Holiday flight conundrum

[YorkshirePuddingsGreatestFan]

More of a what would you do than an AIBU!

I'm going on a DIY holiday later this month to a European country. The airline announced many cancellations in June and said they will cancel more in July. I've been stalking the flight route. It's been cancelled about 80% of the time in June, including all the Saturdays, often at short notice. I've checked it again this morning and it was cancelled at short notice again.

It's not refundable and the airline can't confirm if the flight will actually go ahead or not. I've looked at the online seat planner and it looks about a third full, so my gut instincts are that it will be cancelled. If they cancel it on the Saturday morning, I wouldn't have time to find alternative travel and would lose the holiday. The hotel and other parts are non-refundable, as is the return flight with a different airline.

I've now found another flight with a more reliable airline that goes 90 mins earlier than the current flight but lands in a different city. It's about 2.5 hours journey with buses and trains at the other end to get to the city where I've got a hotel booked but at least I would get there! This would cost £182 for both of us for the flight plus the public transport costs at the other end which don't need to be booked in advance.

If the first flight goes ahead, we'd take that as it's more convenient and I'd lose the money from the replacement flight.

However, if they cancel the original flight, I can still go on holiday on the replacement one and I would get a full refund from the original flight.

Would you book the second flight for peace of mind?

I'm just stressing about it. First world problems I know 😊

If I really wanted to go, and it sounds as though you do, I would book the replacement flight (as long as it’s not liable to be cancelled too).

If you can afford the second flight then I'd book it. It sounds like you've done your research!

Yes. I think £182 is a relatively low price to pay for peace of mind. You can sleep at night knowing you've got it covered.

Good research OP!

Yes, in those circumstances with a history of last minute cancellations, I'd have an alternative flight booked.

Yes I would.

Definitely, I paid that much for travel insurance that has not paid me back for a missed holiday. So if you think of it like an insurance, at least then you can look forward to you trip.

I would - only thing is, if the replacement flight leaves earlier (which I assume it does as you said it lands 90 mins earlier), would you have enough notice to check in on time etc if the other flight was cancelled at the last minute?

How last minute are they cancelling the flights? If they cancel it whilst you are at the airport then it’s up to them to get you on an alternative flight. If it’s a day or so before can’t you just book the alternative flight as soon as you find out? I know exactly how stressful this kind of thing is. We were going on holiday with Tui at the end of June, which they cancelled at the end of May. We are rebooked to go on Tuesday but am still worried even though all cancellations for this time should have been notified by now. If you are flying with Tui they have generally been cancelling with at least 14 days notice for July holidays as they have to pay compensation for anything less.

They're cancelling them early morning on the day of the flight.

I did a dummy run today when I noticed it was cancelled first thing but couldn't book anything else to that country today, including flights from several airports in the UK and going to London by train and taking the Eurostar.

@mum11970

If they cancel it whilst you are at the airport then it’s up to them to get you on an alternative flight.

Technically yes but in reality unfortunately that has not always been happening.

In any event if the flight is cancelled the operator has a bit of flexibility when it comes to alternative flights (if there actually are any suitable) and they don't have to get you to the destination on the original day as planned, "it's a best efforts to do so" thing

Given there's a holiday booking involved I can see why the OP is considering a back up plan.

@YorkshirePuddingsGreatestFan

It's been cancelled about 80% of the time in June, including all the Saturdays, often at short notice. I've checked it again this morning and it was cancelled at short notice again.

Is the flight an early'ish morning one and does the company have flight(s) later in the day to the same destination that are continuing to operate as per schedule?

If the answer to both is yes I'd just wondering if they are routinely cancelling the early flight and consolidating it with a later one (merging early with the late so everybody does still travel on the day)...

@notimagain

No they only do one flight per day. The next flight would be the Sunday evening.

It's a multi city break we're doing. We travel Saturday, have sightseeing planned for Sunday and Monday and then have a four hour train journey to the second location on the Tuesday.

Travelling on a later date would really mess that plan up!

@YorkshirePuddingsGreatestFan

Ah, Ok it was just a thought ... hope it all works out for you.