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Family member booked flight some months ago with OTA Kiwi to fly from TLV to Belgium. The booking consisted of 2 flights with a self-transfer somewhere in between (not sure of the airport).
The 1st leg from TLV was cancelled 2 days before the flight due to the war.
The airline understandably are not issuing a direct refund as the flight wasn’t booked with them. Kiwi, however, are refusing to fully refund the cancelled leg and are instead offering a fixed partial refund of £80.
This does not seem right. Surely the passenger should be entitled to a full refund for the cancelled leg?
Any advice on how to proceed in this scenario would be much appreciated!
As they booked via an OTA it’s their T&Ca that apply here when it comes to the refund – even if the airline paid Kiwi in full they can still charge their own set or fees.
Subject to the law of the land, of course, which contract law can’t overturn. Surely a service was bought that wasn’t provided? Though I guess here OTA did provide a service (the booking etc) so not unreasonable for them to receive some compensation. Just depends on precise relationships between parties and who contracts between?
As they booked via an OTA it’s their T&Ca that apply here when it comes to the refund – even if the airline paid Kiwi in full they can still charge their own set or fees.
Not it isn’t. There are rights associated with flight cancellations that are not dependent on the seller.
@ZACK – there isn’t really much information provided to offer help to you or your family member. They should be entitled to a refund for the cancelled flight but an agent can retain any booking fee and/or refund processing fee. The passenger should get back the cost of the cancelled flight less any such fee. It does sound as though only the flight originating in TLV was cancelled owing to the war, so the status and/or refund for the other flight on a separate ticket is uncertain and complicates matters.
Can you list the prices of the flights that were purchased, which will help to determine whether £80 is a reasonable figure to receive as a refund.
@John True, as the flights could have been £160-£200 and Kiwi’s keeping their fee.
Lots of noise across travel forums about Kiwi and their ‘unexpected’ fees when things go awry.
It’s why I stick to a very small number of OTAs that appear to be a bit better. Obviously booking direct when there isn’t a substantial price difference.I looked at a few OTA ‘self-transfer’ tickets for a recent trip, the small print placed a lot of the risk on the traveller. One example was that if you missed the second flight and hand’t taken their missed connection insurance cover you were stuffed. Safe to say I didn’t book.
As they booked via an OTA it’s their T&Ca that apply here when it comes to the refund – even if the airline paid Kiwi in full they can still charge their own set or fees.
Not it isn’t. There are rights associated with flight cancellations that are not dependent on the seller.
OTAs can charge their customers for processign these refunds. If the unnamed airline has refunded Kiwi then they have met their obligations.
If the flight was merely delayed and qualified for compensation then that would indeed be claimed by and paid directly to the customer.
@ZACK – there isn’t really much information provided to offer help to you or your family member. They should be entitled to a refund for the cancelled flight but an agent can retain any booking fee and/or refund processing fee. The passenger should get back the cost of the cancelled flight less any such fee. It does sound as though only the flight originating in TLV was cancelled owing to the war, so the status and/or refund for the other flight on a separate ticket is uncertain and complicates matters.
I did ask said family member to send me invoice/breakdown of all costs in the reservation. Will update here once I have those details.
I looked at a few OTA ‘self-transfer’ tickets for a recent trip, the small print placed a lot of the risk on the traveller. One example was that if you missed the second flight and hand’t taken their missed connection insurance cover you were stuffed. Safe to say I didn’t book.
They did actually pay for self-transfer insurance, specifically due to the increased risk of the TLV flight being cancelled/delayed. I did not mention this in my OP as I haven’t seen Kiwi’s T&Cs. Perhaps cancellations due to war are not included in this insurance.
In any case, once I have more details on cost breakdown and Kiwi’s T&Cs I’ll be back with an update.
As they booked via an OTA it’s their T&Ca that apply here when it comes to the refund – even if the airline paid Kiwi in full they can still charge their own set or fees.
Not it isn’t. There are rights associated with flight cancellations that are not dependent on the seller.
OTAs can charge their customers for processign these refunds. If the unnamed airline has refunded Kiwi then they have met their obligations.
If the flight was merely delayed and qualified for compensation then that would indeed be claimed by and paid directly to the customer.
Poor attempt at shifting the goal posts.
I looked at a few OTA ‘self-transfer’ tickets for a recent trip, the small print placed a lot of the risk on the traveller. One example was that if you missed the second flight and hand’t taken their missed connection insurance cover you were stuffed. Safe to say I didn’t book.
Well if you book your own ‘self-transfer’ ticket, you are also stuffed if you miss the connection
@John That’s why I don’t book same-day self-transfers. I was actually looking for a single ticket connection but noticed they were selling some tickets using airlines from different alliances.
Poor attempt at shifting the goal posts.
At least I know what the goal posts are.
@JDB has said the same thing as I did.And this has been said numerous other times when this issue has come up when a booking is made by am OTA.
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