Booked flights, but need to change or cancel

paddy138

Hi all.
So me my wife and son booked our first family holiday for mid October this year. All was good but now we found we are expecting a baby on very end of September, we are delighted but I don't think a 3 week old baby will be ready for a holiday to lanzarote.
So rang aer lingus. They said if we cancel we will only get back €21 each. Or its €100 each if we get somebody else to take flights for a name change. Bother of these mean we will lose big time. Went to book for end of may and costing near €500 to change. So didnt book that.
We don't have travel insurance as we were going to buy it closer to the time.
My question is. Is there anything I can do to get most or all of my money back? or that aerlingus is legally obliged to do? as I'm not getting very far when I ring the call center
Regards
Paddy

Stheno

Im afraid not afaik

jackinthemix94

Travel insurance wouldn't have even covered you - you're choosing to not travel with the baby (who wouldn't have even been on the policy) - you'd need medical documentation stating that a doctor has told your wife not to travel for health reasons. This is academic because you don't have it anyway.

Not the airline's fault - just one of those things - either change or cancel it unfortunately. Learning curve .

Congrats on the baby!

kerry4sam

another option:

Try adverts.ie
or
Try a site like here <--where people post bookings they can't cancel and sell them on.

Hope that helps,
kerry4sam

Mrs OBumble

You chose to book cheap flights with strong conditions around changes. You were told about them when you booked. What else did you expect?

dollyk

Sorry but you hav,nt a chance.
Booked spain for last sept, hospital cancellation came up,
So Had to cancel flights, They had only cost 25 euro each way.
Tried to give them away for free, but flights were still cheaper than
100 needed to change name.
Still booking.com allowed me to cancel my hotel free of charge.
congrats or leave new lil baba with mother in law.:D

ps i had insurance, but my hospital procedure was considered routine
so couldnt claim for that.

Atlantic Dawn

Best option might be to rebook it for May next year when those flights become available, they should be cheap to book initially. Usually it's around 9 months before you can book.

munchkin_utd

if its your second child then travelling with a 3 week old should actually not be an issue. Travelling with infants is actually not all that bad, and newborns arent in any routine yet so once they are kept fed and warm and in clean nappies you cant go wrong.

I think your biggest problem would be getting a passport for him/ her, as you'll not have the birth cert right away meaning it would be very very tight.
You're also presuming the baby comes on time. If its late and you need an inducement then the wife will possibly be waiting on the child or in hospital.

I think it was a bit hopeful to expect a call centre operator to be able to give you a refund or cancellation on the spot which they are likely not authorised to do.
Ryanair allow cancellations due to medical reasons, but you have to contact customer services in writing with proof of the medical conditions.
If you want similar off Aer Lingus then this isnt something that a call centre operator can do, so maybe submit a request by email or on the contact form so that someone higher up can make the call to approve the request.

Locker10a

munchkin_utd wrote: »

if its your second child then travelling with a 3 week old should actually not be an issue. Travelling with infants is actually not all that bad, and newborns arent in any routine yet so once they are kept fed and warm and in clean nappies you cant go wrong.

I think your biggest problem would be getting a passport for him/ her, as you'll not have the birth cert right away meaning it would be very very tight.
You're also presuming the baby comes on time. If its late and you need an inducement then the wife will possibly be waiting on the child or in hospital.

I think it was a bit hopeful to expect a call centre operator to be able to give you a refund or cancellation on the spot which they are likely not authorised to do.
Ryanair allow cancellations due to medical reasons, but you have to contact customer services in writing with proof of the medical conditions.
If you want similar off Aer Lingus then this isnt something that a call centre operator can do, so maybe submit a request by email or on the contact form so that someone higher up can make the call to approve the request.

But there is no medical reason that they can't fly! So theres really nothing to submit! I would say, change the flights to a later date, maybe December or January when you have the time off, Lanzarote will be sunny and warm all through winter, this way you don't loose your money and your holiday! You'd get both but at a later date

munchkin_utd

Locker10a wrote: »

But there is no medical reason that they can't fly! So theres really nothing to submit! I would say, change the flights to a later date, maybe December or January when you have the time off, Lanzarote will be sunny and warm all through winter, this way you don't loose your money and your holiday! You'd get both but at a later date

on the other hand, if the baby comes a couple of weeks early, then they'd be in a fairly good position to get a passport in time and head off on the holiday as previously planned, obviously adding the newborn to the ticket at some stage

unless the wife has a caeserian section, in which case she will be unfit to travel and you'll have your medical grounds to ask for some leeway from the airline

paddy138

We have been looking about going the end of may this year. There's a 40 euro fee each for changing each way then the extra for being a dearer flight. So at least we would still get and it wouldn't be a total loss. It really seems like there is very little option of aerlingus doing much for me. Probably could get a bit more back but lots of headache and endless emails/calls. Not worth it.
I appreciate your feedback and help folks
(Apart from the obvious reply that I got, that is a key board warrior who has nothing else to be at)

🖒🖒🖒

paddy138

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

You chose to book cheap flights with strong conditions around changes. You were told about them when you booked. What else did you expect?

What else did I expect? Have you read the post.

munchkin_utd

paddy138 wrote: »

What else did I expect? Have you read the post.

I think the point is that maybe you're expecting too much from a call centre operator who hasnt the authority to break the rules laid down to them.

Theres a special web page on travelling when pregnant, so seeing as its just about feasible that your wife will still have the baby 3 weeks after the official guestimated due date, maybe contact that special assistance email address. At the worst of it they will know exactly what the company policies are regarding pregnant women.
https://www.aerlingus.com/travel-information/special-assistance/medical-conditions/

Travelling while Pregnant
There are varying conditions for travelling while pregnant depending on the route and stage of pregnancy.
..................
Week 34 or over:
You cannot travel on Aer Lingus flights.

sReq | uTeK

Change it to January..you'll have a reason to get out of the cold and there won't be any Jan blues.

I'm here now in a beautiful hotel on the beachfront and we've had lovely warm weather all week. Sunny low 20s