Trip to Australia via Doha with LastMinute.com

ParisMatch68

Hi, Newbie here looking for advice and help.

I have booked for my son and I to travel to Sydney Australia from Manchester UK with LastMinute.com to visit my daughter. We were due to travel on the 28th March but due to the conflict in the Middle East our outbound flight is cancelled.

It is a single booking PNR reference but involved:

Outbound Manchester - Doha - Sydney with Qatar Airlines

Return Sydney - Istanbul - Manchester with Turkish Airlines

The return is not cancelled as it avoids the Middle Eastern countries directly affected.

LastMinute.Com are suggesting that only the outward part of the journey is therefore entitled to a refund. My argument, for what it is worth, is that this is a single booking through LastMinute that they cannot facilitate either through a reroute or reschedule rendering the return portion impossible.

Do I have even the slightest of a leg to stand on? Stand to lose £1600 at the moment which we can simply not afford. Thanks for reading

Woodstok2000

Lastminute.com have a dreadful record of sneakily booking flights separately and selling them to customers as a single ticket, so that's the first thing to check.

If it's truly a single ticket then youre entitled to a full refund. If it's been booked separately then you may be better trying to get a rerouting of the outbound flight, or checking on the options for a (partial) refund if you cancel the return flight yourself.

ParisMatch68

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81934362#Comment_81934362

Hi thank you so much for taking the trouble to reply. If there is just a single PNR booking reference would that constitute a "single ticket"? Thanks again

Woodstok2000

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81934374#Comment_81934374

Generally it should do, but only lastminute.com can tell you for sure. You probably need to speak to them again to understand the position fully, and then push them for either a rerouted outbound flight or a full refund for both legs. Good luck!

bagand96

It is a single booking PNR reference but involved:

Outbound Manchester - Doha - Sydney with Qatar Airlines

Return Sydney - Istanbul - Manchester with Turkish Airlines

Just to confirm, when you say single booking PNR, is that on the airline website (ie Qatar Airways and/or Turkish Airlines) with the airline website showing all flights? Or is it just on the Lastminute.com website?

ParisMatch68

Just to confirm, when you say single booking PNR, is that on the airline website (ie Qatar Airways and/or Turkish Airlines) with the airline website showing all flights? Or is it just on the Lastminute.com website?

Sorry - you are right. i have a solitary booking ID from lastminute.com but on checking the invoice they have 2 separate PNR for out and return. I presume they just have me over the proverbial barrel and my chances of refund are slim to zero. Sorry for the mis-information. It’s just all so devastating

Grumpy_chap

What can you recover by way of refund if cancelling the return flight?

Will your travel insurance cover any of the shortfall?

NoodleDoodleMan

Unless and until a flight is cancelled by the carrier I reckon a travel insurer would not entertain any claim(s).

Then there are clauses about acts of war etc.

bagand96

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81934685#Comment_81934685

It's a case of the contracts you have with the various providers and their responsibility to you. You have a contract with LM.com to act as your agent in booking the flights which they have done. There's a contract with Qatar for one way flights to Sydney which they have cancelled and will refund. And a contract with Turkish for flights Sydney-UK. Those flights are still operating, the fact your outbound flights are cancelled is not their concern.

Unfortunately no party is in breach so there's no claim against anyone. I do sympathise with your situation. I don't think Lastminute make it obvious that you aren't booking a proper return ticket? But then likewise I don't think they specifically tell you if you are booking a proper return.

It might be worth investigating your Travel Insurance. You don't know until you try. Likewise explore if there's any options with Turkish, it might not be likely but it's worth at least checking given the amounts involved.