Opodo & Emirates help

Joanna9108

Hi,
I had Emirates flights booked through Opodo due to fly 07/04 return 20/04. Obviously these are now cancelled and ideally I would like my money back but I am unsure how to go about this and Emirates have said they are not allowing refunds only vouchers. I paid in December on my debit card. I have tried to contact Opodo whose phones just ring out and by contacting them on Facebook it says they will only speak to people travelling within 7 days but then they don't even seem to be doing that. I have tried to contact Emirates who have said they cannot do anything and it is Opodo as my agent that needs to deal with it. The flights cost me £2099 so obviously I don't want to loose this amount of money. It says the vouchers are only valid for one year but due to work commitments I don't know if I would be able to use a voucher within that time frame anyway, it was my understanding that as the flight has been cancelled by Emirates they are obliged to issue a refund. Please help as I don't know who to sort this with anymore! I have Worldwide insurance that is provided through my Halifax rewards plus account who I have also tried to contact but they haven't got back to me either.

immy7600

exactly same situation, booked 5 tickets via opodo to dubai. Emirates go tough luck, take the vouchers. spoke to credit card company who will look into the case

Westin

@Joanna9108:  
The information you have found or been given is I am afraid correct.   It might  not be "right" but it is correct.
Emirates are only offering credit vouchers at this time, not cash refunds.
You will have to deal with this matter via Opodo. Unfortunately Opodo, like many businesses, will be short of staff and overwhelmed with callers. A lot of patience is likely to be needed in contact them.
Travel insurers equally stretched with inbound calls.   I suspect travel insurance may also prove fruitless as the insurers may apply the logic that there has been no loss as a credit voucher is offered.
@immy7600: 
Ditto.  I also suspect the credit card companies will view the same way as how I think insurers will be viewing the situation.

immy7600

will try a s75 with my credit card company, as travel voucher for me is not good, work in the nhs so leave is cancelled for a period of time, whole point of going on our selected dates in april was to celebrate my sons 10th birthday there. have told the credit card company that the option of having a voucher will not be value to us the tickets were for his 10th

immy7600

spoke to M and S bank, who have asked for 
1 - terms and conditions from opodo at time of booking - this states 

2.3 Opodo makes the booking on your behalf and your contract will be subject to the Travel Supplier's terms and conditions, which could limit or exclude liability to you (often in accordance with various applicable international conventions). If you wish to review the relevant Travel Supplier's terms, we refer you to the Conditions of Carriage page of our Website where the Travel Supplier's terms are available through a link. In instances where it is not possible to access the Travel Supplier's terms by a link, we will at your request provide the Travel Supplier's contact details so that you may contact them. Please ensure you refer to the applicable Travel Supplier's terms and conditions for cancellation charges and other important terms and conditions.

From my reading they are saying they make the booking on our behalf and we are subject to Travel suppliers (emirates) terms and conditions.

2 - terms and conditions from Emirates - this states

On Emirates there Conditions of Carriage are

10.2 Involuntary refunds 

10.2.1 You will be entitled to a refund calculated in accordance with Article 10.2.2 if we: 

(a) cancel your flight; 

(b) fail to operate your flight reasonably according to schedule; 

(c) fail to carry you on a flight for which you have a confirmed reservation and have met the applicable Check-in Deadline and boarding deadline and you have not been refused carriage for reasons permitted by these Conditions of Carriage; 

(d) fail to stop at your destination or Stopover; or 

(e) cause you to miss a connecting flight in circumstances where you hold a confirmed reservation and adequate time existed to make the connection between the originally scheduled time of arrival of your flight and the departure time of the connecting flight. 

10.2.2 Your refund will be calculated as follows: 

(a) If no portion of your Ticket has been used: An amount equal to the fare paid (including taxes, fees, charges and exceptional circumstances surcharges paid) if no portion of the Ticket has been used; or 

(b) If a portion of your Ticket has been used: An amount equal to the difference between the fare paid (including taxes, fees, charges and exceptional circumstances surcharges paid) and the correct fare (including taxes, fees, charges and exceptional circumstances surcharges) for travel between the points for which you have used your Ticket. 

10.2.3 We will pay a refund according to Article 10.2.2(b) if we refuse you carriage for any of the reasons set out in Article 7.1 or terminate your carriage for any reason set out in Article 11.4, except that you will not be entitled to any refund for the flight for which you were refused carriage or any unacceptable behavior occurred 

10.2.4 Apart from the refund provided in Article 10.2.3, we will have no liability to you for any loss or expense whatsoever. See also Article 7.2 and Article 11.4 (which permits us to use the value of any unused carriage on your Ticket to reimburse costs payable by you).

Have sent this to the credit card company, lets see there response

jacsll55

immy7600 said:

exactly same situation, booked 5 tickets via opodo to dubai. Emirates go tough luck, take the vouchers. spoke to credit card company who will look into the case

Similar situation with Ethiad, please keep updated. In process of contacting CC, ticket bought in Jan 2020. 

Caz3121

also worth a read of this article https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2017/04/revealed-section-75-credit-card-protection-may-fail-due-to-payment-processing-loophole---shoppers-beware/
Opodo are Emirate's customer, you are Opodo's customer

Emirates site states "Customers who booked with a travel agent must contact them for further assistance with their bookings."

immy7600

true, but then opodo terms states 'Opodo makes the booking on your behalf and your contract will be subject to the Travel Supplier's terms and conditions'

jacsll55

Where Do I stand in this as I bought the ticket directly from Etihad website and paid using CC? I booked in Jan 2020 for travel in June 2020 - but a date change states
"One free date change is permitted for unused tickets booked between 8 March – 7 April 2020, for travel on or after 22 March 2020"

immy7600

i would check under the conditons of carriage, if they are anything like emirates (they are under the same parent company) under 10.2.2

10.2.1 You will be entitled to a refund calculated in accordance with Article 10.2.2 if we: 

(a) cancel your flight; 

(b) fail to operate your flight reasonably according to schedule; 

(c) fail to carry you on a flight for which you have a confirmed reservation and have met the applicable Check-in Deadline and boarding deadline and you have not been refused carriage for reasons permitted by these Conditions of Carriage; 

(d) fail to stop at your destination or Stopover; or 

(e) cause you to miss a connecting flight in circumstances where you hold a confirmed reservation and adequate time existed to make the connection between the originally scheduled time of arrival of your flight and the departure time of the connecting flight. 

10.2.2 Your refund will be calculated as follows: 

(a) If no portion of your Ticket has been used: An amount equal to the fare paid (including taxes, fees, charges and exceptional circumstances surcharges paid) if no portion of the Ticket has been used; or 

(b) If a portion of your Ticket has been used: An amount equal to the difference between the fare paid (including taxes, fees, charges and exceptional circumstances surcharges paid) and the correct fare (including taxes, fees, charges and exceptional circumstances surcharges) for travel between the points for which you have used your Ticket. 

10.2.3 We will pay a refund according to Article 10.2.2(b) if we refuse you carriage for any of the reasons set out in Article 7.1 or terminate your carriage for any reason set out in Article 11.4, except that you will not be entitled to any refund for the flight for which you were refused carriage or any unacceptable behavior occurred 

10.2.4 Apart from the refund provided in Article 10.2.3, we will have no liability to you for any loss or expense whatsoever. See also Article 7.2 and Article 11.4 (which permits us to use the value of any unused carriage on your Ticket to reimburse costs payable by you).

Caz3121

immy7600 said:

like emirates (they are under the same parent company)

Etihad and Emirates are competitors. Etihad's parent company is "Etihad Aviation Group", Emirates parent company is "The Emirates Group" They are both headquartered in the UAE but not connected