Naughty BA , not as Flexible as you think, new charges for certain changes

[antietam]

Ok so was changing some flights on my new flexible booking with BA today only to find a charge i was not expecting.

Moved a flight to land in Orlando at 2116 rather than the booked 2331.
Was told that although the flights were no added cost i would have to pay £100 to change the car hire.
I asked what this change was and was told that the car collection time would change to 21:20 rather than 2331 so i would have to pay £100 due to the time change.
Well the operator apologised and said that these new change car hire charges were new and also changing hotels as well.

So if you book a flight and a car and then decide to change flights which your ticket will allow you to do expect to be charged if your car hire changes in any way and Hotels also.

This is a steep admin charge and changing the collection of a car by a couple of hours that did not affect rental cost attracted this charge.

Its a bit sneaky and someone has obviously been tasked with finding ways to collect extra revenue.

[Damn Dirty Ape]

Can you not ask to keep the same car hire pick up time and then turn up early? Drop it back before 9.30pm on return and you won’t have an extra day’s hire.

[neilhd]

I made a booking today and noticed that was the case - it wasn't hidden (at least not when I made my booking). They have always had an admin charge for changing cars, but I don't think it was that high before.

ETA - Agree with previous poster. Should be able to keep the return time on the car.

[DisneyCupcake]

Originally Posted by antietam

Ok so was changing some flights on my new flexible booking with BA today only to find a charge i was not expecting.

Moved a flight to land in Orlando at 2116 rather than the booked 2331.
Was told that although the flights were no added cost i would have to pay £100 to change the car hire.
I asked what this change was and was told that the car collection time would change to 21:20 rather than 2331 so i would have to pay £100 due to the time change.
Well the operator apologised and said that these new change car hire charges were new and also changing hotels as well.

So if you book a flight and a car and then decide to change flights which your ticket will allow you to do expect to be charged if your car hire changes in any way and Hotels also.

This is a steep admin charge and changing the collection of a car by a couple of hours that did not affect rental cost attracted this charge.

Its a bit sneaky and someone has obviously been tasked with finding ways to collect extra revenue.

See more...

This was noticed by Dibb member Mr Andy on 8th September too - here's a link to his post if you want to read it.

https://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/sho... php?t=1179827

[Mr Andy]

Well that is annoying as I have booked 2 packages through them recently and cant afford to lose £200.

Thankfully I won't be cancelling or changing either package, and if the borders are closed I will wait for BA to cancel the flights and they'll have to provide a full refund.

[antietam]

Originally Posted by Damn Dirty Ape

Can you not ask to keep the same car hire pick up time and then turn up early? Drop it back before 9.30pm on return and you won’t have an extra day’s hire.

See more...

I thought that but if the car hire company are busy or sticking to times i would have to wait 2 hours, don't really want to do that

[DonnaD]

That is extremely unlikely to happen in Orlando.

[MarkUK]

Originally Posted by antietam

I thought that but if the car hire company are busy or sticking to times i would have to wait 2 hours, don't really want to do that

See more...

I wouldn’t worry about turning up early, it’s all worked out on 24hr periods of time anyway. I certainly wouldn’t be paying £100 for no reason

[Wolf1984]

Pick up early then drop it off early. No need for a change fee IMO. Just don't run over the 24 hr period.

[nanu]

Yes, deffo keep the car hire the same time to avoid the admin fee. It's not necessary to change it, you can just roll up at any time at MCO and collect the car. Just make sure you return it on time - the cars are booked out in 24 hr blocks so the time you collect is the time you should return by.