Flight and Accommodation Cancellation

andyhaughton

I booked return flights from Manchester to Malta on the 1st June for departing today 15th July and returning 25th July for 2 passengers with Ryanair totalling £240.68

I also booked 7 nights’ accommodation in Malta (15-22 July) and 3 nights’ accommodation in Gozo (22-25 July) totalling £482.56 with Travel Republic

Due to personal circumstances I cannot travel. I tried to change my flights with Ryanair to flights from London Stansted to Frankfurt Hahn 4-7 November (my son lives in Germany and I visit him frequently, I was going to use these flights to see him for his birthday)

I accept they charge £40 each way per passenger for a flight change however for my amended flights I was quoted 67.99 outbound and 49.99 inbound per passenger. I checked and I could have made this booking separately and got the same flights for 16.99 each way

I initiated a webchat with a member of Ryanair Customer Service to query this, here is the transcript

Webchat with your customer service operator
Alex Hello Andrew Haughton. How may I help you?
Andrew Haughton hi i need to change my flights but when i choose them they are much higher than as if was to book them normally
Alex When did you make the booking?
Andrew Haughton1st June
Alex In this case the total cost of this change will be the sum of: 1.flight change fee and 2.fare difference.
Andrew Haughton well i can book a flight from London Stansted to Frankfurt Hahn in November for 16.99 each way but u want 67.99 if i change my flight so how is that fair
Alex4:55 pm that is the policy Andrew
Andrew Haughton what policy that u can hike the price of a flight that should be 16.99 to 67.99 plus charge me 40.00 for a flight change can i see that policy please Read
Alex has closed the chat.
Start the chat again

As you can see when I challenged them my chat was immediately closed down. I have raised a complaint with all supporting details regarding the prices of flights and the transcript. But I doubt I will get a response. Do you have any advice how I can take this further
Regarding the accommodation, will I be able to get a refund from Travel Republic, should I contact the hotels directly to see if they can offer me a refund or a voucher for future booking?
Thanks in advance
Andy

jpsartre

Try again and explain the situation nicely this time. It's seems clear that the agent didn't understand your question. That said, if it's only £16.99 to buy the flight you want why are trying to pay £40 by changing an existing booking?

elsien

What were the terms of the accommodation when booked - was there a cancellation clause or did you make a non-refundable booking?
Is the reason for cancellation covered by your travel insurance?

Caz3121

I expect that you have a Leisure Plus fare currently (with bag included) so expect they will move you to another Leisure Plus fare (the £16.99 fare would need to you pay for bag etc separately)
It still does not add up as fare for 2 for the Frankfurt flights would be £228 so that is less than you originally paid so I would expect change cost to be £160 (4 x £40) but this will depend on what you paid for each leg compared to the £57 per leg fare. (they do not give refund if the new fare is lower)
As is often the case with LCCs you are better off abandoning the flights you have currently booked and booking new flights for your Frankfurt trip
Hotel refund will depend on the T&Cs
Is the reason for cancellation covered by your travel insurance?

andyhaughton

Yes I could have been a bit more tactful, I just want to know why the lower price fares are not available when changing flight, its seems a classical example of price fixing. To be honest I would have left it and not bothered but the way my webchat was just ended really riled me

andyhaughton

its a personal situation, i wouldn't be covered by travel insurance

andyhaughton

I did not pay for any bags just standard cabin luggage, so I should be offered the same discounted flight to Hahn that I could book separately. I know it makes sense to just abandon and book the hahn flight again but if I can salvage just some of my money back I would be happy

Too many cases of Ryanair taking the p**s and getting away with it, If I could see the policy regarding the price changes from Ryanair explained then I would drop the matter

Caz3121

andyhaughton wrote: »

I know it makes sense to just abandon and book the hahn flight separately but I can salvage just some om my money back I would be happy

If your original ticket cost £60 and the new fare is £17 there is no fare difference to pay, so your choice is
buy a ticket for £17
change the existing ticket for £40
(they do not refund the difference if the new fare is lower than paid)
It will cost you more to change the ticket you have than purchase a new ticket. You may be able to salvage the APD of £13 each but it is possible an admin fee will wipe this out

jpsartre

andyhaughton wrote: »

but if I can salvage just some of my money back I would be happy

But you can't. Think about it: 2 new flights = 2 x £16.99 = £33.98. Two change fees = 2 x £40 = £80. You'd be paying them £45+ extra to change your existing flights rather than just buy new ones.

andyhaughton

Your incorrect, I paid £240.68

2 passenger
4 x 16.99 = 67.96
4 x 40.00 = 160.00
227.96

They'd owe me 12.04 after changing flights

andyhaughton

Price breakdown
Manchester to Malta

2 x Adult fares£ 135.98
Malta to Manchester

2 x Adult fares£ 99.98
Product summary
Payment Fee £ 4.72
Total paid £ 240.68