The best way to judge a travel company is not when you are booking, but when you have to cancel.

While many organisations will fall over themselves to help you seal the deal, far too often, the rule book comes out when you can’t go. Rules are usually buried in fine print.

A bit like the time we were booked from Singapore to London on Lufthansa, where we needed to cancel. I visited the site, and it was easy to use, but I received no refund. When I finally received a note from Frankfurt months later, the message was that there would be no refund.

Never mind, this was not pointed out at the time. So, lesson one: don’t deal with offline carriers. You do not have any support when problems occur.

I am advised that in Europe, Lufthansa would not have been able to get away with taking a cent if the passenger had not been fully informed of the consequences—another example is British Airways. We booked a hotel and flight deal in Malta and paid a deposit – not a lot, but that’s not the point.

Our conference was shifted from one hotel in Malta to another, but do you think I could get our hotel booking changed? A simple change you were thinking of – but no way. After emails and phone calls to the UK, I gave up. There are BA reps in Australia, but they washed their hands of my problems because I had booked directly on the BA site. Why don’t you follow your own rules and avoid offline carriers, you might ask. Good point.

Cruise companies are also quite adept at circumventing rules and regulations. We had to cancel a Viking Cruises booking years ago, and then had to cancel it again. Our deposit vanished. There’s nothing we can do, the representative in Sydney said – it’s their rules. So be warned. Which brings me to my current problem: cancelling a Singapore Airlines flight to Singapore and return, as well as an Emirates ticket from Singapore to London return.

Here is another lesson to learn: we had upgraded to business class on the Singapore-to-home leg. As soon as you add that complication to a ticket, the usual simple cancellation process is voided, and you have to call the local office.

In this case, in Sydney.  It took some negotiation, but eventually, the refund was approved. Emirates, on the other hand, made cancellation a simple task – you fill in a form on the site, and within a week, I was being advised that the refund was on its way. 10/10. Very impressive. To conclude, read the small print or ask your agent exactly where you stand regarding cancellation before handing over your hard-earned money.

By Ian McIntosh

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