Airline booking mistake

sean188

Hi guys, first time posting and I'm in a bit of a predicament.

About an hour ago I was booking return flights with Emirates from Bangkok to Dublin for around €900 and I accidentally selected '08 Jun' instead of '08 Jul' which means the flights are a month early! I know it was a stupid, stupid mistake on my behalf but I didn't notice the 'Jun' vs. 'Jul' until I got the confirmation email. I rang Emirates straight away and they said if the booking is refunded I would only get back around €200 and to change the date it would cost around €600 and I haven't got anywhere near that amount of money at the minute! I've tried explaining the circumstances and that it was an honest mistake but the adviser said she couldn't do anything for me.

I know it was totally my own fault but if anybody has worked in airlines or has had a similar experience and has got some advice on what to do next, I would be extremely grateful!

BuffyBot

Unfortunately, what you've described is pretty much it. It is your responsibility to check the details before making payment.

Cheap tickets are very restricted in terms of changeability and refunds. You're either stuck with what you've booked, accept the refund of the balance minus the fare/penalty or pay the change fees.

sean188

I was afraid of that. I read through the T&C's (always just ticked the box and paid no heed to them) and it doesn't really leave me with a leg to stand on. I phoned again and they suggested contacting the website department through the contact page so hopefully they might be forgiving to my mistake - have to wait 24-28 hrs to find out. At least if I don't get sorted I'll have definitely learnt a lesson and hopefully for people reading this it'll warn everyone to pay attention when booking.

Stinicker

Firstly look up the booking confirmation email you received from Emirates and there should be 3 attachments, the Fare Conditions, Emirates ETickets and a conditions of contract.

Read the fare conditions and it will say in there the cancellation fee.

I was in a similar position last December 2011 as I had booked to Malaysia with Air Asia X and shortly after booking I heard a rumor that Air Asia X were cancelling services from London and I believed the rumour and to protect myself against having to pay a higher fare I booked another set of flights with Emirates on the same day and should the rumour be false I could have cancelled with Emirates for €150.

As it transpired later the rumor was indeed true and I got a refund from Air Asia and went ahead and flew Emirates instead. However by the time Air Asia confirmed they were cancelling the service alternative flights with Emirates were costing over €900 and I had them booked in advance for €650 having heard the rumour and trusting my gut to make a backup plan.

So look up the fare conditions and take it from there alternatively contact your Credit Card Company and get them to put a block on it or cancel the card entirely.

BuffyBot

So look up the fare conditions and take it from there alternatively contact your Credit Card Company and get them to put a block on it or cancel the card entirely.

If you're going to give advice, please make it accurate. The card company can't "put a block on it". It's a valid charge, made by the customer. Cancelling the card doesn't invalidate the transaction, you still owe the card provider for any purchases made.

ProudDUB

BuffyBot wrote: »

If you're going to give advice, please make it accurate. The card company can't "put a block on it". It's a valid charge, made by the customer. Cancelling the card doesn't invalidate the transaction, you still owe the card provider for any purchases made.

Yep, the credit card companies will only go to bat for you if there is some sort of fraud perpetrated by the vendor, the goods purchased are not as advertised, or they are damaged/broken on arrival. They won't do anything if it is simply a situation where the credit card holder made a mistake, or they changed their mind.

galwayjohn89

I'm surprised Emirates don't have a 24 hour cancellation policy. I know a lot of airlines do have one but just don't advertise it.

Boulevardier

All airlines without exception should be required by law to have a cancellation or cooling-off period. This is another example of pathetically inadequate laws on air travel.

I know that doesn't help you much right now, but its what I think.

galwayjohn89

Why though? Why should a low cost airline be forced to offer a cooling off period. The reason they are low cost is because they are restricted tickets. Same as this stupid EU law over delays and cancellations. Should just buy travel insurance or risk it. Hardly any other travel service is so heavily regulated.

You can't go into a shop buy something and then be legally entitled to return it so why with airline tickets?

3DataModem

Boulevardier wrote: »

All airlines without exception should be required by law to have a cancellation or cooling-off period. This is another example of pathetically inadequate laws on air travel.

I know that doesn't help you much right now, but its what I think.

You can book with airlines that have a cancellation policy, and you can book special fares with emirates that have free changes on cancellation. But these options are more expensive.

We only have cheap airfares because of no-cancellation policies. Airlines like Ryanair, Easyjet, etc make their money from no-shows and excess fees.

You can't have it both ways. In 1985 a flight to London from Dublin was about almost 300 EUR in today's money (50 Punt), with free luggage, free cancellation, you could even hold flights over the phone.

Cheap flights can't be cancelled, expensive ones can, simple as that.

ted1

Vuzuggu wrote: »

Why though? Why should a low cost airline be forced to offer a cooling off period. The reason they are low cost is because they are restricted tickets. Same as this stupid EU law over delays and cancellations. Should just buy travel insurance or risk it. Hardly any other travel service is so heavily regulated.

You can't go into a shop buy something and then be legally entitled to return it so why with airline tickets?

This would fall under distant selling which has a built in cooling off period off 7 days.

The OP could use this and expect a full refund. http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/consumer_affairs/consumer_protection/consumer_rights/distance_selling.html

3DataModem

ted1 wrote: »

This would fall under distant selling which has a built in cooling off period off 7 days.

The OP could use this and expect a full refund. http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/consumer_affairs/consumer_protection/consumer_rights/distance_selling.html

Didn't you read the part where this legislation excludes transport?

dingding

Hi Op

Did you get any further with this.

Boulevardier

"Cheap flights can't be cancelled, expensive ones can, simple as that."

Not so. Reform and regulation can get rid of onerous nonsense like extortionate fees incurred by human error, such as in this case.

Cheap flight operators must be made, where necessary, to base their fare policies on real products and services, not on victimisation of the human failings of passengers. If that means slightly higher fares then so be it.

It is a scare tactic to say that if consumer rights are improved then there will be a return to the extortionate fares of the old Dublin-London route cartel. That obviously will not happen, and indeed when it existed it was also the result of a failure in consumer protection.

It never ceases to amaze me how many people on boards like this are prepared to defend airlines to the hilt against giving any additional rights whatever to their fellow passengers.

galwayjohn89

Boulevardier wrote: »

"Cheap flights can't be cancelled, expensive ones can, simple as that."

Not so. Reform and regulation can get rid of onerous nonsense like extortionate fees incurred by human error, such as in this case.

Cheap flight operators must be made, where necessary, to base their fare policies on real products and services, not on victimisation of the human failings of passengers. If that means slightly higher fares then so be it.

If you want to protect yourself from mistakes made by your own failings then buy flexible fairs. I've messed up before on a flight, took the hit and bought another one. Was my mistake. Why should everything be there to protect customers and go against airlines? Airlines should be able to make their own rules regarding refunds and changes. I really do not understand why people expect airlines to be so regulated when other form of transport aren't. It makes no sense at all. I'm all for O'Leary and his stupid tax/charges.

schemingbohemia

Boulevardier wrote: »

"Cheap flights can't be cancelled, expensive ones can, simple as that."

Not so. Reform and regulation can get rid of onerous nonsense like extortionate fees incurred by human error, such as in this case.

Cheap flight operators must be made, where necessary, to base their fare policies on real products and services, not on victimisation of the human failings of passengers. If that means slightly higher fares then so be it.

It is a scare tactic to say that if consumer rights are improved then there will be a return to the extortionate fares of the old Dublin-London route cartel. That obviously will not happen, and indeed when it existed it was also the result of a failure in consumer protection.

It never ceases to amaze me how many people on boards like this are prepared to defend airlines to the hilt against giving any additional rights whatever to their fellow passengers.

That's all well and good to state, but the facts are that the cheaper airlines use dynamic pricing and Ryanair in particular do not over-sell their planes, your solution of a cooling off period would impact severely on their ability to price their flights the way they currently do it, so would harm the many to benefit the few who cannot read a simple booking form and fill it in correctly - there are at least 2 stages where you have to re-confirm your booking details before it becomes irrevocalbe - i don't want to have to pay more so that people who aren't careful enough in their booking can benefit, i'm sorry for the OP's predicament but it is no one else's fault.

3DataModem

What I will say is that many low cost airlines will allow a change over the phone where there is an obvious typo in the booking.

Easyjet, Ryanair and Aer Lingus will - in my experience - make a free change if you call them within a short time (minutes / hours) of getting the email confirmation.

I think Emirates are being very unfair in the OPs case as presented here.

whomitconcerns

well the OP is either there now or not so its a bit late....mind you 900 for the flights on 6 days notice was pretty good.

Boulevardier

"I'm all for O'Leary and his stupid tax/charges."

OK, that implies that most of us, including the OP, are stupid, or are paying the price for stupidity. I see.

BTW, I turned on RTE Morning Ireland this morning just as they were finishing what sounded like a discussion of new air passenger rights, which seemed to include being able to change booking mistakes. Did anyone else catch any of this?

galwayjohn89

Boulevardier wrote: »

"I'm all for O'Leary and his stupid tax/charges."

OK, that implies that most of us, including the OP, are stupid, or are paying the price for stupidity. I see.

It doesn't imply most people are stupid, it implies people do stupid things which is completely different. I include myself in that as I have booked the wrong route Dublin to London instead of London to Dublin. Was my own fault and the fare was nonrefundable so I just booked another one. No one to blame but myself.

Boulevardier

Well in any case, here is one bit of good news from the Air Transport Council meeting in Luxembourg (via the Indo):

"If new proposals are passed, airlines will have to explain why a flight is delayed within half an hour of the scheduled take-off time and passengers will have the right to correct misspelled entries of their name on tickets up to 48 hours before departure, without penalty."