OK, This is complicated...

Hello all

I have booked for next month 4 Econ tix for me & the family to fly into LAS from Gatwick, returning from LAX to Heathrow. (Woo Hoo! )

It has now become apparant that an 11 hour flight is going to be too uncomfy for me due to medical reasons so instead of potentially spoiling the holiday I decided to upgrade to Upper so I could lie down for most of the journey.

Only problem is.....when I called ebookers to upgrade my X ticket they said that it would cost #5000 to upgrade :0 Thanks but no thanks!

I then plugged my outbound flight into VH (as a fly drive) with a return from LAS 1 week later.....Lo & behold! An upgrade to Upper was available for the Outbound flight, with the whole thing coming in at exactly half the price that ebookers offered!

So, I went ahead and booked it y)

I am now travelling on the flight in both Econ & Upper, on 2 completley different bookings. I will also not be collecting the rental car OR returning to Blighty a week after landing in LAS....I will come back on my original ticket booked to leave LAX some 4 weeks later.......or will I?

My question is, because I dont check in on the original Econ outbound flight will they cancel the return portion of the flight?

Seeing as I wont be checking in on the Econ Tix will they re-release that for sale? I was hoping they would just leave it as it is so my girls get 3 seats beteween the 2 of them seeing as I have paid to be in that seat with them.

Is this even allowed? will I get into trouble for booking a return fly drive then not using the return flight or the car? Will they cancel me off my return flight from LAX seeing as I didnt check in at Gatwick?

I would be grateful for any advice you can give me, I dont want to turn up at check in on the day of our hols and have an almighty kerfuffle

Finally, as I understand it as an upper pax I can take 1 guest into the clubhouse with me, will I be able to pay on the day for my 2 girls (who are over the age of 12 and super well behaved) to come in aswell? They are on the same flight but obviously now just on a different booking to me. ?|

I hope I have managed to explain this OK & you get the drift of what I'm on about lol!

Thanks

I am sorry to hear about your illness, but you have gotten yourself into a fine mess ...

My question is, because I dont check in on the original Econ outbound flight will they cancel the return portion of the flight?

Yes, this will be cancelled. If you follow your plan, you have no return flight.

Seeing as I wont be checking in on the Econ Tix will they re-release that for sale?

Probably not for sale given the short time, but that seat will be available for anyone else to select. You may have 'paid' for it, but you elect not to take it, so you've given up any right to it.

will I get into trouble for booking a return fly drive then not using the return flight or the car?

Not into trouble, no, you've forfeit the effective cost of these portions of your booking.

Will they cancel me off my return flight from LAX seeing as I didnt check in at Gatwick?

Yes, as above.

Finally, as I understand it as an upper pax I can take 1 guest into the clubhouse with me, will I be able to pay on the day for my 2 girls (who are over the age of 12 and super well behaved) to come in as well?

No, the rules are there for a reason, one being to prevent overcrowding. And you don't mention the fourth passenger, is that your husband (you don't seem bother leaving him in the terminal on his own)?


You are in a mess :0 . You either have to return from LAS as per your new booking within one week, or pay to change that with VH or purchase another ticket. The reason why VH offered cheaper prices is probably to do with fare code buckets, and that VH block books a certain number at lower costs that eBookers can now see.

Other V-Flyers may be able to offer more creative solutions, but this is a prime situation in which asking all the above questions before booking the second ticket would have been a very good thing to do.

Ohhhh heck, so I now better book myself a return ticket from LAX then!

No, I sort of mentioned hubby, he is the 1 person I knew I could take into the clubhouse with me as I knew you could take in a guest, thats why I only asked about paying for the girls to go in.

I will see if VH can rebook my return from LAS flight & swap it to LAX on the later date.

Do I need to cancel just me off the original Econ tix? Will hubby & daughters still be able to fly with me not on that booking?

Good job I asked or I would be at L.A waiting to check only to find I had no flight!

Thank You so much for your quick response, I have got myself in a right old pickle, but I saw the cheaper Upper fare with VH & just jumped at it!

I'm hoping all is not lost, if VH are unable to change my return date then I just ran a dummy booking on VA and can get Upper on the same flight for the same price I am paying on the outbound leg (actually its slightly cheaper) so that means I will get 2 Upper flights for the cost of 1 LOL! I was going to suffer the pain on the return leg aided by medication as there was no holiday to spoil at the other end, but the Y fare is heckish expensive, If im going to shell out 1K on a Y tix then I might aswell add the extra & go Upper. I am just praying that I can be cancelled off the original booking but hubby & girls can still use the flights, fingers crossed for me guys! *anxiously waiting for the call centre to open*

[Neil]

Wow, that really is a complicated situation you have gotten yourself in to, and to be totally honest I am a bit lost now in what you are trying to do, as it seems you are making more bookings including some one ways?

There is no reason why you shouldn't be able to cancel yourself off the original booking you made, and keep the rest of your family on it, although what sort of refund you will get will depend on the terms of your booking.

I hope you manage to yourself sorted one way or another.
Neil

I think 'mess' is an understatement !

I can see what you are trying to do but to be honest you have gone completly the wrong way about it !

I think you need to urgently contact VH (who you seam to have done all your bookings with) and talk it through with them.

BEFORE you do make sure you have all the paper work and reference / booking numnbers to hand and make a clear list of all the flights / sectors you have booked so you are clear which ones you need to retain both for yourself and the rest of the family (don't want to risk cancelling their flights too!)and which you need to cancel / rearrange.

I'd also plan on this call taking a long time so be prepared for lots of being put on hold.

VH may be able to help you sort this out without costing you an arm and a leg (and quite possibly a kidney too).

As to the CH question I'd sort your flight sectors out before worrying about getting into the CH ! Though you could ask VH when you call them.

[Neil]

I think you need to urgently contact VH (who you seam to have done all your bookings with) and talk it through with them.

The first ticket with all the OP's family on was booked through ebookers, just to make things even more complicated. The OP then booked himself on VH ticket, but returning from the wrong airport on the wrong date

?|

Ohhh my gosh, that was probably the most stressy 5 hours of my life waiting to get that lot sorted out! thank goodness for V-flyer or there I would have been at LAX with no flight home! xx(

I cant believe I got into such a dreadful mess with all this

The good news is that its all sorted (Hooray!)

VH were super brilliant, I made a teary, panic stricken phone call as soon as the customer service opened and the lady was so calm, so sweet & amazingly helpful, I went over the whole story and she managed to figure out where I had gone wrong & understood what I was trying to do, even through the sobs down the phone y)

So, basically now the situation is this - The VH Angel checked if she could change the booking from flying out of LAS to flying out of LAX instead, on the date that I was supposed to be flying with the rest of the family as per the ebookers tickets. I thought my world had come to an end when she came back to tell me that Y was choc a block, rammed to the rafters full. She asked if she should check the situation with PE & UC. I cried another bucket load as I was left on hold with potentially no flight home, even though I technically DID have a flight already bought & paid for (thats me there look, already booked into 63A and have been since Christmas!)

She comes back on the line & tells me that there is limited availability in PE but UC was looking the better option, especially as it was only going to cost #200 more than the PE upgrade was. ''I'll take it!!! Book it, book it! please! book me that UC seat!''

Not only did she book me the UC seat at a massivly discounted rate, she even gave me the VH 10% booking discount on it AND waved the ammendment fees! oo)

I'm now flying UC on both legs of the trip WOOT! She even advised me to contact ebookers & cancel my flight rather than just leave it on the system, because although I wasnt entitled to a full refund I would be entitled to a % of the tax back.

Ebookers were great, very patient & made all the changes, again no ammend/cancellation fees were charged. Hubby & the kids still fly out on the original ebookers tickets So the tears are now mopped up & a huge sigh of relief from me and a rather confused looking hubby, who didnt really have a clue as to what was going but attempted to be supportive by handing me a box of kleenex every now & again.

Right, now that drama is over, are there any seats you UC regulars recommend me to reserve? I picked 8A for the Outbound leg, but there are loads & loads of spaces to choose from coming back from LAX & I havent a clue which one to try & get.

Thank You slinky for your very fast & thorough response to my first post in this thread, I truly appreciate it, I dread to think the mess I would have landed up in otherwise! xx(

[Neil]

Glad you managed to get sorted in the end.

As for seats, 8A is a good choice out to LAS, although all the seats in the small LGW UC cabin are good.

Coming back, you should look to get something either 2-6K or 9-13A I would say. These seats have the wall opposite them, so you will have greater privacy. The 2-6K are the furthest from the bar, but there is a toilet next to 2K so you do get some foot traffic. 9-13A are a bit closer to the bar, but still far enough way for it not to bother you, so either would be fine really.

Neil

I love a happy ending....

But you are not alone i boobed with my sky broadband i thought i was upgrading to a newer lower price when i should have left alone,now i am expecting my broadband to be cut off and then i have to set it up again,they cancelled it not me and because i was on the same package i tried to upgrade to that got rejected,hence i'm getting cut off,when i don't know and i leave for San Francisco sat morning.....

Thanks Neil

Do you have any idea when the system will update itself? I just checked and its still showing me as being in Y *mild panic setting in again*

Spirfire....try giving the Angel at VH a phone.....if she could sort out my almighty mess up she could fix your broadband issue nay bother )

[Neil]

Thanks Neil

Do you have any idea when the system will update itself? I just checked and its still showing me as being in Y *mild panic setting in again*

*Usually* VH do a transfer once or twice a day over to the VS system, so you will have to wait for that to happen.

Neil

....try giving the Angel at VH a phone.....if she could sort out my almighty mess up she could fix your broadband issue nay bother

Lol,I spent 30 minutes on phone to sky yesterday,put through to 3 different people and still got nowhere.
Now I daren't click to change seats on my up and coming flight for if I mess it up....

Keith.

4/5K are my favourite seats on the 343 (unfortunately I'm currently in 14 A next week). Like Neil has said the LGW cabin is so small that even the seats near the bar are OK.
Glad you got things sorted .
DL

Glad to hear you managed to resolve your little "pickle" of a problem.