Budgetair failed to change my flight

[be96erj]

I purchased a flight from budgetair, but was unable to travel do wanted to change the date of the flight which I am allowed to do according to the terms and conditions. However everytime I contacted them via chat (no other way to contact them) they told me no tickets are available and try again in 24 hours. This has been going on for the last 2 weeks!

 

I've contacted PayPal asking for my money back on the basis that the vendor failed in their contractual duty to change the date of my flight. However PayPal have gone against me statin

[Kyosanto]

I feel like something has cut short here.

 

What makes you feel that your ticket was fully flexible? Did you pay budgetair extra for that, or was the flexibility offered by the airline instead?

 

What airline were you travelling with, when is the original ticket for, and what is the date you have been trying to change it to?

 

Surely you must appreciate that no matter how flexible your ticket is, nobody has the ability to magic free spots out of thin air if the flights are already full.

 

Try to give us the full details, in brief and concise bullet points

 

Also, do you have travel insurance?

 

 

[be96erj]

What makes you feel that your ticket was fully flexible? Did you pay budgetair extra for that, or was the flexibility offered by the airline instead?

 

The booking with the travel agent specified that if I paid £50, I could change the date of the flight. This was shown during the booking process where they tried to sell me additional insurance to avoid having to pay the £50 for a change of date. Hence why I am 100% sure it formed part of my contract with the travel agent/ budgetair.

 

What airline were you travelling with, when is the original ticket for, and what is the date you have been trying to change it to?

 

Air india. The original ticket was for May 2022, I was trying to change it to August 2022.

 

Surely you must appreciate that no matter how flexible your ticket is, nobody has the ability to magic free spots out of thin air if the flights are already full.

 

Yes I understand your point, however, I chatted to the agent about 10 times. On each occasion I was told that no flights were available on the date I wanted, as the airline had not released them (even though it was only two and bit months away) and that I should come back to them in 24 hours. Each time I got back to them, I was given exactly the same line as the previous day. 

 

The ability to allow me to change the date of my flight for £50 formed part of my contract with budgetair. I believe they have broken the contract and have not provided a service as descried. Therefore either paypal or my bank should return my money. However neither are being helpful with this!

[Kyosanto]

Alright, so problem one: you purchased a "flexible option" sold by budgetair without knowing exactly what you were signing up for. You need to read the terms and conditions carefully and see what's covered:

*I would assume that you are only covered for a change using the same airline, and the same booking class. Try and find out your booking class it should be in your ticket somewhere. Something like Economy (T).

*I would also guess that this "flexible option" did not include any possibility of getting a refund. If it did it was probably "refund in the form of a budgetair voucher" or something like that.

Only once you find out exactly what you purchased you will know if they breached their contract or not. You might have a chance if their wording is slightly misleading, but most OTAs know their game.

 

Problem two, you want to travel in August. It shouldn't be too much of a surprise to you that this is super peak season and that the cheap booking classes are completely zeroed out already. Whilst your original May ticket was most probably in a cheap off peak booking class. I don't know the cities you are travelling to and from but as an example if I look up London to Delhi with Air India and assuming you are only going for 1 week, all of august is pretty much zeroed out. There is a little bit of cheap T and U economy from London in the last week of august, but the return from Delhi is completely overbooked and only the more expensive economy classes are left.

 

Now what is completely weird to me is that you were told "tickets are not released yet". That is obviously complete bo**ocks are not only they are released but they are also pretty much sold out. Did the guy think you were changing dates to 2023? Please tell me you kept the chat logs as evidence. (Live chat is actually a lot better than phone calls!) Could you upload them here with your personal info redacted?

 

Problem three, it seems you already escalated this with Paypal and they already ruled against you? It seems to me that you may have complained a bit too early instead of lining up your ducks first. 

What are you trying to get back? Just the £50 or the whole ticket?
More importantly, where do you stand now? Do you still have tickets with Air India? Do you have some budgetair credit? Are they going to let you use that on another date or another trip? Exactly how are you at a loss here?

 

 

 

[Kyosanto]

I'm going through a dummy booking with budgetair and I can't find a flexible option. All I see is

 

 

"Ticket Service" for £59

Quote

 

With this service you avoid the risk of losing your money when the airline cannot execute your flight due to bankruptcy.

Over the last few years, a lot of airlines have come into financial difficulties, think of examples like Flybe, Thomas Cook or Air Berlin. Refund the costs of your ticket(s) up to £ 2,000 per ticket (or up to the same amount in your local currency).

 

 

 

 

"Premium Plus" for £24.99

Quote

Extra charges by BudgetAir for changing & cancelling your flight: FREE OF CHARGE

 

 

 

And "Flight delay Compensation Service" for £50

• Quote

   

  • Flight delayed, cancelled or overbooked? You may be entitled to compensation.
  • Up to £500 compensation for flight delays, cancellations and overbooking by airlines.
    Up to £5,000 covered for extra expenses caused by a delay, including lost luggage and missed reservations (hotels, flights, taxi, etc.).
  • With this service, AirHelp’s compensation specialists handle the entire process for getting your money without any hassle.

   

   

 

Every single of these options is a rip-off

 

None of these options sound like "ticket changeable free of charge" to me.

 

 

Edited June 8, 2022 by Kyosanto

[be96erj]

Alright, so problem one: you purchased a "flexible option" sold by budgetair without knowing exactly what you were signing up for. You need to read the terms and conditions carefully and see what's covered: I did read the t and cs

 

*I would assume that you are only covered for a change using the same airline, and the same booking class. Try and find out your booking class it should be in your ticket somewhere. Something like Economy (T). You are right it is for the same airline and class. I am happy with that.

 

 

*I would also guess that this "flexible option" did not include any possibility of getting a refund. If it did it was probably "refund in the form of a budgetair voucher" or something like that. No it didn't but if they are unable to change the date of my ticket, then what other option do I have other than to get a refund from paypal or my bank?

 

Only once you find out exactly what you purchased you will know if they breached their contract or not. You might have a chance if their wording is slightly misleading, but most OTAs know their game. I know what I purchased. Refer to the following link- how can the wording here leave any doubt?

 

Capture

IBB.CO

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Image Capture hosted in ImgBB

 

 

It clearly states that extra charges by budgetair for changing or cancelling flight will cost me £55. Where is there room for any interpretation here?!

 

Problem two, you want to travel in August. It shouldn't be too much of a surprise to you that this is super peak season and that the cheap booking classes are completely zeroed out already. Whilst your original May ticket was most probably in a cheap off peak booking class. I don't know the cities you are travelling to and from but as an example if I look up London to Delhi with Air India and assuming you are only going for 1 week, all of august is pretty much zeroed out. There is a little bit of cheap T and U economy from London in the last week of august, but the return from Delhi is completely overbooked and only the more expensive economy classes are left. With respect this is not an issue. I understand that flights in august are more expensive, and I have been willing to pay more for my flight!

 

 

Now what is completely weird to me is that you were told "tickets are not released yet". That is obviously complete bo**ocks are not only they are released but they are also pretty much sold out. Did the guy think you were changing dates to 2023? Please tell me you kept the chat logs as evidence. (Live chat is actually a lot better than phone calls!) Could you upload them here with your personal info redacted? Here you go. I have kept each chat log. I wont place all of them here. This is one of the more recent chats:

 

>• yes- 22/oct, return 1st nov
>Delivered 19 minutes ago
>• Bihan
>Okay so LHR - BLR
>and BLR - LHR
>Please mention the dates to me.
>• Let me search the flights for you.
>• ok thanks
>Delivered 18 minutes ago
>• Bihan
>Sorry, it will take me a bit longer. I will be back shortly.
>• ok
>Delivered 15 minutes ago
>• Bihan
>Are these flights okay for you?
>AI 112 22OCT LHR-DEL 2130 1030 23OCT
>AI 502 23OCT DEL-BLR 1330 1615 23OCT
>Return
>AI 808 01NOV BLR-DEL 2100 0005 02NOV
>AI 161 02NOV DEL-LHR 0305 0635 02NOV
>• sure
>Delivered 14 minutes ago
>• Bihan
>Let me calculate the fares for you.
>• Unfortunately there are no fares available for the given dates.
>• ok... so what happens now?
>Delivered 11 minutes ago
>• Bihan
>I can check for other dates.
>• Still there? It’s been a while since your last message. Do you want to continue chatting?
>• yes
>• can you check a few days before and after the dates I have just provided to you?
>• ok
>• Bihan a few seconds ago
>Unfortunately there are no fares available right now. I advice you to please contact after 12 hours or so.
>• I am sorry for the inconvenience.

 

This is just the latest chat. You see about 2 weeks before the flight in may, I got onto the chat trying to change my ticket. This must have been over 10 times! Each time, I was given this standard response of contacting them after 12 hours or so. Crazy.

 

Problem three, it seems you already escalated this with Paypal and they already ruled against you? It seems to me that you may have complained a bit too early instead of lining up your ducks first. Doh!

 

What are you trying to get back? Just the £50 or the whole ticket? I am happy to play fair and just get my money back minus the £55 I would have paid for the ticket change.

More importantly, where do you stand now? Do you still have tickets with Air India? Yes

 

Do you have some budgetair credit? No

 

Are they going to let you use that on another date or another trip? Exactly how are you at a loss here? I am at a loss because whenever I contact the agent I am told the same thing. "tickets unavailable, come back in 12 hours." This is the same message I have recieved for the last month. My loss is that I have been unable to get a change of ticket, therefore loosing the money I paid for the flight. Again, I am fully prepared to pay extra for the flight given the peak season, but I am not even being given the chance to do so!

 

I'm going through a dummy booking with budgetair and I can't find a flexible option. All I see is As before refer to the following:

 

Capture

IBB.CO

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Image Capture hosted in ImgBB

 

Every single of these options is a rip-off

 

None of these options sound like "ticket changeable free of charge" to me. I never said that they were going to do it free of charge. It was always going to be for a fee

 

[Kyosanto]

For the dates in your chat (its not august mind) there is available inventory in L, K

 

Budgetair agents have no idea what they are doing.

 

Provide them the information below exactly as is and they should be able to issue your ticket (and reprice it if your booking class was lesser than L)

 

If you provide them this and they still pretend there is no availability, then insist they explain why, when you can prove otherwise.

 

I suspect you may have bought a fully non changeable and non refundable ticket, and that this is the reason computer says no.

 

Get them to admit that first and foremost, because in that case the premium you paid was officially a scam.

 

I hope of course that Im wrong and that they'll be able to rebook you.

 

Quote

 

Provide this information to a travel agent to help them match the fares found.

Make sure to provide the exact booking and fare codes shown.

Fare for 1 adult£696.36

Cancellation of this ticket will incur a penalty fee.

Changes to this ticket will incur a penalty fee.

Fare 1: Carrier AI LLE9MGBI LON to BLR (rules)

Passenger type ADT, ROUND-TRIP fare, booking code L, K

Covers LHR-DEL (Economy), DEL-BLR (Economy)

£187.50

Fare 2: Carrier AI ULE9MGBI BLR to LON (rules)

Passenger type ADT, ROUND-TRIP fare, booking code K, U

Covers BLR-BOM (Economy), BOM-LHR (Economy)

£137.50

Carrier-imposed surcharge (YR)£5.40

United Kingdom Passenger Service Charge Departures (UB)£56.06

United Kingdom Air Passenger Duty APD (GB)£84.00

Carrier-imposed surcharge (YQ)£200.00

India User Development Fee Departures (IN)£14.60

India Aviation Security Fee (P2)£11.30

Subtotal per passenger£696.36

Number of passengersx1

Subtotal for 1 adult£696.36

Fare Construction (can be useful to travel agents)

LON AI X/DEL Q24.85 AI BLR 208.16LLE9MGBI AI X/BOM AI LON 170.88ULE9MGBI NUC 403.89 END ROE 0.804633 XT 84.00GB 56.06UB 14.60IN 11.30P2 200.00YQ 5.40YR

Total Airfare & Taxes£696.36

 

 

[Kyosanto]

I made a mess of the copy paste and it doesnt have the flight numbers. But anyway this info can be obtained online from itasoftware matrix (google it) and will give you the cheapest booking class still available for yoir dates.

 

Its important you find your original booking class too, and even better if you have the fare rules. So you know exactly how much the airline will charge you and can make sure budgetair doesn't add extra.

[be96erj]

Thanks for the advise, but I'm afraid budgetair won't care if I present then with any new information. The agent will just type in standard responses.

 

Can anyone please offer me advice as to what my legal rights are in terms of getting my money back given that I cannot get an alternative flight?

 

Thanks

[honeybee13]

Is there no other way of communicating with them?

 

HB

[be96erj]

I've tried it all. I chat to them, they say come back in 12 hours. I email them, they say go to the chat to rebook!

[Kyosanto]

It's not just "new information" it's the undisputable evidence that the tickets exist and are bookable, all they need to do is put those numbers on their computer, if they say otherwise they are lying.

 

Get this in a chat log evem you hate to speak to them, you'll need them when you try and get your refund, whether it's Paypal, your bank, or SCC.

 

In the corrct order. Only move to the next step once you have exhausted the previous one, and have amassed the evidence that you did.

 

If you skip steps too fast they're just going to fob you back down one level, like Paypal and your bank migjtve done already.

 

Now the OTA probably knows you disputed this already and lost, so they think they can afford to tell you porkies and keep fobbing you off.

 

Thats why you do should get back to them one last time, let them know you're not joking around, get that final bit of evidence. Line up your ducks. Ine by one.