Horrible money choice - do we accept we've just lost £1.5k or do we have options - WWYD?

[bintofbohemia]

Horrible situation. We sold our house last year and are living in rented accomodation until DH gets a permanent job and we can move away from where we are.We have a bit of money in the bank as a deposit for when we can buy again.

We've not had a holiday since before we had children four years ago and in a fit of fed upness and despair we decided to sell my car and booked flights to go on holiday in the summer with the proceeds.

Problem is, we must have been insane at the time, it will cost more than the money I would get from the sale and DH's contract is coming to an end so we'll have a month or so of him not earning. We weren't told at the time of booking that the tickets were non refundable and we can't do anything about it. We also can't claim on the insurance because he hadn't been at his job long enough to qualify.

We have 3 choices:

1. Cancel and lose the money entirely (but complain as the t&cs were not read to us at the time. Odds are this will be a total waste of time though as we've got nowhere so far.)

1. Go and spend half of the deposit we have saved for a house

1. Go and put it on a credit card, have the experience and assume things will be better financially when I can get a job and we'll deal with it then.

I know 1 is the sensible option, but it's a sickener. I can't believe we've got ourselves into this, how fricking stupid. If we don't go we've wasted money that would have paid for a family holiday in Europe for two weeks, and as it stands we're going to get no holiday and feel really stupid and sick about it into the bargain.

WWYD?

You weren't told at the time the tickets weren't refundable??

Well I wouldn't expect them to be

How much more would actually going on the holiday cost you? What would be the total cost?

I would advise 1. DO NOT do 2. I would do 3.

could you ebay the tickets? (probably not, but worth a thought, and you might get something for them)

How much was the holiday going to be? 1/2 the deposit?

Should add we're very far from minted, we have a bit of money for a deposit (not a lot, we'll still struggle to get a decent house with it) and we live hand to mouth most of the time. I think we must have just got fed up and thought we could afford a holiday, we really thought we could but with DH not having work guaranteed we can't. £1500 is such a lot to us, especially when we don't get anything for it at all!

Sorry, I know its grim, but in today's financial climate it has to be option one.

But the ts and cs wouldn't have been read to you anyway. It's up to you to read them rather than have them read to you iyswim.

If you booked online you always have to tick a box saying that you have read the ts and cs. If you booked in person then the chances are the back of the tickets said non refundable.

I'm sorry but I don't think you'd have much chance against a big travel company/airline.

Can you look for some cheap accommodation? Or go camping? Or try to change the tickets to just one week rather than two?

Are you able to purchase holiday insurance now, or are you covered via your bank account?

If you were then 'ill' at the time of your holiday and able to get a doctor's note, you may be covered for a refund?

Not exactly honest I know, but the thought of losing £1500

I think I would rather use the savings and wait a bit longer for a house than throw away £1500.

You get nothing for your money, or you get something for your money but push back the house hunting.

We were looking at going for just under 4 weeks and the accomodation (even staying in the cheapest kind you can get) will be over a grand. That's without food, travel, etc etc. I reckon we're probably lookign at £3k on top of the flights.

I used to be a travel agent and if customers were booking a flight that was non - refundable/date changeable you had to make them aware of that at the time of booking. Lots of tickets are flexible. Not these.

Lynette - that's how I'm feeling; DH says we shoudl just write it off but I think I could live with having to pay off a credit card easier than I could live with cancelling seats which the airline will blatantly sell again and we get nothing. THey get paid twice, we get nothing, it's rubbsih.

SOrry to be dense. Is £1500 what you have already paid and therefor no further expense would be required? If so you may as well take the holiday.
But if not - how much on top remains to be paid?

x-post

So £4.5k altogether.

I think you may need to go for option a.

We booked the tickets over the phone with our bank (who also provide our travel insurance.) We got the T&Cs a week after booking when they finally got the details and price right. I thought of the "ill" scenario, but you'd need to be properly ill with doctors notes and everything I assume.

Bloody bloody buggering arse. I could kick myself.

if you do cancel, remember that the taxes on your flight are refundable .... not everything i know, but you can ask for that part to be refunded ....

where are you going to ... perhaps there is some advice on cheaper options for the accomodation? always worth a shot ... camping?

How long between actually getting the T&Cs and wanting to cancel?

Might be worth having a go at your bank then. Tell them that the ts and cs weren't made clear at the time. Surely they record all conversations and could check?

Yeah, it's flights and then we were going to sort ourselves out when we get there. Need living expenses for a month, and we'll be paying rent here for the month we're away so that's another £700.

For God's sake don't spend any more money you can't afford.

But DO look at your options before you write this off.

Who did you book with?

It might be worth talking to the company and stressing your change of circs.

At the least they might be able to postpone the booking (so that you could perhaps use the tickets later if money permits), let you transfer the dates or destination so it costs you less (if you went for a week for eg) or let you transfer the names so you can sell the flights privately.

Don't just write this off - you may be able to save at least some of your money.

The T&Cs came about a week after we booked - probably about a month ago.

The bank say that they would have made us aware, but they don't have the recording of the call. They won't do anything, and even ABTA say we're screwed. All I can think is we just write a letter explaining the situation and throw ourselves on their mercy. I dounbt they have much, having just lost over £1 billion in the last week.

Try Consumer Direct? You can ring them.

If you have a sympathetic GP it is really not that difficult to get a doctor's note.

My friend had to do this a couple of years ago, but for different reasons - she did not want to go on the holiday that she had booked with a boyfriend as he was then her ex.

She went to the doctors with vertigo 'symptoms'. Did her research, went to the GP with her symptom list, paid £10 for her doctor's note and sent to insurance company.

Really not something that I could go through with, but then I am a truely terrible liar, but if all else fails, maybe worth considering?

So they can't prove that they made you aware?

Write to them and ask them to refund you - ts and cs not properly incorporated into the contract etc. Tell them you wouldn't have booked if it had been non refundable and see if they offer you something. Worth a try...?

What's your current credit rating like? Might you be able to get a 0% interest credit card & put it all on there to buy you 12 months breathing space?

When did you receive the T&Cs? (As in how long ago?)

I think you shouldn't rely too much on the T&Cs if you've had them for ages and ages - there's often a "reasonable" window of time for examining these things and it may have expired.

Honestly are you SURE they won't transfer the flights?

Even really budget airlines do this - Easyjet for eg won't cancel a flight but WILL let you rebook for different dates, they just apply a small admin charge. What's to stop you rebooking for a week somewhere cheaper? The only reason this is costing so much is the fact that you're going for a month. Why not change the return flight to a week later?