Hot air balloon ride booking - not vaccinated

katymacdonald153

Hey everyone, we booked to ride in a hot air balloon back in 2019 which was cancelled - they extended the booking which was great but only till Oct this year, it’s a shared balloon ride with up to 16 other people, are be not been vaccinated yet and probably won’t have both till the end of August which only gives us an 8 week window to book within! I’ve requested a further extension due to not being vaccinated yet but they aren’t willing to allow this! I’m not willing to book any earlier than my second vaccination as I’m honestly frightened. The balloon ride is in Bristol and we are based in Glasgow. There is also the chance that when we do book it could be cancelled on the day due to weather which means another booking would need to be made with the Oct deadline, if we can’t meet the Oct deadline then we need to pay to extend further. The balloon trip was around £500+ for two people. Any hep on what I can do if there is anything would be really appreciated.

ThisnotThat

If the flight can operate legally then your options are to book it (after August if needs be), pay to extend it or just forget about it.

JGB1955

Wow - Glasgow to Bristol!  My daughter and I had vouchers for a balloon flight for my 50th, her 18th birthday.  It took 5 attempts before there was a 'possible window of opportunity'... from a site more than 30 miles away.  As you may understand, 18 year olds (or, actually 19 by the time we actually took off) don't like going to bed early, because the alarm is set for 05:30.  There was additional pressure because she was about to go on a gap year trip to NZ. So the whole experience ended up NOT being the one we had envisaged.  At least we can say we've been on a balloon flight - but it was in murky weather, a cold morning and we ended up, sideways down, in a field next to a dual-carriageway.  I DO hope your experience is better than ours!

JHW1942

I agree with ThisnotThat.  If the flight can operate legally and it's you choosing not to go, you need to decide whether to pay to extend or write it off.

lisyloo

I am a qualified hot air balloon pilot. You should expect it to be cancelled several times, this is normal. However if they cancel then they should extend. I presume you didn’t realise this when booking it so far away?

sheramber

• Are you in either of these categories?
• Second vaccines are now being iven sooner than 11 weeks.
•  In Scotland people aged 30 and over can get their vaccine, although in some parts of Glasgow people aged 18 and over can get a first jab

MattMattMattUK

Why would you need to be fully vaccinated?

lisyloo

MattMattMattUK said:

Why would you need to be fully vaccinated?

My reading is that this is "disinclination".
The plain fact is that there is simply no right to a refund/exchange for disinclination.
Like airplanes the activity has now been deemed to be now be "safe" with certain measures in place.
katymacdonald - have you read the safety measures in place e.g. face coverings? Just wondering if that will re-assure you that it's all been checked by the civil aviation authority etc.
It's the same as a flight ticket, theatre ticket or holiday. If you decide not to go simply because you don't wish to then I'm afraid you forfeit the cost. You might be able to mitigate the loss by selling the tickets if the operator would allow a transfer. These are popular so may well sell at a discount.