Cancelled return flight refunds

Iammojojojo

Hello.

I booked a round trip flight from USA to UK and ended up cancelling the return flight (not for medical reasons or anything).

Unfortunately as I had to book short notice the only way I could afford to do it was by getting a discount deal with justfly.com I would never normally do this but the cost was half the price.

I contacted Just Fly after arriving in the UK and realising I was not going to be able to return on my booked flight. They told me I could rebook within a year, subject to a $100 change fee and any fare difference. Seemed OK.

I called up today to book my flight and was told to contact the airline (Finnair) directly. Spoke to Finnair (who were great actually) but explained that the contract is with the Travel Agent (Just Fly) and only they could make the change. She put a reminder on their shared system of the phone number for them to call and the procedure and her name if they were unsure.

I called Just Fly back and explained. This time I gave them my new travel date and they then said 'we don't have a price yet from the airline. Call back in 24 hours'. I didn't know what on earth he was talking about and he couldn't explain so I asked to speak to a supervisor. An hour and 10 minutes later I finally got through to the supervisor (I have basically been on the phone all afternoon as that was the 3rd call).

The supervisor then said they would change it as long as I agreed to pay $400 up front! I said no of course as not only was this $300 more than they quoted previously but also he said that the fare difference would be so high on top of that that it would be nearly $2000. He also said there would be no credit applied for my unused return flight.

They said that is how much Finnair charge them. I asked them to make the phone call to the agent at Finnair and they refused. They also refused to send me any evidence of these mysterious charges from Finnair and a breakdown of the fare difference.

I saw a flight on Finnair for $1010 so even if they recredited me the unused portion of my flight (half would be $500 or even if they just refunded me the approx $200 in taxes for that leg) and the flight difference and the change fee it would still be a good chunk smaller than buying a whole new flight.

I asked them to refund as a minimum my airline taxes and airport taxes for the journey but they refused. Is that legal?

I asked them for a breakdown of the fare, including taxes etc for each leg and they have said that they will (I don't quite believe them though). I also asked them for evidence of the costs from Finnair but they refused to provide me with that.

I asked about their complaints procedure and registered address as the BBB in the states says they have registered offices in Canada but can't be verified.
The complaints email address (verifications@justfly.com) bounced back. I did send something to their info@address which hasn't bounced back.

I spoke to a colleague and they used an agency called Go to Gate foolishly once but they DID get the taxes back. They had to pay a processing fee but still got a few hundred.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Also if anyone knows where I can get cheaper tickets, that would be great. I used to only pay £500 for return journeys if I booked a month in advance and now (even excluding the increase due to the exchange rate) flights have gone up by over 40% to the US. I've tried all the usual comparison sites and looked at ticket splitting but had no joy.

Caz3121

there is information on their website re changes
http://www.justfly.com/help/faq/I-want-to-change-my-reservation
looks like $150 for the agency charge and looking at Finnair flights there will be a change fee, a reissue fee and a fare difference to pay
The cheapest tickets are non-refundable and the refundable taxes are likely to be far less than $200 and I expect that would be eaten up by your agents admin fees
You can look at a tax breakdown on ITAMatrix...usually only APD is refunded (£73 for long haul flight - and there is no legal requirement for this to be given)

You don't mention where in the US you need to travel to...Norwegian tend to offer cheap one-way flights from Gatwick to a few US destinations. For many other carriers one-way flights can cost 3-4 times the amount of a return ticket. Using a return ticket for a one-way journey tends to be referred to as "throwaway ticketing" and is disliked by the airlines (usually better just to keep quiet about doing it)

budgetflyer

Agree with Caz. 1 way fares can be 3 times the price.
Do a broad search on skyscanner. UK to USA. Take cheapest to Anywhere in USA and then low cost flight to final destination with likes of Southwest etc

jpsartre

Iammojojojo wrote: »

I contacted Just Fly after arriving in the UK and realising I was not going to be able to return on my booked flight.

Why didn't you just no-show? You probably had a non-refundable ticket and the money for your unused portion is lost. No point wasting any more time on it with the agent, just make your own arrangements to get back.

Iammojojojo

Hi everyone. . Disappointed to hear I won't be entitled to any money back, even the taxes but thank you for setting me straight.

Unfortunately I have to buy a single ticket for visa purposes as I am emigrating, which is annoying as the tickets are so much more expensive, that's why I thought changing it may still be more cost effective even with all the admin fees. Ah well.

I'm flying to Norfolk, VA. I live in West Wales so London airports aren't going to be ideal for me as I have 2 giant suitcases and the train is going to cost me a fortune plus requiring an overnight stay (as it's about a 7 hour journey to Gatwick) so the savings of going from London usually aren't enough to bother.
However if it's several hundreds of pounds then I will battle with the cases and I'll give Norwegian a go.

Thanks again.

jpsartre

Check out Aer Lingus and Air Berlin as well, they also tend to do cheaper one-way fares. Be aware that while many 3rd party site might appear to offer a great deal on a one-way fare compared to the airlines this is only due to them selling you a return ticket masquerading as a one-way fare (they expect you to throw away the inbound portion).

Voyager2002

Iammojojojo wrote: »

Unfortunately I have to buy a single ticket for visa purposes as I am emigrating, which is annoying as the tickets are so much more expensive, that's why I thought changing it may still be more cost effective even with all the admin fees. Ah well.

That sounds unlikely, so check it out. You might find something useful on https://www.ImmigrationBoards.com

Iammojojojo wrote: »

I'm flying to Norfolk, VA. I live in West Wales so London airports aren't going to be ideal for me as I have 2 giant suitcases and the train is going to cost me a fortune plus requiring an overnight stay (as it's about a 7 hour journey to Gatwick) so the savings of going from London usually aren't enough to bother.
However if it's several hundreds of pounds then I will battle with the cases and I'll give Norwegian a go.

If you have the stamina for a long journey then consider National Express: you could take an overnight coach to Gatwick and arrive in good time for your flight and thus save on the hotel.

You say West Wales, but your transport options would be completely different if you lived near to Swansea as opposed to the Aber area.

Gleeful

Just buy a return ticket and not use the return portion, or use the return section to come back for Christmas or something

Voyager2002

Gleeful wrote: »

Just buy a return ticket and not use the return portion, or use the return section to come back for Christmas or something

That sounds sensible, but the OP said that doing so would make his visa invalid!