A Nigerian traveller reports that Lyca Fly, a London based regulated travel agency and ticketing agent insists she pays £453 to change her travel dates that was disrupted by the coronavirus lockdown.
The middle-class mother of two argued she never intended to change her date but airports have been closed due to the coronavirus-lockdown ‘wahala’ (trouble), but the Lyca Fly says they are also hard hit by the lockdown consequences.
She provided her ticket details as: Me: 9323310285605, 1st child: 9323310285606, 2nd child: 9323310285607
HER FULL COMPLAINT
“I booked three Virgin Atlantic tickets via Lycafly from London to South Africa for me and my two children (economy class) and due to the current Covid-19 situation, I called Lycafly to either refund my money or change my flight from May 2020 to February 2021, as I do not know how long the pandemic situation will be for. And clearly I do not want to risk my life and that of my children.
As clearly, my travel plans are currently impacted by Covid-19 outbreak. To my utmost surprise, I was told that a refund is not possible and if I have to change my tickets to the aforementioned date, I will have to pay an extra £453 after paying £1598
initially for our tickets.
I am very disappointed at how Lycafly has decided to handle this situation. I understand that Lycafly might be struggling with a lot at the moment but there is need for your company to react differently as the government is issuing different advice regarding the effects of Covid-19.
In a situation that is changing hour by hour due to the Covid-19 emergency, I believe it is more critical for travel companies to keep in touch with their customers.”
She also cited that: Lycafly’s policy on Page 8 stated that:
LycaFly Administration Fees for Cancellations and Amendments by
the Customer
6.5 LycaFly will deduct an administrative amount to meet Lycafly own costs of processing a refund or processing an amendment as follows:
Flight Change: GBP 100.00 per traveller
Flight Cancellation: GBP 100.00 per traveller
Hotel Change: GPB up to 100.00 per traveller
Hotel Cancellation: Full deposit
However, Virgin Atlantic, the airline she is to fly with writes on their website that travellers’ tickets will be kept open until they are ready to rebook – at no extra fees.
She decries Lycafly service as: “unacceptable!! as they are just out there to make money for themselves and not give refunds to vulnerable people.”
Hopefully, matters like this will be sorted fairly with other people affected likewise.
We reach out to Lycafly on: [email protected] – an email on their website for their side of the story.
