lauramsgarden

We have two family weddings this summer one day apart, in different parts of the country. It is theoretically possible to attend both, but we are trying to decide if it is logistically worth the stress. If we book the flight, and it were delayed we would miss the second wedding in which case there would be no point in going. If that happens, do airlines have to refund you the ticket - or allow you to switch destinations...or would we be stuck with a trip to a city we would have no reason to visit?

abram

In my experience, the airline's response depends, in part, on the cause of the delay.
If it is weather related, you're out of luck.
If it is their fault (mechanical failure), they have more obligation to you.

DonTopaz

Yes and no.

If you're on a one-way ticket or the outbound portion of a round-trip ticket, and if the flight is delayed before you leave, then you can indeed declare that the trip would be "in vain" and cancel the ticket for a refund. But you can't do this if you've used any portion of the ticket.

In your case, it seems that you'd want to fly first to city A, then to city B, and then fly home. The only way that this rule would be of use is if all of the flights are on a single ticket (itinerary), and the flight to city A is delayed before you actually leave.

eliztravels2

DonTopaz, what if flight to city A was one way, and the flights to city B and then home were on a single ticket or two one ways. Would that work as you describe if flight to city B was delayed before departure?

DonTopaz

Yes -- as long as you haven't used any part of a ticket and the 1st flight on that ticket is delayed by some substantial amount (more than an hour, for example), you can declare that the trip would be in vain and you can get the ticket refunded. As far as the airline is concerned, your origination point for that ticket is city A.

You would of course need to make the cancellation after the delay is announced and before the delayed flight actually departs. (If the ticket is purchased through a 3rd party, I imagine that this would be a major pain.)

gail

In my experience, delay is different than cancelled. Cancelled with no reasonable alternative provided - like cancelled for Friday and rebooked you on Monday - they give you your money back.

Delayed is a bit more complicated. A delay of a few hours might mess up your plans, but I don't think the airline is going to compensate you in any way. This is why I would not make the trip if the schedule of the weddings and flights does not have any wiggle room for flight delays.

And if you attend wedding in City A and there is an issue with flight to City B, I think you are stuck.

Dukey1

"if the flight is delayed" by WHAT, exactly? And by how much, exactly?

If I were YOU I would definitely build in some wiggle room rather than relying on these airline "rules" as interpreted by others.

Why are you even considering taking some chance on getting there in time? Is your schedule THAT tight??????

Jeff_Costa_Rica

As the OP states, the weddings are one day apart. I take that to mean the second wedding is the next day. There isn't a lot of wiggle room to build in here. There really isn't any.

DonTopaz

> airline "rules"

I'm not making this up. While each airline has its own policy about canceling a ticket when a flight is delayed, every airline has one, though most are unpublished. Google "trip in vain" to learn more.

That said, the likelihood of it being useful for the OP is indeed extremely low.

rkkwan

If I understand correctly, OP lives in City A, wants to attend X's wedding in City B, and the attend Y's wedding in City C next day, then go home to City A. But worries about a multi-hour delay on Trip 2 between B and C that would make him/her miss Y's wedding in City C.

Here are the scenarios:
1. Buy all three trips separately. Trip 2 can be declared trip-in-vain and got refunded, but how's he/she going to get home from City B?
2. Buy all three trips on same ticket. Cannot declare trip-in-vain, but the airline will get him/her home from City B, possibly more directly without having to go through City C. But no refund and unlikely any significant compensation.
3. Buy Trip 1 and 3 as open jaw. Like scenario 1, Trip 2 can be in-vain, but how's the OP going home from City B? Still need to get to City C to catch the B-C flight home.
4. Buy Trip 1 and 2 as open jaw. No refund and cannot get home. Worse scenario.
5. Buy Trip 2 and 3 as open jaw. Both trips will be declared in-vain, but need to buy new ticket home from City B.

Of course, this is generalisation. Different if some of the cities are close together and train/can can be an alternative and so on...

lauramsgarden

Thanks everyone, so helpful, I think the answer is that planning on trying to make wedding #2 will be an iffy proposition. I appreciate all the good advice

laurastewart

Hi lauramsgarden, If you have booked another flight ticket and your first flight is delayed and in case you are not able to attend your second flight then it's completely depend on airlines ticket cancellation policy that whether you will get refund for your tickets or not.

If your first flight is delayed for more than 3 hours then under EU Regulation you can claim compensation up to 600€ for flight delay but this is possible when your flight delay was not due to any exceptional circumstances. To know more about air passengers rights you can check this link: https://goo.gl/C9KTrs

lauramsgarden

Thanks all - the weddings are done, all was lovely, thank you for the advice