This is good info to know. I had exactly such a situation of a very minor schedule change and was able to cancel the ticket (even though it was bought through third party OTA) for full refund. I thought it was a mistake on TK's part to offer the refund but it worked out great because I was able to book better flights.
I will also say that pretty much every TK flight I have ever booked has schedule changes, usually several, right up to a week or two before departure. It is pretty frustrating but knowing this 15 minute rule makes it slightly more tolerable.
I even had one case where they changed the departure time of a flight I was on by 10 minutes-- from 11:55 p.m. to 12:05 a.m.- but their system kept me on the same date. In other words instead of 10 minutes later I was moved to 23 hours 50 minutes earlier and it was a bit of a nightmare to try to get them to change it (since the system still was telling them it is a 10 minute change and they were too stupid or inflexible to override it).
Definitely love/hate relationship with TK
Originally Posted by
SK AAR
Let me add. Next time you have a schedule change of more than 15 min with TK, don't accept it right away! Let it be because until you accept it you have the flexibility to rebook or even cancel the ticket for free as this is considered invol. rebooking or cancellation due to sch.change. The moment you accept the retimed flight you loose this flexibility (and any cancellation or rebooking will have to be made according to ticket rules, i.e. is going to cost you). You may even change destination or origin within the same zone when you have a invol. schedule change like this.
The TK rebooking rules when you have a cancellation or invol. schedule change are very generous so no need to accept a retimed flight quickly.