You don't say why its the fault of the TA? ? Have you proof of their mistake? Assuming that its due to the Ash cloud at the moment.

Hi tfwoo69 and welcome to HT.

Unfortunately you have not given us any information to work on. You say it is the fault of the travel agent rather than the airline so I would assume that you have not got what you thought you had booked.

If you could post some further info we will try to assist but any action you take will have to be here in the UK.

In the meantime if you are incurring additional expenditure then ensure you get receipts for everything. Keep any expenditure reasonable. Don't book into the most expensive hotel you can find. If there is a Tour Operator involved then speak with the rep and ask them to complete a complaints form. If it turns out that the fault is due to them then you need to get it recorded. We have had questions here on HT where the TO and not the agent have made the mistake. Send an email if you can outlining the problem to all concerned. You are then setting up an audit trail for any action you take on your return.

fwh

I booked a return flight for my family. My son was an infant on the outbound date and the return date was on his 2nd birthday.

I sent an email to travel agent after the booking was made to confirm that it was Ok to travel as an infant on both sectors. I was advised by travel agent that fare basis is booked on the outbound date and therefore it didn't matter on his return.

12 hours before departure the airline calls me and advises that my wife and I have confirmed seats on the flight however your son is a child and therefore cannot travel as there are no seats due to European disruption.

My return flight has been changed to 18 days later.

All my agent cares about it is how much this will cost.

I would like to know where I stand

When booking package holidays the age is on return.

Just looked at British Airways site and found this. I would assume it is standard for ALL airlines.

If you are travelling with an infant who reaches the age of two during their journey, you must book a separate seat for them for any flights on and after their birthday.

The fare charged will remain at the infant rate for the entire journey, regardless that a seat has been booked for some flights.

Bookings should be made according to the age of the infant at the time of travel. You will need to contact us so we can ensure that your child has a seat after their 2nd birthday.

If the agent told you different then they are wrong. Not a great deal you can do about it from abroad. Flights are now returning to normal so it is possible that they can rebook you earlier.

Post on here when you get back and we will try to assist you some more.

fwh

Can't find any information on the Emirates website regarding infant child reservations

I just searched the emirates website and found this

http://www.emirates.com/english/help/faqs/FAQDetails.aspx?faqId=193423

HTH

Regarding your expenses in the meantime - I believe it is the airlines responsibility to provide accommodation and meals during the delay. They may try to imply that the delay in getting you ALL back home results from the lack of the ONE extra seat needed for your (now not) infant son. As fwh rightly suggested - keep all receipts for expenditure and minimise this expenditure.

The ash cloud is a bit of a smokescreen (sorry to mix metaphors here!). The base problem is that the agent got it wrong and failed to sell the correct tickets, it was made worse by the other problems but don't let them get in the way of a claim, which should be for every penny spent because of this (except the missing ticket that should have been sold in the first place), plus any loss of earnings etc. and then round it up with a bit for the stress.

Agents getting it wrong was covered by the Supply of Goods and Services Act which requires anyone providing as service as a business to exercise reasonable care and skill - which they didn't in this case. Part of the skill of being a travel agent would be knowing the standard child ticket rules. Unfortunately the link I had saved to a government factsheet on this law isn't working so you'll have to do some more digging or ask your local trading standards office to help.

Oof, that's really unfortunate considering the timing and how badly this mistake will have been been exacerbated by the volcanic ash.

It's completely standard regulations that a 2 year old requires their own seat. I suggest the t/a needs to pursue a new career.

I can't see how they will not be liable, although I foresee a fight as the costs will have mounted up. I think you will have to carefully receipt all costs, and pursue when you are back (i.e. speak to Ros). I presume you will now have the additional costs of a one way child ticket as well?

Emirates are not responsible legally for your ongoing costs (morally is a different issue) as it is a non-EU airline flying from a non-EU destination. However, do note they are putting on multiple extra flights (2 a day to Gatwick, 1 extra a day to Bangkok) bigger planes (more A380's) etc, so they are clearing the backloads quicker than other airlines, so keep harassing the airline in the meantime for an earlier return.

Thanks for your replies.

Now waiting for reply from TA

Travel agent is now saying that they will only pay allowance to adults and not child.

As far as I can see the allowance is per person. can anyone help on this?

My daughter and her family was stranded in Singapore for 8 days.
They had to find their own hotels, and due to the amount of people waiting to get home, they were in 5 different hotels.
They also had to pay for the hotels,taxis,food and clothes as their luggage was kept in storage at the airport due to them being transit passengers.
They eventually got a flight back on Sunday and had to endure 11 hours of turbulence.
To cap it all they got a call from their bank to say their debit card had been cloned and was being used in the Philippines.
They have been told they can claim all the money back but if the airline do is another thing.

Travel agent is now saying that they will only pay allowance to adults and not child.

As far as I can see the allowance is per person. can anyone help on this?

From what you have said already they have made a mistake and should sort it out FOC. Unfortunately you are stuck out there, once you get back then we will give you any assistance we can in getting your money back As I said before please get/keep receipts for any expenditure.

The airline T&Cs are very clear on this and the agent SHOULD have been aware of them.

fwh

Jay Trip

the EU regulations will not apply if they were not on a EU airline so whether they can claim is questionable - were they with SIA? They have rights under the Montreal Convention but that's an uphill struggle. Insurance may be limited to delayed departure which is usually capped at a couple of hundred quid.

Steve,Yes they were with SIA and have been told by them to keep all receipts and they will be able to claim it back from them.
They had to fork out for 8 days worth of food,hotels,taxis and clothes for 5 of them!
Their insurance is paying them £100 each.
Goodness knows how much the no marks who cloned their debit card have used.