Postponing Return Flight to UK

[penym]

I am currently enjoying my winter stay in St Lucia, but due to fly back to Gatwick arriving on March 17th. I am one of the vulnerable elderly people, nearly 86 with multiple serious health issues. I book through Trailfinders and fly business class which on the Caribbean route is eye watering financially, but the expense is worth it. I do not take out travel insurance because it costs more than the fare and insurers are not keen to take me on

I may want to delay my return flight until the virus has taken its course which means I may stay until July or thereabouts. Trailfinders tell me BA will charge £300 and Trailfinders will charge £50 for the admin.

If I have to pay so be it, but I am not cancelling but postponing my return. Given my vulnerability and age, is there any allowance made for passengers like me?

Just thought I would ask if BA are sympathetic to these cases and as I booked through Trailfinders I must proceed through them?

penym

[dealtn]

I am currently enjoying my winter stay in St Lucia, but due to fly back to Gatwick arriving on March 17th. I am one of the vulnerable elderly people, nearly 86 with multiple serious health issues. I book through Trailfinders and fly business class which on the Caribbean route is eye watering financially, but the expense is worth it. I do not take out travel insurance because it costs more than the fare and insurers are not keen to take me on

I may want to delay my return flight until the virus has taken its course which means I may stay until July or thereabouts. Trailfinders tell me BA will charge £300 and Trailfinders will charge £50 for the admin.

If I have to pay so be it, but I am not cancelling but postponing my return. Given my vulnerability and age, is there any allowance made for passengers like me?

Just thought I would ask if BA are sympathetic to these cases and as I booked through Trailfinders I must proceed through them?

penym

Are you swapping a fixed flight for an option to return at some future date? Doesn't sound unreasonable to me if that's just £300, but no harm in trying to get it reduced. I would imagine the future costs of accommodation etc. will be a greater cost than that. Enjoy the weather where you are, its undoubtedly better than the miserable wet winter we have been having, and no signs of improving to that on offer where you are at the moment.

[richfool]

I am currently enjoying my winter stay in St Lucia, but due to fly back to Gatwick arriving on March 17th. I am one of the vulnerable elderly people, nearly 86 with multiple serious health issues. I book through Trailfinders and fly business class which on the Caribbean route is eye watering financially, but the expense is worth it. I do not take out travel insurance because it costs more than the fare and insurers are not keen to take me on

I may want to delay my return flight until the virus has taken its course which means I may stay until July or thereabouts. Trailfinders tell me BA will charge £300 and Trailfinders will charge £50 for the admin.

If I have to pay so be it, but I am not cancelling but postponing my return. Given my vulnerability and age, is there any allowance made for passengers like me?

Just thought I would ask if BA are sympathetic to these cases and as I booked through Trailfinders I must proceed through them?

penym

I flew Bus class to the Far East, late January and was contemplating amending my return flight. In the end I didn't, but the admin fee would have been £75. I booked direct with the airline (EVA Air), as I usually do.

I saw an article, I think in The Times, at the weekend, where a passenger was told by a travel agent that BA would charge a large amount to amend (or possibly cancel) his flight, and when the passenger contacted BA direct they said the cost of the change was very much less than had been quoted by the travel agent.

[JohnB]

Airlines seem to be waving rebooking fees as they try to cover a collapsing market. The situation seems fluid

[Julian]

I had to cancel a flight entirely with BA in 2018 due to a medical issue. My memory is a bit hazy but I seem to remember that the cancellation fee was also £300 but the customer support person (I phoned to do the cancellation) immediately waived the fee since it was for medical reasons. She didn’t ask me to send in any proof of my hospitalisation and didn’t put me on hold to consult anyone else so they do seem to have some discretion. Admittedly I did have a first class ticket (but it was a cheaper one not the really expensive fully-flexible ones so did have change and cancellation penalties) - maybe they are more flexible with first class passengers.

I can’t say whether BA would be sympathetic in your case but I would recommend contacting them directly by phone and talking it through with a real human being. I have always found BA phone telephone support to be extremely good but maybe I’ve just been lucky.

- Julian

[mutantpoodle]

maybe i have misunderstood your 'ask'

but you are seeking to change a firm flight booking for an 'open ticket' is that correct?

point is,,,that an open ticket is always more costly than a fixed date...as the airlines cannot 'plan' for you

if yu dont get any luck with BA direct (if you can get through) see how it goes if you ask for a fixed date flight back

[richfool]

If you currently really don't want to commit to a specific return date, you could check the price of a one way return, with a view to discarding your current return flight and booking a new one-way return as and when you decide to return. Though I'm sure that would be more expensive than the cost of amending an existing return leg.

You could ask BA what their charge is for amending your current return ticket and then use that information to try and haggle with Trailfinders over their amendment fee.

Note if it was possible to amend your return to an open-return, you would surely still incur 2 amendments fees, as you would then later have to amend that to "book" a specific flight - date and time.

[penym]

Sorry I should have replied earlier. I booked months ahead to fly out on November 19tn and return on March 16th. The business class fare of £2552 was booked via Trailfinders.

When I decided to delay my return to June 2nd, I contacted Trailfinders. And they told me that I must pay £300 for merely chang8ng the date of m6 flight. I am in St Lucia so calling BA would be costly and difficult at a time when people are busy trying to change plans.

I went to Twitter BA page and complained about the cost. They tweeted in reply that in buying my ticket that the charges were agreed at point of sale and constituted a contract with BA so that seems to be non negotiable. However, a friend out here told me she rang BA to do the same change and they waived her fee, but she travels 1st Class and had booked her ticket direct so was in a safer position than me. Still, I am lucky that my son actually persuaded me to stay and is happy for me to supervise works going on while he is at work, look after the three dogs and help him with any social entertainment.

Lovely weather here and nearly three more months to enjoy life! So thanks to all those who answered my query.

[richfool]

It might be worth a phone call to BA, particularly if you are a FF with them.

[Julian]

I thought it might be worth doing another turn of the wheel on this thread due to changing circumstances and something I just read.

I see a quote here (https://www.flightright.com/coronavirus-cancellations) on a page about Coronavirus cancellations that says ...

I’ve changed my mind, I don’t want to fly. What are my options?

For passengers flying to countries where there is a confirmed health risk, i.e. a warning has been issued by the UK Government Department of Health and Social Care or Public Health England, flight tickets will be refunded within 14 days, free of charge. In all other cases, the regular cancellation conditions of the airline apply.

I have no idea how credible a source FlightRight is but, assuming that deciding not to take the return leg back to a country that now has “a confirmed health risk” falls into the criteria above (and I would assume it does), then the elevation of the health risk in the U.K. (assuming that bit is correct as well) would seem to open up the opportunity for penym to get a refund from BA without too much hassle.

I have no idea whether the above is correct and/or based on credible sources or not but it seems to me to be an avenue well worth exploring.

- Julian

[penym]

Thank you Julian! I went on Twitter about the charge of £300 and BA pmd me to send them all my details and they will look iinto my case. I also met some tourists in the supermarkets who were supposed to fly home on Saturday and BA cancelled their flight and kept them in the hotel and they fly out tonight, which incidentally was the flight I was originally on. They told me the airport was in chaos and normally my son would have driven me there .....two hours away from his home here so I feel lucky that my flight was changed. However, the way things are in UK my son is urging me to stay here until further notice when the virus has waned. That could be a year! If BA accepts me changing my plans until it is safe, I would be happy.

I really am at risk, heart failure , nearly 86 and with only one kidney! I look and feel OK but I would be most susceptible to the virus. We now have 2 cases on the island and the schools are closed which seems to be an over reaction!

I will let everyone know what happens for future reference especially for those with aged parents who still travel!

penym

[redsturgeon]

Fingers crossed for you!

John

[Julian]

Fingers crossed for you!

John

Ditto. All the best Penny. These times are really making me realise more than ever before just how much people matter to me. It’s scary to realise how many of my friends are in high risk groups. Be well.

- Julian