London to Phuket flight cancelled

lilianarose

My friend and I booked return flights to Phuket from London next year in Feb/March 2020. We were booked to fly AirChina and the route was as follows:
London to Chengdu
Chengdu to Phuket
Phuket to Beijing
Beijing to London
We booked through lastminute.com. We then received an email saying AirChina had cancelled the London to Chengdu flight. Are we entitled to request a refund for all the flights as they were booked as a package and the airline can no longer deliver on their commitment to get us from A to D?
They offered no alternative flights, no reason for the cancellation and we have no reassurance that none of our other flights will be cancelled. I'm not sure what the rules are here to appreciate help.
I do know at the very least we are entitled to a refund for the cancelled flight. I just want to know if we can get refunds for the other portions as we have no way of getting to Chengdu for the other flights now.

bagand96

The standard thing in this situation is that the airline would offer an alternative routing for the outbound flight. If no alternative could be found that is acceptable then a refund for the entire reservation.

What did the email from Lastminute.com say? You need to speak to them to start finding out your options. It may be worth you looking at alternative routings to Phuket with Air China to see if there’s anything you can find that you can suggest to them (I.e. they may be able to offer you an outbound routing via Beijing like your inbound)

EveryWhere

Did you actually book a multi-stop trip including Chengdu or was it just a normal Return flight with Chengdu as a transit stop?

If the first, then they need to get you to Chengdu, one way or another. If the second, their contract is to get you to HKT. Chengdu isn't part of the equation.

richardw

In this situation, it can sometimes help to do your own research for replacement flights and then call and advise the agent of what your preferences are.

EveryWhere

lilianarose wrote: »

My friend and I booked return flights to Phuket from London next year in Feb/March 2020. We were booked to fly AirChina and the route was as follows:
London to Chengdu
Chengdu to Phuket
Phuket to Beijing
Beijing to London
We booked through lastminute.com. We then received an email saying AirChina had cancelled the London to Chengdu flight. Are we entitled to request a refund for all the flights as they were booked as a package and the airline can no longer deliver on their commitment to get us from A to D?
They offered no alternative flights, no reason for the cancellation and we have no reassurance that none of our other flights will be cancelled. I'm not sure what the rules are here to appreciate help.
I do know at the very least we are entitled to a refund for the cancelled flight. I just want to know if we can get refunds for the other portions as we have no way of getting to Chengdu for the other flights now.

Are you sure that they have cancelled the flight or have they simply moved it from Gatwick to Heathrow?

From 27th of October 2019, the flights from London to Chengdu will departure form(sic) Heathrow Airport at Terminal 2

You should still have the option to do Chengdu on the return journey, at the very least.
So take a look at the Air China timetable for your dates and thereabouts and then get on to the agent or directly to Air China with your revised choice.

Be nice, but firm.

eDicky

Air China has direct flights LHR-CTU in Feb/March, but not every day of the week, according to their website. What date and flight number is the one that Lastminute are telling you is cancelled?