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Hong Kong, Australia and Bali trip

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STownsend
STownsend Posts: 6 Forumite
Seventh Anniversary First Post Combo Breaker
edited 19 May at 4:52PM in Coronavirus Board
Good morning,
I have a slightly complex travel situation, which I'm looking for some advice/info on.
We booked a trip just before lockdown, flying out to Hong Kong at the end of September, where we'd booked a hotel for a couple of nights before flying on to Sydney, then up to Cairns and onto Bali on the 9th until the 14th of October.

It looks like we will not be able to travel Australia and it doesn't seem clear about Hong Kong. Apparently Bali will open up on the 9th of September so we're wondering what our rights are to get refunds on flights that we can't use and change the ones we can to accommodate Bali?

Unfortunately, due to booking just before lockdown, we didn't organise insurance in time before they stopped providing it with the necessary cover. I accept this is our mistake and will not be surprised if we lose money but obviously we would like to reclaim as much as possible or reuse the flights where possible or perhaps even defer the entire trip for a year.

Any advice/info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Stephen

Comments

  • Ganga
    Ganga Posts: 4,253 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Will the flights not be cancelled anyway? that way you will get some of your money back and when they do cancel can you contact the hotels you have booked and see if they will move them till a later date when you can travel. 
  • Ganga said:
    Will the flights not be cancelled anyway? that way you will get some of your money back and when they do cancel can you contact the hotels you have booked and see if they will move them till a later date when you can travel. 
    It's not yet clear which ones will be cancelled yet. Cathay Pacific, who the flight out is with, do still appear to be flying to Hong Kong. However, it currently either goes via Heathrow or Frankfurt, rather than direct from Manchester. I believe in this situation we're also entitled to a refund.

    We will attempt to get a refund on all the flights and any we can't we will request either a deferral or voucher. I understand the risks with a voucher but in a situation where we can't get a refund anyway it might be our best backup option.
  • epm-84
    epm-84 Posts: 2,746 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    edited 23 August 2020 at 5:32PM
    STownsend said:
    Ganga said:
    Will the flights not be cancelled anyway? that way you will get some of your money back and when they do cancel can you contact the hotels you have booked and see if they will move them till a later date when you can travel. 
    It's not yet clear which ones will be cancelled yet. Cathay Pacific, who the flight out is with, do still appear to be flying to Hong Kong. However, it currently either goes via Heathrow or Frankfurt, rather than direct from Manchester. I believe in this situation we're also entitled to a refund.

    We will attempt to get a refund on all the flights and any we can't we will request either a deferral or voucher. I understand the risks with a voucher but in a situation where we can't get a refund anyway it might be our best backup option.
    If the airline can't offer what your originally booked and won't give you a refund then you could asking your bank to initiate a chargeback if you paid using a debit or credit card.  If the situation is you booked flight EXAMPLE12345 from Manchester to Hong Kong and they've instead proposed you fly on EXAMPLE99900 from Manchester to Frankfurt and EXAMPLE99911 from Frankfurt to Hong Kong then that is not the service you were sold, unless they previously contacted you proposing it as an alternative and you agreed to the alternative.
  • Nebulous2
    Nebulous2 Posts: 5,666 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Did you book as a package or separately? If it was a package you should get a refund for the lot. 
  • rjmachin
    rjmachin Posts: 369 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 100 Posts Name Dropper
    As long as you booked before 23rd March, Cathay Pacific are offering refunds for travel up to 31st October 2020, so you should be able to get a refund on that flight.
    My parents were due to fly to Melbourne and then on to Fiji a few weeks ago, they called to get a refund and received the money in 2-3 weeks, with no attempts to delay or force a credit note on them.  CP seem to be one of the easier airlines to deal with.
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