Booked air tickets out of TH, cancelled hours later

[scorecard]

2 hours ago, Dellamorte said:

I've already tried with my credit card company. They are on the case, but they told me that a chargeback would probably take around 15 days.

 

According to Google Flights the flights existed, also on Austrian's website, but at the Austrian website it said that the tickets could only be booked via phone. I thought that was some technical issue, so that's why I used Gotogate. Never again.

In the current situation 15 days might in reality be good, if it works, realizing of course that there's a good chance this screws your cash flow situation. Good luck.

[edwardandtubs]

14 minutes ago, steven100 said:

I have said a dozen times ... If you buy an air ticket at this time you risk losing your initial costs.

Chances are the flight will be cancelled and trying to get any refund is a nightmare. 

 

Some flights do eventuate but not all. It's a risk to buy any ticket at this time. imo

 

 

This is just scaremongering. If you book an Eva Air ticket from Bangkok to London, for example, the risk of cancellation is no greater than normal. If you use your common sense you can minimise the risk.

[steven100]

4 minutes ago, edwardandtubs said:

This is just scaremongering. If you book an Eva Air ticket from Bangkok to London, for example, the risk of cancellation is no greater than normal. If you use your common sense you can minimise the risk.

tell that to the OP then ....  lol

[edwardandtubs]

1 minute ago, steven100 said:

tell that to the OP then ....  lol

Read the thread. It's obvious what mistakes he made and how he could have avoided them.

[steven100]

1 minute ago, edwardandtubs said:

Read the thread. It's obvious what mistakes he made and how he could have avoided them.

It can be a bit of hit and miss in buying a ticket as this is uncharted waters for the airlines. Sometimes you can get the ticket and fly, and other times problems. Certainly don't buy through a third party, go direct to the airline, but also do some research before clicking that payment. 

Believe me .... I know from experience, i've just spent 7 months and dozens and dozens of emails to get a large refund back, and I booked direct. 

[Captain Monday]

1 hour ago, steven100 said:

I have said a dozen times ... If you buy an air ticket at this time you risk losing your initial costs.

Chances are the flight will be cancelled and trying to get any refund is a nightmare. 

 

Some flights do eventuate but not all. It's a risk to buy any ticket at this time. imo

 

 

About 2 months with Korean full flex booked directly, not Thailand related I was to experience Olympic Marathon. I wouldn't call it a nightmare but no idea why it takes so long maybe due to huge numbers. 

AMEX card, no phone calls , no emails, still took around 2 months.

Don't use travel agents, don't use third party sites, don't book with "bankrupt" carriers unless a repatriation flight booked though your local Thai embassy or consulate.

[treetops]

9 hours ago, FlyingThai said:

EC261/2004 has in part been paused during the pandemic . . . .

Not so much paused, but guidelines have been issued stating that any cancellations etc caused by Covid are  not eligible for compensation.  Duty of care remains as you say, and normally that would be organised at the airport, but I don't think Austrian will have anyone there organising food and board for the OP.  He could do it himself and claim it back theoretically, but won't be easy.

[treetops]

6 hours ago, edwardandtubs said:

This is just scaremongering. If you book an Eva Air ticket from Bangkok to London, for example, the risk of cancellation is no greater than normal. If you use your common sense you can minimise the risk.

Wrong example to choose.  They pulled these a week or so ago (it was only running on a Sunday IRC) but now not at all.  I agree in principle and minimising the risk, or doing due diligence is what's required.

[Phillip9]

I think the problem is with your ticketing agent and they are just using covid as an excuse because they couldn't get the ticket at the price they quoted.  The flight on sunday has not been cancelled, and it will certainly fly.  

 

Edited September 23, 2020 by Phillip9

[Andy from Kent]

9 hours ago, FlyingThai said:

Good luck! Hopefully they'll find a solution. Austrian has a reservation office in Bangkok as well, you could call there tomorrow if you can get through. Or email: [email protected]

 

A chargeback will always take up to three months for final resolution because the merchant has several weeks to reply to the case. Ideally they'd auto cancel before it even tickets and the authorization would just drop off.

 

My friend who used Gotogate for a flight to the USA encountered a  situation similar  to yours.     After some months he was promised a refund which he finally got but it included a 70 USD service fee.

 

[Dellamorte]

9 hours ago, FlyingThai said:

Good luck! Hopefully they'll find a solution. Austrian has a reservation office in Bangkok as well, you could call there tomorrow if you can get through. Or email: [email protected]

 

A chargeback will always take up to three months for final resolution because the merchant has several weeks to reply to the case. Ideally they'd auto cancel before it even tickets and the authorization would just drop off.

This advice was great! I emailed this office and they got back to me very quickly. It turns out it was our flight from Koh Samui to Bangkok which had been cancelled. There's a lot of those flights, so the reservation office could easily put us on an earlier flight. Of course, Gotogate did not say anything about this. They told me in the email that seeking refund was the only option. When I replied asking if rescheduling was possible, they did not reply. I would strongly advise to never use them for anything.

 

Thank you very much, FlyingThai. Seems like things are turning out OK now.

[AlfHuy]

9 hours ago, FlyingThai said:

They're tracking demand this way. The entire Lufthansa Group does this and there have already been police reports and lawsuits in Germany against this practice. Lufthansa just ignores it and continues, this way they get a free loan for several weeks.

That's the "made in Germany" finished.

 

VW scandal

Deutsche Bank involved in everything what is not legal

Wirecard: inventing billions which never existed

Lufthansa

 

 

and 

and 

and

[Phillip9]

29 minutes ago, treetops said:

Wrong example to choose.  They pulled these a week or so ago (it was only running on a Sunday IRC) but now not at all.  I agree in principle and minimising the risk, or doing due diligence is what's required.

This flight has not been cancelled.  It has been flying reliably

every sunday, and it is still scheduled for every sunday.  Stop making stuff up.

 

 

[NanLaew]

10 hours ago, Maestro said:

Even when you book a flight through a travel agent, is it not usually the airline that informs the traveller directly changes or cancellations of a flight?

If the online ticket agent hasn't shared the contact information, the airline can't contact the traveler directly. Typically after the payment has been made and the ticket issued and passenger contact information shared with the airline, everyone's on the same page.

 

I would suggest the OP read gotogate terms and conditions as it seems they have charged the OP for the ticket already despite the airline not being able to fill the requested itinerary. Maybe they are a bit "fly by night" and instead of some high-tech, cloud-based airfare trawler software, they have a bunch of Indians using the same airline's website on dialup!

[NanLaew]

55 minutes ago, Phillip9 said:

This flight has not been cancelled.  It has been flying reliably

every sunday, and it is still scheduled for every sunday.  Stop making stuff up.

 

 

 

Those are flights dated before last week. Just had a check on EVA website and came up with the following for Sep/Dec to/from LHR.

 

 

Then I plugged in some travel dates for Jan/Mar 2021

 

 

As I suggested in the KLM thread, maybe something funny going on with BKK or airlines in limbo waiting on a CAAT announcement? They've been pretty quiet since their last official edict (#2) on who can fly released 2 July.

 

[samtam]

11 hours ago, Sambotte said:

You may ask your credit card company too, if it's possible to cancel. 

Already posted... charge back.

Edited September 23, 2020 by samtam

[edwardandtubs]

17 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

 

Those are flights dated before last week. Just had a check on EVA website and came up with the following for Sep/Dec to/from LHR.

 

 

Then I plugged in some travel dates for Jan/Mar 2021

 

 

As I suggested in the KLM thread, maybe something funny going on with BKK or airlines in limbo waiting on a CAAT announcement? They've been pretty quiet since their last official edict (#2) on who can fly released 2 July.

 

I can see a flight for this Sunday and next Sunday on the mobile app. All I can see from your screen shot is that there's no flight up until this Saturday. Of course there's no return flight back to Bangkok.

Edited September 23, 2020 by edwardandtubs

[BritTim]

10 hours ago, Maestro said:

Bank interest rates are near zero. Hopefully, they don't go and gamble with the money in casinos or the stock market.

Currently, many airlines are facing a severe cash flow crunch. A float of millions of dollars can make the difference between remaining in business and needing to declare bankruptcy. Airlines have a lot of trouble getting credit right now.

[brommers]

Austrian announced 2 days ago that it was permanently grounding all its B 777s and other long haul aircraft.

[Brad88]

Tough situation you are in now. Opposite example here where I was trying to get into Thailand but had to cancel a flight that was directly booked with Thai Airways. They wanted to charge me several cancellation fees and said it would take up to a year to get the refund. This was after I had been assured that cancelling would not be a problem. I escalated my complaint up the chain and eventually got a reply that I would only be charged for a service fee, the cancellation fee would be waived, and I “might” get the refund after 3 months at the earliest. Sharing this example because if they’ll listen then it may be worthwhile to push your case with the company. Of course, you can also choose where to spend your money in the future as well.

[NanLaew]

24 minutes ago, edwardandtubs said:

I can see a flight for this Sunday and next Sunday on the mobile app. All I can see from your screen shot is that there's no flight up until this Saturday. Of course there's no return flight back to Bangkok.

I did scroll through week by week until end of the year but didn't want to copy/paste ~13 examples of "N/A".

 

I don't have their app so I will take your word that it is possible that they haven't kept both platforms updated. When I first noted N/A on the KLM app, I went to their website and this was confirmed. I think booking international flights is still all a bit perilous at the moment.

[NanLaew]

13 minutes ago, brommers said:

Austrian announced 2 days ago that it was permanently grounding all its B 777s and other long haul aircraft.

And curiously enough, in the last few days the non-stop Lufthansa services BKK-FRA seem to have been offloaded onto Swiss Airlines via Zurich and Munich. This from LH's website as I type, not any smartphone app.

[Thomas J]

12 hours ago, Dellamorte said:

Any advice what to do in this situation?

Dellmorte

You obviously had to put the tickets on a credit or debit card.  Call the issuing bank and contest the charge.  They will credit back your charge until an investigation is completed and a demand is made of the travel agency to refund the money.  

[iaminwa]

All the airlines are doing it, happened to me with Thai Airways. I booked, full Economy, cancelled a few hours later after they took my money.

 

I ended up booking a 2nd Business Class Flight and got out.

 

And now Thai Airways refusing to refund the full economy ticket.

 

Oh well, at least I got out, and karma heading Thai Airways way. They deserve it, hope they go under.

[Phillip9]

1 hour ago, NanLaew said:

Those are flights dated before last week. Just had a check on EVA website and came up with the following for Sep/Dec to/from LHR.

 

 

 

The flight is still on their schedule and bookable.   It will fly this sunday.  The problem appears to be how you are doing your search.  It looks like they are only allowing one way flights to be booked from bangkok now.

 

 

 

 

[Phillip9]

37 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

And curiously enough, in the last few days the non-stop Lufthansa services BKK-FRA seem to have been offloaded onto Swiss Airlines via Zurich and Munich. This from LH's website as I type, not any smartphone app.

um, no.  More ridiculous nonsense.  Lufthansa 773 flew all of its last 5 scheduled flights.  The next flight is tomorrow.  It will fly.  Cheap tickets are still available.

 

[NanLaew]

14 minutes ago, Phillip9 said:

The flight is still on their schedule and bookable.   It will fly this sunday.  The problem appears to be how you are doing your search.  It looks like they are only allowing one way flights to be booked from bangkok now.

 

 

 

 

OK, thanks for the tip.

[treetops]

2 hours ago, Phillip9 said:

This flight has not been cancelled.  It has been flying reliably

every sunday, and it is still scheduled for every sunday.  Stop making stuff up.

The flight did indeed disappear from the schedule for a while a week ago.  I mentioned it in this thread after checking the usual flight monitor sites and EVA's own  website.

 

https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1182999-traveling-from-london-on-eva/?tab=comments#comment-15825025

 

It now appears to have been re-instated or a glitch ironed out or whatever, but I posted in good faith and you even quoted my post and replied - with no rebuttal of it's contents - did you check at that time and find the same as me?

 

I was obviously going with out of date information when I replied to edwardandtubs, for which I apologise to him, but why on earth would you think I was "making stuff up" when we had discussed it before?

[NanLaew]

12 minutes ago, Phillip9 said:

um, no.  More ridiculous nonsense.  Lufthansa 773 flew all of its last 5 scheduled flights.  The next flight is tomorrow.  It will fly.  Cheap tickets are still available.

 

 

What part of my comment "in the last few days" went over your head?

 

Once again you are using an app and looking up one-way flight history searches whereas my LH website search LAST WEEK and THIS WEEK was for a future r/t and NO Lufthansa flights showed on the latter search.

 

I just tried a o/w for tomorrow on the LH website and there are NO BKK-FRA o/w non-stops listed.

 

 

In the KLM thread, KL flights are going in and put of Bangkok at least twice a day... but you can't book and get on them regardless of what their flight history tells you.

Edited September 23, 2020 by NanLaew

[Kinnock]

12 hours ago, userabcd said:

Exactly, I always book directly with the airlines.

I booked directly with Emirates - same issue.  They cancelled, offered a voucher, now saying a refund will take months.  Airlines are desperate for cash, and not on any hurry to refund.