Which airlines will let you book now with flexibility for late 2020 and early 2021?

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• Charlotte Dexter says:

  1 Jun1 June 13:26

  TITLES/KEY WORDs for subject of post
  Could you add a box/line where people fill in a key word or subject to make it quicker to scroll through all these comments. When I post, I try to add an all cap title at the start.

• Will says:

  1 Jun1 June 16:22

  Anyone else had this one? Booking via Amex Gold credit card to Amex Travel online, am told by agent that there is a 4 month delay to get Virgin flights refunded. I requested S75 refund, and they said to call Disputes. I did this and was told they would not do it and put me through to senior customer services at Amex Travel . IS this acceptable as a sister company to have a policy not to claim S75? Should I request a chargeback instead?

  • Lady London says:

    1 Jun1 June 17:30

    as a credit card Amex Gold is subject to section 75. section 75 makes the card co equally liable for providing something you’ve bought including its conditions of sale and all applicable statutes.

    If Virgin has cancelled the flight you bought then you are entitled under statute ec261/2004 to request a full cash refund and for it to be paid within 7 days to you.

    credit card in uk is equally liable to provide your rights in the time required by EC261/2004. note you may have things cobtractually due to you frpm Virgin that cardco is also responsible to you for. But as statute trumps contract why bother except with refund under Ec261/2004.

    chargeback may also be applicable but this is weaker – as you paid by credit card you can use s.75. chargeback means cardco pays you and they recover off whoever you paid but is a voluntary thing provided by credit and charge cards (most, not all). obviousltbif cardco thinks there may be a question about them recovering or how long it might take them or a high number of claims on one particular company or industry you can imagine they might have an interest in delaying your claim.

    Section 75 however is UK statute and they cant refuse to process your claim and it sounds like they are unreasonably trying to delay. personally I would have happily given them 28 days to pay despite the fact that eu261 says 7 but they dont seem to be acting fairly here.

    Call thrm back, provide proof of cancellation and your attempt to recover from Virgin and state you are raising s.75 claim on them as attempting to get a refund from Virgin has failed. Mention the 7 days under ec261. if they cooperate I would give them longer.

    if they dont want to accept the claim tell them you wil report them to the Ombudsman (FOS). tjis costs them £00’s regardless of the outcome so they should see reason.

    Its a pity they are trying to give you a runround quoting 4 months for chargeback – which would have been better for them – thus forcing you to use s.75 instead. I wouldn’t hesitate given they are liable and are messing you around.

    • Will says:

      2 Jun2 June 08:08

      Thank you Lady London.

      Not certain you see that it is a booking through Amex Travel, so Amex Travel are required to refund me, not Virgin, I think. The surprising fact is that Amex card disputes say they won’t do a S75 against Amex Travel.

      Your recommendation is still that I should threaten Amex Travel with a ombudsman claim?

      • Lady London says:

        2 Jun2 June 08:55

        i would ask nicely again. if they refuse and quote that reason ask if they can save you time by stating to you do they have any legal basis for denying your s75 claim for which they are liable as a credit card under the law – as Amex travel being their sister company(?) it obviously looks illegal bias.

        i think at some point i would mention they might be more comfortable with chargeback if processed immediately (give them 2 weeks?) however 4 months is unreasonable and so you are forced to invoke your legal rights instead.

        Make sure you are talking to Brighton not the Philippines. if above fails ask them to re-check with a supervisor. If that fails tell them you will reluctantly contact the Ombudsman with an official complaint if they still refuse to process your s75 claim.

        Does anyone else have an idea why does Amex think they can get away with denying this?

      • Lady London says:

        2 Jun2 June 09:03

        chargeback=card credits it either before investigating, or after (if before and their investigation shows your claim not right they can claw back). the cardco then expects to get the money back to themselves from the merchant.)

        s75 means card is jointly liable for providing what you bought under the conditions you bought it and for conforming to any relevant statutes such as ec261. equally liable, themselves, as a credit card even if the airline goes bust

        • Lady London says:

          2 Jun2 June 09:16

          not sure last message got posted

          s75 claim is against credit card themselves, not against the merchant. You dont have to care if they get the money from the merchant. the card has to pay you themselves out of their money. whether or not they can get it from the merchant and even if the merchant went bust.

          that’s if the terms you bought on from the merchant would provide what you are asking for, or if a governing statute in this case ec261, would give you what you are asking for. statute trumps terms here, legally

• Ian Murray says:

  1 Jun1 June 18:10

  Ok, still a bit confused. I have a booking with Lufthansa for this August, booked last year. We will not be travelling and want to move this to August 2021. Same start and end destinations, flexible on exact dates. Am I able to rebook this with no additional charges?

  • Rhys says:

    1 Jun1 June 18:12

    This article is for FUTURE bookings only. Airlines have different policies for existing bookings which can vary depending on when you booked and when the flights are. I suggest you take a look at Lufthansa’s own guidance, which is linked in the article.

    • Ian Murray says:

      1 Jun1 June 18:17

      Thanks Rhys, I have looked at the guidance and I am still none the wiser unfortunately. I had not realised the article was about future booking though.

• Tony says:

  1 Jun1 June 18:14

  I have a BA flight booked to Toronto for Christmas leaving on 21 December 2020. The return is dated 20 January 2021. It is not completely clear to me whether I can cancel or re-book the whole journey for any reason which may crop up. I understand I can cancel the outward leg as it is in 2020 but what are the rules for the homeward leg in early 2021. Can I change FOC or is it liable to a change in fare?

  • GMart says:

    1 Jun1 June 22:46

    I too am wondering about making a new booking at Christmas/NYE. Anyone know for sure if Book with Confidence applies to both legs if a return trip (which is my default reading) or just the departure? Seems very odd to not guarantee early Jan return flights if the purpose is to incentivise people to book (as for many Christmas trips will mean returning in 2021).

• Esther says:

  1 Jun1 June 20:31

  Great article, Thank you!

• Ben says:

  2 Jun2 June 07:01

  I believe the Qatar policy mentioned hereabove should mention the 14 days rule:
  Rerouting for voluntary purposes (i.e. where there has been no flight disruption) is possible 14 (fourteen) days after making the booking. New flights must be booked in the same booking class (RBD), be operated by Qatar Airways and can be changed within the same country of origin and/or within a 5,000 (five thousand) mile radius from the original destination booking. If the same booking class is not available, a fare and taxes difference may apply.

• Aleks says:

  2 Jun2 June 09:41

  Morning, any idea how Virgin’s policy of “Bookings made on or before 30th June 2020 for travel before 31st December 2020 are eligible for rebooking until 30th September 2022” will work in practice given the fact (I assume) the flight schedule for 2022 won’t be available until 2021?

  I have 2x HK-LHR flights booked for 10th December 2020 and would look to rebook these for mid 2022 but I have a feeling they’ll try and force me to spend these in 2021 with claims that the booking window is available that far in advance.

  Thanks in advance!

  • Rhys says:

    2 Jun2 June 09:59

    I believe they leave your ticket open.

    • Aleks says:

      2 Jun2 June 11:10

      Thank you!

• Roger Wood says:

  2 Jun2 June 13:45

  We took the opportunity to book decent Premium Economy BA flights during the sale in January to travel to Rio early December and out or Santiago just before Xmas. Anticipated a few days in Rio then flight to Buenos Aires to board a Cruise around the Horn. I doubt the cruise will go ahead and my wife is anxious about travelling.

  Tried to change for a Future Flight Credit but the Book with Confidence kicked in ? 3rd march so the folk who booked January/February are at a disadvantage. The flight in non refundable. I can make changes to dates only (a week in South America !!).

  Any views.

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