Airline changed itinerary due to cancelled flight, travel time tripled - what can I do?
I booked a flight (san Andres to Medellin) months ago with a rather cheap fare over atrapalo (booking website) with avianca.
Atrapalo sent me an e-mail that the flight was cancelled and the replacement offered by avianca was a flight from san andres to bogota and from there to medellin. Travel time 4:30h instead of 1:30h.
They tell me if I don't accept they could try to get my money back from avianca. However, the flight is leaving in a few days and maybe getting my money back plus buying another flight for more money is a bad option.
Do I have any way of getting a better flight, maybe even with another airline either from avianca or atrapalo? Or is there anything else I can do?/Can they just do that?
Best Answer
As to what happened, neither avianca nor atrapalo helped and we got no compensation. Even though flying business class, as there were no direct flights due to a pilot strike, they did not do anything to make the situation better. We didn't pursue it further.
If someone adds an answer elaborating what could have been done or what rights exist, I'll consider accepting that, until then the question stays open as I have no theoretical basis for my answer.
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Can I get a refund if the airline changes my itinerary?
Once you've decided on a new flight, call the airline to get your itinerary switched. If the change is significant enough and there are no other flights that work with your schedule, you do have the option to request a cash refund (even with a normally non-refundable basic economy fare).Is it legal for airlines to change flight times?
When you book a flight, you agree on its schedule. However, all airlines reserve themselves the right to change the time (and sometimes even the date) of the flight, as per their terms and conditions. Specifically, airlines do not guarantee flight times and stress that those are not part of the contract of carriage.Do airlines have to compensate for Cancelled flights?
The airline is required to compensate you for a canceled flight if you were notified less than 14 days before your original scheduled departure date. However, compensation is not required if the airline proves that extraordinary circumstances (e.g., weather) caused the cancellation.Why do airlines keep changing flight times?
Many factors contribute to flight schedule changes, even in non-pandemic times. Airlines \u201croutinely\u201d adjust flight schedules far in advance for reasons like crew scheduling changes, airport layout shifts or swaps of aircraft types, Airlines for America spokesman Carter Yang said in an email.Global National: June 30, 2022 | Air Canada cutting back flights as country's travel chaos continues
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