Friends are about to cancel a flights and hotel trip abroad. Nobody has died, nobody is seriously ill, they just want to change their plans. The travel company has a no refund policy. But of course if this couple cancel their plane seats and hotel accommodation will be sold to other people, so the travel firm will double their money. Any of you know any way round this for my pals?
If they don't want the travel firm to gain the extra money then they could just leave the cancellation until the last few hours- or say nothing.
If they are hoping for some money back then yes, reselling s a option- or they can try negotiating with the travel company. When is the holiday- is it days or months before the holiday?
I don't think the travel firm are being unreasonable here, they may struggle to resell the trip in the time available. Can you imagine the chaos if this was generally allowed? Prices would go through the roof for a start. You cannot expect to cancel a trip at the last minute for no reason and get a refund it doesn't, can't, work like that. Have they looked at their insurance there may be something in there to cover cancellation.
If the holiday is non transferrable then there is not much they can do. The travel company won't be making money twice over - they will already have paid the airline and the hotel.
Unfortunately, it seems to be that your friends are going to lose the whole cost of the holiday if they cancel at this late stage. Even trying to transfer the bookings into other individuals is unlikely to be possible.