Flight Sold Out - 7 1/2 months before wedding

[dayna_123]

We flew through Sunquest last year for a friends wedding, it was also so close to being sold out then at the last minute Sunquest would release more seats. This went on a few times before departure....maybe you will get lucky..

[midnight24]

i'm really surprised to hear this happened because it's so far in advance.

 

have you given any thought to contacting another travel agent just to make sure the info you are receiving is accurate?

 

reason i say this, is i've had a situation in the past with one TA trying to push us to book something saying it was sold out and it wasn't, not even close when i contacted another company. just a thought.

 

also, just be honest with your guests what the situation is. they have 7 1/2 months to arrange plans to get their if they really want to go.

 

we didn't end up booking a group rate deal for our resort for several reasons. one because of this type of situations.

 

good luck. things will work out.

[Cindy*]

Thanks Ladies. We have made sure that everyone knows exactly how many rooms are left at the resort and what the other flight options are. We have laid it all out very clearly for them. There are other flights but they are all more expensive and have connections. I am hoping that people will book and not complain, but I know we will definitely lose some people.

 

I appreciate the point about checking with another ta, but we have already done that and we are getting the same response about the flight. I'm sure it will all work out but today I am just feeling very frustrated with it all. We tried so hard to make it all stress free and today was just very stressful. Thank you all for your support.

[Jackie22]

Sorry to hear that. This is the last thing you need while trying to plan a wedding. Ugh stress!

[Cindy*]

So my ta has been really good in trying to fix this and we got some great news news today. She has managed to get the resort only rate lowered enough that if people book now, they will get the resort and flight for only about $80 more than what we paid for the package. They will still have a longer travel time, connections and have to arrange their own hotel transfer, but at least the price isn't so bad. I am still sad that everyone isn't travelling together but at least everyone can still get there at a comparable price. I think I have to just let it go. If our guests want to come, they will get there.

[Island Bride]

oh no! Yeah we had a call the other day that my FI's great aunt tried to book a room and they told her they were sold out! They said they even sold out our 10 rooms we paid for, for our wedding party and us!! So I know how it feels Luckily ours was resolved and I hope yours gets resolved too! good luck girlie!

[~Crista-Lee~]

That is crazy! I can't believe that far out that it's sold out. My wedding is two weeks after yours in the Mayan Riveria, also departing from Toronto. This makes me want to call all my guests now and tell them to get on it. I'm glad it worked out for you! It just goes to show... people need to book early.

[Angel-in-Law]

*sigh* Thanks for posting this. I will keep this in mind when reminding people to book early! Hopefully because friends and family will be flying from all across the US the flights won't be a problem for me.

[EmmaGaussoin]

I'm so sorry that happened! My wedding is around the same time. That makes me wat to make sure my guests get on booking ASAP! I didn't realize that it can book up that fast! Good luck to you!

[BeautifulBridetoBe]

I have a Sunquest horror story that began like yours...NOT TO FRIGHTEN YOU, but to let you know what happened to me last year and what you can do about it.

 

Six months before my wedding, Sunquest said the flight was sold out. We were getting married at the RIU Palace Macao and Sunquest is the exclusive provider of the RIU resorts in Canada. We were shocked...so early in advance?

 

And so we other arrangements for our guests of land only with Sunquest and other flights from other carriers. Then suddenly, the flight was available again....and more guests booked...weird, no?

 

Then the bomb really dropped...7 weeks before the wedding...the flight was not sold out...or back on....But CANCELLED!!!! Due to financial restraints in this recession, Sunquest was sending fewer planes to the Dominican Republic. NO PLANE was traveling to the DR via Sunquest FOR MY ENTIRE WEDDING WEEK. We had deposits paid in the DR that were not refundable for THAT WEEK and international guests flying to the DR for that week! My wedding with the resort was booked a year prior (and you know how hard it can be to get availability at a resort...you have to do this monhs in advance!!!) I was in shock....what now?

 

Let's talk disaster!!! - Remember I said that we had booked other people on other flights? Well, they were now outta luck! There was no way we could get them refunded. My international guests were booked for that week from their countries...no changes there.

 

My TA at Flight Centre told me she was doing everything she could. Sunquest would not budge on the dates and I would have to change my wedding date. Recall, I said that Sunquest is the exclusive provider of the RIUs in Canada...so we were at their mercy. Our guests were livid...they would have lost money as they were travelling with other carriers and would have to cancel and many of them would not get to attend the wedding with the date change.

 

So I did what any destination bride, 7 weeks from her wedding date with this fiasco would do! I GOT MAD and got on my computer. I researched Sunquest/ Thomas Cook Travel and found out who their top executives were....Thank God for the internet.

 

And I sent EVERY top executive an email: the CEO, the VP of marketing, the VP of sales, the supervisor of Group Sales all the way down to my TA. I told them that they had ruined my wedding with their "sold-out" fiasco and now cancellation of the flight! I learned that "sold out" is often what they put just to stop selling seats when their schedules are not confirmed.

 

And I waited.

 

The very next morning, my TA asked me what I had done and told me that I had "lit a fire" at Sunquest! Apparently, the executives were not impressed that the CEO got this email and were now working to fix my situation.

 

We fought for 5 days with them, going back and forth.

 

In the end, it all worked out.

 

We asked for:

 

1. a plane to fly on our original dates

2. refunds for all of our guests that had to book seperate flights and separate accomodations

3. everyone on the same plane!

4. they would honour the "21st person goes free" promotion...as a result of the date changes, we only had 18 adults that were going.

 

We got:

1. a plane that went down 4 days later (same week, we just shifted wedding date)

2. refunds for all of our guests that booked separately

3. everyone on the same plane

4. they honoured the "21st person goes free" promotion, even though we only had 18

5. $100 gift vouchers for our guests

6.$200 gift vouchers for us

 

We were the only wedding that got this, as other weddings were also affected. It pays to stand up for yourself!

 

So, not to freak you out, but to let you know that if it seems to be going this way, send me a PM....I have all of the emails you need!

 

Good luck!