The least popular flights will always be the cheapest flights so it really depends on the destination and what time most people like to arrive. For example in my experience the most popular flights to Tenerife seem to those which arrive early afternoon so that you get to your accommodation late enough to be able to get straight into your room without hanging around waiting for it be made up whilst still arriving in time to get in a couple hours of afternoon sun around the pool while you rest after the journey.
But for city break destinations like Amsterdam, the most popular flights are often the early morning Friday flights that get you there well before lunch and in time to just dump your cases at your hotel reception and get in as close to a full day's sightseeing as possible. Similarly, the last flight on the Sunday enables people to have another fullish day before picking up their cases from the hotel luggage store and heading off to the airport.
So I don't think you can generalise right across the board apart from saying that
a) the more popular a flight the higher the cost is likely to be and
b) the lower the costs to the airline, the lower the costs passed on to the passenger in the form of the fare is likely to be.
What makes a flight popular will depend on who else flys the route and hence what the competition is like, what the arrival time is and whether it is a short break/business destination or not. For example, my best fares between Edinburgh and London are usually to be had mid-week/mid-day because the early morning and tea time flights are the most popular with business travellers. But going to Tenerife I usually get the best deal by going on a flight which leaves the UK in the early hours of the morning which suits us fine because it gets us to Los Christianos in time for the first ferry of the day over to La Gomera and we can always get straight into the apartment because I book direct with someone who is happy to let us in immediately. We'll always pay more for a flight which arrives in Tenerife around mid-day/early afternoon. Similarly, on my next trip to Cuba we've aimed for as early a flight as possible which will entail me travelling down to Gatwick the night before but which means that we'll still arrive in Santiago in time for a drink on the terrace of the Casa Grande before collapsing into our beds! As a result we're probably paying more to do this with MyTravel early on the Sunday morning than we would on the much later timed Cubana departure on the Saturday afternoon.
SM
I had an issue with Direct Holidays a couple of years ago. I booked a holiday with a day flight (0800hrs set off), then 4 weeks before we went we were told we were being put on the night flight to the same place however setting off at 1900hrs.
When I telephoned I was told the plane was over booked. I was gutted.
However I was also mad as I had paid extra money for the day flight. I decided to look at the prices they were now charging for the night flight holiday on the net. To my absolute horror I discovered that the holiday I had originally booked (the day flight) was available.
I suspect, Direct thought they could just bump some of the customers who had booked onto the day flight onto the night flight, as I would suspect selling a holiday with a day flight is much easier than selling one with a night flight. Direct Holidays name was mud in my eyes.
However, when I telephoned again (I had to persist), I told them I could re-book the day flight holiday they would not budge and move me back to this. However, the asked me if there was any other holiday I would like to choose form their brochure, for a similar price. I actually settled for going on the same holiday, but a week later and back on the day flight. I had my apartment upgraded to a sea view and I have to say I had a faultless holiday.
So I guess i caught them on the hop, but I have to admit once I did they couldnt have done enough for me.
I will also say I was 100% polite to the persons I spoke to on the phones. What some people forget is that many of these people will not help someone who is abusive or gets their back up. Its a point many people would do well to remember when dealing with call centre staff.
Just for the record I dont work in a call center or for any travel related business.
I hope you get sorted out and most of all hope you finally enjoy your holiday.
When I telephoned I was told the plane was over booked. I was gutted.
However I was also mad as I had paid extra money for the day flight. I decided to look at the prices they were now charging for the night flight holiday on the net. To my absolute horror I discovered that the holiday I had originally booked (the day flight) was available.
I suspect, Direct thought they could just bump some of the customers who had booked onto the day flight onto the night flight, as I would suspect selling a holiday with a day flight is much easier than selling one with a night flight. Direct Holidays name was mud in my eyes.
However, when I telephoned again (I had to persist), I told them I could re-book the day flight holiday they would not budge and move me back to this. However, the asked me if there was any other holiday I would like to choose form their brochure, for a similar price. I actually settled for going on the same holiday, but a week later and back on the day flight. I had my apartment upgraded to a sea view and I have to say I had a faultless holiday.
So I guess i caught them on the hop, but I have to admit once I did they couldnt have done enough for me.
I will also say I was 100% polite to the persons I spoke to on the phones. What some people forget is that many of these people will not help someone who is abusive or gets their back up. Its a point many people would do well to remember when dealing with call centre staff.
Just for the record I dont work in a call center or for any travel related business.
I hope you get sorted out and most of all hope you finally enjoy your holiday.
I agree Rob about being polite, but sometimes customer service staff do have a bad attitude towards you, and also some customers are so wound up before they get on the phone because of the problems, they just blow. I must also say that sometimes customer service advisors dont use their brains, and make things worse, why cant they make a decision there and then instead of fobbing you off or putting you on hold to speak to a senior person, surely they know the rules. Or is it a case of they got out of the wrong side of the bed on that day in question. Difficult job to be in, they must take a lot of stick but at the end of the day they are there to serve the customer who pays their wages & if they cant be polite they shouldnt be in the job. Cheers Jayjan.
I've just found for my July holiday, booked in Jan with Airtours, the flights have changed from day to night time. 1 adult 2 children traveling.
Outbound flight was to leave at 6am now 5:45pm, inbound was arriving back at 4pm now 3:15am.
I found out when the email asking for the final payment arrived and I checked the details, I've no idea when this change was made. I tried calling the programme management team but gave up after 2 hours on 0870 number!(team only available 9 to 5 how is anyone supposed to be available to be on hold for this amount of time during the day?).
Managed to contact another team and was told I can cancel/re-schedule free of charge but I don't feel this is any comfort. The girl I spoke to was very nice, understanding but said she couldn't help I had to speak to program management.
Left message on program managment's answerphone - no response yet.
There's no way I can arrange this holiday with day time flights through any other carrier, school holidays - I've checked and there aren't any available. Am stuck on dates as summer's been scheduled around this break.
I can't help but feel I'm being done, I'm paying a flight supplement of £125 per person - has anyone had any success getting the supplement refunded in a case like this?
Thanks
Outbound flight was to leave at 6am now 5:45pm, inbound was arriving back at 4pm now 3:15am.
I found out when the email asking for the final payment arrived and I checked the details, I've no idea when this change was made. I tried calling the programme management team but gave up after 2 hours on 0870 number!(team only available 9 to 5 how is anyone supposed to be available to be on hold for this amount of time during the day?).
Managed to contact another team and was told I can cancel/re-schedule free of charge but I don't feel this is any comfort. The girl I spoke to was very nice, understanding but said she couldn't help I had to speak to program management.
Left message on program managment's answerphone - no response yet.
There's no way I can arrange this holiday with day time flights through any other carrier, school holidays - I've checked and there aren't any available. Am stuck on dates as summer's been scheduled around this break.
I can't help but feel I'm being done, I'm paying a flight supplement of £125 per person - has anyone had any success getting the supplement refunded in a case like this?
Thanks
You need to check how much flight supplement they are charging on the night holiday.
Have you looked to see if it is available to book as a holiday ? If so, then you ask them for the difference back.
If you dont get anywhere, please give Ros Fernihough a call, she will advice you. her telephone number is 01922 621114
Good luck
Kath HT Admin
Have you looked to see if it is available to book as a holiday ? If so, then you ask them for the difference back.
If you dont get anywhere, please give Ros Fernihough a call, she will advice you. her telephone number is 01922 621114
Good luck
Kath HT Admin
old yin, I do not know which number you are using, try this one if different 0870 2415 333 Press 1 and hold. usually works straight away. Cheers. Tonyt
It might not get you through quicker but if you have an all inclusive calling plan with your phone supplier you might find the geographical number here: http://www.saynoto0870.com/ at least then you are not paying the TO more money to complain.
I think I must be a bit strange, I actually prefer a night or early morning flight, its so much easier to get to the airport with less traffic on the roads and the airport is so much quieter. I'd wear the kids out the day before, put them to bed early and tell them we were going on an adventure in the dark when we set off.
It might be something to do with having to use the M25 
I think I must be a bit strange, I actually prefer a night or early morning flight, its so much easier to get to the airport with less traffic on the roads and the airport is so much quieter. I'd wear the kids out the day before, put them to bed early and tell them we were going on an adventure in the dark when we set off.
It might be something to do with having to use the M25
Old yin, we had a similar situation last year. We were booked with direct, another Mytravel company, and our 6am flight was bumped by almost 12 hours. What are your dates, destination and departure airport. Regards your supplements, direct altered their website when the change was made so that you could not tell what the supplements were on the new flights, in our case, so I phoned on the pretext of ordering a holiday for those flights and asked for a breakdown on price. The supplements were considerably lower so I phoned back and eventually had our supplements reduced. We were flying from Glasgow to Alicante.
Thanks for all your replies!
Kath, That's a good idea I'll call pretending to book a new holiday today, there are seats on the flight I've been bumped to so should be easy to find out.
Tonyt, I saw your earlier post and tried it, did get connected immediately but to reservations who said they couldn't help
silverpixie1uk, Thanks I always use saynoto0870 - sadly the Mytravel group must be canny as none of the direct numbers I tried worked
The Ayrshire Tripper, That's brilliant at least I now know they can/do reduce the supplements. We're flying Glasgow to Lanzarote.
old_yin
Kath, That's a good idea I'll call pretending to book a new holiday today, there are seats on the flight I've been bumped to so should be easy to find out.
Tonyt, I saw your earlier post and tried it, did get connected immediately but to reservations who said they couldn't help
silverpixie1uk, Thanks I always use saynoto0870 - sadly the Mytravel group must be canny as none of the direct numbers I tried worked
The Ayrshire Tripper, That's brilliant at least I now know they can/do reduce the supplements. We're flying Glasgow to Lanzarote.
old_yin
hello, sorry there is not anything that you can do. when you booked the holiday you agreed to the terms and conditions, you will only get compensation, or be allowed to cancel if the flight change was over 12 hours. the flight times in the brochure are only a guide and are not your confirmed flight times, you should always check your tickets for these. some times flight times can be changed after the tickets are issued, however the tour operator will try to contact you if there is a chance you may miss your flight.
i hope this helps
i hope this helps
We too had our flight time changed by My travel.It wasnt a major change but it did mean traveling 4 hours to the airport in the middle of the night .
In my kids opinion it was great. Getting to sleep in the car that was the most exciting part of their holiday and there was no traffic on the road.
I was angry to start with as I had booked because of the great flight times there and back but in the end it was the best thing that could have happened.
In my kids opinion it was great. Getting to sleep in the car that was the most exciting part of their holiday and there was no traffic on the road.
I was angry to start with as I had booked because of the great flight times there and back but in the end it was the best thing that could have happened.
People seem to be assuming that there is some logic to the way MyTravel schedule their flights. I wouldn't put money on it!
In my case they advertised and sold me a flight from Faro airport when it was shut for the night (like it always is between midnight and 06:00). I know this because the airport sent me the information book they supply to airlines when I asked them for info.
Of course MyTravel would never dream of telling passengers of changes as soon as they know so I wasn't informed until they issued the final confirmation 2 weeks before departure - the airport have said the policy was in force before I booked 5 months earlier.
MyTravel say the change was due to reasons beyond their control but Cheshire Trading Standards have a different view but since each exchange of letters takes about a month this could take a while to sort out.
In my case they advertised and sold me a flight from Faro airport when it was shut for the night (like it always is between midnight and 06:00). I know this because the airport sent me the information book they supply to airlines when I asked them for info.
Of course MyTravel would never dream of telling passengers of changes as soon as they know so I wasn't informed until they issued the final confirmation 2 weeks before departure - the airport have said the policy was in force before I booked 5 months earlier.
MyTravel say the change was due to reasons beyond their control but Cheshire Trading Standards have a different view but since each exchange of letters takes about a month this could take a while to sort out.
Need some advice but I already suspect there's not a lot I can do! Booked holiday for Aug 08 with Direct to Menorca from Bham. Flight due to depart Brum Sat at 14.35. booked this specifically as travelling with 2 young children and my husband has to book his annual leave in a 2 week block (weekend to weekend) so obviously needed a Sat or Sun flight.
Decided to have a browse on web (wish I hadn't now) but can see that My Travel no longer have a Sat flight from bham next year but now a Fri flight has appeared. Not great times for the kids but the real predicament is that it's difficult for hubby to get the extra day off work (don't suggest he throw a sicky, he's far too dedicated for that!)
Have phoned Direct this morn to try to find out what's going on with flight...no help whatsoever. They confirmed that Aviation are in process of sorting flight times for next year but they cannot confirm what flight I will be transferred to at this point. I have got to wait until they confirm in writing new times/date before I can take any action. Whilst I appreciate flight timings are subject to change I didn't think this meant days also. My concern is that it'll prob be ages before they decide to let me know flight has changed and that by then there will not be the alternatives available that there currently are.
This will be our first holiday abroad for 5 years...now I remember what it was that put me off package hols and steered me towards Cornwall!
Thanks for any replies
Decided to have a browse on web (wish I hadn't now) but can see that My Travel no longer have a Sat flight from bham next year but now a Fri flight has appeared. Not great times for the kids but the real predicament is that it's difficult for hubby to get the extra day off work (don't suggest he throw a sicky, he's far too dedicated for that!)
Have phoned Direct this morn to try to find out what's going on with flight...no help whatsoever. They confirmed that Aviation are in process of sorting flight times for next year but they cannot confirm what flight I will be transferred to at this point. I have got to wait until they confirm in writing new times/date before I can take any action. Whilst I appreciate flight timings are subject to change I didn't think this meant days also. My concern is that it'll prob be ages before they decide to let me know flight has changed and that by then there will not be the alternatives available that there currently are.
This will be our first holiday abroad for 5 years...now I remember what it was that put me off package hols and steered me towards Cornwall!
Thanks for any replies
If the change is over 12 hours its considered a major change and you will be able book a different holiday or get a refund, but saying that others on here have had their flight times changed which is less than 12 hours. I think because the flight has changed to a different day you will have a good chance of sorting out the problem. The fact your husband can't travel on a friday because of the way he has to take his holiday will
strenthen you case. I do know its 12 hours or a change of day is condsidered a major change.
Keep on at direct, you can also give Ros Fernihough a call on 01922 621114
Ros will be able tell where you stand legally. Don't worry if you will be charged for advice, its free and its only a quick telephone call, and you have nothing to lose getting professional advice.
strenthen you case. I do know its 12 hours or a change of day is condsidered a major change.
Keep on at direct, you can also give Ros Fernihough a call on 01922 621114
Ros will be able tell where you stand legally. Don't worry if you will be charged for advice, its free and its only a quick telephone call, and you have nothing to lose getting professional advice.
It's always a gamble booking so far in advance as I doubt if the airlines have been given their slots. Best bet is to hang on and hope that the flights include weekends. Failing that, you may have to change to an alternative airport if Sat/Sun is a priority. Or......... if the flights aren't suitable ask for a refund and book with a tour op who has the flights.
Have done a quick search of the top 4 T/O's and Thomson are the only ones at present showing a Sat departure in Aug 08
Have done a quick search of the top 4 T/O's and Thomson are the only ones at present showing a Sat departure in Aug 08
I was told by Air Users Council that change of day does not always constitute major change (although they agree about 12 hours or more).
However, they did offer one gem of info, if the flight number also changes then that is considered to be a cancellation of the original flight - in which case they have cancelled the booked holiday and you have the right to say no to the transfer.
What you could try to find out is whether the Friday flight was also advertised when you booked for Saturday, this would point to them consolidating flights rather than adjusting times for ops reasons.
However, they did offer one gem of info, if the flight number also changes then that is considered to be a cancellation of the original flight - in which case they have cancelled the booked holiday and you have the right to say no to the transfer.
What you could try to find out is whether the Friday flight was also advertised when you booked for Saturday, this would point to them consolidating flights rather than adjusting times for ops reasons.
I would of thought they would try to transfer you onto a flight from a different airport on a staurday if they have one rather than to change your day 
lyn
lyn
Thanks for your replies so far...looks like I'll just have to sit and wait on what happens. That's what's really niggling me..the fact they know my original time is not available but I cannot do anything about it until they decide to inform me officially, which looking at some of the other complaints may well be for some time yet. What's worse is I have to pay the remainder of my low deposit on 26/10 (another £360) and I don't really know what it is I'm paying for! So I'm really tied into them until they consider it's time to inform me of flight times.
I know that it's a bit of a gamble when booking so early but my reasoning for doing so was to try to get the holiday I wanted (accomodation booked appears to only be available through My Travel) and at the time I wanted at a reasonable price with a free child place.
Am keeping everything crossed that my worries turn out to be unfounded otherwise I envisage having to try to sort out another booking when all that's left (height of season) is what everyone else doesn't want.
Oh Well...we live and learn.
I know that it's a bit of a gamble when booking so early but my reasoning for doing so was to try to get the holiday I wanted (accomodation booked appears to only be available through My Travel) and at the time I wanted at a reasonable price with a free child place.
Am keeping everything crossed that my worries turn out to be unfounded otherwise I envisage having to try to sort out another booking when all that's left (height of season) is what everyone else doesn't want.
Oh Well...we live and learn.
A thought occured to me that may calm your fears (then again it might make things worse).
When I was trying to find out what the hell they had done with my flight 2 weeks before I was due to leave their entire flight information system was in a state best described as meltdown. At first it gave the original times, despite me having a written notice of change, then it lost several months worth, followed by a short spell of only outward flights before going offline completely for a few days. Since you have so far only seen different times on the web there is always the chance that the flight hasn't changed - it may be just lost within the chaos which passes for their systems.
Check the site on a regular basis and keep a record of what relevant flights (times and flight numbers) are advertised and on which dates. They only have to give you 2 weeks notice of the change and you can't do much until they do that. If they wait until the last minute before wrecking your plans and you will have evidence that they knew of the change nearly a year earlier it might strengthen any case for compensation.
Also you didn't say how much of it was paid for, I presume at the moment it's just a deposit so sooner or later they are going to ask for more. At that point they will probably give the departure date as a reference - I think you'll find they pay more attention when they want money off you than after they have it!
When I was trying to find out what the hell they had done with my flight 2 weeks before I was due to leave their entire flight information system was in a state best described as meltdown. At first it gave the original times, despite me having a written notice of change, then it lost several months worth, followed by a short spell of only outward flights before going offline completely for a few days. Since you have so far only seen different times on the web there is always the chance that the flight hasn't changed - it may be just lost within the chaos which passes for their systems.
Check the site on a regular basis and keep a record of what relevant flights (times and flight numbers) are advertised and on which dates. They only have to give you 2 weeks notice of the change and you can't do much until they do that. If they wait until the last minute before wrecking your plans and you will have evidence that they knew of the change nearly a year earlier it might strengthen any case for compensation.
Also you didn't say how much of it was paid for, I presume at the moment it's just a deposit so sooner or later they are going to ask for more. At that point they will probably give the departure date as a reference - I think you'll find they pay more attention when they want money off you than after they have it!
Thanks Steve 8482, think you've reassured me....a little! Will definately keep an eye on times on website.
Only paid low dep so far £120, but have the rest of deposit to pay by end of Oct, if I don't pay up they'll cancel booking but I'll still be liable for dep. The remainder won't be due until June - I suspect this will probably be when I find out more from them.
Thanks again
Only paid low dep so far £120, but have the rest of deposit to pay by end of Oct, if I don't pay up they'll cancel booking but I'll still be liable for dep. The remainder won't be due until June - I suspect this will probably be when I find out more from them.
Thanks again
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