I booked a ticket back in early July - it was a good deal - and 2 weeks ago had a message from my agent indicating a change of flight from 27 to 29 November. No reason, yet I could still book a flight on the 27th by going online elsewhere! All rather odd?! Last time I used PAL they were 2 hours late into Heathrow and I missed a bus connection. This meant buying a new ticket at £31. All PAL could offer was air miles. They completely ignored my request based upon onboard advice that i could seek reimbursement on their website.
I never had any problems with them in 'the old days'... before they lost their permit or whatever it is, to fly into Europe. Even then, they were known as 'Plane Always Late' though. I have since lost track of who owns them... and I am able to avail of much cheaper (if slightly longer overall) flights from Manchester, which is far more convenient for me. Once I have established prices, through Skyscanner, Kayak, etc, I book direct with the airline, even though that may cost me 20 or 30 quid more. I feel more secure, entrusting them with my booking and my credit card. Sometimes I am able to use my air miles too. Perhaps PAL were overbooked ? .
Seats on the 27th Nov flight from LHR to MNL are still available from the PAL website, they are more expensive than flights on the 29th. Your flight has not been cancelled, it seems like "somebody", not the airline, has decided to move your ticket to a less expensive date rather than the date that you paid for. Was your original "ticket" actually issued, did you have a proper ticket (or e-ticket) with a "ticket number" not a "confirmation number" on it? If not I suspect that your agent may have messed up, held your payment back for too long, and now expects you to suffer for their mistake. Escalate the problem with the agent, if they are ABTA registered I guess you might consider raising a complaint through ABTA, I have no experience in that area. Regardless, the agent is at fault, never use that travel agent again, as Graham says it is generally better to book direct with the airline.
Well certainly when I book online with my usual choices (Emirates, Etihad or Qatar), minutes after having completed the forms, chosen seats, given credit card details, etc, the e-ticket is in my email inbox, ready for printing out. I keep copies of the e-ticket .pdf file on my cloud (dropbox) storage, and other devices too. I also make sure I have the airline's app' on my phones and tablet. No problems so far... touch wood.
