my son booked 30 seats through BA flying with gb airways-gatwick to tenerife -in september. he was told the balance was due six weeks before travel

I'm confused by this - I've always had to pay up front in full for any flights with BA/GB. I'm surprised to discover that they offer credit in this way.

SM

How soon do you suppose those of us with flights booked and fully paid for after the end of March are likely to know our fate? I have tried to be optimistic but the latest developments don't exactly inspire confidence. Do we have a firm contract with BA/GB who will be obliged to get us to our destination on the date booked, albeit with Easy when they take over, or could we be left up the creek without a paddle? Getting my money back would not solve anything as I have to be in Tunis at that particular time for a wedding, not a couple of days later, and to the best of my knowledge the only other airline which flies that route on a daily basis is Tunisair, which is likely to be considerably dearer, if indeed there are seats available.

My main objective is to travel on the dates booked with BA/GB and if it has to be with Easyjet (not my first choice by a long way!) then so be it.

However, Easyjet have only said, prior to the takeover, that they PLAN to continue with the summer GB schedule. My concerns are that after the takeover some flights won't go ahead and that dates may change. I still can't see them flying the longer routes to the likes of Dalaman and Cyprus and imagine those with GB bookings to existing Easyjet routes i.e. Malaga and Palma may well be merged with existing Easyjet flights.

I hope I am proved wrong with this, but I would still rather cancel now and make alternative arrangements but GB won't let me do this despite me providing them with booking references of GB customers who have cancelled their tickets and received refunds. I was told this was an administration error

Yes Cazzholly - it's that word PLAN which is worrying me, as apart from Tunisair there are no alternative flights on a Friday. Oh well, we will all have to wait and see what develops - at least I have until mid May to sort something out I've just checked out Tunisair and they do fly on the dates I want, and at a reasonable price, but I wouldn't arrive in Tunis until about 9 p.m. instead of 11 a.m. which will cause a few problems - the return flight being later could be a blessing if I still have a hangover from the wedding.

Aslemma, we don't travel until the end of July so we also have lots of time to sort out alternative flights.

We didn't book direct with GB though, and as such have received no notification of any sort from GB or Thomson, who we booked with, so I'm not too confident we will be told anything by Easyjet when the takeover is completed. I would be very grateful if any HT members could post on this thread when they hear from Easyjet about their 'new' flights or when cancellation is an option.

Cazz

I'm sure HT will be absolutely buzzing when we get any info. I booked direct with BA and have just had a look at their "Manage My Flight" site, which shows me still confirmed, with the same flight number and no mention of Easyjet at all. It also shows they have my correct e-mail address and mobile number. According to my reckoning we should have clarification in the next four weeks, so fingers crossed all round until then.

my son was told he could cancel and have the deposits back which is all very well but they booked their accomodation around the flights so how easy will it be to get 30 seats on another flight going on the same dates ?
i am cross because they should honor their contract and shouldn't be allowed to change the terms of payment at such unreasonably short notice. and everyone is blaming everyone else for the change.

SM the reason they could pay six weeks before travel was because it was a group booking.as you say normally flights have to be paid in full.the terms and conditions on BA website has a group booking section which still says payment is required six weeks before travel.it was one of the deciding factors when they chose the flights.

Aslemma, thanks so much. As we booked through Thomson I never thought we would be able to manage our booking online but I found a reference number on our confirmation email from TUI and have accessed our booking online. At least I have been able to add my email/mobile details so I feel more confident that we may get contacted eventually! Also discovered the flight (if Easyjet decide to run it) is from Gatwick North terminal - I just assumed it was South terminal as the confirmation just says 'Gatwick'. We will be travelling with my autistic daughter so could do without a last-minute panicked dash on the monorail to get from South to North terminal, which will now no longer feature on my itinery

At least they have full contact details for you now Cazz, so they wil be able to let you know what's happening. Incidentally, you say you can't imagine Easy flying the longer routes, but they already fly to Marakesh from Gatwick. Time is on our side and I don't think it will be many more weeks before we know the score, so I'm just going to wait and see what happens (then have a good panic if necessary )

Aslemma, thanks so much. As we booked through Thomson I never thought we would be able to manage our booking online but I found a reference number on our confirmation email from TUI and have accessed our booking online. At least I have been able to add my email/mobile details so I feel more confident that we may get contacted eventually

When you say you booked with Thomson; any information from BA/Easy will go to Thomson usually, and then they have the responsibility to pass it on to you, so I dount you'll here from BA or Easyjet. It will be good practice though to chase it up with Thomson as soon as easyJet make their announcement.

Trying to obtain a refund on flights booked from LGW to Cyprus for next September with GB Airways. I phoned them today, and again was told to ring back in approx 3 weeks, the date keeps moving. These flights were booked for my Daughter & boyfriend as there suprise Xmas present and was hoping to obtain my full refund on the 1st December as promised. Its such a shame, as today I have noted that First Choice are offering some good prices to Cyprus and would have liked my refund to then rebook them with First Choice prior to Christmas. I have been assured that a full refund will be given whatever my choice.

If anyone has any news on when refunds are issued, I would appreciate this information.

Kaz.

kaz45,

Have you tried writing to them and demanding a refund. Keep a copy of the letter as you may have to threaten them with a Small Claims Court action. Go ahead and book other flights as their luggage allowance is no longer being honoured.

Kas45, I was assured a full refund will be given, so I have bitten the bullitt and rebooked another holiday!! My BA ticket prices were nearly £400, so I hope I've done the right thing, because looking at the Easyjet schedule I don't like the look of the new potential times...I think they've handled this very poorly..

I've just received an email flyer from GB airways offering "fantastic offers" this winter and boasting about their "unique relationship with BA". Seems a bit rich under the current circumstances and perhaps my email was correct when it filed it in the junk mail folder

There might be a few good offers for flights over the winter, however , for anyone willing to take the chance.

I'm very hurt that GB haven't contacted me regarding their fabulous offers, MariaH as I've been a very good customer ovet the years. On the other hand, perhaps they realised I would be unlikely to take them up whilst things are still so uncertain I too am getting irritated at the way the time scale keeps being put back for us to be told what is actually happening. The whole thing has been managed very badly in my opinion.

aslemma

have you put yourself on their subscribers list? They won't send you flyers just because you booked with them before because that would be classed as Spamming, which at best would get their server blacklisted by some ISPs and at worst is illegal in some countries.

No, I admit I haven't Steve, though as you probably realised my tongue was firmly in my cheek in my last post. I've also just realised that my fingers were on the wrong keys - having corrected one typo I've just noticed another.

I only found out about all this takeover after booking flights to tenerife from manchester yesterday,if there is uncertainty about routes continuing then why dont they tell you this when booking.

As Easyjet have no base in Manchester does anyone one have any ideas about how these flights might continue