Last year, June 2007, my husband and I were...

Last year, June 2007, my husband and I were meant to fly from London to Dalaman(Turkey) on Flythomascook, but were unable to do so due to an illness. In Aug 07, we requested a letter from them stating that we had not taken that flight, showing our fare as £62.98, and taxes as £81.95 p person. We have now learnt from the media that we can claim the taxes back. Is it too late for that? Is it worth our flight claiming this back,considering their admin charges? Thx.

In theory, yes it is possible to claim back taxes direct from airlines, however, the high administration fees tend to make this pointless. In the case of Flythomascook, there is no possibility of doing this at all. Their terms and conditions state:

• If you need to cancel your booking we will charge 100% of the booking cost plus a £20/€27.00 administration charge if documentation for insurance purposes is required. Flythomascook.com does not allow part cancellations to passengers, dates, times or routes of any flight.
  
• From 1st April 2008, £1.00 per person of the cost of air holiday packages or flights as appropriate (excluding published fare flights) is paid to the Civil Aviation Authority to provide ATOL protection to you. This means the money you have paid for these arrangements is fully protected. Please ensure you retain a copy of your booking receipt and confirmation invoice. Please note this charge is also non-refundable if you cancel your booking.
  

The best you can do is to make a claim against your travel insurance policy.

28 April 2008