Changing Emirates booking through Agent

StarshipUK

I bought a ticket for Emirates which was due to fly earlier this week, but got cancelled. I booked through a agent called etravel
I have already paid the agent £25 as they will not allow you to communicate with them unless you pay them an additional £25. They are not currently accepting phone calls, so this means contacting them by E-Mail only, which is quite slow.
Reading the emirates site: https://www.emirates.com/uk/english/help/refund-request/
It says "You can choose to keep your ticket and we’ll extend its validity to 24 months from the date of your original booking. The fare amount you paid for your original booking will be accepted for any flight to the same destination/region* at any time with no fees during this period."
So I contacted the agent to change dates (to off-peak September) flying from and to the same airports on the same flight numbers, and they said changing to those dates would cost me an extra £45. When questioned further they said this is what the airline was charging them. I do not understand this as the Emirates site says it will be accepted for any flight with no fees. Are the rules are different if booked through an Agent?

Reading the site there is another option which says "Should you be unable to travel for 12 months from the date we issued your voucher, you will be entitled to a refund or be able to extend the voucher for another year." and "If you booked your ticket through a travel agent, you can choose to keep your original ticket or request a refund, in accordance with our policy. Please contact your travel agent to arrange this."
Which I think means I can keep the original ticket to use within 24 months of the date of purchase, but can not request a voucher or refund as the ticket terms are non refundable.

The big question is now why are they trying to charge me more to change the flights, and what can I do?

Alan_Bowen

For reasons that only you can explain you booked through a US-based company whose booking conditions state the law of contract applicable in the laws of Florida! Whether you saved any money in the first place I have no idea but you certainly are being robbed blind now. Emirates confirmed yesterday that passengers could have refunds if they could not travel in the next 2 years but for online agencies, this means extra work and it looks as though they have every intention of charging you for it. There appears to be no one to complain to as they are not members of any trade association and offer no financial protection at all

StarshipUK

You are referring to the wrong company. They are based in Belfast, Ireland and show as being members of IATA, ATOL, ABTA and being members of other organisations which I was led to believe offer consumer protection. Reading reviews on Skyscanner, which showed the flights and other sites I did not see any issues with them, but was not expecting the flight to be cancelled. Their site is www.e-travel.uk.com

I think there might also be a company with the same name based in the US, but they were definitely booked through www.e-travel.uk.com

To summarise the issue clearer, I booked a flight though www.e-travel.uk.com with Emirates that was cancelled. The Emirates site says "we’ll extend its validity to 24 months from the date of your original booking. The fare amount you paid for your original booking will be accepted for any flight to the same destination/region* at any time with no fees during this period." Trying to change the ticket through www.e-travel.uk.com with an alternate set of dates, they have told me this will cost an extra £45 as that is what the airline are charging them. They have however told me that I have 24 months from the date of the booking (which was in early January) to change the flight, which is the same as stated on the Emirates website. The issue is the Emirates site says there will be no fees, but the agent says there is.

Westin

It will be the agents own fee to do the extra work.  There is little or no margin on selling just a ticket, these agents make money by change fees and monetarize all work and actions carried out on your behalf.
I would read through your booking terms and conditions to see what administration fees are covered and what you agreed to.

StarshipUK

I have already paid the agent an extra £25 for this. They are telling me it is being charged to them by Emirates for tax.

Searching for the flights on Emirates site though, there is little difference between the price I paid and the price of the flights for the dates I gave on the Emirates site and it certainly does not equate to as much as £45.

Regardless I can understand being charged if I wanted to change the flights under other circumstances, but when the airline cancelled the flight, this is beyond my control and as they are not offering refunds for cancelled flights, I have no other choice but to rebook.

StarshipUK

I booked a flight though www.e-travel.uk.com with Emirates that was cancelled as the flights were cancelled. The Emirates site says "we’ll extend its validity to 24 months from the date of your original booking. The fare amount you paid for your original booking will be accepted for any flight to the same destination/region* at any time with no fees during this period." Trying to change the ticket with www.e-travel.uk.com with an alternate set of dates, they have told me this will cost an extra £45 as that is what the airline are charging them for tax. They have however told me that I have 24 months from the date of the booking (which was in early January) to change the flight, which is the same as stated on the Emirates website.

The issue I have is the Emirates site says there will be no fees, but the agent says there is and have told me this is for tax being charged to them by Emirates. Searching for the flights on Emirates site though, there is little difference between the price for the flights, and the price for the dates I gave on the Emirates site and it certainly does not equate to as much as £45.

I have already paid an extra £25 to www.e-travel.uk.com to be able to talk to their customer service, although only via E-Mail as they are not taking phone calls at the moment.

Booking back in early January before Covid was announced I was not expecting the flights to be cancelled. It seems like Emirates have been able to change their terms and conditions regarding a cancelled flight that was beyond my control, and as a result I will be paying even more to change the flights to different dates, and also seems like the CAA EU rules regarding cancelled long haul flights no longer apply https://www.caa.co.uk/Passengers/Resolving-travel-problems/Delays-cancellations/Your-rights/Is-my-flight-covered-by-EU-rules-/

Ironically I had booked different flights last year using a different travel agent and Air China. Air China cancelled the outbound flight (long before Covid, as they changed flight frequency) meaning it was impossible for the flight connection to take place and I was offered and given a full refund as a result.

Browntoa

Cannot find a 

www.e-travel.uk.com

StarshipUK

https://www.e-travel.uk.com/ is working for me in Chorme.
They were one of the options for searching for the flight through Skyscanner, and showed good reviews at the time, as well as being members of IATA, ATOL and ABTA and other organisations.