Two people want to drop out of a group holiday booking

felicitybop

Hi, 6 of us booked a trip to Las Vegas through British Airways (flight and hotel) which is due to take place in May 2023. So far, we have each paid a low deposit and the remaining balance is outstanding (approx £1881 per couple) 

My husband and I can no longer make this trip, due to unforeseen circumstances, and we need to pull out of the booking. 

Will British Airways re-adjust the outstanding balance and take our portion off, or will the party of 4 still have to pay their own share, plus ours too? We understand there may be administration payments etc, but cannot get through to anybody at British Airways to give us an answer.

Thanks in advance

MorningcoffeeIV

It'll depend on the terms of the booking. 

What does it say about change or removal of passengers?

felicitybop

It is actually so hard to understand the terms- it says about cancellation of whole booking is balance is not paid, and what to do if you need to cancel (presumably once you have paid, with regards to being refunded) but I've tried calling BA several times over last few days and am not able to reach anyone due to a high volume of calls. Just don't want my friends to suffer, and am trying to see if its easier to cancel whole thing and rebook for them without us - and then I will just reimburse them their deposits

zagfles

Do you have travel insurance, and what is the "unforeseen circumstance", is it covered by the travel insurance?

felicitybop

Yes we do, and the unforseen circumstance is that we can no longer afford to pay our portion of the balance- we have so far only paid a deposit. I it was just booked for us both, the holiday would automatically be cancelled, but as we did it together as a group, the 4 other passengers still want to go.

sheramber

Have you checked if your booking was a changeable/ refundable booking or non changeable/non refundable?

the best time ot call is as soon as lines open so you are at the front of any queue.

felicitybop

BA have responded in chat function and have said that the balance will be adjusted, but we need to pay £100 per person for cancellation fee. So in that case our friends shouldn't be affected.

zagfles

felicitybop said:

Yes we do, and the unforseen circumstance is that we can no longer afford to pay our portion of the balance- we have so far only paid a deposit. I it was just booked for us both, the holiday would automatically be cancelled, but as we did it together as a group, the 4 other passengers still want to go.

Sometimes travel insurance would cover that eg if you can't afford because you lost your job etc. Check your policy.

TELLIT01

The question I would have is about only so far paying the 'low deposit'.  Generally with cancellation where 'low deposit' has been paid, the balance of the deposit is required.  The person on the other end of a chat may not know that less than the full deposit has been paid.  I would certainly clarify that.