Return Flight cancelled

abz4ever

Hi

Few months ago I had a flight from London Gatwick to Bangkok Thailand but missed my outbound due to the train breaking down. Got the airport customer service desk for Qatar and the lady without mentioning took us off the flight (apparently without doing that she cannot give us new tickets) We managed to find a cheaper ticket with a different airline which was a 1 way and the return back with Qatar 2 weeks lady however that wasn't possible.

The lady said as we missed our outbound, the inbound was cancelled even though it was 2 weeks away and in the end I had to purchase 4 tickets at full value (£2000+) and ended up paying for the same seat on the same plane twice.

Surely that's unfair as I was happy to pay for the outbound but inbound was my seat and to re sell it to the same customer is just robbery. The resolver site we came to no agreement so now I have emailed the CAA who have not responded yet.

Do I have a claim? Thought about taking it to small claims court but wasn't sure If I have a leg to stand on.

shaun_from_Africa

What happened to you is standard practice with just about every airline that sells return tickets. (I mentioned return tickets as some budget airlines issue two, one way tickets).

If you fail to travel on one sector, all subsequent sectors will be cancelled and this will be stated in the T&C's that you agreed to when booking the ticket.

Did you have any travel insurance? If so then this should pay for the loss as the missed flight was due to a failure of public transport, something that is usually covered.

fifeken

I agree the airline have done exactly what I would have expected, however just last week this issue was one of the subjects on a consumer program on BBC1 (the morning one with Angela Rippon, Gloria Hunniford and Julia Somerville?). I think the couple there got their money back, but probably a goodwill gesture and influenced by the potential adverse publicity, but it may give you ideas to help you. There was also a recent case where Iberia lost a similar claim, which won't set a precedent but might offer clues on how to put your case.

On second thoughts, it's Qatar and they'll probably just ignore you anyway so maybe just put it behind you.

Westin

Did you tell the lady at the Qatar ticket desk of your intentions of booking another flight out to Bangkok with another airline?

The reply from Shaun of Africa is correct and standard process if you miss the original flight. Subsequent legs are cancelled automatically.

I believe in most cases if a genuine missed flight the original airline can hold as booked other segments of the reservation but it needs manual intervention to override an otherwise automatic system process. If you no-show or miss a flight the system automatically can cancel the whole reservation. It can be overridden but of course someone (the agent at LGW) needs to be aware of your plans so it can be done. If you told the agent that you bought another ticket out to BKK and asked if the return flight can be protected and this was not done then possibly you may have some ground to complain about the issue. If however you went off and bought another flight to BKK and didn’t tell Qatar/LGW agent, then I don’t think you will have any recourse to recover your extra costs back from BKK.

EveryWhere

Westin wrote: »

Did you tell the lady at the Qatar ticket desk of your intentions of booking another flight out to Bangkok with another airline?

The reply from Shaun of Africa is correct and standard process if you miss the original flight. Subsequent legs are cancelled automatically.

I believe in most cases if a genuine missed flight the original airline can hold as booked other segments of the reservation but it needs manual intervention to override an otherwise automatic system process. If you no-show or miss a flight the system automatically can cancel the whole reservation. It can be overridden but of course someone (the agent at LGW) needs to be aware of your plans so it can be done. If you told the agent that you bought another ticket out to BKK and asked if the return flight can be protected and this was not done then possibly you may have some ground to complain about the issue. If however you went off and bought another flight to BKK and didn’t tell Qatar/LGW agent, then I don’t think you will have any recourse to recover your extra costs back from BKK.

Perhaps. If they had informed them, they could have left the booking open and simply charged the 'no show fee', refunding the rest of the fare or allowing you to re-book and pay the difference.

But keeping your return open with no discussion. No chance. Reclaim the relevant taxes at least if you can.

EveryWhere

abz4ever wrote: »

Hi

Few months ago I had a flight from London Gatwick to Bangkok Thailand but missed my outbound due to the train breaking down. Got the airport customer service desk for Qatar and the lady without mentioning took us off the flight (apparently without doing that she cannot give us new tickets) We managed to find a cheaper ticket with a different airline which was a 1 way and the return back with Qatar 2 weeks lady however that wasn't possible.

The lady said as we missed our outbound, the inbound was cancelled even though it was 2 weeks away and in the end I had to purchase 4 tickets at full value (£2000+) and ended up paying for the same seat on the same plane twice.

Surely that's unfair as I was happy to pay for the outbound but inbound was my seat and to re sell it to the same customer is just robbery. The resolver site we came to no agreement so now I have emailed the CAA who have not responded yet.

Do I have a claim? Thought about taking it to small claims court but wasn't sure If I have a leg to stand on.

That was your mistake. But an understandable one, as the rules aren't clear to the average traveller.
It wasn't Qatar staff that likely dealt with you, but SkyBreak in the North Terminal.
Either way, you needed to get them to keep the booking open in so that you could either re-book for the next flight and pay the difference or refund the ticket, paying the 'no show' fee.
That way, you could have purchased new tickets, but at least obtaining a partial refund of the originals.
But it seems nothing was done and the booking cancelled automatically.
Some airlines are better than others.
When a similar thing happened to me with Gulf Air, they just shifted me to the next day's flight, free of charge. Exemplary customer service.
Qatar Airways CS are generally quite awful. But they think they make it up with the flight experience.

Heliflyguy

On that route with QR the no show fee on the lowest fares are around USD 674 so would probably wipe out all of the fare paid.

EveryWhere

Heliflyguy wrote: »

On that route with QR the no show fee on the lowest fares are around USD 674 so would probably wipe out all of the fare paid.

That is quite wrong. I bought via OTA and paid around £260 for the "no show".

brianposter

"No show" and late arrival are not the same.
Read the T & Cs carefully, and if necessary try the small claims court. It is not clear that cancelling the return is appropriate if you have turned up for the outbound flight.
Saying that cancellation happens automatically does not make it correct.

headpin

Some airlines provide what is called a recovery ticket in the situation you described. But, not all of their staff may know about it or offer it if they do. You need to ask to speak to a supervisor/manager to explain what has happened to ask if they can offer a recovery ticket that may include a transfer on to or a reduced fare on the next available outbound flight and ensuring that the return segment remains valid.

But not all offer this. You need to ask and seek their assistance to your predicament. After all, it is not really their fault if you are delayed or late for the check in process.

brianposter

headpin wrote: »

After all, it is not really their fault if you are delayed or late for the check in process.

It is not the airlines fault, but they appear to have managed to get paid twice for the same seat. That is hardly the most appropriate outcome for an eventuality that is more or less accidental.