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I booked a return 2-leg trip with a European Airline (TAP Air - Portugal) via a Travel Agency website.

I got a notification that the times of one of the flights changed, and after looking at the times it seemed to me that the change was only 5 minutes. I went to the airline website and clicked that I accepted this change.

I then noticed that the date of the flight had actually changed to the next day, which didn't suit at all.

I received a link from the travel agency asking if I accept the change also, and on this email I clicked a link requesting a full refund of the trip.

The agency has requested a refund from the airline, and I am currently waiting to see if that would be accepted, but they cannot immediately say I'll get the refund because I clicked the link.

If my refund is refused, do I have any legal right to get the refund since I clicked that link?

A couple of points to note:

  • I immediately rang the airline after I discovered my mistake and they said I had to talk to the travel agency
  • I would have booked an outgoing flight with another carrier, taken the return flight and kept the booking if they allowed that, but they explictly stated that I couldn't take the return flight if I didn't travel on the outgoing flight
  • The airline website was in Portugese and had no option to translate from the link that the sent me. Someone could easily click that link instinctively thinking they were accepting cookies.
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If my refund is refused, do I have any legal right to get the refund since I clicked that link?

Probably not. As far as the airline is concerned, they have done what they are required to. They offered you re-routing and you accepted it. For them the case is closed.

If you are lucky the airline will accept the cancellation for a refund, but this is mostly in their own discretion (and depends on how hard the travel agent will be pushing, if at all).

For future reference (sorry, this is hindsight):

  • Always book directly with the airline if any possible. Otherwise you may end up in customer service limbo (the airlines blames the travel agent and vice versa)
  • Flight change notices are often surprisingly difficult to read. It's typically easier to just look up the new itinerary on the airline's website and compare with the previous one.
  • Initially, many airlines will offer you a re-routing that's cheapest for them, not most convenient for you. But that's entirely negotiable (see https://travel.stackexchange.com/a/194486/13971)
  • Personally I see a flight change as an opportunity to see what other options are out there and on occasions ended up with something better than the original flight.
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    In German law a mistake in a binding declaration starting or amending a contract can be reversed if one immediately notifies the receiving party. Is that different in Portuguese law or are you just guessing? Commented Apr 2 at 18:29
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    @DonQuiKong: Fair question. I'm guessing what stance the airline will take. The legal aspects are complicated. First you have to figure out which legislation applies: Portugal, dep. country, arrival country, residence of the traveler, legal location of the travel agent (TA), etc. The TA complicated matters further: it's often unclear who has a contract with whom and whose terms apply. Example: US mandates a 24 hour free cancellation period for flights in/out of the US. However, this ONLY applies to airlines not to travel agents. Commented Apr 2 at 22:35

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