Lastminute/Jet2 flight moved and missed without being told.

Dinosaurjuice

Hi All,
My wife, 2 children and myself went on a short break to Jersey, the outgoing flight was successful although we received an email from Lastminute.com many weeks before departure advising us of a TEN minute change which was obviously of no consequence.
However the return flight which was meant to be at THREE oclock in the afternoon had already left at ELEVEN oclock in the morning, we arrived at the airport at 12pm so in theory in plenty of time, but the flight had already left.
Jet 2 (the operator) advised me that the flight time had been changed around 10 days prior, but no one had got in touch with us to advise us of this.
The Jet2 ground staff said to get in touch with LM.com and pursue the costs of additional flights we had to purchase from Blue Island Airways (£382.50).
LM are saying its not their fault as J2 did not inform them of the changes so could not inform them, LM rang me today to say that in their T&C's that it says our contract is with the airline and they have no responsibility.
See extract from the email I have just received. I am a Sole distributor for a French company and my understanding is that whomever you pay for the goods and services, this is who your contract is with?

Dinosaurjuice

Further to our telephone conversation today I would like to outline our position with your case. 

At the time of booking, you made a flight-only booking. This means that your contract is direct with the airline and LM works as an agent on their behalf. Please find and extract from the terms and conditions agreed by you at the time of booking outlining this. 

 

Alan_Bowen

In most cases, a travel agent is just that, an agent of the airline with whom you have a contract. However if the airline can show it advised your agent of the flight time change, then they failed in their duty of care to notify you.

You really need to get the evidence before going further, ask Jet2 if they have a copy of the change of time notification? Did anyone else turn up and miss the flight? If not, it tends to support the airline's position that everyone was notified, although why you would pay extra to book through an agent for a low-cost airline whose fares would have been cheaper booking direct is a mystery for another day.

bagand96

Airlines notify of flight changes by email. If you book direct with the airline then obviously they have your email on file. If you book via an agent then they usually have the agent's contact details. So they'll email the agent, who then needs to let you know.

It's not unheard of that rubbish agents have failed to pass on schedule change information. And knowing LM.com I would be willing to bet that Jet2 did exactly as required of them and it's LM who dropped the ball. (the clue here is how many others were in your situation - was there an entire planeload wondering where their flight was or just you?)

If you could get proof from Jet2 that they passed the schedule change to LM then you may case against them. (you do have a contract with LM as your agent - whatever they may claim).  Only problem is they are a Spanish company based in Switzerland so it's not like you can take them to small claims court. If you payed via credit card then maybe try a Section 75 claim for the additional flight costs. 

Of course you realise this now, but always book direct with the airline. And always re-check your itinerary a day or two before flying on the airline website (the LM.com T&C's probably have a clause about doing this anyway)

bagand96

Alan_Bowen said:

...although why you would pay extra to book through an agent for a low-cost airline whose fares would have been cheaper booking direct is a mystery for another day.

The thing is that often these agents are cheaper than the airline's direct price.... usually only by a few pounds, but that's all they need to be to get to the top of the Google Flights/Skyscanner/Kayak results. 

I've recently been pricing up a potential trip which involves an outbound with TUI and return with Jet2. Sure enough the usual suspects eDreams, Opodo, Lastminute we're around £5-10 cheaper than using the TUI and Jet2 websites. 

I wonder how they do it.... They aren't getting a discount from the airlines that's for sure. I wonder if they sell at a very slight loss to get to the top of the search results and then make their money on extras like baggage, insurance and their myriad of nonsense "service plan" upgrades...

Westin

Dinosaurjuice said:

Hi All,
My wife, 2 children and myself went on a short break to Jersey, the outgoing flight was successful although we received an email from Lastminute.com many weeks before departure advising us of a TEN minute change which was obviously of no consequence.
However the return flight which was meant to be at THREE oclock in the afternoon had already left at ELEVEN oclock in the morning, we arrived at the airport at 12pm so in theory in plenty of time, but the flight had already left.
Jet 2 (the operator) advised me that the flight time had been changed around 10 days prior, but no one had got in touch with us to advise us of this.
The Jet2 ground staff said to get in touch with LM.com and pursue the costs of additional flights we had to purchase from Blue Island Airways (£382.50).
LM are saying its not their fault as J2 did not inform them of the changes so could not inform them, LM rang me today to say that in their T&C's that it says our contract is with the airline and they have no responsibility.
See extract from the email I have just received. I am a Sole distributor for a French company and my understanding is that whomever you pay for the goods and services, this is who your contract is with?

The fact that you received a flight schedule change notification from LM for the outbound flight would at least suggest this was not a case of LM emails going into a spam folder.

As another poster suggests, perhaps see if Jet2 can tell you when they told LM of the change. That might help your claim.

If you post your date/flight details someone with a membership of FlightRadar24 might be able to review the historic flight info and see when that routing schedule changed.

A final thought, with that notification of the 10 minute outbound change are you sure that did not also include the change of the inbound flight. Perhaps mistakenly over looked?

Westin

Looks like this is the latest mystery outcome thread with the progress unknown. 

CKhalvashi

It will depend on whose e-mail address LM used in practical terms to determine who the client of Jet2 was. I'd bet it's theirs, therefore they hold responsibility to let you know. They failed to do so.

A change of this amount of time only 10 days before will be one that should give a right to compensation in any event under UK261. The amount will be £220 per person. As you were at the airport at the original check-in time, I'd suggest you'll be better off going down this route (as it will very likely be easier and you'll be better off) than going down the route of reimbursement of expenses.

Writing to Jet2 at Low Fare Finder House to request this, ensuring you have your bank details in the letter, should resolve the situation to OP's satisfaction, as well as writing to LM at their registered office to make them aware if they want to go down this route they need to book flights using clients e-mail addresses.