We find that most people are unaware of some of the conditions attached to their electronic air tickets sometimes regardless of your method of purchase i.e online or travel agency, the rules in many cases will be very similar when comparing the same ticket for the same airline same date and itinerary, it is important to remember that depending on the type of eticket you have purchased certain conditions can vary significantly even if you have the same ticket to i.e. someone sitting next to you as ticket conditions vary significantly depending on some important factors for example you are likely to have less restrictive conditions on your eticket purchased through a travel company online or offline from the country of your travel.
The majority of the airlines and with reference to short haul flights i.e. travel through europe, you will find that in 99% of cases your eticket will not be refundable or changeable although some airlines do offer changes they can come at a price sometime more than the original purchase price and they may charge you for making alterations and changes, a recent case on a budget airline a customer pre-booked his flight around 2 months in advance of his travel date flying out to Paris from Manchester due to what ever reason the customer was unable to fly out or fly back on the original ticket and requested the airline for alternative dates about a week before he was due to travel, his original ticket cost was £69.00, the airline conditions allowed for date changes unknown to the customer the cost of his altered date was now £209.00 plus an administration charge of £15. This very typical of all airlines as dates changes will reflect the cost of the availability of the new flights, its a common understanding that booking in advance saves you money in most cases.
Long haul airlines adopt very similar conditions although most allow changes at a charge which can be very significant some don’t allow any changes or cancellations either. Therefore before proceeding to book that special holiday with family please ensure to check the conditions on your eticket’s as you could be in for a nasty surprise if things go wrong and you need to make changes, long haul flights i.e. to the Indian sub continent, Far East Asia, Americas, Australia can cost more than £500 per person, so its recommended to check with your travel agent as depending on your carrier different ticket conditions may apply and some maybe more flexible and suitable depending on your circumstances, if you don’t ask you wont know and in many cases you may not even be covered by your travel insurance. In a recent case a customer who booked a long haul flight around 8 months prior to her travel to Pakistan on Turkish Airlines for her and her family was unable to travel due to her new born infant having a medical condition which required hospitalization and therefore unable to travel was refused a full or partial refund as her ticket condition excluded cancellation even on grounds of medical reasons! in fact the whole family were unable to fly out as a result and lost all their money. She was aware of her young child’s ongoing medical problems however she took the risk knowingly as she was attracted to the price being offered to her by X travel agent, although the alternative was around £30.00 per person dearer and allowed for cancellations and refunds at a charge of £100.
It is impossible to document ticket conditions for all airlines as they vary significantly depending on your itinerary, we will however provide you with brief guideline for some of the major carriers of the world.
Airline’s offering refund’s
Airblue – Manchester to Islamabad
Emirates – UK to Dubai and Worldwide
Pakistan International Airlines – UK to Pakistan and Worldwide
[highlight bg=”#ddff99″ color=”#000000″]We hope to update this list very soon[/highlight]