NH Flight cancelled - what to do if OTA does not contact me? [www.travelstart.com]
 

Hi there,
maybe anyone can help me with this one. I made a booking with an OTA: four flights within one flight plan, all with ANA (two connection flights are code-shared). Now, I noticed one of the two connection flights has been cancelled. Lucky, the flights will take place in december, so plenty of time to get a replacement flight. That would be the case if I had booked directly at ANA. Called ANA hotline, had a nice chat with an offer for replacement, but they are not allowed to change the booking. They can only do this of the OTA requests this.
So that's the problem: OTAs have an reputation for nearly non-existing support. Of course I contacted them but what to do if they don't respond? As I said before, there's plenty of time to get a replacement flight but if the OTA does not respond and ANA won't change the booking, I'm running out of options (as the replacement flights have no longer available seats). So maybe one of you has an advice what to do? How much time should I give the OTA until I call ANA again by myself?
Thanks

You have to keep trying the OTA. ANA will not touch the reservation.
What you must live with when booking an OTA and not the airline directly.

So if the OTA won't contact me I have to stick with an invalid booking? As for now, when checking the booking at ANA homepage, I can't do anything, and there's not e-ticket either.
Does that mean if I don't get a replacement flight for that specific segment, I won't be able to fly the rest of the flight?

Don't wait around for the OTA. Allow a reasonable but short time for them to reply and then go back again. You have to keep after the OTA - follow up, try various contact methods, escalate within the OTA. Keep records and documentation of all your correspondence and contact attempts. All of that will be important if they never correct the tickets or refund your money and you have to pursue a dispute with your credit card in order to get a refund.

Which OTA is it?

It's travelstart. At first, the (now cancelled) flight was moved one hour (from 6pm to 5pm) and I also got an information e-mail from the OTA for that. But by now, I haven't been notified by travelstart about the cancellation which took place last week (that's when I found about that myself).

I would sit tight at wait for any action from the OTA or ANA. Ultimately, you show up at the airport for the original (but now cancelled) flight at let the airport staff (i.e. ANA) deal with it (it is the responsibility of ANA as ticketing carrier and on the day of departure ANA is in full control of ticket and may/will do any changes to the ticket that is necessary to get you to your destination). Anyway, it will not go this far. ANA will at some stage remind the OTA about the need for rebooking and if nothing happens ANA will most likely take over the reservation and do the rebooking. There is no need to push for this now; there is plenty of time until December and rest assured that at some stage this will be solved in one way or the other.

But if the ticket has been cancelled there is no ticket for ANA to control or make changes to.
Would definitely not wait to the day of travel.

Welcome to Flyertalk @Seyan.

Please follow the redirect as we send this thread to the online travel booking forum.

~beckoa, co-moderator Information Desk

But there is no indication that the ticket has been cancelled. A flight being rescheduled or being cancelled does not lead to the ticket getting cancelled (that would be very unfortunate in respect to the remaining segments (HK; confirmed) in the ticket). The ticket is still there but the check-in staff will see that the OP is no longer confirmed for the 1 of flights and will have to deal with it (or most likely ask the OP to go to the ticket counter) to get to OP to the ultimate destination. I agree that it is a last resort (and many will not be able to deal with the uncertainty and stress associated with being on an unconfirmed flight and knowing that you need to get rebooked at airport), but if the OTA refuses to clear up the mess, the OP will have to proceed like this.

Yes, that's right. The booking itself still exists, there's just one flight that has an "unknown" status (cancelled). But when I use the booking reference at ANA homepage, I can't do anything anymore... can't change seat reservation, can't add passport information, nothing. I even can't get the e-ticket.
Being at the airport at the original departure time is the last option but doing so would result in one day loss of holiday (as there's not chance to get any other flight to Japan even if ANA would try to do that). I'm not even sure if I would find someone to help me as the connection flight isn't operated by ANA (ANA only operates the flight DUS-NRT; the connection flight should have been operated by Eurowings). But if you suggest to relax (at least for the next few weeks), I will try to calm down for now. As I told in the opener, ANA offered me to call them again if the OTA does not respond in any way.
Finally, I would expect them to contact me about the cancelled flight by themselves. Or is it normal that the OTA doesn't care about that? Moving departure time is an easy thing, they can just send an automated mail. But the current situation demands personal action and it appears they hate that kind of work.

Thanks for that @beckoa

This is exactly what I suggest. Sooner or later someone will pick this up. If the OTA does not take action then either ANA og Eurowings will resolve it. It may take some time though before someone intervene and it may happen only closer to the departure date. A day or two before departure would not be unheard of. Airlines are reluctant to deal with rebookings this far out (in particular when an OTA is involved) as later schedule changes might occur leading to the initial rebooking having been made in vain. Wait it out and rest assured that you will get to Japan as scheduled. A Eurowings flight to DUS should be easy to rebook, even on very short notice.

Some OTA are very bad a customer service - but I think eventually someone from the OTA will contact you about being rebooked.

Ask ANA if you could pay them to take over the reservation. Should be around $25 or go on the OTA website managd bolking and change the flight there. Ths OTA has to accept or deny the new itinerary. Also the OTA is obligated to rebook you on a suitable itinerary meeting the ticket rewuirements.

From now on I am going to avoid Norwegian Air IcelandAir WOW Air etc as they have no interline agreements for IRROPS. There is no codesharing like Norwegian 4455 operated by Air Fdance. At least with Lufthansa I coild go via LAX SFO SJC SEA PDX DEN to gdt home to SFO and sometimes on Swiss or UA metal. For the most oart airlines wont endorse your ticket from UA to AA but can rebook yoh on an ANA codeshare like ANA 3344 operated by Lufthansa etc.

Before calling the OTA look at 3 itineraries or more that meet your needs perhaps leaving a day before or after works.

Hope this helps and please keep us posted.

Yes the booking still exists but a cancelled segment is waiting to be ammended. I am almost tempted to turn such a cancellation into an adventure if I have nowhere else to go. I wiuld show up at the airport and play dumb and ask the ticket agent to reroute me in a higher cabin class and send the add/collect MCT to OTA or negotiate a hotel,meal vouchers and claim IDB and EU 261 if apllicable.

If the OTA fails to call you on a cancelled flight then the customer has power to get the airline to get you home and perhaps drop the contract with thr OTA. BTW which OTA did the OP use?

I love playing dumb when travelling as when I know its in my favor skme of the best adventures have occured because of schedule changes. So maybe the OP would want to keep hush about it and just show up to the airport ticket counter and tell the agent their OTA did not inform them as at 24 hours the airline owns the ticket and can change it.

Happy to inform that the OTA has contacted me sooner than I thought. The only thing is that they offer me a "interesting" new route. Looks like they want to stick to the booked airport in Tokyo. They offer me a flight Nuremberg - Frankfurt, 4:15 waiting, next to Osaka, 5:30h waiting with airport change and finally to Narita.
Answered that ANA has informed me about an other route, also via Frankfurt but with only 2:35 waiting and next to Haneda. As ANA offered this option, should be no problem to get for the OTA. I don't mind arriving in Haneda.

Okay, it's getting really stange. Still waiting for the next response from travelstart (don't expect it until weekend). No problem at all...

But I'm someone who likes to sneak around. So I tried the original booking reference at Eurowings homepage (the airline operating the cancelled flight) and I expected to get an error message. But no no no... I get so see a valid booking for the flight from Nuremberg to Dusseldorf, but instead departing 12:20 (the original flight was 18:00 that was moved to 17:00 and is now cancelled). The strange thing is that when checking the booking I get to see a different booking reference. This booking reference is unknown to ANA system. So maybe there's no need for re-booking by the OTA because there's still a valid flight but ANA didn't get a notice from Eurowings?

I'm getting confused more and more...

OK - thank you for updating us. It seems that you have the option to ask the OTA to use the new EW flight already booked (presumably by EW) - or ask the OTA to rebook you on new flights to HND via FRA. It should be easy to reject the proposed itinerary via FRA and KIX as being too inconvenient compared to NUE-FRA-HND flights

Well, I have learned one lesson... never book again with an OTA. They are very slow. And when they respond, they are clearly not willing to help. After my hints to the other possible rebook options (to Haneda via Frankfurt), they just mail me "Hey, we offered you a rebook option, if you want us to check for other rebook options, pay this and that."
With ANA support, the issue would have been resolved in minutes, not in weeks...

You can also just get a refund and book a new ticket, if you dont like their alternative proposals.
The fare might have become cheaper anyway

I don't know why we have to elaborate so much about this topic.
The culprit is Eurowings.
They have cancelled the flight.
According to EC261/2004 it is now their obligation to reroute you to Japan.
Why don't you contact them?
btw: If Eurowings refuses you an acceptable reroute, you may book a new ticket and claim back this money from Eurowings.

Good luck with that! EW is not going to reimburse such expenses voluntarily, in particular if rerouting was offerred.

Sorry for the late response, but the topic has finally been resolved. We got the rebooking that was offered by ANA at the very beginning. But as I told you, lesson learned as travelstart said "Hey, we offered you a rerouting (the strange iteration via Frankfurt and Osaka), if you don't like it, pay a service fee and we will ask the airline if you're requested rerouting is available." As the service fee was only 20€, we swallowed the pill and now the booking is valid again with the acceptable iteration.

But fun fact, if I check the booking at Eurowings it still says there's a valid booking for 12/25 at 12:25. That booking system is really slow or stupid...

Critical to have pointed this out. The suggestion that one should merely claim something back is fine. Anybody may claim anything. But, whether it gets paid is another.

There is not one word in EC 261/2004 or precedential court decisions which supports the proposition that one may use self-help and be reimbursed.

There may be times when self-help makes sense, e.g., when the price has dropped or when a similar or better route may be obtained at minimal cost where the risk of not being reimbursed is not a big deal.

But, it makes me cringe to learn of people who pay vast some to purchase new tickets, fully expecting to be reimbursed and then being denied and left with an expense which they cannot afford.

Very well said.

The advice above to purchase new ticket and seek reimbursement from the carrier at fault is (to put it plainly) wrong, stupid and very risky - most likely the reimbursement will not be entertained. In the recently discussed matter with EW and a NUE-FRA-NRT itinerary there would be no basis for asking EW to reimburse when the OP this far out was offered a rerouting.