you can call them and explain the reason for booking was because of the flight times but if you pay attention to the terms and conditions it will state that times are for guidance only and can change with out given notice so really you are lucky you have been told flight times can change on more than 1 occassion so i sugest when you recieve the tickets you check timings as then they will only be confirmed

but you have the right to ask for a full refund if this flight isnt suitable for you good luck

courtney

the same thing has happened to me and im not happy booked return flight with thomas cook at 3.15pm and they have changed it to a turkish airline ive never heard of to 6.am losing 9 hours of my holiday and having to get up around 2-3am to get to airport 4am, really annoyed about it and as im going on tues will be sorting this out on my return as they have also changed my hotel so the holiday i booked has totally changed

they have changed my flight time as well, now going 7-55 was 8-55 am.
just how it goes, you only hope you dont get delayed on top of that

changing it 1 hr isnt too bad but over 9 hours on a weeks holiday is classed as a major change according to abta, as i contacted them regarding my change of flight company, flight time and hotel, its 12 hours for a 2 weeks holiday. about time stricter laws came in for this, its a joke when they totally change your holiday then wont refund you

ellie meg - you have a strong case because you have been messed around and have a completly different holiday to the one you originally booked, as for flight changes it has to be over 12 hour change really before tour op would give compensation, eaither way you are entittled to ask for a refund

but once again - flight times are for guidance and are not confirmed until you have your tickets, with this also being stated in tour ops terms and conditions there isnt alot you can do, you as a customer should read these before booking a holiday

sorry

courtney jade

elli-megI agree, one hour is not a problem, but as others have said you need to read the small print, the t/operators will tell you they can and will change the times but you could speak with abta, but word of warning if you do change your holiday you will not get any of the discounts that you got with your first booking. They have ways of getting you every time. as hard as it is i think you may have to accept.

This has happened to us so I am waiting for my tickets to see if they have changed it again.

Although my change is not as bad as yours but when we booked they said there was only 1 flight going out at 6.00 a.m. We will have to be at the airport for 4.00 a.m. I just accepted that but because our flight is now full they have laid on another flight going out at 9.00 a.m. (a bit more accommodating). I rang them to see if we could change to that flight but was told that flight was also now full although they are still saying it is available on the net.

I just wish they would have had the two flights available at the time to give people choice but I would suspect that everyone would have opted for the 9.00 a.m. flight leaving the 6.00 a.m. empty.

Grrr, Thomas Cook!

Booked 1 week in Majorca, excellent flight times - approx 11am in the morning both ways.

First they cancelled the flight and move it forward 24hrs. Two weeks later they bought the flight times forward to 7am. A week later they moved the whole package back to its original slot!

Also got a two week - two centre - stay booked in Florida. First they changed the flight times again - not good ones - so I complained and they upgraded my hire car FOC.

Then they pushed the holiday forward 48 hours. I complained again and they upraded both hotels and bought the who holiday forward 2 weeks :o)

Thanks for all the posts so far. reading the small print the tour operators have got us all ways. If we cancel or make changes we suffer financial losses and it seems that they can vary flight times, up to about 12 hours and there is little we can do. It makes me so mad, if any other business was ran like this it simply would not have any customers. On this post alone thet have been about 5 people advising thier times have changed. I wonder how many others are in the same position.

Is there anything that we can do?

Stewart

there isnt alot we can do, ive had my flight times changed to, most tour ops will give you the option of cancelling with full refund or ammending to a alternative holiday, the thing is terms and conditions are suppost to be read before you book so you know what your signing an agreement fore, all tour ops will say flight times are a guide and can change, wich is something you need to bare in mind if you ammend or cancel your hol

speak to the tour op, they wont put in their letter you cancancel or change free of charge, you have to ask them

hi there
we booked with Thomas Cook in January to travel to Tunisia in May.We've had our flights changed twice and now they have changed our airline.We were due to fly on a Thomas Cook 757,now we are flying with Astreus on a 737.We flew with them 2 years ago to Jerez in Spain and although the plane was comfortable enough there was no in flight entertainment whatsoever,not even a radio.Glad we are not flying any further.We also pre-booked our seats but on looking at the Astreus web site it seems that they don't accept any pre-booking.Looks like a word with Thomas Cook is in order.

There have apparently been a number of cases taken to small claims courts in the last 12 months or so, that have been won by holidaymakers, challenging the terms and conditions of tour operatos as unreasonable.

The reason we don't get to read all about these cases is because in turn for the tour operators paying up on the claim and not taking any decision to appeal the verdicts against them, holidaymakers have agreed to keep quiet about the amounts they have won and the decisions made or have agreed to keep quiet before a case even proceeds because the tour operator agrees the claim beforehand.

The Office of Fair Trading believe that some of the tour operators terms and conditions with regard to changes on flights etc are unreasonable and therefore should be challenged. For example if you have deliberately booked your holiday to avoid a night flight and then your flight is changed to a night flight, then the terms and conditions are unreasonable because you had a reasonable expectation of a day flight.

I looked into this because I hate night flights and more than once my lovely early morning flight of say 8am has been changed to 6 or 7pm, which is OK for short haul of 4 or 5 hours outbound but means arriving home in the early hours of the morning on the inbound flight. I got a little fed up and when it happened again last year I wrote to the tour operator and advised them that as I knew the earlier flight was still viable and that I could still book tickets for that flight if I did it independently, I would have no hesitation in challenging their terms and conditions if they did not reinstate the earlier flight. The tour operator naturally changed my flight back to the one I had booked.

A good google will bring up more information.

Try nicely stroppy. I always smile and am always polite but the knife still turns until I get what I want.

Am going to Ibiza on 1st june, originally booked (via internet) with First Choice on a 10.05pm flight, which was changed to 11.25pm before Christmas.......Just had a 3rd invoice saying that flight time had been moved back to 6.25 am same day. Rang up and was told that 2nd flight had been cancelled due to lack of interest. Explained situation regarding having to change taxi times/time off work/kennels plus 2 kids under 6 having to get up at 2am for trip to airport....told usual guff regarding approx times in brochure, but couldnt guarantee me another change wont happen prior to take off...........is this fair?, if I have to rearrange things again it will cost me, coz I have been lucky so far!

Mark

Mark I think your flight time change (although within the allotted notification time span) is still unreasonable. After all you could have gone to work that day and still made your evening flight.

As it is an awkward situation ie they have notified you in time I would give Ros/Pam (travel law solicitors) a ring on 01922 621114 and they will give you free advice to your legal rights to any compensation.

this has just happened to me too.
I was supposed to be gettin the 1.54pm flight, which i was really happy about, because the time we would arrive in cyprus, and to the hotel etc, it wouldnt be to late.

Then i got an invoice on saturday stating that they have changed my fling times for 5.10, i know this isint much of a difference, and i havent even bothered phoning them up about it, because i know it will get me no where, but it's still a pain, and just 2.5 weeks before we go

Hi. I have a smiliar problem that is equally bad as some of the others. Check this out:
I booked for rhodes on a 0605hrs flight, arriving back in manchester 1600hrs. This has now been changed to departure at 1730hrs and arrival back in manchester at 0315hrs.
We have a 18 month baby and this simply will not do for us. How on earth can the holiday company (DirectHolidays) call this reasonable. The buffer is 12hrs for a 2 week holiday so we miss out by 30 mins !
At the time of booking there were both these flights available to book but since then the company have said they are using a smaller aircraft so some of the passengers on the early flight get bumped onto the later flight. If I had originally booked the night flight I would have had a cheaper holiday so how can Direct Holidays say it is an "equivalent" holiday to go on that night flight.
I wish there was something we could do ??

There have apparently been a number of cases taken to small claims courts in the last 12 months or so, that have been won by holidaymakers, challenging the terms and conditions of tour operatos as unreasonable.

The reason we don't get to read all about these cases is because in turn for the tour operators paying up on the claim and not taking any decision to appeal the verdicts against them, holidaymakers have agreed to keep quiet about the amounts they have won and the decisions made or have agreed to keep quiet before a case even proceeds because the tour operator agrees the claim beforehand.

Not necessarily. Having been there and done that myself, I would suggest that the reason that we don't get to to read about it is because very few small claims cases ever get widely reported; not because tour operators are systematically going around buying people's silence. Once a court judgement goes on record, it enters the public domain; the court judgement in my small claims case is certainly very much a matter of public record.

As for appealing against verdicts, personally I would doubt that any tour operator in their right mind would contemplate appealing against a small claims court decision; not only would they be unlikely to stand any chance whatsoever of getting the court to agree to allow such an appeal, but in addition, the cost of mounting such an appeal would be ruinous; not to mention the publicity such a course of action would get. Although I can appreciate why some tour operators might prefer their customers to think differently...

i have posted this elsewhere but thought i would place here as well
was flying out on xmas eve to goa (thomas crook)!wanting a xmas hol so paying top prices they changed flight to xmas day evening so arrive boxing day were't happy no offer of compensation.now been changed again to the 22nd dec,how are you supposed to make arrangements have now got to arrange staff to cover different days could change againfor all we know
mike

We had a tour operator pull a pretty similar stunt on us, although they left it a whole lot later in the day to inform us.

We complained; they ignored our letters. We sued; they found it to be an expensive exercise. At the end of the day, it cost them a whole lot more than it would have done if they had acted fairly and offered a reasonable amount in compensation at the beginning, rather than playing the "deny all claims" card & trying to wriggle out of their responsibilities.

Given that they have told you about the changes well in advance, what might be worth considering perhaps at this stage in the game is to threaten to take your business elsewhere unless they are prepared to offer you reasonable compensation for the nuisance and inconvenience caused by the repeated changes to the flight times.

I would also suggest that you pay a visit to their website to see if they are selling the holiday any cheaper now that they have shifted the flight times about, as if they have, this gives you leverage for making a case for compensation.

Whatever else may be at issue, you are certainly entitled to have your money back in full under the circumstances if you would prefer to shop elsewhere for a holiday with more suitable flights and dates, although you do have to act sooner rather than later if you want to exercise this option.

If you do write another letter of complaint, put "without prejudice" at the top of the letter. This gives you the right to ask for additional compensation if they mess you about with more changes at a later date.