Package holiday refund - significant change in flight

MrInappropriate

Hi everyone.

My friend & I booked to go to Ibiza in July through LoveHolidays, which was booked around July last year.

I've just received an email from Ryanair stating the flight times have changed significantly - we were due to fly out at 7am from the UK but it has now been changed to 3:20pm - which essentially means that we have lost a day. At this point we are happy to leave the holiday until next year when things calm down a bit.

Ryanair have offered three options: accept the new flight, rearrange or get a full refund. At this point, we would like the full refund, as the flights make up most of the cost of the holiday, which would allow us to get a decent amount back. However, as we have booked through LoveHolidays, I wasn't sure whether we needed to go through them or not and whether requesting a refund directly with the airline would cause any issues.

Could somebody please advise what I should do next?

Edit: To clarify what I am asking, if I claim a full refund for the flights from the airline, will this impact on me potentially claiming the full package holiday amount back if LoveHolidays were to cancel in the coming months?

Westin

Your package arrangement is with Love Holidays so you really need to do this all via them.

I would read the LH T&C's before making contact as it is these that you are bound by. 

Caz3121

I believe love holidays class a significant change as over 12 hours. Did your payment go to Ryanair or love holidays? - if Ryanair refund it would go to whoever paid them.
what are the cancellation terms for your accommodation? 

bagand96

Car is correct, LoveHolidays T&Cs only allow cancellation after a flight time change of 12 hours.

If you paid LH and they booked the flights with Ryanair, then if you select a refund from Ryanair the money will go back to LH payment details. 

You need to speak to LH. If your accommodation was refundable they may let you cancel the holiday anyway, less any admin fees. 

MrInappropriate

Thanks all. Payment went to LH.

I believe the hotel is non-refundable. I will get in touch with LH first and see what they say.

ratechaser

MrInappropriate said:

Thanks all. Payment went to LH.

I believe the hotel is non-refundable. I will get in touch with LH first and see what they say.

In July last year, at the height of the pandemic, you booked a package including a non refundable hotel element - with an OTA that was already getting a very bad reputation for poor customer service and delayed refunds?

You certainly have a much greater appetite for risk than me! That said, I do wish you luck in getting a refund.

MrInappropriate

ratechaser said:

MrInappropriate said:

Thanks all. Payment went to LH.

I believe the hotel is non-refundable. I will get in touch with LH first and see what they say.

In July last year, at the height of the pandemic, you booked a package including a non refundable hotel element - with an OTA that was already getting a very bad reputation for poor customer service and delayed refunds?

You certainly have a much greater appetite for risk than me! That said, I do wish you luck in getting a refund.

Absolutely. I wouldn't advocate anybody else doing this of course, it was a ballsy move that wasn't too far off the mark (theoretically we could still go if we wanted to pay for the testing, assuming all is well with the countries concerned) - it cost us less than £200 each, so to us that was low risk, especially given the amount saved in spending money would far surpass that amount by the time we get to July.

The fact there is the prospect of a refund at all is actually a bit of a bonus. (I am usually more risk averse, to be fair)

ratechaser

MrInappropriate said:

ratechaser said:

MrInappropriate said:

Thanks all. Payment went to LH.

I believe the hotel is non-refundable. I will get in touch with LH first and see what they say.

In July last year, at the height of the pandemic, you booked a package including a non refundable hotel element - with an OTA that was already getting a very bad reputation for poor customer service and delayed refunds?

You certainly have a much greater appetite for risk than me! That said, I do wish you luck in getting a refund.

Absolutely. I wouldn't advocate anybody else doing this of course, it was a ballsy move that wasn't too far off the mark (theoretically we could still go if we wanted to pay for the testing, assuming all is well with the countries concerned) - it cost us less than £200 each, so to us that was low risk, especially given the amount saved in spending money would far surpass that amount by the time we get to July.

The fact there is the prospect of a refund at all is actually a bit of a bonus. (I am usually more risk averse, to be fair)

Fair play. Personally I'm sticking with BA Holidays for the foreseeable future as their policies allow for a lot of risk mitigation/hedging (plus their sales are ok, if not down to Ryanair levels!)