Holiday booked but flights not on the day of our booking

hollyjessicamitchell

Hi all,
We booked with TUi 2019 to go to Egypt in June 2020 which obviously didn’t take place.  Around late April we made the decision to change our holiday due to the fact we knew the holiday wouldn’t be taking place, so we took the step and contacted TUI on the phone (as we booked in store) and we then booked Mexico for late November/early December 2020 on the basis we were assured by TUI they thought it was “very likely” it would be going ahead. We missed out on the government scheme of 25% discount as although it was announced we rescheduled on April 25th and it only applied to holidays due to leave before April 30th. Anyway we were just happy to get it sorted so didn’t mind the extra costs associated with obviously further travel etc although slightly annoyed we missed out on the deal but.............

Fast forward to today (13th August) we have another couple hundred pounds to pay off our holiday due for payment 25th August and for the last few weeks I’ve been monitoring TUI’s flight schedule. Our flight was booked for Wednesday 25th November but the TUI flight schedule is telling me flights are only running from Manchester on Tuesdays and Saturdays so the 24th November and 28th November NOT the 25th November.

When I contacted the store team about this they just said in a very blasé manner “Don’t worry flights are being added all the time!” and I should continue to pay for the holiday. 

I’m getting pretty worried about this as the situation in Mexico isn’t looking likely it’s getting any better, but my biggest concern is after having the dates booked off for the last holiday in June and having to reschedule my employer (I work in a school) has been very gracious about the change in holiday dates - my husband meanwhile will be attending a Nursing course in University plus he has a job at our local hospital and I’ve had to jump through hoops to get him the time off work without it effecting his work etc. 

My concern is, if I continue to pay the holiday and then our dates get cancelled again and we rebook for a third time our employers are really not going to be very happy. Where do I stand currently with the holiday we have booked? As technically we have no holiday as there’s no flights on the dates we have booked? If I request a change of holiday dates to the day a flight is scheduled will I have to pay an amendment fee? Or should TUI offer to rebook our holiday without it costing us anything due to the fact that we don’t actually have any flights for our date?

What I don’t want to happen is continue and pay off this holiday and then we wait on word from TUI which may not arrive until a few days before we are due to travel that we’re not going? I have pets booked into pet lodgings, a taxi and airport hotel booked and it’s going to be a nightmare to cancel and change things last minute and we’re set to lose hundreds of pounds etc if we have to cancel last minute. 

If anyone with any know how or how the travel industry works could offer me insight on what I’m best to do I would really appreciate it. Thank you. 

macman

You cannot possibly predict what flights will or will not be running 9 weeks from now. Next week is difficult enough at present. At present you are contracted to those dates, and if you cancel then you will not get a refund save what is offered under the t and c's. I suggest you review it 2 weeks out from the departure date.