Etihad flight cancellations & Opodo

cha73

Hi,

I am currently in Thailand and was due to fly back to the U.K. on the 30th of this month but Etihad has cancelled all of its flights for an initial two week period. They have offered free rebooking or credit but since i booked through a travel agency I am having to go through them. The agency is Opodo and I have tried contacting them via Twitter, Facebook and email, and they have not responded once! I have not tried by phone yet but there’s many many posts on Facebook from people complaining that they were on hold for about 2 hours only to be hung up on.

I am trying to work out what my options and rights are, ideally I would like to take up Etihad on their offer of booking onto another flight but as described above this is proving to be nigh on impossible thanks to Opodo (oh if only I’d paid a little extra and gone directly through Etihad 🤦‍♂️  but that’s hindsight, next time...). I am hoping to get something in place ASAP so that I can at least let my work know roughly when to expect me back. I do have travel insurance and I paid using a credit card. Does anyone here have any suggestions thanks.

Hope everyone keeps safe out there

cha73

From what I’ve read credit card protection only applies if you have purchased the flights directly from the airline so that is a no go. I don’t think my travel insurance will help and Opodo is certainly not helping.

I believe I am legally eligible for a refund or rebooking if a flight has been cancelled but Opodo simply refuse to respond there’s nothing I can do it would seem.

So it would seem that I’m simply going to have to purchase another ticket to get home.

jacsll55

OP Have you tried on Etihad website with your booking details?
here is a reply from Etihad on twitter
Hi, for new tickets purchased between 8 March - 7 April guests can avail of one free date change. For tickets purchased prior to this date, if you are due to travel before 30 June 2020 then you may also avail of a free date change to travel before 30 June 20. Alternatively, you may cancel your existing booking and the value of your ticket is protected as credit for future travel to fly up until 31 July 2021. Change fees are waived however fare difference applies. Please see here for full information http://etihad.com/travelalerts