May need to cancel a flight. I have a dilemma what to do. Where should I start?

soolin

Cancellation looks unlikely according g to the FAQs

https://checknfly.co.uk/faq

”

What happens if I cancel my travel arrangements?

If you want to cancel your travel arrangements (flight, hotel bookings, car hire etc) please contact our executive at 0207-183-9664. You will need your booking references or any other relevant details to hand. Most of our fares, taxes and deals are nonrefundable. If your reasons for cancellations fall within the terms and conditions policies of any travel insurance then it may possible to reclaim some of all the losses incurred by you through your travel insurance company.“

So it looks like as has been suggested already above , that you need to see if you paid for  a refundable ticket or not. 

Another suggestion is to see if there is somewhere you can stay for a while near a transport hub or place of interest without your friends. Spend a few days doing touristy things on your own then a few days with friends. 

Alan_Bowen

Looking at the website, I would suggest the flight is completely non-refundable, the best you could hope for is a refund of the APD tax, and I suspect they will charge an admin fee for that as well. So do think carefully before cancelling, if you can afford to hire a car, driving is easier than here in the UK, I am not familiar with Oklahoma so I cannot offer suggestions of things to do, but others may have some ideas. 

silvercar

If the flight is non- refundable, it may still allow changes for a fee. Though going through a travel agent to book, may make it harder to change. The other option is to wait to see if the airline moves your flight by more than a few hours, in which case you have the right to cancel.

sheramber

Do your friends have a car?  You could pay for fuel for outings.

bluelad1927

Are you sure your friends haven't come up with this as an excuse and just trying to put you off going for whatever reason. 

If this is possibly the case I'd rather lose the cost of a flight than spend even more having a miserable and awkward trip to a foreign country

TELLIT01

bluelad1927 said:

Are you sure your friends haven't come up with this as an excuse and just trying to put you off going for whatever reason. 

If this is possibly the case I'd rather lose the cost of a flight than spend even more having a miserable and awkward trip to a foreign country

An interesting point.  Maybe the OP has been freeloading on his friends, even unintentionally.  Has the OP normally paid anything towards costs when staying with the friends.  It's possible that on the first visit they said they didn't want anything but their feelings, and finances, may have changed over the years.

brymbo76

I would not say I have been freeloading as such.
I have always paid towards the use of utilities like electricity, water and internet.
And towards shopping and going out for meals and car parking charges.

I guess if I was more confident I could still travel and hire a car on days they are unable to do things but I still feel I would need to get used to driving on quieter 2-way traffic roads, like our B roads first.

I have now got in touch with the travel agent and as I paid an additional £30 on top of my £600 ticket for a flexible upgrade ticket, they said my ticket is valid for 12 months but would just pay a small charge of about £50 to change the dates of my ticket. I would need to do this a minimum of 48 hours before I fly.
I can also make a second change but that would cost £250.

I was thinking that if I visited maybe May/June next year, I could book provisional dates as my friends wouldn't know what dates work for them next year until this year is out.
And then when they know for sure, I could alter them dates to the exact dates I want to travel but just have to pay the additional £250.

But it would probably be cheaper than cancelling my ticket and spend another £600 or more on a new ticket.

TELLIT01

Given what you say you have contributed I would agree that you haven't been freeloading.  I raised the possibility of it being done inadvertently because we have been in the position of staying with family and them constantly refusing any contribution, and that made me feel guilty.

soolin

brymbo76 said:

I would not say I have been freeloading as such.
I have always paid towards the use of utilities like electricity, water and internet.
And towards shopping and going out for meals and car parking charges.

I guess if I was more confident I could still travel and hire a car on days they are unable to do things but I still feel I would need to get used to driving on quieter 2-way traffic roads, like our B roads first.

I have now got in touch with the travel agent and as I paid an additional £30 on top of my £600 ticket for a flexible upgrade ticket, they said my ticket is valid for 12 months but would just pay a small charge of about £50 to change the dates of my ticket. I would need to do this a minimum of 48 hours before I fly.
I can also make a second change but that would cost £250.

I was thinking that if I visited maybe May/June next year, I could book provisional dates as my friends wouldn't know what dates work for them next year until this year is out.
And then when they know for sure, I could alter them dates to the exact dates I want to travel but just have to pay the additional £250.

But it would probably be cheaper than cancelling my ticket and spend another £600 or more on a new ticket.

I would double check , perhaps even confirm in writing that this is all the charges for both the travel agent and airline. I would have expected 3 different charges ,  those applied by airline, plus the cost of the increase in fare, plus the admin costs that the TA applies. 

saajan_12

So its minimally £330 extra, plus potentially paying for the ticket price difference. 

Would it be cheaper to just cover their costs? Maybe you could agree a new format, so you treat them in the US, and they return the favour when they come here?