what would you do in this case?
 

My travel Agent booked me on a wrong flight! It is a flight Heathrow London to Cape Town. I needed to arrive in Cape Town on 23 October 2007 but they inadvertantly booked the flight for the following day. They have admitted this?
Although thy have offered to pay for a hotel for the night, I demanded to be placed on the correct flight. They claim there are no seats on any flights on that day or before. I know there are but a bit more expensive. What are ones rights in a case like this?

Presumably, it depends on your local laws of contract.

In practice, you might get a result if you point out the consequences of bad publicity for their incompetence. Or if you take your business elsewhere.

I suggest posting on FlyerTalk - probably in the TravelBuzz forum. Good luck resolving this.

Have you tried calling the airline to see what the cost would be to change your ticket if space is indeed available.

Then present your findings to your travel agent and see if they will cooperate.

hi, Vannah,

did your agent know that the date was a vital part of the deal?

if you had been told the price of the ticket for the correct day, would you have paid it at the time?

If the cost for the correct date is more now than it would have been at the time, i suggest that you offer to pay what you would have paid if they'd done it correctly. they should cover the rest and any alteration costs. they may object to that if you can't show that they knew that you needed to arrive on that date.

Alternatvely, you could see if can fly via Schipol on KLM. they have daily flights to CPT.

regards, ann

Bad travel agent...bad!

Can you change the reason WHY you HAVE to be in Cape Town on the 23rd? If its for business...well, "stuff" happens. Like bad weather may have cancelled your flight or some such...?
I hope its not for a wedding or something that important!

Do "rights" matter?

Assuming they've booked a non-cancellable good fare, the commission they're making on the deal is a gazillionth of the cost to them of rectifying things. And it's highly unlikely they've got the clout to negotiate a concession from Virgin, BA or SAA (who won't yield on this, because if they did it'd be open season for everyone buying a "non-cancellable" fare then wanting to change their mind)

So they're not going to be prepared to lose a small fortune on this - unless you do a lot more full-fare travelling than most of us on this board.

Which gives you a simple choice:

1. Just don't pay. Buy a ticket for the "right" day yourself, then wait for them to sue you. That means you won't be able to do business with them again: only you know whether that matters to you or not. Alternatively:
2. If you've paid, take the hotel offer.

Given the slender margins agents work on, I doubt your business is that important the agent will lose a substantial amount to keep it. And that matters a great deal more than "rights".

Hi V,

If they booked you for the following day, why are they offering a night in a hotel?

If the "a bit more expensive" flight is costs about the same as paying for a hotel, they should put you on the flight.

Have you checked with other TAs to see if you can get a ticket on the correct flight?

>What are ones rights in a case like this?

Call a solicitor.

((I))