What recourse do I have if travel agent (Gotogate) claims airline can cancel my ticket, but airline asks me to call my agent, which charge a fee?
I bought a Singapore Airlines flight ticket via Gotogate, which I'd like to cancel or change. Their policy states (mirror):
You can also contact the airline directly to cancel your tickets.
However, the airline (Singapore Airlines)'s phone customer support and website both say I must contact Gotogate to be able to cancel or change my tickets, which I don't want since Gotogate charge some cancelation/change fees. What recourse do I have?
Screenshot showing the airline asking to contact the travel agent:
Best Answer
Most likely, none. Your contract is with the travel agent, and it's standard practice in the industry that they are your point of contact for any changes you wish to make. When the agency says that you can contact the airline, it doesn't really mean much other than that the agency won't stop you from contacting the airline. It doesn't guarantee that the airline is willing to handle your request directly.
From an airline's point of view, reducing staffing requirements by shifting these requests elsewhere is one of the attractions of dealing with travel agencies. Some airlines may still allow you to contact them directly for cancellations or changes, but many do not or will have limits on the kind of changes possible.
If you do want to try again with the airline, you may have more luck contacting them by phone rather than using the website. The staff may have a little more leeway than public-facing websites. But even then your chances will vary with airline policy, and perhaps with any frequent flier status you have.
Ultimately, accepting the possibility of cancellation/change fees imposed by the travel agent is a trade-off you make when booking via a travel agent.
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How do I get my money back from Gotogate?
If you have made your ticket purchase with us, the airline will make a refund to us and we will process the payment to your original form of payment after receiving the funds. Please note that the possibility of receiving a refund of payment depends on the airline's cancellation terms for your ticket.What is the airlines responsibility if they cancel your flight?
But in a routine cancellation, you have two basic contractual rights on any airline, subject to minor variations: either (1) a seat on your original airline's next available flight, or (2) a refund for the unused portion of your ticket. Some airlines go beyond those bare-bones rights.What happens if my non-refundable flight is Cancelled?
Non-refundable tickets - Consumers who purchase non-refundable tickets are not entitled to a refund unless the airline makes a promise to provide a refund or the airline cancels a flight or makes a significant schedule change.How do I file a complaint against a travel agent UK?
You should take up the complaint first with the company concerned. If the matter is not resolved and the company is a member of either ABTA, TTA or The Global Travel Group you should contact them for advice. If not, try Consumer Direct on 08454 040506.How to get CHEAP FLIGHTS online | (Top 11 Flight Hacks to Save Money)
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Answer 2
I'll share the outcome of my discussions with airline and the travel agent. During my third call to the travel agent, the employee I had on the line told me that she "made the request to allow changes for my flight ticket via the airline". This seems to have done something because previously on the airline's website, I could see that I couldn't change or cancel my booking. After she made that request, I couldn't access anymore my booking on the airline's website: the website was stuck at the stage trying to find the information for my booking, after entering my info on https://www.singaporeair.com/en_UK/sg/plan-travel/your-booking/managebooking/:
I tried to call again the airline but after waiting for over 3 hours for someone to pick up the phone, I opted to only wait one hour to reach the traveling agent and pay their fees.
Tldr: The travel agent might have the option to allow the airline to make changes to the booking, which the airline website might however not support.
I'll also add that the claim by the travel agent "You can also contact the airline directly to cancel your tickets" whereas that they know very well it is not possible (to the point that they have the option to request that cancellation and changes can be made directly with the airline) is likely illegal in some countries, e.g countries with decent consumer protection laws.
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Andrea Piacquadio, Andrea Piacquadio, Ahmed Muntasir, Andrea Piacquadio