How common are flight changes? And how much, if any, of a refund can you be looking at?

B0bbyEwing

Having only dealt with flights once before (which went smoothly) we don't have any experience in this area.

We've booked up to go away in the second half of the year. Yesterday my wife got notification that the flight times have changed to the point that the break would become pointless. No explanation as to why.

We were going to leave very early Monday morning, come back quite late Wednesday & for 2 nights accommodation we'd get a full day, most of a day & then a decent amount of a 3rd day.

This has now been changed to the only flight being super late Monday, getting us in at damn near midnight & the return flight is now super early Wednesday. So we'd be paying what we're paying for only 1 day - pointless.

Wife was looking to see if we could bring the holiday a day forward or perhaps add on another day (which would mean losing out airport hotel payment, having to pay for another hotel stay & then having to add on an additional day at the destination).

First question I'm asking here is how common is this? Say we do all this changing around & then the flights change again & again & again etc?

She said that skyscanner & the airlines website - their flight times don't tally so there may be an error.

Second question being, technically we can still go, even though it's pointless now. If we can't find a workaround should we be entitled to a full refund (minus the airport hotel which my wife tells me we can't get refunded as we didn't select that option)?

Side note - no good saying go elsewhere in the year. Our annual leave is set. It's when the AL is or not at all.

FrugaiMacDugal

What does the terms of your original booking say regarding any changes by operator?

Is your annual leave only 3 days?

Have a read here.

mr_stripey

whether changes are common or not is largely irrelevant - they do happen

In general if the flight has changed by 3+ hours the airline should try to re book you on another service or offer a refund

What is the flight details - some people may be able to help find an alternative to be re booked onto?

Ayr_Rage

For scheduled airlines they mostly rejig their flight times when the clocks change to and from BST and announce them shortly beforehand.

Therefore if you book into that next period there's always a possibility of new timings.

bagand96

From what you have said it sounds as if you'd be entitled to a full refund from the airline. Policy varies from airline to airline but I think the legal requirement is 5 hours for a time change.

Who are you flying with, what exactly are the changes, and who did you book with? (if you booked via an agent you will have to go back to the agent for a refund and they may charge an admin fee)

Bigphil1474

We booked a long haul flight a couple of years ago through booking.com, both journeys including one stop. The 2nd flight on the way back was moved so that it took off before we got there so we were offered a full refund. Unfortunately, that wasn't particularly helpful but that's another story. I'd be pushing for a full refund as a start.

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6658221/how-common-are-flight-changes-and-how-much-if-any-of-a-refund-can-you-be-looking-at

For flights months in advance? It happens, probably remember 2-3 times but then at one point was taking a return flight at least once a month for a good few years. Clearly when world events are taking place they become more common and one of those cases was during Covid. Its potentially more common with certain airlines than others and some destinations more than others.

If you are talking about a few days out then they become more common but still nothing compared to just delays on the day etc.

Be careful with certain aggregators not all of them use live data, some cache the results and apply their own logic. Hence some you always get the same price when you click through and others the prices can vary significantly. If the change is last day or two then a caching aggregator may not have picked up the change yet.

How did you book? Direct with the airline? Was the accommodation included in your booking and therefore tis a package holiday or did you book separately? For most, if not all airlines, it's likely to be considered a material change and therefore you would be entitled to a refund for the flights, or the package if it's a package. There is no right for a refund from the airline on the accommodation if you booked it separately and given they have given you ample notice they owe no additional compensation for it.

flaneurs_lobster

I asked a similar question here when my 10 month hence booking of a Jet2 package moved my flights by -9.5 hours. Was advised that since Jet2's t&c's define a "significant change" to flight times to be > 12 hours, tough.

Have you booked a package or flights independently? Might make a difference to any refund/change request.

B0bbyEwing

Some of these questions I can't answer at the mo as I didn't do the booking.

Turns out there must've been something wrong with the system because rather than both flights being changed, it's allegedly only the return flight which means the holiday is still worth it but only just. At the moment that is.

The airline is Ryanair & I'm not sure if it was direct or via that flightscanner thing.

Will have to get OH to look at booking T&Cs because there's about half a year to go yet - plenty of time to change another 100 times.

bagand96

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81911730#Comment_81911730

With Ryanair if a flight has been moved by 5 hours or more you are entitled to cancel for a refund. That includes all flights on the booking not just the flight that has been changed.

Refunds – Ryanair Help Centre

If you booked directly with Ryanair then the schedule change email from them will usually give the options and you can click the link in the email.