am i being told the full story

CNO

Hi. I could use a bit of advice, if anyone can help.
a bit long winded, but stick with me please.
my good lady and i are getting married in Thailand.
we have booked the holiday/honeymoon, which involves wedding in Thailand, a stay in Cambodia, then back to Thailand.
all our internal flights were cancelled by Bangkok air. everything else is still in place.
travel agent rang and said as Cambodia is closed, we need to make alternative arrangements, or we can sit tight,
re book internal flights with another airline, and hope Cambodia opens up by Xmas.
or we can change the bookings we made inside Thailand.

i have paid holiday deposit, and paid for long haul BA flights in full, so i could book specific seats, and the tickets have been issued. so im told.
ive been told i cant get a refund, as BA haven't cancelled long haul flights.
i can only get a refund if BA cancel. if Thai government stop us travelling, i still cant get a refund, but they will just move the holiday to next year.
my wife to be says if they cant offer what we paid for, we should be entitled to a refund. is this right?

also, if i change the itinerary, and replace the Cambodia part with another stay in a different part of Thailand, am i then changing the contract, thereby giving them an excuse to not refund us. im being asked to sort this asap, but feel pressured into making a decision i will regret, if ive not been told the full story by travel company.
my good lady said the agents are only interested in avoiding giving a refund, as per airlines offering vouchers when you could get a refund.
they are not lying, just not giving the full truth.
am i right to be suspicious or is this all ok.?

thanks for sticking with this.

Neil49

No one knows what the situation will be in December (which I presume is when all this takes place). 

Just consider what alternative you would be happy with if you are unable to visit Cambodia. You are trying to anticipate the situation 5 month's away whereas recent events with Spain show that things can change overnight. 

Westin

I don’t see ‘them’ as lying and from the story given I would say that this is broadly correct as things stand today.

As Neil49 points out, a lot can happen between now and December and options can change depending on what happens in the future.

I trust you have travel insurance in place already which would be the ultimate fall back cover should travel borders between Cambodia and Thailand close or be restricted to entry even if schedule flights operate?

CNO

Thanks for the replies.
It all seems plausable, but just wanted another opinion. We have travel insurance, booked pre covid. We are now thinking of ditching cambodia, and will stay within Thailand. Just hope they open the borders and we can get there.

Voyager2002

Can I ask what outcome you would like? Because why push hard for a refund if you still want the exotic wedding and honeymoon?

A practical comment: there is absolutely no need to book flights between Thailand and Cambodia so far in advance. Tickets on those flights are dirt-cheap until about a month before the date of travel, and even if you buy the day before they are still affordable and available. And of course it is easy and fun to do the trip by surface. (And these flights are not "internal" since they link two different countries.)

CNO

Thanks voyager.
Were not pushing for a refund. We only wanted a refund incase we couldnt get into thailand. In that case, we were only offered a movement of date. Which may not be suitable, for reasons i wont go into. We could only get a refund if BA cancelled the long haul flights. My concern was if I changed any part of the original trip, would that then give them a get out, as WE had changed original booking.

The travel company put the package together for us, as i dont sit at computer for hours looking places up. I just said we want to visit and see a b c etc, they offer us the hotels, we say yes if we like look of them. I know it sounds daft, but we are nurses in the NHS, and we have both been full pelt at the sharp edge. ITU, A&E.  We dont have the spare time to sit and plan like normal folks. We also have caring responsibilties which also restricts our spare time. The wedding was done using a wedding planner, for the same reason. As the old saying goes, "cash rich, time poor". Except were cash and time poor.

Thanks for all your advice.

Voyager2002

CNO said:

Thanks voyager.
Were not pushing for a refund. We only wanted a refund incase we couldnt get into thailand. In that case, we were only offered a movement of date. Which may not be suitable, for reasons i wont go into. We could only get a refund if BA cancelled the long haul flights. My concern was if I changed any part of the original trip, would that then give them a get out, as WE had changed original booking.

The travel company put the package together for us, as i dont sit at computer for hours looking places up. I just said we want to visit and see a b c etc, they offer us the hotels, we say yes if we like look of them. I know it sounds daft, but we are nurses in the NHS, and we have both been full pelt at the sharp edge. ITU, A&E.  We dont have the spare time to sit and plan like normal folks. We also have caring responsibilties which also restricts our spare time. The wedding was done using a wedding planner, for the same reason. As the old saying goes, "cash rich, time poor". Except were cash and time poor.

Thanks for all your advice.

That all makes perfect sense.

There is no need to do anything or change anything now. You might care to contact your insurance company and ask them what happens if Thailand closes when you are due to travel (and whether you making a change at this stage would make any difference). I think that anyone with a couple of brain cells would understand that deferring a wedding to some time in the future is not an acceptable option!

Don't worry if you end up travelling without plans for the Cambodia time. Thai tourist information is pretty good and you can make arrangements more or less at the last minute.

martindow

Voyager2002 said:I think that anyone with a couple of brain cells would understand that deferring a wedding to some time in the future is not an acceptable option!

Well, I must be missing a few cells then!  Lots of weddings have been postponed and no doubt more will be in the future.