Flights advice

ogdenfamily

Bit of a long shot.
Following the collapse of Thomas Cook, I book 4 flights to New York for my family (to try to beat the inevitable price rise)
Unfortunately, since booking I've found out that my son has A level exams whilst we're away.
After checking with airline, they advise me that due to the nature of the tickets,  no changes can be made,s no refund, change of date or even name (so I can't sell them)
Am I stuffed???

eDicky

Yes. Flexible/refundable tickets cost more than the cheapest available 

If the exam schedule was not known at the time of booking and you purchased insurance then, there's maybe a chance to claim on it.

cubegame

Why did you think Thomas Cook collapsing would cause flights to New York to rise in price?

Westin

ogdenfamily said:

Bit of a long shot.
Following the collapse of Thomas Cook, I book 4 flights to New York for my family (to try to beat the inevitable price rise)
Unfortunately, since booking I've found out that my son has A level exams whilst we're away.
After checking with airline, they advise me that due to the nature of the tickets,  no changes can be made,s no refund, change of date or even name (so I can't sell them)
Am I stuffed???

Quite possibly - yes.

The cheaper tickets are restrictive on changes and refunds. Often no refunds, no amendments, no date changes, no name changes.  You trade flexibility over price.

You may be able to claim back the Air Passenger Duty element if you don’t travel.  If flying after 1st April it is £80pp to NYC. Some airlines however charge an admin fee to recover the APD which may reduce what is paid back.  

I would however not make this APD refund claim at this stage.  

Occasionally airlines make schedule changes and if generally over 3 hours time difference the airline will seek your acceptance of the revised times or allow you to cancel with a full refund.  Chances might be slim but it might be worth holding off cancelling fully at this stage, hopeful for a disruptive flight rescheduling change instead!

NoodleDoodleMan

"If the exam schedule was not known at the time of booking and you purchased insurance then, there's maybe a chance to claim on it."

Are national exam timetables in England & Wales not published well in advance ?

This advice is dated 2nd Oct.2019 - https://www.tes.com/news/a-level-exam-timetables-dates-2020

Of course there may be subsequently revised dates ?

ogdenfamily

eDicky said:

Yes. Flexible/refundable tickets cost more than the cheapest available 

If the exam schedule was not known at the time of booking and you purchased insurance then, there's maybe a chance to claim on it.

At the tile of booking, the exams schedule hadn't been released, so who would I claim from?

ogdenfamily

cubegame said:

Why did you think Thomas Cook collapsing would cause flights to New York to rise in price?

Hi
 My logic was due collapse of Thomas Cook the availability would be reduced.
It did prove to be correct as flights a few weeks later were quite a bit more expensive!

Pollycat

ogdenfamily said:

eDicky said:

Yes. Flexible/refundable tickets cost more than the cheapest available 

If the exam schedule was not known at the time of booking and you purchased insurance then, there's maybe a chance to claim on it.

At the tile of booking, the exams schedule hadn't been released, so who would I claim from?

Do you have insurance?
Does it cover cancellation of flights booked over exam dates?

gingerdad

The exams are roughly the same time every year and New York is one the best-served airports from the UK so TC going pop going to make !!!!!! all difference.

sadly you'll have to suck this one up - you should be able to get your taxes and charges back though

mattyprice4004

ogdenfamily said:

eDicky said:

Yes. Flexible/refundable tickets cost more than the cheapest available 

If the exam schedule was not known at the time of booking and you purchased insurance then, there's maybe a chance to claim on it.

At the tile of booking, the exams schedule hadn't been released, so who would I claim from?

Your travel insurance company - but only if you have cover that'd payout in this event (which I imagine isn't all policies)