To think you should be able to transfer a holiday?

[FFOXGLOVE]

I’ve never had to try and do anything like this before …..
but basically my elderly parents booked a last minute trip away through an independent travel agent but then my dad came down with a chest infection and now they don’t want to go.

They wanted to transfer the holiday to me and my partner so it wasn’t wasted as they knew there was no way of getting money back.

the travel agent booked flights through Tui and accommodation through someone called JETSET.
I was expecting to pay charges to sort it out but not to be told it’s just not possible.
Tui will change the name on one flight only so we have to buy another ticket … okay fine.
but JETSET / the hotel are reusing to make any changes - I mean it affects them the least!

anyway we can’t take it up and I’m just gutted for my parents.

am I being unreasonable?

Wow, that sounds horrible. Leave them a review. That might change their minds. I would have expected it to be expensive to change the name on flights, but surely the hotel shouldn't care. I'm very sorry for your parents!

If your Father is too ill to travel, can they not claim on the insurance?

Unfortunately it’s often not possible on non-refundable hotel rates to make any changes, even names.

I work for a Tour Operator and we recently banned (like TUI) complete name changes on our flights as we had all kinds of trouble with people trying to sell on flights they didn’t need on Facebook, it caused GDPR difficulties, the new buyers had never read or accepted the booking / cancellation T&Cs and then objected to them, and we got all the flack.

In your case OP I’d suggest a cancellation and insurance claim.

I would contact the Hotel directly and explain the situation. However they may not help if your parents booked through a third party which I would imagine Jetset are.

It probably would be easier and less stressful for you all for your parents to claim on their travel Insurance.

Hi thanks for your replies, it’s interesting hearing the other side but in our case obviously we’re not selling things on but keeping it within the family and I was hoping a human could make an exception
…. but we tried contacting the hotel but could only via email and the receptionists were very unfriendly and wouldn’t give me the contacts for a manager - all very cut throat.

they will try and claim through the insurance but it’s a tricky one because yes my dad is unwell but whether a doctor will say he’s unfit to travel - it’s more he’s lost confidence because of his illness.

I really feel everyone is out to take advantage of older people - there is no compassion left in business.

To be fair I don't think that it is elderly people being taken advantage of. It is just the rules are being applied and exceptions are not made age. Both with flights and hotel bookings if you spend a bit more you have more flexibility. This is why it is better to book direct rather than via a third party. Hopefully his GP will be understanding or would you and your husband also consider going too if it would make him feel more confident.

Cheap last minute holidays barely have any margin. Some are loss leaders. The admin cost to change things would be extra cost which could well mean no profit or lost money.

With an expensive, flexible ticket they build that in.

Sorry!

If you could book changeable flights and hotels in advance cheaply, people would hoover them up to sell on for a profit so the charges are to discourage this.

Sometimes you can change the date so maybe they can postpone for when your DFs health improves?

The "admin" of deleting a name and typing a new one.....

More like just the usual big business BS.

So much made up shit in the world in order to make money!

I really feel everyone is out to take advantage of older people - there is no compassion left in business.

Bit dramatic, the same rules / restrictions apply to everyone, young and old.

No.

Sadly yes, agreed

Businesses get painted as being heartless sods over policies like this but a small percentage of the general public worked out years ago how to game the system to their (financial) advantage.

Exactly this. Holidays would become like buying popular concert tickets - sell out within minutes to touts who then resell at a big profit on Viaggo.

I think it's really wrong, but that seems to be how it is with holidays. Restaurants/taxis/hairdressers etc aren't allowed to overbook then refuse clients who booked-yet planes are overbooked because they say some people won't turn up-and they're allowed to kick them off, even though missing a flight is usually more inconvenient than missing those other things.
When I had to transfer flights-way in advance- I had hoped I might only have to pay an admin fee, or at least get a discount, or be allowed to transfer them to friends/family. But no. Doesn't help you, but at least you know it's a widespread thing.

I don’t think it’s anything to do with them being old!

Cant dad be persuaded to go?

I can definitely see there would be an issue with some people buying cheap and then reselling for £££. But this is much more likely for flights than for a hotel, I’d have thought.

It's more complicated than this. Last minute, inflexible holidays are damage mitigation. People aren't actually paying the 'true cost' of the holiday. They are offsetting blocks of hotel rooms and empty seats on planes that would exist whether they were using them or not. It prevents as much loss to the airline or hotel, but doesn't create profit (usually). This means the airlines and hotels CAN make profit, but that profit is paid for by the people paying the 'full price' earlier in the process. See also; why holidays are more expensive in school holidays.

Ultimately, if you want flexibility, you pay for it.

@Pistachiocake

Restaurants/taxis/hairdressers etc aren't allowed to overbook then refuse clients who booked-yet planes are overbooked because they say some people won't turn up-and they're allowed to kick them off,

That's exactly why EU261 was introduced...( 261 wasn't originally intended to have much if anything to do with comping for delays)

In any event it's not really the same as the potential touting of tickets that would go on if free name changing was allowed.

It’s got nothing to do with age. You can’t have people changing holidays at the last minute just because they don’t want to go, it’s not that simple. If your dad is ill and unable to travel he needs to claim on his travel insurance.

If it’s not close to the departure date then changes are usually possible for a charge, but at last minute you can’t just choose not to go and expect to sell it to someone else or get a refund.

Agree on seeing if you can change the dates, travel agents are often much more open to postponing the holiday or moving the whole booking than changing names.

I can’t remember exactly who I booked with (it might even have been Tui) but I once swapped a week in Corfu for a holiday to Prague with a travel agent and it barely cost anything - it was fairly simple.

I think you should be able to transfer anything - flights, hotel stays, tickets for events, the London marathon etc.

It makes no difference to the venue/airline/event host who uses the tickets save in very specific circumstances (eg you don't want to transfer football match tickets to a known hooligan).

They could charge a small admin fee but I see no reason why you should get paid twice for the same thing - or someone misses out on an event etc which they could have attended.

I know there are concerns about secondary ticketing but it's really not that hard to fix those.

Quite. Even if they charged £20 to do it, it would be too much, but would be a reasonable compromise.

Travel insurers must pay out millions every year in completely ludicrous charges that could have easily been avoided by allowing a name change or moving the dates.

I came down with an infection a week before a holiday. I was anxious about travelling abroad because I have multiple health conditions and felt really unwell. The GP agreed to complete travel insurance forms and I got all the money back bar excess.

You can't change dates at short notice as they charge the full cost of the holiday as a cancellation fee.

It's makes no difference to the venue/airline/event host who uses the tickets

Problem from an airline POV is who pockets the profit on last minute sales.

Typical airline releases tickets for a whole flight maynr a year/18 months ahead and incentivises especially early purchase by typically offering them at low cost (airline then sticks money in bank to earn interest). Price of anything not sold generally ramps up, potential profit for airline increases.

If name changing was allowed the tout(s) would buy up all the seats at the low price on day one...then trickle them onto the market via Facebook or whatever - and it's the touts that then clean up financially by raising prices for the last minute bookers.

There may well be clever ways of avoiding that but it's maybe easier for the airlines to either not allow name changes or charge much more from the outset for a fully fully flexible ticket.

You will be able to claim on insurance for this - I’d be surprised if you can’t. How old is your dad?