Originally Posted by
Cymro
Yes and no. BA's attitude was that they owed me a flight, but for the car hire, I'm on my own. (I don't agree with that, by the way). There is no hotel, as it happens. They really were very keen to refund me and couldn't understand why I wanted to be rebooked even though prices had gone up and the agent tried to say it was only fair that they'd charge me because I'd want a discount if prices had gone down. I did point out that I couldn't have that discount without paying the cancellation fee if they hadn't cancelled on me though!
Six months before travel, I have decent options and I'm only a few quid down and can hopefully put in a complaint to get that back. Had they only been willing to offer a refund in April, I'd be scrambling for whatever I could find and, even with an ironclad CEDR case, I'd be fronting a lot more than I am now.
I think you got a poor agent, because fairness isn't part of the rules. You have a confirmed flight reservation, and a contract for car hire, so personally I'd have hung up without cancelling or rebooking, which can be done any time,and there are advantages in having everything fully flexible now.
To the agent's point, cancelling and rebooking would get you a better price if there was a lower price, but UK261 requires rebooking at no additional cost.