Flight cancellation advice

garichd

I have holiday booked to India and flying via Air Astana end of July.

3 days back I received email from airline that my connecting flight from Nur Sultan (kazakhstan) to Delhi ( India ) has been cancelled and there are no alternative flights available near my flying dates.

Tickets were booked via a travel agent and I have contacted them, They say they will contact the airline and let me know of my options soon.

Just want to know what are my rights. I think one of the options they will offer is refund, However, I would like to push for alternative flights rather than refund as I might not get the same or similar price for my dates again.

or can I claim the difference in flight cost via my travel insurance?

JPears

Hi and welcome.
You haven't put your complete route? Is it just one airline you are flying with?

garichd

JPears wrote: »

Hi and welcome.
You haven't put your complete route? Is it just one airline you are flying with?

Hello, Yes, Its only one airline I am flying with.

London - Nur Sultan - Delhi , Return is same route as well.

I also booked 2 day stopover in Nur Sultan on my outbound flight.

Flight Leg Nur Sultan-Delhi has been cancelled.

JPears

Hi. I suspect a 2 day stopover in Nur Sultan does not constitute a through ticket from London to Dehli, so reg 261/2004 probably doesn't cover you.
Although I suspect other regulars may have a different take on this.
We shall see.

Tyzap

JPears wrote: »

Hi. I suspect a 2 day stopover in Nur Sultan does not constitute a through ticket from London to Dehli, so reg 261/2004 probably doesn't cover you.
Although I suspect other regulars may have a different take on this.
We shall see.

I agree with you, so probably not covered by EU261. Plus the op was informed more than 2 weeks in advance.

I assume flights and stop over hotel were booked together so that would make it a package.

That will be covered by ABTA and the Package Travel Directive, but not the EU261 regulations.

garichd

Tyzap wrote: »

I agree with you, so probably not covered by EU261. Plus the op was informed more than 2 weeks in advance.

I assume flights and stop over hotel were booked together so that would make it a package.

That will be covered by ABTA and the Package Travel Directive, but not the EU261 regulations.

Just to update - There was no hotel booking. I was yet to book the hotel.

Just had a chat with Travel Agent ( Carlton Leisure ), they are offering refund minus £40 Admin fee per passenger.
I am really gutted here, can they charge Admin fee on refund which is not my fault ?

Also, If I now book another flight can I claim the difference in fare from my travel insurance?

Tyzap

garichd wrote: »

Just to update - There was no hotel booking. I was yet to book the hotel.

Just had a chat with Travel Agent ( Carlton Leisure ?), they are offering refund minus £40 Admin fee per passenger.
I am really gutted here, can they charge Admin fee on refund which is not my fault ?

Also, If I now book another flight can I claim the difference in fare from my travel insurance?

Ah, okay. You need to check the ABTA regulations regarding the admin fee, it does seem high. I would have expected one fee as it, presumably, was one booking.

Travel insurance normally has more ways out than Houdini, so wouldn’t expect much from that direction.

Good luck.

garichd

Tyzap wrote: »

Ah, okay. You need to check the ABTA regulations regarding the admin fee, it does seem high. I would have expected one fee as it, presumably, was one booking.

Travel insurance normally has more ways out than Houdini, so wouldn’t expect much from that direction.

Good luck.

Thanks , Can you confirm, if I am covered under ABTA , It was just flights and nothing else.

Tyzap

garichd wrote: »

Thanks , Can you confirm, if I am covered under ABTA , It was just flights and nothing else.

What I was suggesting was, I’m not sure if an admin fee of £40 per passenger is fair under the ABTA code of conduct.

Something you’ll need to check with ABTA or the agent. It’s an area I’m not too familiar with, sorry.

Alan_Bowen

Firstly they do not appear to be ABTA members so that option is at a dead end before we begin. They do say in their terms and conditions that if an airline makes changes and offers a refund there will be an administration charge, but then fails to say what it is. I would argue with them that you should not lose out through no fault of yourself but the reviews from those seeking refunds are dreadful, people complaining they have been waiting months, the call centre is overseas and simply ignores complaints and therefore I suspect if you can get a refund with a loss of £40 you are doing well.

garichd

Alan_Bowen wrote: »

Firstly they do not appear to be ABTA members so that option is at a dead end before we begin. They do say in their terms and conditions that if an airline makes changes and offers a refund there will be an administration charge, but then fails to say what it is. I would argue with them that you should not lose out through no fault of yourself but the reviews from those seeking refunds are dreadful, people complaining they have been waiting months, the call centre is overseas and simply ignores complaints and therefore I suspect if you can get a refund with a loss of £40 you are doing well.

Thanks, I spoke with my Travel insurance, They say the will only cover the admin fee subject to excess and will not cover the difference in air fare I now have to pay. Any advice please ?

Also, I found that Air Astana has been canceling NurSultan - Delhi flights since last 4 months , they keep on booking and then canceling the flights ( e.g I booked flights 2 weeks back only). are they allowed to do that ?, They are putting lot of people in trouble.