Cancelling a flight booked through STA Travel

[N860CR]

I was hoping someone has had some experience with STA Travel. I used them to book a SYD-SFO-SYD for 2 people departing in November. A few things have changed and I'm going to have to cancel the ticket. Now the fares rules state:
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Cancellations
Refunds on an unused ticket: Permitted

Cancellations before departure are subject to an STA Travel administration fee of AUD500. No refund is possible if you do not cancel your flights with STA Travel before you are due to leave.

Refunds on a partially used ticket: May be possible; in the event of not using the entire ticket, please contact STA Travel to determine whether a refund is due.
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That's all the information that was provided when I booked. The flights are with NZ and cost in total $3261 for both of us.

Now, If I were to cancel it, would I receive a refund of $2761? The way I read it is the fee is just the $500 and the rest will be refunded. Does this sound right. I've been trying to find time to contact them and didn't get a chance until 6:15 this evening (when I got a recording saying they "closed" at 7pm....)

I've called Air NZ and they said the ticket says all changes must be refered back to STA and they have no info on it.

I'm concerned they may try to tell me the $500 is "their" fee and the airline charge more, however nothing was or has been mentioned in any fare conditions.

When logging into Virtually There, the flight details are there, however the e-ticket receipt won't show and it says "ticket may not have been issued by agent". It was booked in Feb.

Any ideas?

 

[Mal]

Hmmm. Have no experience with STA, but...

"administration fee" normally is used as "over and above" any airline fee for cancellation/change. Most TA's normally charge around $50-$100+airline fee, so $500 sounds over the top if it's just an Admin fee.

Maybe they consider $500 enough to cover the airline fee as well as their own expenses for your fare? $400 to cancel a (refundable) ticket is about average.

Can you give any more details about the ticket? Fare basis etc? EF and similar websites should give some examples of similar cancellation fees, so more information can be gained to prepare you.

All that said, if they were to charge $500+Airline fee, I would not be happy and chase them until they reduced it to something reasonable.

 

[N860CR]

I don't have any info on the fare as such as it wasn't provided, however it is a student/under 26 fare which is only available through STA and not the airline directly if that's of any assistance. There was no mention at the time of booking of any additional airline fees.

 

[Travel Guru]

I have a feeling unfortunately, you're going to find that's just STA's cancellation fee.

On most NZ fares at the moment, the NZ cancellation portion is running at around $550, and STA then have to cover their commission plus a cancellation fee.

$500 on top of the airline is pretty outrageous though, and if it doesn't specify anywhere that airline cancellation fees are additional, then you've probably got a legal leg to stand on should they try and extort extra out of you.

TG

 

[N860CR]

It doesn't specify anywhere on the terms that airline charges are additional, however I'm sure if they call on it it will be burried somewhere.

Interestingly though, I've had a look at some of the other fares published and on one for example is says:

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Cancellations before departure are subject to an airline cancellation fee of AUD275 PLUS AN STA Travel admin fee of AUD500. No refund is possible if you do not cancel your flights with STA Travel before you are due to leave.
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So I guess you never know. I'll find out tomorrow one way or another, pretty poor that the call centre staff packed up and went home 45mins early though!

 

[N860CR]

Well turned out pretty good in the end. The $500 was the total cancellation fee (but per person). As the reservtion was for 2 people, they discounted my fee to $250 and then allowed me to use the other booking to rebook a different flight (on a different airline) for the other person I'm travelling with. For that they charged $150 plus the fare difference.

Overall pretty happy with STA on this one, very friendly and helpful.

 

[Travel Guru]

Well turned out pretty good in the end. The $500 was the total cancellation fee (but per person). As the reservtion was for 2 people, they discounted my fee to $250 and then allowed me to use the other booking to rebook a different flight (on a different airline) for the other person I'm travelling with. For that they charged $150 plus the fare difference.

Overall pretty happy with STA on this one, very friendly and helpful.

Good outcome!

TG