six months time rather than lose all the money)

What you've done is sadly all too common. Thinking that you'll definitely be able to go and nothing will change is a mistake many people make - and whether it is redundancy, illness, your house burning down things do happen which is why insurance is something that should never be left to sort out later. Insurance for travel costs the same whether you take it out six months before you go or six hours so there s no advantage in waiting to do it !

I understand you want someone to tell you it'll be alright and you'll get your money back - but honestly - its unikely. And sadly it's all too common.