Changing holiday already booked with Travel Republic

debsy42

We have a holiday already booked for May 2025, paid a deposit of £199.

When we booked this holiday, the hotel we chose wasn't our first choice as the hotel we really wanted to book was quite a bit more expensive. We comprised and booked the second choice. Also, the flights were not the ones we really wanted however we again bit the bullet because of cost.

Yesterday whilst browsing their website our first choice of direct flights and preferred hotel were significantly cheaper than when were first looked, the difference is about £1000.

I have contacted Travel Republic to see if we can change hotel/flights but it seems we can change the hotel but not the flights.

Reading through the T&C's it says

"Less more 7 days before departure, we may be able to amend your holiday subject to availability and any costs levied by the suppliers. For more details click here
If you do need to cancel: Flights are non-refundable and must be paid in full"

So to me this is saying that if we do cancel then we would need to pay the £1500 cost of the flights? 

If we were able to cancel and just lose our deposit of £199 and rebook our preferred holiday it would still be worthwhile as we would save about £800 on the cost. Reading this clause though I'm not sure this will be an option.

The flights we want to change to are direct flights with BA with a travel time of 10 hours however the flights were booked are indirect with Turkish Airlines with a travel time of 15 hours so it's quite a difference and saves all the hassle of changing/waiting around in Istanbul.

So, my question is has anyone any experience of trying to change or cancel a holiday and had to still pay for the flights part or not able to change the flights at all?

Mark_d

Have you called Travel Republic and clarified what you'd need to pay if you want to change the flights?

TELLIT01

If Travel Republic have already booked non-refundable flights then you will have to pay the full amount even if you cancel.  I would be requesting proof that the flights have actually been booked.

debsy42

Mark_d said:

Have you called Travel Republic and clarified what you'd need to pay if you want to change the flights?

Yes I did phone last night but the lady I spoke to wasn't sure, she is calling me back later this morning but just wanted to hear if anyone else had any experience with cancelling/changing flights before I spoke with her again.

la531983

And this is why you should never look up the cost of your holiday once you have booked it.

debsy42

la531983 said:

And this is why you should never look up the cost of your holiday once you have booked it.

If we could get the different holiday we really wanted for the same price we have paid that would be fine although saving £800 would be great, this is not so much about the price difference of the holiday it's changing flights that suit us better. 

debsy42

Well, Travel Republic were really helpful and managed to sort out what we wanted. Cancelling didn't mean we had to pay for the flights which was my worry. Credit to them for giving really excellent service.

bagand96

debsy42 said:

Well, Travel Republic were really helpful and managed to sort out what we wanted. Cancelling didn't mean we had to pay for the flights which was my worry. Credit to them for giving really excellent service.

Good to hear. 

This is one of those situations where there'll be no fixed answer as it will depend on the situation. In your case the Turkish Airlines flights had likely not been payed upfront and were cancellable. If your flights had been payed upfront by TR then you would have been liable to pay. (for example if they'd been Ryanair, easyjet etc)