Change to flight schedule (by 48 hours!) - what are my rights?

loofer

Bought one way tickets, from Lahore to Manchester, on Trip.com, flying with Kuwait Airways (connecting via Kuwait) on a Tuesday.
The flight is at end of Feb so I expected there may be some movement in the schedules of flight times between now and then.

Kuwait Airways have emailed me this morning informing of the change to both flights.
It's now departing 48 hours earlier, on a Sunday, which is not suitable as I have a wedding finishing that weekend. The connection time is the same as there is a Kuwait to Manchester flight on that Sunday.

I've checked their website to see if my original dates are bookable but it appears not.
They have reduced the number of services from Lahore to Kuwait, which now operates earlier in the week, Sunday & Monday but not the Tuesday as originally booked.
It appears the Kuwait to Manchester flight still exist, on Sunday and Tuesday (my original date) but not Monday.


I'd like to know what are my rights and how best should I approach this?
Should I be dealing with Trip.com or directly with Kuwait Airways?

There's a compromise I may accept which is to travel Kuwait to Lahore on a Monday, stopover for ~23 hours, and then get connecting flight on Tuesday from Kuwait to Manchester. Might be arguable who pays for accommodation as it's their initiated change but they have offered me an alternative with just 2 hour connection but the date isn't suitable

Caz3121

It sounds like the best solution may be to get a refund and start again with another airline. You are going to have to work with Trip.com and there will likely be fees that you agreed to when you made the booking (service charges for them having to work with the airline to get your refund - not your fault the airline changed schedule and not Trip's either)
If you go for the choose to an overnight in Kuwait I would expect the overnight costs to be yours
You may have to wait some time for a refund but probably best to start looking for alternatives (looks like quite a few options) and next time book direct with the airline.

The_Fat_Controller

Exactly what has been offered, cancellation or have they already rebooked your flights ?

Be prepared for a protracted negotiation with Trip.com and do have a look at their Ts and Cs regarding charges as mentioned above.

Good luck !

loofer

The_Fat_Controller said:

Exactly what has been offered, cancellation or have they already rebooked your flights ?

Be prepared for a protracted negotiation with Trip.com and do have a look at their Ts and Cs regarding charges as mentioned above.

Good luck !

Yes sorry, I should've said, they've just booked me onto the flight 2 days earlier. No choices offered.

loofer

Caz3121 said:

It sounds like the best solution may be to get a refund and start again with another airline. You are going to have to work with Trip.com and there will likely be fees that you agreed to when you made the booking (service charges for them having to work with the airline to get your refund - not your fault the airline changed schedule and not Trip's either)
If you go for the choose to an overnight in Kuwait I would expect the overnight costs to be yours
You may have to wait some time for a refund but probably best to start looking for alternatives (looks like quite a few options) and next time book direct with the airline.

I never learn my lesson. I know there's a risk with these things but at the time of booking the flights are significantly cheaper when booking through agents.
It often pays to book direct

a_t_jackson

Hi,

I've just had very similar, with Ryanair.  Just last week they were selling daily flights in July 2023 from Belfast to Faro.  I booked those, and accommodation and car hire separately (which are non-refundable).  Yesterday I received a 'We’re sorry the scheduled time of your flight(s) has been changed" email.  They changed my outbound flight to be 2.5 days later and return flight to be 2 days earlier - so my 11 day trip had been reduced to 7 days.  In fact it looks like they've reduced their schedule on this route from daily to weekly flights (in peak season July!) 

That doesn't work for me and I've now rebooked my original dates with another airline but at a much higher cost.  I've requested full refund from Ryanair but am I eligible from compensation too, given the new flights are more expensive?  I couldn't risk not  booking with another airline asap to keep to ensure travel on my original dates.

Thanks in advance.  

eskbanker

a_t_jackson said:

I've requested full refund from Ryanair but am I eligible from compensation too, given the new flights are more expensive?

No, compensation only comes into play for significant schedule changes within 14 days of departure, so if they've changed the timings for next July, your only options are to accept their proposed flights or a refund.

onashoestring

a_t_jackson said:

Hi,

I've just had very similar, with Ryanair.  Just last week they were selling daily flights in July 2023 from Belfast to Faro.  I booked those, and accommodation and car hire separately (which are non-refundable).  Yesterday I received a 'We’re sorry the scheduled time of your flight(s) has been changed" email.  They changed my outbound flight to be 2.5 days later and return flight to be 2 days earlier - so my 11 day trip had been reduced to 7 days.  In fact it looks like they've reduced their schedule on this route from daily to weekly flights (in peak season July!) 

That doesn't work for me and I've now rebooked my original dates with another airline but at a much higher cost.  I've requested full refund from Ryanair but am I eligible from compensation too, given the new flights are more expensive?  I couldn't risk not  booking with another airline asap to keep to ensure travel on my original dates.

Thanks in advance.  

You are not entitled to compensation- However when the flight was cancelled- you were entitled to choose either a refund OR re-routing .

You can’t have both so you should not claim a refund but rather should have requested that Ryanair book you on the alternative flights that you have found which will get you to your destination on your original date.

You can try to claim this retrospectively from Ryanair- if you have already requested and received a refund you can’t have both refund and expenses for the new flights . 

If Ryanair did not make clear your options when they cancelled the flight then you can try to claim the difference between the new flights and any refund you have already received. 

a_t_jackson

Thankyou. Very useful