tibulus

Hi,

I am due to fly out to Cairns on Monday with emirates and jet star, booked through ebookers.

Today I was concerned about the Dublin Airport strike and contacted emirates. There I was told that the seat was booked in my Mothers name.

I accept that it was my mistake, bought the flight with mothers credit card as my limit was too low and never checked the details that they sent me fully!!

I then called Ebookers to change the ticket name.

This is when I was told that the name could not be changed and it would be necessary to cancel booking. Bit of a shock to me.

Knowing that I was not going to get the full value I asked what the amount which I would be, expecting 60%-80% of value paid.

I was told 4%. Actually hit the floor. Did not accept the offer obviously.

Asked to speak with a supervisor who assured me nothing could be done.

I then called emirates who informed me that the first two flights (with emirates) were refundable and the the third (with jetstar) was not and that I am entitled to a 57% refund off them. But have to go through ebookers.

On calling ebookers back they still assured me the I was only entitled to 4%. I asked to speak to manager who yet again assured me.

I then requested that the manager called emirates with the information I had just given him. When he called me back he could not confirm if I was yet entitled to a refund higher than 4%. Waiting for office to open tomorrow

Another option was to change the flight info to my name (but not the ticket). This would allow me board plane but most likely have difficulties with customs. I could always do this and then book final leg from osaka to cairns in my name. Has anyone experience this???

Any help here is greatly appreciated, this evening has been one of the most stressful of my life, I actually collapsed with I was told I could not get refunded or change name on ticket.

Andre

tibulus,

That is really a terrible story! At this point, you are at the mercy of Ebookers, Emirates and Jetstar...

The basic rule regarding ticket refunds is that the conditions governing the most restrictive fare component apply to the entire ticket. So, Emirates' reply that you are entitled to a partial refund is likely correct for their portion of the ticket, but Jetstar's fare is most likely non-refundable (except for taxes and fees, the 4% you were quoting). Since ebookers is looking at your full itinerary, they would apply the "no refunds" rule of the Jetstar fare component to the entire ticket, which is unfortunately the correct procedure.

You need to verify my assumption above by going over the detailed fare rules yourself - ebookers can and must provide these to you, if they haven't already done so (they might accessible when you view your booking online).

If my assumption above does prove correct, then your only other possible recourse is a name change for your entire booking. Each airline has its own policy for this, so you are at the mercy of Emirates and Jetstar... Give them a call to find out where you stand.

Finally there is the possibility that Ebookers, Emirates and Jetstar will all agree to waive their policies to accommodate you. Given the fact that there are 3 parties involved, I am not particularly optimistic, but stranger things have happened.

So in summary:
1) Obtain the full fare rules for your ticket from Ebookers and read them attentively, bearing in mind that if just one fare component is non-refundable, your entire ticket is so as well.
2) If the ticket is indeed non-refundable, request information from Emirates and Jetstar on their policies regarding name changes. If both airlines allow this, go back to ebookers and insist that they process the change accordingly. This would involve the issuing of an entirely new ticket.
3) If a name change is not an option either, you can once again plead with Ebookers to intercede with both Emirates and Jetstar on your behalf, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

Sorry I can't offer you better news, but hope this information helps a bit.

ELiz_Travels

Yikes, what a pickle you are in. Sorry I can't offer you any useful advice, but you sure have my sympathies. I did once discover a mistake made in an airline itinerary by a bricks and mortar travel agent which I had signed off on. Although legally I didn't have a leg to stand on, They agreed to cover the very hefty change fee in order to keep my business, so it is certainly worth a try to lean on ebookers to use some discretion in their policy Good luck.

doug_stallings

I think you really do have to ask for an exception. If this were the U.S., I'd ask you to appeal to Chris Elliott at Elliott.org, but I don't see that there's much for him to do here.

It is possible to make a note in the record of the name change, and that is usually sufficient, but it's difficult with multiple international connections. I'd prefer to have a new ticket reissued. It is possible to do this, and an airline can waive its rules in order to make it happen, though it rarely does.

Do come back and let us know the resolution.

tibulus

Thanks everyone soo much for their help.

Unfortunately ebookers are not being too much help, in fact they are rude on the phone. So not at all opmistic about getting an exemption off them.

One option is to change the flight info to my name (not the ticket). This would allow me to board the plane but may have difficulties with customs. Has anyone had experience with this?

Thanks again.