peed off

[billybrewer]

Just had a phone call from First Choice in the UK and they have cancelled the flight on 18th Jan.. they have moved it forward a week earlier and now i am unable to go due to work commitments.

big fat BOOOOOO.

yours, well and truely annoyed - will have to try and go somewhere else on 18th jan ... i am away on work meetings 16th and second week of february, so time is truely tight.

dont know where to go now.

[blacker]

Sorry to hear the news Billy - I was looking forward to tipping a few with someone from across the pond !

Have you checked into other carriers ?  Perhaps your travel agent can offer some other arrangements ??!!

[billybrewer]

am investigating now.

first choice dont just do the flight, they are a compete service and they have said that the hotel is now oversubscribed for the time that we wanted to go.

Apparantly they are taking more guests than expected for the end of Jan and have been asked to move us forward so that our holiday finishes on jan 28 instead of feb 1st so that they can take the extra numbers.

this would be no problem, we were due to depart on 18th jan, but i cant on the 15th jan due to work commitments.

we are looking at either jamaica or the maldives now for these dates 

it all sounds suspect to me though, we should have recieved a letter last month detailing the changes, but nothing showed up.

[CT UK]

  Sounds a pit suspect to me too, why have they cancelled an entire flght? We are due to fly with First Choice from Manchester on Sunday 22nd Jan so really hoping they don't cancel on us. What a bummer for you, hope you find somewhere else. Antigua & Barbados are both lovely but it's just not the same is it when you are all set to go somewhere?
  CT
 

[billybrewer]

i suspect the real reason is that they could not fill the whole plane for the wednesday flight and have moved us to the weekend before - but they wont tell us that.

They have offered £150 compensation for the change of flight.

We have set our minds on paraiso, for 7 months now, so i am trying to change my work commitments and stuff it  - after all, its only work ..waht is more important...  ( )

[blacker]

Atta Boy Billy !!

You have to keep things in perspective, .... work will always be there - if something bad happened to you, things WOULD go on.

I learned this lesson a little too late, and ended up having a heart attack followed by triple bypass surgery this past summer.  NO ONE dares tell me that I can't have my vacation when I need it !! 

Hopefully we'll still tip a few together ! 

[raider]

i think your right billy that was happening to a lot of people in the US, they were told it was do to mostly empty planes, although you are in an akward situation, those people were not given the chance to just push it up or back a week they pretty much had to start from scratch. good luck and i hope you get to do what you want.

[billybrewer]

ahh well, it started off well and then got worse....but at least i am going on hols !

i cant change my work meetings ( government stuff ) so cant go on the 15th jan, so cancelled the holiday and took the compensation.

looked to re-book for the tuesday flight from gatwick ( not my preferred airport ) and was told that the paraiso is now full from the uk allocation and we cant be accommodated.

so, although we are going to the riveria maya, we are now going to the gran bahia principe, on the plus side, we are now flying first class ( well it is nearly 11 hours flight ) and we have got back over £500 from the tour operator so can do a few more excursions. 

hey ho, these things happen.... whatever will be, will be... etx, 

[Beachcomber]

We were due to go to the Lindo on 8th February but due to wilma First choice cancelled out holiday there but offered us the Bahia principe instead.  Seemed strange to us as the Lindo was accepting guests then.  We didn't accept their offer as we had set our hearts on the Lindo as we had previously stayed at the Del Mar.  They gave us our money back and we managed to get a late deal in Tenerife and spent the rest of the money on a holiday in the Maldives for February 2006.  Best of luck Billy.  Hope the Bahia is great.  The reviews for it on other forums are good.