Non-changeable and non-cancellation flight with edreams

sazman

Hi,

I recently made a booking for a multi-city trip from LHR to Thailand through edreams.co.uk with Ethiad Airways for my honeymoon. The return trip included a stopover in Singapore. However, due to the unfortunate passing of my grandmother, we have had to cancel our travel plans. I was not aware at the time of booking that the flight was non-refundable or non-changeable. Upon checking with the edreams, I have been informed that the outbound flight is non-changeable and non-cancellable, while the return flight can be changed.

I paid a total of £1500 for this flight and I am disappointed to learn that it is not refundable. I have spoken with Ethiad Airways and they have informed me that the first flight was booked under a non-changeable fare class. However, this was not clear or shown to me during the edreams.co.uk online booking process.

I am wondering if anyone had similar experience and can help on if there's any options here ? Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

eskbanker

You'll need to check carefully through the confirmation documentation to ascertain fare classes and so on, but if non-refundable then you'll need to claim via your travel insurance.

Caz3121

It looks like as part of the booking process you can choose to upgrade your ticket from Basic to Flex or SuperFlex, both being more expensive and the latter being refundable.
Maybe if you go through a dummy booking you can see what you would have seen when you booked. It is pretty common for the fares that are advertised by third parties to be the cheapest which are the most restrictive. Had you booked direct with Etihad it would have been a bit clearer what the different fare types and fares included.
Also watch out if you selected a 'prime fare' and have not cancelled the free trial, they will take an annual subscription from you 

bagand96

Most flights sold are in non-refundable or severely restrictive fare classes even when booked direct with airlines. Fully refundable flights are very expensive.  You will have agreed to the terms and conditions of both eDreams and the airline as well as the fare rules at checkout.  eDreams put this next to the "Pay" button:

Booking and payment information

I have read and accept the eDreams general terms and conditions and Privacy Notice, and the airline conditions and fare rules.

If you have travel insurance you need to read your policy and get in touch with them.  Bereavement is normally covered for close relatives.

Sorry for your loss, especially with the timing.

bagand96

Caz3121 said:

It looks like as part of the booking process you can choose to upgrade your ticket from Basic to Flex or SuperFlex, both being more expensive and the latter being refundable.

Be careful with those, with a lot of OTA's its not actually a different fare class with the airline but some sort of insurance product with the OTA.  edreams and others have a myriad of added extra "products" during the checkout flow.  Buyer beware!

Caz3121 said:

Also watch out if you selected a 'prime fare' and have not cancelled the free trial, they will take an annual subscription from you 

Good advice!

blindman

sazman said:

Hi,

I recently made a booking for a multi-city trip from LHR to Thailand through edreams.co.uk with Ethiad Airways for my honeymoon. The return trip included a stopover in Singapore. However, due to the unfortunate passing of my grandmother, we have had to cancel our travel plans. I was not aware at the time of booking that the flight was non-refundable or non-changeable. Upon checking with the edreams, I have been informed that the outbound flight is non-changeable and non-cancellable, while the return flight can be changed.

I paid a total of £1500 for this flight and I am disappointed to learn that it is not refundable. I have spoken with Ethiad Airways and they have informed me that the first flight was booked under a non-changeable fare class. However, this was not clear or shown to me during the edreams.co.uk online booking process.

I am wondering if anyone had similar experience and can help on if there's any options here ? Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Can you not claim on your travel insurance?

Voyager2002

I am very sorry that this has happened to you, and even more so that you booked with one of the worst travel agents in the business. Had you booked directly with Etihad your tickets would have had some flexibility, and probably would have cost less. As it is, even though the outbound flight sounds like a total loss (unless covered by insurance) the inbound might still give you some value.

TELLIT01

I've an unfortunate feeling that the OP is going to say they hadn't taken out travel insurance.

Archergirl

TELLIT01 said:

I've an unfortunate feeling that the OP is going to say they hadn't taken out travel insurance.

I'm sure they would have it's a big trip......fingers crossed

sheramber

I have a feeling the OP is not going to come back and enlighten us,