Hi Mari,

We have a holiday booked and one of the passengers can no longer come However I am the lead passenger name and I went into First Choice and it has cost me £35 to change the name on the ticket, so i cannot see it being a problem hopefully with yourself

Do you have somebody who is willing to go? If so get to the Travel Agents today and see what can be done ASAP

yes I do although he has not got the time off work yet as I only found out about this late yesterday and with the bank holiday etc. I'm gonna go after work to Thomson shop and see what they can do about it
fingers crossed

I believe it will be treated as a cancellation this late.

From the T&C's

3. Name change, and or departure details such as date and time changes are not always allowed by airlines and other transport providers whenever they are made. Whilst we will do our best to change the details of the booking, please bear in mind that most airlines and other transport providers treat name and departure detail changes as a cancellation and charge accordingly. These charges will be passed on to you. Once tickets have been issued, and sometimes even before they have been issued, any changes made to the ticket, including names or initials, will result in you having to pay for the cancelled ticket and buy a new ticket at full cost.

http://www.thomson.co.uk/thomson/page/tandc/tandc.page?depDate=2009-05-01&accommInvSys=TPP&flightInvSys=TPP&lang=en

luci

Big problem but possibly not a total write off.

The T&C clause is pretty clear but is specifically refering to the airline - you can't change the flight ticket or have a refund for it at this stage. But the accomodation is still there, paid for and usable. Since you are lead name you could go alone if you can't get the other friend to join you.

There are two options for the other friend but it could be too late for either.

The obvious one is hinted at in the clause - you pay for a new flight ticket on your booked flight. This might not be possible if the flight is full on the system (even though you first friend won't be turning up it's probably too late to change the system). Or it may be on a flight where individual tickets can't be bought. And it may cost more than the whole holiday did originally! You need to see the agent about this but before you go you need to do some urgent research on the internet about the second option!

The second option is less attractive but needs to be checked first. Can you get any flight from an airline or flight only agent on the same dates and if so how much? If that is signficantly cheaper than going on the original flight or if the original can't be booked it may be possible for the second friend to travel seperately and meet you there.

This will lead to the question of the first friends money. We've had this problem before and the general view was as follows.

If he cancels this late and isn't replaced the tour op will not refund so he gets nothing. Simple.

If you both cancel neither will get a refund. Unlikely your insurance would cover you, although it might if he was ill or had been burgled etc.

If you go and he is replaced he might claim the value of what he paid for what was used by someone else. Clearly this won't be the flight element. If he does claim, deduct whatever the new flight costs from the total of what he originally paid - that would be a fair offer even though it is likely to be a lot less than the accomodation element of the original price. Actually it would be fair to also deduct a little extra for your time and stress!

Thanks for your help and advice.
Went to Thomsons today they have changed the name for £86.99. We will get the ammended ticket at the airport. As for my so called friend - As far as I am concerned they let me down big time so are getting nothing and hopefully won't expect anything.

Glad you managed to get it sorted and I guess 80 odd pound isn't a huge price to pay?
I agree with you - I wouldn't be giving any money back either!

Hope you have a great holiday

Glad it's all worked out well for you. Now go away and enjoy

£86.99 sounds like a bargain for a new flight - I'd guess they have managed to do it as a name change with an extra charge for picking the ticket up at the airport. Get there early, ticket desks aren't always conveniently close to checkin.

As for giving ex friend money back, keep your head down and don't let him know you've made the change just in case he decides to go for it. The legal position may be an argument you don't want to get involved with.

Thanks : - )

yeah cant wait been very stressed about it all.

As for my so called friend - As far as I am concerned they let me down big time so are getting nothing and hopefully won't expect anything.

Don't worry about it Mari

Your friend isn't due anything in terms of a refund, he cancelled and a cancellation within 10 days of departure incurs a full 100% cancellation charge so he wasn't getting any money back from Thomson anyway.

Just in the off chance that it was more than 10 days before your due departure he told you he wasn't going there are still heavy cancellation charges made by Thomson so any refund would be minimal -

11-21 days 90% charge

22-35 days 70% charge

Go and enjoy your holiday

thanks ive tried to get on the manage my booking side to add my new persons api info but i can't get on it at all.

Would the person i went with have any rights to change anything as he is not the lead passenger? worried he would be vindictive and mess things up.

No Mari, only you as the lead passenger would be able to change anything. Does he know your booking ref and details as I suppose there's nothing to stop him accessing the booking on-line and pretending to be you. Though I doubt any major change would be allowed on line. Not sure why you would have difficulty getting in to manage your booking. I'd give them a ring to be certain.

Hi

I've rang them everything seems ok have given api details over the phone. Phew glad its sorted been very stressed. Thanks