Package holiday - major change to flights. Can I get a refund?

cluey

Hi all, sorry for the long post BTW!

5 or 6 weeks ago I took the plunge and booked a holiday to Thailand to depart in February. I’d held back booking anything because of the situation but generally being fed up, being overly stressed and just needing a break, I saw a great deal at lastminute.com and booked. LM.com advertised ‘free hotel cancellation’ on this (and all other) deals.

It he booking was for flights and hotel booked via LM all at the same time.

about 2 days after booking and paying my deposit, The airline text me details of a change to our flight. The return flight now, rather than departing Phuket on 27th Feb, now departs on 1st March!

So, as it stands we check out of our hotel on the morning of 27th Feb, but don’t actually fly out until 10am on 1st March. So we’ve got at least 2 nights in Phuket with no hotel. Not to mention that this runs into our children’s school being back.

when I’ve raised this with LM (several times), I’ve asked for a different flight or a different holiday. Each time I’m told “it’s with management”. So my anxiety is growing as the prospect of having 2 nights sleeping on the streets of Phuket with my family! Even if LM do sort this out, I don’t think I can handle 3 months of not knowing what’s happening.

Now, LM have practically washed their hands and are fobbing me off. When I ask about a refund they simply say “if you cancel now then it’s classed as a voluntary cancellation. So you will still need to pay the full cost of the holiday and likely a cancellation fee too”.

I even said I’d be happy to rebook another holiday with them, but they just re-iterate that I’m not eligible for a refund!

im sure I am, but I don’t want to cancel until I know I won’t have to pay LM another £4K+ just for the privilege of cancelling a holiday.

any help will be appreciated.

regards
AC

zoob

As far as I know if you booked under the Flights and Hotel section on last minute then it's a package holiday and last minute is responsible to match hotel and flights together 
But if you booked in the Hotel section and  flights in the flights section then its not a package holiday and it's 2 separate bookings and lastminute.com isn't responsible for any changes to accommodation dates

The_Fat_Controller

@cluey did you do any research about the situation in Thailand ?

If you do go, there are quite a few hoops to jump through, if you haven't already done so, read the requirements on the Royal Thai Embassy website.

Phuket is only currently open as part of their "sandbox" program, with only a few airlines flying there and in the last couple of days KLM have ditched their planned flights completely.

Who were you flying with ?

From Monday 30th August, Thailand is on the UK Red List and I cannot see that being changed back any time soon despite your optimism.

Aylesbury_Duck

You need to check the terms and conditions of your booking, to see if the change is considered reasonable.  

I'm afraid you took a risk, booking a holiday halfway around the world in the middle of a pandemic, in a narrow window of opportunity in your family calendar.  Things are changeable, and have been for 18 months, so you should have factored that in if timing is so critical.

cluey

Aylesbury_Duck said:

You need to check the terms and conditions of your booking, to see if the change is considered reasonable.  

I'm afraid you took a risk, booking a holiday halfway around the world in the middle of a pandemic, in a narrow window of opportunity in your family calendar.  Things are changeable, and have been for 18 months, so you should have factored that in if timing is so critical.

Yes, things are changeable. Which is EXACTLY why is booked a package holiday. Because changes are meant to be offered with alternatives, and if not suitable I should be offered a full refund.

but  are saying I can’t cancel. Which is the whole point of my post.

And as LM clearly advertise “free cancellation”, I get the risk was a a manger risk. 

Again, seems people see this as an opportunity to feel self-righteous rather than offering genuine advise about my rights for purchasing a package holiday and how I may go about forcing LM to engage with me constructively.

I did it think that was too much to ask for a supposed consumer rights website.

clearly I was wrong.

elsien

I'd argue it was a significant change, but I'm not last minute.
Don't cancel it yourself because that will let them off the hook, as they have already said.

Do they have a formal complaints procedure, because I'd suggest that's the route you need to go down for now rather than going through a different customer services person each time.  Include  your right to a refund if they don't get their act together.  It may be stressful but it's too far off at the moment to know how things will pan out,  and lastminute haven't covered themselves with glory with prompt responses up till now so you are probably in for a wait to see what response they come back with. 

ETA - found this in some online lastminute t@c's

If a SIGNIFICANT CHANGE to your holiday occurs or becomes necessary, we will inform you or your Travel Agent as soon as possible if there is time before departure. When a SIGNIFICANT CHANGE occurs ( such as a change of resort, downgrade of accommodation or a change of flight time of more than 12 hours) or we have to cancel your arrangements, you will have the choice of: i) accepting the change of arrangements. ii) taking our offered substitute package of equivalent or superior quality if we are able to provide one. iii) taking our offered substitute package of lower quality if we are able to provide one and accept a refund from us of the difference in price between the price of the package purchased and the substitute one offered.iv) cancelling your holiday with a full refund of all monies paid. 

Have you checked this is in your terms and conditions, and quoted it at them? 

Aylesbury_Duck

cluey said:

Aylesbury_Duck said:

You need to check the terms and conditions of your booking, to see if the change is considered reasonable.  

I'm afraid you took a risk, booking a holiday halfway around the world in the middle of a pandemic, in a narrow window of opportunity in your family calendar.  Things are changeable, and have been for 18 months, so you should have factored that in if timing is so critical.

Yes, things are changeable. Which is EXACTLY why is booked a package holiday. Because changes are meant to be offered with alternatives, and if not suitable I should be offered a full refund.

but  are saying I can’t cancel. Which is the whole point of my post.

And as LM clearly advertise “free cancellation”, I get the risk was a a manger risk. 

Again, seems people see this as an opportunity to feel self-righteous rather than offering genuine advise about my rights for purchasing a package holiday and how I may go about forcing LM to engage with me constructively.

I did it think that was too much to ask for a supposed consumer rights website.

clearly I was wrong.

So have you checked the terms and conditions thoroughly, to see what terms sit around the "free cancellation" and whether the change they've made is a breach of contract?

If not, that would be a more constructive use of your time than complaining about people's views of your holiday planning.  It's a consumer rights forum, not a legal advice webpage.  If you want advice from people, you just have to accept it can come with opinions.  If you want straightforward, factual consumer rights support, without opinions, there are other avenues, such as engaging a solicitor.

The_Fat_Controller

@cluey, in your OP you mention "free hotel cancellation"

In your other posts, it's just "free cancellation"

So did you actually book the flights and accommodation as a package or not ?

It would seem odd that the airline would text you with flight changes if you booked a true package holiday, that would normally be advised to your travel agent.

Pollycat

OP
How many hours is the actual change?
Personally, I think a 2 day flight change with no extra accommodation offered is poor.

It would be good if you could check if the condition mentioned by Elsien is in your copy of T&Cs. I looked on their website but couldn't find it so well done Elsien.

'Proper' tour operators (TUI, Jet2) class a 12 hour change in flight times as a 'major change' (TUI) and 'significant change' (JET2). Sorry - not much consolation to you.