LondonElite

warakorn

Isn't that route operated by the vintage Boeing 767-300ER? No wonder it is falling apart and having technical issues.

Globetrottngal

It is common practice for cruise lines providing air to only do so to arrive same day as sailing. So client has to choose between a often very good airfare purchased through the cruise line, or buying their own air at a usually higher cost, but being able to arrive at port city 1-2 days prior to embarkation day. Clients usually do not have a choice of routing, carrier, or schedule. Or if they do have a choice (including what day they arrive) the cruise line charges a deviation fee.

plummie d

We're continuing on to see what compensation we'll receive.
First mistake - bit on a Travel Zoo Top 20 for a transatlantic voyage on the QM2. Date worked for my husband's 80th B-day, and we had last crossed westbound to NY on the brand new QE2 50 years ago. Prestige Tours (out of Las Vegas, not British) arranged the booking including air and ground transportation. No way we could have continued to LHR and gotten onto the ship - no ports between Southampton and NY on the voyage and no alternative trans Atlantic available. Prestige currently denying any liability.
We do have insurance with Travel Guard. Will be contacting them today.
Thanks for all the advice and sympathy!

FlyerTalker70

Book it yourself itineraries versus packaged holidays booked with a qualified travel agent should be treated differently. In the former, it is the traveller who is responsible for everything when things go sideways. Sure, they may be able to collect some compensation from the airlines but at the end of the day by them arranging travel for themselves they've assumed all risks. For the latter, all you're responsible is showing up at the designated embarkation times. Anything that screws up operationally is entirely on the travel agent to sort out. Flight got delayed and you'll be landing in the UK later? The travel agent should coordinate with the cruise ship company to accommodate you and/or find alternative arrangements. Generally, travel agents carry insurance and/or have arrangements with the travel vendors to refund the costs when part of the travel in question goes sideways and throws the books out the window.

TravelGuard is pretty good. A friend of mine purchased travel insurance with them and his iPhone got stolen. After filling out the paper work and waiting a couple of weeks he got a cheque to replace his phone. The best advice I can offer you here is keep and/or get as much documentation as possible. If you can prove that the outbound got delayed to the point where you would have travel in vein it would be hard for them to squirrel out of it. I'd also encourage you to read the fine print of your travel insurance. Sometimes they'll try to use terms to slither out of liability.

Safe Travels,

James

exwannabe

Just to be clear, UA contractually owes the full price paid, including fees. And the full cost of the return ticket home.

Hipplewm

But not to the OP and certainly not part of his "Compensation"

LondonElite

The full price of what?

bocastephen

I disagree - when I book air for clients with our higher end cruise lines I am given a choice of flight options - in fact, in many cabin categories one receives a complimentary pre-departure hotel night at the departure port so they can arrive the day before, or the air can be structured to arrive the day before and the client can pay for a hotel night.

FlyerTalker70

UA doesn't owe him anything - this sense of entitlement is appalling . Joking aside, in the event of flight in vain, which I suspect this would best be classified per UA's terms they are required to at the very least bring them back to where they started and refunded them the cost of their airfare in its entirety. That is all that is "owed". From an accounting standpoint the money would likely go back to the travel agent who would then use it as part of "their refund". That said, if you're claiming travel insurance, you would have to declare whether you received said monies from UA otherwise you would be committing insurance fraud which I hear is a somewhat serious offence in the 'States. I suspect whatever rate the travel agent got from UA would be less than what OP would have paid had he gone to Expedia or name your favourite hole in the wall booker.

It is good to see a travel agent's prospective on this issue. I suspect the degree of freedom and customizability really depends on the operator here. Some are packaged holidays in the truest sense of the word, they tell you what flight you're taking, what tour you'll be on, what hotels you're staying at, etc. Others are more flexible in this respect allowing you to choose some or perhaps all of these items... then there are people like me who in a former life was a travel manager at a company and would feel uncomfortable having anyone book travel for them.

exwannabe

Sorry, I missed that OP had a ticket booked as part of travel package.

The point I was making is that (had this been a direct UA ticket), OP was contactually owed a refund of the flight and return home by UA. I would think it is likely that somebody owes the same with the packaged ticket, but do not know who or how much.

Xyzzy

I suspect that the TA here is going to claim that the P abandoned the trip by getting off the plane and therefore no compensation is due. To some extent, I think that's a valid point if they were not called on to assist here.

COSPILOT

Only question I would have is how much time should someone hang out at the airport waiting for a return phone call? OP gave away the age of both, that also adds to the equation. The desire to travel via what was booked is a pretty specific cruise, not some random thing out of Florida to hit multiple locations in the Caribbean.

I'm hoping the OP has an easy time getting a refund. If not, I'll add this to my never book with list.

FlyerTalker70

It takes a certain type of crazy to follow through with travel plans even when the chances are high you'll have an mis-connect, trip in vain. I recall travelling to YSJ in March on AC from YXU (connecting in YUL). The flight had a rolling delay and the gate agent said, "Are you sure you want to continue with this flight since you'll likely miss your connection in YUL or we could book you on the next flight tomorrow?" I told her, "Let's go for it! If I mis-connect at YUL, it'll be AC that pays for my hotel and meal vouchers in YUL. If I stay here, I have to cover my own hotel or travel back to my home 60 miles away!" As expected, I mis-connected at YUL and AC ended up footing the bill for the hotel, meals, etc. I suspect most people would've not rolled the dice as I did and hoped that the airline would've had them covered.

If there is someone to blame it would be the Travel Agents. It should've been their responsibility to monitor these flights like a hawk and reach out to OP when things went sideways either to reassure them that everything will be fine or make alternative arrangements. Heck, even some airlines will do this for this customers. My parents were flying YZR to BCN last year (via YYZ) and their flight out of YZR was cancelled literally 4 hours before departure. AC calls them up and asks them which other airport they want to fly out of to make the connection. They ended up taking off from another airport about same distance away and made their connection no problem.

Given the circumstances of OP, I can certainly understand why they have made that decision in the heat of the moment. They've had a full day of flying, now their travel plans are all thrown out the window it's getting late at night and the airline gives them the option of returning them home or leaving them in no man's land: they could be stranded at ORD overnight or could end up being stranded at LHR. Oh joy! Here's to hoping the travel insurance comes through.

Steve M

Regarding booking the air travel through the cruise line, it's my understanding that when you do this, it comes with what might be called a limited form of travel insurance: the cruise line assumes the risk of you missing the boat due to a flight irregularity, and if that happens, will pay to get you to the next port of call and cover your hotel expenses. It's my understanding that this is true even if you don't otherwise purchase travel insurance from the cruise line or elsewhere. In fact, that's one of the big reasons they tout as to why you should book the air travel through them. I would imagine that this also means they are proactively monitoring flight status and try to make alternate arrangements where possible, as it would be much cheaper for them to deal with it if they can still get you to the boat on time. What happens in a case like the OP's, where there is no "next port" other than the final destination and no alternate flight to get there in time, I don't know. Perhaps they refund the entire thing?

I suppose that a travel agent can put together their own "package deal" that involves booking airfare with the cruise fare, but where the cruise line is not involved with the air portion. In that case, you'd have no protection beyond what the travel agency provided (which is probably nothing) or what travel insurance covered. One would hope that any travel insurance that the travel agent sold for the cruise (and they most certainly will try to do so) would cover such a situation, but you don't know unless you read the policy. Travel agents often sell cruise policies that are "much cheaper" than the ones offered by the cruise line, but that may come at the cost of reduced coverage.