Cancelling a Holday.

Afty

Hi All,

Me and my Lady have been in need of a holiday for some time now, I however have been working on a long contract which has meant that we couldn't take one until november, both of our mothers happen to turn 50 in november and we did want to miss either of thier parties. So that left us with a very narrow set of dates to travel in.

Last night, we went to a travel agent, booked a holiday to cuba and all was good.

Then this morning I get to work and have a text message from my Girlfriend saying that she has a 2 day course for work that she can't miss, right smack fucking dab in the middle of our holiday. She forgot. (cue massive swearing outburst).

I have just rung the travel agent, cancellation charges for late packages inside of 55 days of leaving (today is 54 days!) are 100% of the cost of the holiday, or £1200.

Has anyone got any experience of this sort of problem? What are my chances of getting my money back? It's been less than 24 hours

Raneados

so you'd have to pay 1200 whether you go on the holiday or not?

seems like a pretty terrible travel agent

can you sell this trip to someone else?

Afty

That's right. It's in their terms and conditions that if you cancel within the 55 days then you have to pay 100% of the holiday cost as a cancellation fee.

It seems to be standard practice

I don't think that the trip is transferable either, as it's assigned to our passports / tickets / etc.

Raneados

have you talked to the travel agent about your options?

giving you no options whatsoever seems like a fast way not to get repeat business

can you reschedule it for a cost?

Afty

I've spoken with them again, I can reschedule to later in the month, when it is about a third as expensive again plus administrative fees.

ronya

Wow, that's hella expensive.

Sure you can't sell the tickets or something? O_o

Ketar

Cancellation policies like that are pretty standard in travel - with the tour operator I used to work for it was something like 10% penalty 61-90 days before departure, 30-50% 31-60 days prior (depending on the particular tour), and 100% 30 days or less prior to departure. That said, holding somebody to 100% cancellation on something booked just 24 hours is a bit harsh, and not something we would normally have done unless airfare was a big portion of the cost and had already been booked - though we would likely have required the money stayed in house to be used towards other travel unless there were compelling (i.e. health, or similar emergency) circumstances.

The biggest problem would be airfare, if that was part of it and already booked - airfare is a pain to change, and ties the agent's hands a bit more than just hotel & touring arrangements would, and likely the reason for a fee to change dates.

As far as getting the money back, that will only happen if the travel agent is particularly helpful, or generous. Unfortunately, the travel industry is even more f'ed than most by economic woes and so generosity is probably less likely than it would be at other times. I had to appear in small claims court as a witness once about a year after I left that travel company because a former client was trying to get back the cost of a tour he had canceled something like 2 days before scheduled departure due to illness, and claiming I had promised him a refund. Yeah, no such promise on my part, and the judge found in my former company's favor pretty damn quickly because the cancellation policy was clearly laid out in our Terms & Conditions that were included in every major mailing we sent to the client.

starmanbrand

Welp, if you're screwed either way. I'd either convince her to skip the two days or I'd go alone and bring a buddy.

PS. I saw she "can't miss" but I mean. Unless she has some sort of behavioral record at work or its something really, really important to the continuing life of the business could it be that impossible to miss?