Turkish Airlines review: Flights booked Cape Town to Ireland

My elderly parents booked Turkish Airlines flights Cpt to Ireland via Flight Centre

They were sold a very restictive flight that could not be changed. They signed for this but as they are incapacitated did not fully understand what they were signing for.

Subsequently my mother got ill and was unable to fly. The flights could not be refunded but cancelled and can be rescheduled within 1 year of the booking. Due to ill health my mother has parkinsons diease and my father has dementia, they are unable to fly economy class and will need to fly business class with assistance. Would it be possible to transfer these flights (with additional charges I am sure) to a business class flight?

Flight centre has advised the following

Thank you for reaching out to Flight Centre Customer Experience department and for affording us the opportunity to investigate Victoria Tully’s matter. We have reviewed the booking documentation and liaised with the relevant stakeholders, and we would like to provide you with feedback as follows.

Our records indicate that.

• On the 03rd of April 2023, Flight Centre's booking documentation and Flight Centre Booking terms and conditions were accepted.

• On the 08th of April 2023, payment was received by our travel expert thereby concluding the sale. From the information available, we can confirm that our travel expert, Lisa Sadie assisted with John and Madeleine Tully’s travel arrangements.

• On the 18th of May 2023, Victoria Tully reached out to Lisa and advised that Madeleine Tully was not well and requested to cancel both tickets.

• On the 18th of May 2023, a discussion was had between Victoria and the travel expert regarding alternative options, same being date change options and the costs associated with the noted changes.

• On the 18th of May 2023, after the aforementioned discussion, Victoria opted to cancel both tickets and requested a refund on medical reasons.

During our engagement with our travel expert, Lisa Sadie, she advised that an extensive discussion was had with the travelers, John and Madeleine, prior to concluding the travel arrangements. We note that the most economic fares were requested and presented to the customers and these fares also included restrictive fare rules such as and not limited to non-refundable tickets. From the information afforded to us we can confirm that Lisa discussed the itinerary with the customers in detail and we further note that the customer initialed the important information discussed on their itinerary including the Airline Fare Rules. The mentioned rules noted cancellation before and after departure as non-refundable and the customer acknowledged same by signing next to the aforementioned fare rules. For ease of reference, I have enclosed herewith, a copy of the said itinerary signed and accepted by the customers.

We note that Victoria requested to cancel both ticket as a result of Madeleine Tully not being able to travel due to illness. Our records indicate that our travel expert reached out to the airline together with Madeleine Tully’s doctor’s letter and requested a refund waiver. We rely heavily on feedback we receive from our third-party service providers and the airline reverted and advised that they would not refund non-refundable tickets even for medical reasons. For ease of reference, I have further enclosed herewith a copy of the noted feedback received from the airline.

In accordance with the provisions of Flight Centre’s terms and conditions accepted when the travel arrangements were concluded, it is noted that all refunds are subject to the cancellation policies of the relevant third-party service providers and further that Flight Centre will not provide a refund to customers until we receive the funds from the third-party service providers. We note that Victoria Tully has requested a full refund from Flight Centre for the costs of the tickets. Regrettably, in light of the aforementioned, we will not extend the requested refund. We are mindful that the outcome of this matter is not what the customers expected, we can however, recommend that the customers reach out to the airline directly should they require any further clarity through the link provided herein below.

https://www.complaintsboard.com/turkish-airlines-b119661

kindly advise.

[protected]@xsinet.co.za