lastminute.com holiday - Unsure what to do

Silenced

Hi,
I'd appreciate some advice on what I should do with my holiday booking, I'll keep it as short and sweet as possible:

• Booked flight + hotel via Lastminute.com to USA (LGW - Boston) at the start of March 2020
• ATOL protected
• Scheduled for 20th August - 25th August
• Insurance via Coverwise
• No cancellations of the holiday have been made
• Numerous flight changes to outbound and return flights, having now checked Virgin Atlantic's website, it is now scheduled for departure from LHR instead of LGW, and instead of being a direct flight, it is now connecting at New York.
• I was not notified of the change from LGW to LHR, but I believe this must have happened prior to the 21st of June.
• Paid via Credit Card

I'd like some advice on what approach I should be doing in order to get my money back, given the FCO guidance for the USA, and additionally the USA not allowing anyone in.
Many thanks

Butts

Silenced said:

Hi,
I'd appreciate some advice on what I should do with my holiday booking, I'll keep it as short and sweet as possible:

• Booked flight + hotel via Lastminute.com to USA (LGW - Boston) at the start of March 2020
• ATOL protected
• Scheduled for 20th August - 25th August
• Insurance via Coverwise
• No cancellations of the holiday have been made
• Numerous flight changes to outbound and return flights, having now checked Virgin Atlantic's website, it is now scheduled for departure from LHR instead of LGW, and instead of being a direct flight, it is now connecting at New York.
• I was not notified of the change from LGW to LHR, but I believe this must have happened prior to the 21st of June.
• Paid via Credit Card

I'd like some advice on what approach I should be doing in order to get my money back, given the FCO guidance for the USA, and additionally the USA not allowing anyone in.
Many thanks

Legally you are entitled to a Full Refund provided the FCO warning is not miraculously lifted. 
Ask them for one..good luck getting a straight answer.
When they prevaricate - chargeback

Silenced

Butts said:

Legally you are entitled to a Full Refund provided the FCO warning is not miraculously lifted. 
Ask them for one..good luck getting a straight answer.
When they prevaricate - chargeback

Thanks - I've been trying to figure out which laws/regulations specifically apply in my scenario. As far as I can tell The Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018 appears to apply.

I was unsure if other laws also apply in order to have backups when they inevitably feign ignorance when I attempt to get through to them tomorrow.

Butts

Silenced said:

Butts said:

Legally you are entitled to a Full Refund provided the FCO warning is not miraculously lifted. 
Ask them for one..good luck getting a straight answer.
When they prevaricate - chargeback

Thanks - I've been trying to figure out which laws/regulations specifically apply in my scenario. As far as I can tell The Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018 appears to apply.

I was unsure if other laws also apply in order to have backups when they inevitably feign ignorance when I attempt to get through to them tomorrow.

Have you paid the full balance or just a deposit ?
There will be no reasoning with them - Check Trust Pilot Reviews.
It will almost certainly take action on your part - ie chargeback,

Silenced

Butts said:

Have you paid the full balance or just a deposit ?
There will be no reasoning with them - Check Trust Pilot Reviews.
It will almost certainly take action on your part - ie chargeback,

Sadly paid in full - Otherwise it wouldn't be so painful! I'll try calling them to today and pointing out the Package Travel Regulations, I expect fully to be fobbed off, then I suppose I'll try chargeback + contacting my travel insurance too

Silenced

Got through to lastminute much quicker than I expected - They said there is a note that I need to be informed of a cancellation to my flight/hotel (He couldn't tell which) which should allow me to get a refund. I'm assuming it's the flight cancel + change that they haven't notified me about yet, we'll see whether over the next few days I do receive and email.

RobboSaver

Glad you're hopefully getting somewhere! I'm in a similar situation - due to fly to Spain on 3 Sept, but return flight cancelled and hotel closed. No word from lastminute and none if the options on the phone lead to a human - argh! What number did you call? Thanks.

Silenced

RobboSaver said:

Glad you're hopefully getting somewhere! I'm in a similar situation - due to fly to Spain on 3 Sept, but return flight cancelled and hotel closed. No word from lastminute and none if the options on the phone lead to a human - argh! What number did you call? Thanks.

+44 208 396 1209 was the number I was given, I pressed to go through to cancellations, I then believe it listed several options, mentioning you can do it online/on the app, finally it mentioned how to get through to a person, hope that helps.

RobboSaver

Fantastic - thanks for your help!

Butts

Silenced said:

Got through to lastminute much quicker than I expected - They said there is a note that I need to be informed of a cancellation to my flight/hotel (He couldn't tell which) which should allow me to get a refund. I'm assuming it's the flight cancel + change that they haven't notified me about yet, we'll see whether over the next few days I do receive and email.

Don't believe a word they say- have you looked at Trustpilot
Go straight for a chargeback.

Silenced

Butts said:

Don't believe a word they say- have you looked at Trustpilot
Go straight for a chargeback.

Yeah I've seen Trustpilot isn't looking great - I thought I'd give them the benefit of the doubt for now, I'm going to be ringing back tomorrow to ask for an update, if they don't provide me with something immediately I'll be letting them know I'll be taking up a chargeback