I booked a holiday over 6 weeks ago with flyglobespan. At the time everything was well and fine until 9 days prior to travel I was informed that the return flight time has been changed.
I contacted them by telephone and was told that the only option I have is to cancel the holiday or pay an additional £42.09 to keep the room for an additional night.
I expressed my concerns with this and explained I would like to discuss the matter with a Manager.
I waited on the manager calling and got no response so again I called to discuss the matter with the manager to which i was told she was not in the building and she would contact me.
As time is getting closer to the date of departure I am now begining to worry, my main concern is that the flight was scheduled to return at 13:20 which I was really happy with the times and globespan amended this to be at 9pm at night. This would be ok if I didnt have a young child at under 2 years old and I require changing facilities for my child and you would prefer to ensure you are not out of the room at 10, 11 or 12 prior to departure.
6 days to holiday I emailed the customer relations and waited for the manager to contact myself and lo and behold no call was received.
5 Days to holiday I again called to discuss the matter with the manager and eventually spoke to her and expressed my concerns due to having a young child, the attitude was very poor and no help in trying to resolve the issue to benefit both parties. I pointed out that the ABTA code of conduct indicates that I should have been informed 14 days prior to departure and eventually she said she didn't have the code of conduct and would have to examine this document. Again it was stressed that the only option I have is to cancel the Package holiday (according to the manager a flight and hotel was not a pcackage), or pay for an additional night.
4 Days to holiday Manager did call and said they are not in breach of any of the code of conduct and they have an agreement with ABTA for different rules to the code of conduct, the package is now a package holiday and the flight change is acceptable. Told only options is to cancel the holiday or pay additional cost for room.
I have now completed a case with ABTA due to FlyGlobespan I feel are in breach of the Code of Conduct and are not willing to try and resolve the issue prior to traveling. I have been told we will have to basically fend for ourselves due to the flight change, I have not been informed of even a room being available for families with a young child.
Due to the fact that Flyglobespan have basically left me with no time to make alternate arrangements to find another holiday I will have to continue with the holiday. The problem I have with the company is that they were not even being resonable with the cost of the room as I have alternatively booked the room directly with the hotel at a cheaper cost than they had quoted to ensure my child will not be left exposed in the sun with no means of accomodation.
I will now be waiting to see the outcome from ABTA. The company explained they are a budget airline and do not offer compensation in any means, but they are still a member of ABTA and should be held accountable to the Code of Conduct.
I have now nearly three days prior to travel and since I have booked the additonal night I will start to feel more relaxed and on my return I will ensure the company are held accountable for misleading myself with the flight times and I can confirm this is not the only flight Flyglobespan have amended.
If you are considering booking with flyglobepan please be aware that they are indicating that the Code of Conduct does not apply to them and they can amend your flight details to suit themselves and you are left high and dry.
Have a chat with Ros Fernihough on 01922 621114 she is a travel law lawyer and will offer you free advice.
Flight changes happen, you have an extra few hours in resort. Why not check out leave your cases and go out for a nice trip or some shopping, come back have a last meal leave about 6 oclock for the airport relax and enjoy the journey home. You are ruining your holiday before you go.
Kind Regards
Stewart
Regarding the baby and change I would email the hotel before you go and ask them how much they will charge for keeping your room on for a few hours. Depending on your distance from the airport you have at least 2 hours at airport therefore need to be there at 7pm. Transfer time could be say an hour therefore 6pm set off time.
Bite to eat before you set off an hour or so. Check with hotel. They might offer you the room for far less than the Flyglobespan.
This left me with no time to cancel the holiday and get something else booked without paying over inflated prices. If i also cancelled the package I have insurance arranged which wasn't cheap and also airport parking.
I have went onto the hotel's web site and booked the additional nights accomodation for the package which was cheaper than Flyglobepan was offering and this is also what I find poor service.
Flyglobespan seems to have the attitude that we can do anything and their is nothing you can do if you don't like it tough we will give you a refund and NO compensation to arrange anything else more suitable. So if a bank gives you money for a month you have to pay interest, if you put the package on a credit card you have to pay interest, but if Flyglobespan say your only option is cancel and we will give you your money back and thanks for the interest free loan. I dont think so.
And to be honest I will enjoy my holiday I have waited all year for it and it wasn't a cheap holiday, like you may think, for another £140 I could have been with a real tour operator with a real flights, the main reason was the flight times and these have been changed, but you must make the most of it I am just trying to inform people that this can happen and they are not willing to resolve the issue.
As to Stewarts comments by the sound of it you obviously have no children and would be slightly peeved if your holiday is arranged to suit your child/children, then the travel company have amended the details. I would just like to say that small children require a nap during the day and this does not mean just sitting next to the pool and keep them in the shade. If you have a young family then you should understand or must be one of the luckiest parents around. As to cancelling the flight then they would have to cancel the full package and this is not good business practice and you wouldn't last long in the travel industry or your company wouldn't as it would have its name splattered on forums all over the net and get shut down by trading standards or be in court every week.
I am fairly sure that Globespan did not intentionally set out to change your flight times, im sure no airline does, but in daily practice within the Travel Industry, occasionally these things happen. Generally speaking i believe a lot of the flight time changes are down to the airport and not always the airline, so i dont think its fair to go on the attack toward globespan, especially when no one knows the reason why the flight has been changed. Its not the first airline to have its flights changed, and im sure it wont be the last!
To be fair, i see your point of view that you are travelling with children and it can be an annoyance that you have to spend a few more hours in the lovely sunshine, but all the anger, let it go and enjoy those few hours extra!!
The people i feel sorry for are all those passengers who got stranded at various hours last week for 12 - 16 hours, without warning due to circumstances that could have been avoided.
Not very good to be throwing remarks at people when they are only stating a point, by the sounds of it you either work for Globespan or another Airline and don't like the truth being told.
Well a lovely holiday was had by us all until the return flight, the flight was delayed a further two hours due to Flyglobespan sending a smaller aircraft.
The problem they then occured was they were to heavy and they would not have been able to take off and avoid the mountains at Lanzarote. The solution after the two hour delay was drop some fuel and refuel at Malaga to take on additional fuel.
I have to state that Flyglobespan nearly had a riot on their hands with some of the other passengers as the first lie was the delay was due to paperwork requiring to be signed and after another hour of sitting on the aircraft it was a technical difficulty.
Only after two hours and passengers getting very anxious the truth was told the the plane was two heavy and they were going to remove fuel to allow the aircraft to get taken off and then have a stop at Malaga.
A fair few of the passengers were not happy at arriving 12 hours after the orignal time of arrival back in the UK as they also had young children.
My main point was to point out that if you want to be approved by ABTA then you should follow the Code of Conduct.
As I was aware we live in a democratic society and I have my opions and I will express them if you don't like this then thats your own opinion.
In a personal note I will never travel with Flyglobespan again due to the initial problems and then the unprofessional way the return flight was handled.
I flew with globespan and was a bit worried to start with, but found them to be really good, and better than the outward flight, more legroom.Will def use them again.
Stewart; which travel company do you work for? Your inclination for Globespan to cancel Fisherman's booking would constitute a serious breach of contract.
Fisherman; when you book a PACKAGE you are covered by the 1992 Package Tour and Travel Regulations. Reg. number 15 specifically imposes a strict fault-based liability upon the tour operator (and upon the t.o.'s suppliers). You should have demanded Globespan pay the costs associated with your extended hotel stay - it's ultimately their responsibility for the flight changes.
Lovetravelling;
I'm not entirely convinced airlines I am fairly sure that Globespan did not intentionally set out to change your flight times, im sure no airline does, but in daily practice within the Travel Industry, occasionally these things happen. Generally speaking i believe a lot of the flight time changes are down to the airport and not always the airline, so i dont think its fair to go on the attack toward globespan, especially when no one knows the reason why the flight has been changed. Its not the first airline to have its flights changed, and im sure it wont be the last!
Globespan would certainly know the reason for the flight change - they could have imparted, truthfully, that reason to Fisherman and the other affected pax. Airlines rarely provide such information.
Generally; The carrier didn't cover themselves in glory did they when they provided an aircraft of insufficient capacity/power. But what the heck, they'd suffered a flight change already and those not having cancelled already can be considered supine enough not to kick-off with a further 2 hour take-off delay and additional delays due to refuelling at Malaga. The cost of that mistake must be phenominal and of course, requires an unexpected landing and take-off slot at Malaga and late at night.
Consider the following;
Some time before the scheduled departure it became evident that a smaller plane was the only one available for the return leg. It was known that it would need to refuel at Malaga and there slot availability at Malaga is such that a late night landing was required. So, shift the flight time to 9pm. With a bit of luck enough pax will cancel, weight will be reduced and maybe avoid the Malaga refuel anyway.
Sometimes I think I'm too cynical.
Mike
As i said earlier, these things happen, and you make the best of them, i would stress so much that it would upset my holiday.
I do agree that the situation could be handled better, but the passenger had not yet travelled at an earlier point in my post.
I was expressing my opinion, that globespan are running a business, and obviously they want to be fair to their passengers, but if these things happen, they are often out of their control, not always, but often, and im sure they try to remedy the situation as best they can. Although the manager did seem unhelpful. Which im sure you could lodge a complaint about.
Im sorry that you wont travel with them again, but travel with any airline and things like this happen from time to time...
I work within travel in the charter aircraft sector but not for a travel company as such. My point was slightly tongue in cheek as you could see the complaints were going to come. However flights can be cancelled with an option of a later flight or a refund.
From the origina post Flyglobespan had acted within their terms of conditions, flight was rescheduled several hours later, client was informed and advised of the change in reasonable time. Client could then choose to accept or cancel.
Kind Regards
Stewart
(i) except for reasons of force majeure, a principal shall not make a significant alteration to previously confirmed travel arrangements unless he does so in time to inform travel agents and direct clients not less than 14 daysbefore the departuredate of the travel arrangements.
(ii) notwithstanding clause 2.2(i), if a principal makes a significant alteration to previously confirmed travel arrangements for reasons other than force majeure on or after thebalnce due date, the principal shall, in addition to the requirements of clause 2(iii) below, also offer clients reasonable compensation. such compensation may be offered in accordance with a rising scale of payments calculated so that the nearer to the time of departure that the alteration occurs, the higher the level of compensation to be paid. you can read 2.2(iii) yourself.
i may sound sound a bit sad telling you all that but it's best to know what your talking about. hope it helps.
Thanks for the info.
It's interesting to note that ABTA's rule 2.2 clause (i) requires a principal to inform Travel Agents and Direct Clients of significant changes NOT LESS THEN 14 DAYS before the date of departure.
Passengers having booked via a travel agent are immed. therefore disadvantaged as there's no ABTA rule stating that the agent must pass on this significant change information within any given time frame. To be fair, I guess most agents will pass the knowledge on to their passengers at their eariest opportunity - but that's likely to be a day or say later if the mail is used.
Better to be a direct booked passenger - you can react faster and secure lower priced alternate flights before the agency booked clients are told.
To make everyones life easier, that critical clause 2.2(iii) is here
(iii) If a Principal makes a significant alteration to previously confirmed Travel Arrangements he shall
inform Retailers and direct Clients without delay and shall offer Clients the choice of either:
(i) accepting the alteration; or
(ii) cancelling the Travel Arrangements and receiving a full refund of all monies paid. Such
refund shall be sent to Retailers and direct Clients within 10 days of receipt of the
notification to cancel; or
(iii) alternative Travel Arrangements of comparable standard, if available.
Seems that Flyglobespan made a significant change, informed the client after balance due date and also less than 14 days prior to departure (unless you consider the departure to be ONLY the return leg in which case they will have met that 14 day requirement - assuming a 7 day holiday).
Sub-clause (iii) above suggests Flyglobespan should perhaps have looked into providing an alternate flight out of Lanzarote.
Clause (ii) also suggests that IN ADDITION compensation should be offered on a sliding scale. An offer to pay for the room extension costs by way of compensation could have resolved this issue at the outset.
And finally, don't you just love the use of phrases such as significant and reasonable - these are the loose phrases guaranteed to keep the lawyers in business.
Mike
What exactly is the complaint? Reading the original post a booking was made with flight times that were as required. There was then a change. At that point there was an option to cancel. Discussing the change with the manager would not change things. There is no guarantee that you would have been able to change the holiday in the short time you had to one that was acceptable. Has as already been said these changes do take place. When I booked my holiday I was told 2.00pm depart -then it became 1.00pm and finished up at 10.00am. I agree that being unable to speak to a manager when you requested and the non return of calls can be frustrating to say the least. But what did you expect the manager to do? I am sure that a lot of people will have booked already for next year based on the flight times published in the brochure. I am also sure that a lot of those will be changed. You complain that booking direct with the hotel was cheaper - so book it direct. Globespan quoted you a price. Whilst you may have got it cheaper direct it does not follow that the TO was overcharging. Because of the low price they pay the hotel for the holiday booking then the hotel in turn may charge a higher price if the TO wants to change the terms. Case of getting your own back. Members of HT post advice with the aim of helping. Some do work in the travel industry and are able to post with a specialist knowledge background. We all have a point of view and it does not help to abuse the view expressed. You can also put in place regulations covering every possibility anyone can think of no matter how extreme or trivial - but it still will not stop these things happening. Some time ago someone posted complaining that they had booked a daytime flight and that due to the aircraft developing a fault it had to turn back. The end result was that it did not finish up as a daytime flight. These things do happen - Thats Life!
Some very interesting comments made on this thread. I am just glad that despite everything Fisherman did have a good holiday. I have used Globespan three times now and have been delighted with everything, flights and Hotels. That said, the good lady and I didn't have a toddler in tow which must be the most important thing to care for on your holiday. This year we were out our room at 1200 but our flight back wasn't until something like 2300 hrs. For two adults no problem, with a wee one ... a nightmare. Despite my delight with Globespan I have great sympathy with the way Fisherman was treated.
Their downside is that when booking with Globspan you virtually give them a blank cheque in that they frequently change flight times----excuse--it's all in terms and conditions. Thats why I wont be useing them for a while, because they landed me in trouble with a car hire company by changing flight times. I have to pay an extra days hire or hang around Palma airport for an extra 6 hours. Their flight times to Ibiza and Prague this year are abismal. If an airline accepts "unsocial hours" they get cheaper airport taxes and charges. Now remember, Globespan is an Edinburgh based company, which in my experience means that company profits come before customer satisfaction. Problems this year are compounded by their forray into America which has not been without it's problems, by no small ways.
I think you will find that Globespan complied within their terms of conditions, flight was rescheduled several hours later, client was informed and advised of the change in reasonable time. Client could then choose to accept or cancel.
I think you will find babies are tougher than you think and would cope no problem.
Problems happen in life all the time,it will become a bigger problem only if you make it one.
For reasons unknown, a very old thread has been exhumed. It dates back to October/November 2005!
Yes I noticed that after reading the first few posted comments. Perhaps a Mod could lock the thread to avoid us all posting tips to resolve a two year old issue!!!
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