Cancelled Package Holiday

[iloveglee]

Can anyone point me to the law relating to a cancelled package holiday (by the operator not the customer). It doesn't seem to awfully clear. I am very au fait with cancelled/delayed flights only in terms of what the airline is responsible for and the compensation payable depending on the length of notice/distance travelled/length of delay. Package holidays that have a flight element in them seem not to fit quite into this.

We have a package booked, to fly out on 10th July. It consists of a flight and a car. I'm not sure what's happening as we haven't had any notification from the airline, but the flight we are due to travel on has suddenly disappeared from the airline's booking system. It occurred to me that it may be full so I did a test seat choosing exercise (without going through to payment), and the vast majority of the seats were available to be booked in advance, which is most unusual. Normally you'd find some choices at this stage, but not so many. Which leaves me with a bit of an anxious feeling that this flight might be about to be cancelled. The same flight the week before has also disappeared, and you can't find this flight on any of the code share airlines, or in something like sky scanner.

There is another flight, about 4 hours later, which would mean we couldn't pick up our car as the rental company is closed at the time we would be landing. I am pretty sure I have read somewhere that if they cancel your holiday they have to offer a refund, or at least as good, or better holiday than you'd booked. But again, who gets to choose, you or them. I seem to remember having a holiday cancelled in the early days of covid and it was simply cancelled with the only option a refund. But it was different then as the world of flying came to a full stop as covid hit.

Trying to contact the airline to attempt to find out what's happening is soul destroying!!

[Hopkirk]

Does this help?

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/package-holiday-refunds-and-cancellations/information-about-package-holiday-refunds-and-cancellations

I think of a package holiday as being flights, transport and accommodation.
Yours sounds like flights and car hire, and I'm not convinced that counts as one.

[iloveglee]

This was sold to us as a package holiday by British airways. Evidently a flight and at least one other element is counted as a holiday.

I knew you were entitled to a refund but unsure about your right to request a replacement holiday. And what counts as better or worse than what you originally had if the flight is 4 hours later.

[Milo2]

A relative had a holiday flight cancelled and were offered alternative flights but these didn’t fit with work commitments so they asked for a refund and this was given. This was with accommodation so not sure if it’s the same.

[Maydup]

It does sound worrying but at this stage you are only speculating that something is about the go wrong. Unless the flight is this week, I would hold out for a while yet.

Did you book this package direct with the airline?

[iloveglee]

Yes flights legislation is very clear. Holidays less so

[Maydup]

Sorry crossed posts there and I see you booked with BA.

I’d wait and see for a bit longer.

[iloveglee]

I have a few more days before I have to cancel the accommodation. If I’m unsure I could do this, there are plenty of other options in the town we have booked. All other accommodation can be cancelled much nearer the date. It’s frustrating but we’re not on our own with holiday uncertainty. It’s endemic. Bit like covid!! I’ll have to keep checking because we had a flight change to another destination and BA never did let us know. We found out by accident when one of us looked in our app.