Change Of Flight Time - Can We Cancel ?

jdybnsn

2007-03-01 23:12:35

I booked a flight from Manchester to Antalya with MyTravel last year for Oct 2007......I've just noticed on their website that the flight leaves 2 hours later and returns 2 hours later than when I booked it. On the surface this should be no great deal except I could have got cheaper flights at the time, but chose this one particularly for the times.

We have young kids, and did not want to be arriving at the resort at 11pm at night and also we now have the added problem that the flights back do not get back into Manchester till 1am ...thus making it very antisocial on the poor person picking us up ...and that is if we leave on time ! In effect the leg back has almost turned into a night flight that I was great pains to avoid in the first place.
To add insult to injury , I've now noticed a cheaper flight that has much earlier flight times with First Choice leaving 2 days earlier.

I know 2 hours does not sound alot of difference but it is making quite a big difference to our plans...plus we are probably going to have to fork out extra now to keep a room at the hotel on the last day...another thing I wanted to avoid

Am I within my rights to cancel these flights ?....is there any prospect of them changing back again, since we still have over 7 months to go ?

I would appreciate if anyone could clarify our options ...though I have a nasty feeling there is going to be nothing we can do

stewartwilkie

2007-03-02 11:02:17

2 hours is not considered a major change. You wont be allowed to cancel free of charge. At the time of booking flight times will have been given as an indication and subject to change.

I understand your arguments but you still booked a flight arriving back late evening. If you really didnt want unsociable timings would you not have been better booking a morning flight which would give you an afternoon return.

Kind Regards
Stewart

calabonagirl

2007-03-02 14:35:33

I had a similar problem with Panorama (My Travel ) last year to Algarve last year.Our flights were put back by 7 hours so returned to UK at 1 a.m. My husband compained and eventually we got a full refund "As a gesture of goodwill" me thinks to keep our gobs shut!!!. Took ages for refund to come.

Pippa

2007-03-02 21:48:51

I agree with Stewart - if you wanted to be sure of a 'day' flight then you should have booked one leaving the UK in the morning.

2 hours is most certainly not considered a major change and you will not be able to cancel without forfeiting your deposit.

I think you will have to stick with it - after all even if your flight times had not changed you might still be delayed for a couple of hours anyway.

Pippa

jdybnsn

2007-03-03 10:11:00

Hi , thanks for all your replies .

.....I had a feeling that we don't really have any options.....when I booked last October these were the only flights available that departed in the day at all - there was nothing going out in the morning !!!

We were supposed to leave at 13.30...which wasn't too bad, since it is a 4 hour flight plus 2 hour time difference , this got us landing at Antalya airport at around 19.30.....now we won't be arriving till 21.30 ...so with transfers, baggage , visa control etc pick up etc I don't suppose we will be at our hotel till 23.30 :cry:

....this I can live with, as long as it does not stretch out any further ...........its more a problem on our return journey with our late pick up from Manchester since we are unlikely to be out & on the road till around 02.00am.......and as pointed out this could be later if delayed.

Well, that'll teach me to book so early :roll:

...my only consolation is that at least the price of the flight is higher now (although I suspect that I might be getting a bill for the increase in APD from them at some stage).

Out of interest, could anyone tell me at what stage a flight time change constitutes a major change ?

lynwestie

2007-03-03 10:20:16

Judy .is there maybe another airport you could go from . ??? portland changed our flight times and i only noticed it by accident . admitably pushing it on 5 hours into a very nasty night flight by they were more than happy to change me from gatwick to the earlier stansted flight with no amendment fees which i would of preferred originally anyway but it was too dear. luckily it had come down in price . did phone the booking department first and they were most unhelpful wanted to charge me £200 in amendment fees but found another dept that were only too willing to help so think it depends what department you talk to.

lyn

doe

2007-03-03 10:59:49

Hi Judy,
What a pain.

Have you tried ringing them, did you book direct with mytravel or through an agent of somekind? If it's an agent they may have other flights now that are more suitable, perhaps you could appeal to their better nature and they might let you swap to something that suits you better.

I'm assuming you have paid the whole cost up front and not just a deposit you would be prepared to lose for better flight times.

Flights to Antalya always seem to be at bad times.

Its one the main thing that stopped me from going to that part of Turkey last year.

ellie_meg

2007-03-03 12:06:45

i think its usually around 12+ hours that makes it a major change

i know this is very annoying but sadly its very common for flights to change in time infact more often than not mine change to turkey even if its just an hour

if you have booked ticketless flights with first choice then you will get charged £5 each extra we got charged a few weeks ago and were given 3 days to pay or my flight would be cancelled as i didnt receive their first email asking me to pay !!! also on the email it did say everyone would be notified by 28th feb so if i were you i would contact them re this, just incase you didnt receive their email too

jdybnsn

2007-03-03 19:25:51

hi

We only paid a deposit but it is too much to lose really.

Well, I think I will ring them (good thinking :tup

) even though they haven't officially notified me yet ...it can't hurt to ask can it ? :lol:

robbyw

2007-03-04 17:14:55

Summed up perfectly by Stewart.

Kosmar in particular advertise their flight times as provisional and subject to being announced and they usually have no bearance on the actual times, which must be a problem for advance bookings.

Two hours is not really bad, my flight delays are normally worse than that !!!!!!!!!!!!

Robby :wink:

fwh

2007-03-04 19:58:15

Complaints regarding changes in flight times appear on a regular basis. What I am not able to understand is why, when flights are booked so far in front, anyone is surprised that changes have to be made.

I do not see it as a conspiracy on behalf of the TO/Airline as some seem to suggest. In our own lives plans we make many months in front often have to be changed. Why should we not expect it from others?

fwh

paully

2007-03-04 20:35:00

The Airlines started this off by publishing prices and `times`almost a year in advance and a lot of people accept what is published.What the Airlines and their TO`s DONT say is that airport slot allocations are doled out at a once a year conference to which the airlines submit their wish list, then get told what they are having and it is at that point that many of the travelling public get disappointed.
Has happened to me this year, changed from a morning to an afternoon departure, but luckily knowing the system I expected it. Pricewise I was still happy :lol:

The slot conferences are usually held towards the end of each year. Scheduled flights get priority as well. Charters share whats left..

Flight Only / Airline and Airports

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Flight Only / Airline and Airports

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