DanATC

I have two ex-SNN flights to BKK booked for next week, these are discount economy tickets booked through a travel agent. My partner is no longer able to travel but I will still be going. A few quick questions:

• I understand the tickets are non-refundable but is there any reason/benefit to cancel the second ticket beforehand, or should I just let them know at check-in? Any refund of taxes etc?
• How likely is it that I can keep the second seat I've booked for myself? I'm a Silver so have already selected seats, having an empty seat next to me would make Economy a little more comfortable for a 12 hour flight.
• If a POUG appeared once check-in opens, would I be able to upgrade just my ticket? Or in that case would I need to cancel the second ticket first?

Thanks in advance,
Dan

stewaran

you should be bale to get back the taxes.
when that person does not check in, the seat could well be allocated to another pax. especially as they may be offloaded when they do not checkin at SNN, it would give LHR chance to put someone there if they need to.
you should be able to POUG just 1 ticket.

UKtravelbear

you would get the taxes and airport fees (less admin charge) back

what second seat? once your partners ticket is cancelled the seat reverts to BA. If you didn't cancel when they fail to check in or board it still reverts back to BA.

best to cancel your partners ticket

corporate-wage-slave

Welcome to Flyertalk and welcome to the BA Forum in particular DanATC, it's good to see you here, though I'm sorry to see your plans go awry.

In theory you need do nothing at all, just check in as normal. Being from a TA then cancelling gets all the more tricky but on paper you should get the taxes back. Typically some sort of admin fee gets in the way. It is worth double checking the fare rules to be absolutely sure that there are no cancellations, no amendments, since in some cases you can change a flight to a later date (for example). This can only be handled via the TA, and it's always worth bearing in mind, when booking with online travel agents, that making changes, even if allowed under the fare rules, can become very difficult. There's not much you can do in Shannon anyway, Aer Lingus and BA use different systems and Aer Lingus only see a part copy of the main booking.

You're unlikely to get an empty seat next to you, standby passengers get filled through after check-in is completed. You won't get a per person POUG either (but you can get an AUP), unless you get the TA to split the ticket: POUGs are usually offfered to everyone on the same booking. If you then split the ticket you aren't likely to get a POUG anyway (and TA bookings are less likely to get one except at T-24).

DanATC

Thanks all. If I wait until check-in opens, can I cancel with BA rather than going to the (Dutch) travel agent? Or is that too late to get back taxes anyway?

corporate-wage-slave

To get money back you need to go via the travel agent, all financial transactions will route via them, and if you are going to do that, the sooner the better. However I would indeed check the cancellation / amendment conditions very carefully first. To get the ticket split, I think you can do that at T-24 hours via a BA contact centre (and the TA before T-24). Before that time, BA can put a note on the booking, but I can't see what good that will do.

esspeebee

It may also be worth asking why your partner isn't able to travel - if there are medical reasons at play and you can get a doctor's letter saying they're not fit to fly, or some other types of family emergency, then there might be exceptions to the non-refundable and non-changeable aspects of even a deeply discounted ticket. If it's not just a case of plans changing, I'd think about phoning up to ask whether anything can be done.

DanATC

Just a good old-fashioned screw-up in planning unfortunately (although better that than a medical reason etc). I'll see how I get on with the Dutch TA website using Chrome translate!

Thanks for all the advice offered.

Guy Betsy

Cancel the ticket before check in begins. Once the ticket goes into check in mode, it makes it a lot harder to cancel and refund.