Can we get a refund if we switch our flight to Venice?

Q We have a flight booked on Sunday 24 July from London Gatwick to Venice. Since all the news stories at half-term with on-the-day cancellations, we have been checking – and it’s not good! The route appears to be frequently cancelled or badly delayed. We have counted three outright cancellations on the day (the latest Sunday included) plus a 10-hour delay. It appears that staffing, etc, is harder at weekends.

We are backpacking from Venice back to London and we just can’t risk the flight being cancelled. So we have decided to book another flight and now want to cancel the original. What are our rights if an airline is consistently unreliable – can we get a refund and rebook another airline?

Katy P

A I admire your devotion to seeing how your chosen flight is performing – but I hope I am in time to persuade you not to book another departure. That scenario is unlikely to end well. Monitoring flights for reliability is a commendable practice before you book. In the US punctuality statistics actually appear on the airlines’ websites. Looking at American Airlines’ first departure today from New York JFK to Los Angeles, for example, I learn that flight AA171 is on time (defined as arriving no more than 14 minutes late) nine flights out of 10.

But once you commit to a flight, past performance is inadmissable as grounds for cancelling your ticket for a refund. Instead, do a bit more research and prepare the ground just in case that infuriating text arrives as you are on the way to Gatwick or even in the departure lounge. Bear in mind your options will be far easier if you are carrying cabin baggage only, rather than having to retrieve your luggage.

See if the airline has any further departures from one of the London airports to Venice on that day, and be prepared to go online and switch your booking. In case the airline that cancels cannot help, ensure you know the options from nearby airports – for example, British Airways from Heathrow or Ryanair from Stansted.

The third layer of protection is a departure to a nearby airport, of which Verona and Bologna are the top choices: they have good rail connections to Venice. It is vanishingly unlikely that the airline will book a replacement flight on a rival carrier. But the Department for Transport and the Civil Aviation Authority have made it clear that you are entitled to travel on the same day, and claim the cost back from the airline. Having said all that, I believe you can be optimistic about your trip going ahead as planned.

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Q We have booked and paid for an expedition cruise to the Northwest Passage in August. In January 2022 we were told we would need to show we had been vaccinated against Covid-19 as a condition of joining the cruise. We have the required documentation to fulfil this requirement. Shortly after paying in full we were informed that we would only be allowed to board the ship after a negative Covid test at the port of embarkation, which will be in Reykjavik.

We are, of course, not looking forward at all to having to travel to Iceland with the very real possibility of being denied boarding and having to deal with the attendant hassle and strife this would entail.

Is this standard practice throughout the industry? What are our best options for mitigating the potential aggravation and disappointment?

RedBlueGreenPink

A Your concerns are entirely understandable. Since cruising restarted after its coronavirus closedown, thousands of prospective travellers have been turned away from the port when a last-minute test proved positive. I even know of one traveller who was denied boarding a ship at Southampton because the taxi driver who took her to the port (and was supplied by the cruise line) tested positive for Covid-19 just after dropping her off.

Caution about the spread of coronavirus on cruise ships is understandable. The Foreign Office warns: “The confined setting on board and combination of multiple households enables Covid-19 to spread faster than it is able to elsewhere.”

Accordingly, cruise lines use a wide range of measures to minimise the likelihood of passengers and crew bringing coronavirus on board a ship. Unlike other infections that spread within cruise vessels (in particular norovirus), Covid-19 is relatively quick and easy to test for. And goodness, they do. Inevitably, a small proportion of customers are barred from boarding.

I am concerned that it was only after you had paid in full for the cruise that you were told about the testing protocols and what happens if you test positive. For people who are turned away, usually, the cruise line will provide a “future cruise credit” to the value that you paid – though it won’t necessarily pick up the cost of your flights.

To minimise the chance that you test positive, consider some serious self-isolation in the days leading up to the cruise – though that is not especially compatible with going through airports and flying to Iceland.

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Q I watched the recording of the business select committee you attended and couldn’t believe how the airline representatives got away with their summaries of the refund experience over the past few months. With a minister denying facts on loss of EU workforce, and committee membership who seem to lack basic understanding of current issues, God help us all. Anyway, do you think the airlines will build up their schedules for July and August – or is what we have now, the best we can expect?

Franch

A As you mention I was the warm-up act for the business select committee on 14 June, when representatives of easyJet and British Airways had plenty to say. The BA witness said: “For a refund of your flight, that should be done within seven days. We aim to do the EU261 compensation [for delayed or cancelled flights] within 14 days.” The easyJet witness said: “The customers receive the email, which ... says, ‘You are entitled to rebook your flight. Here is a link to do that. You are entitled to a refund. Here are the three clicks it takes to get your refund. You are entitled to a voucher if you prefer. Here are your rights for additional compensation’.”

I am investigating that last line and seeking clarification on where exactly, on the cancellation email, it says: “Here are your rights for additional compensation.” Do let me know if you have ever seen an easyJet email saying that.

Anyway, this week ended with another slew of easyJet last-minute cancellations on Friday evening, most of them from Gatwick and mainly attributed to air-traffic control problems. Resilience still looks a huge problem. If anything the schedules will shrink still further to try to avoid short-notice groundings – and to ensure the vast majority of travellers get where they need to be.

Via the latest Ask Me Anything at independent.co.uk/travel

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