Our youngest daughter, Natasha, is rowing in the women’s eight at the Olympics in Beijing. At great expense, we booked four flights (for myself, my wife and two other daughters) so we could support her, but our eldest had to back out after becoming pregnant.

In April, we contacted British Airways to ask for a refund, but were told we could not have one, despite the circumstances. It admitted that the seat could be sold on at a higher price, which made the situation even more galling. My wife’s sister agreed to take our daughter’s place. I spoke to three BA customer-services staff, but all said that we could not change the name on the ticket. David Page, Gloucester

British Airways replies: “We apologise for the difficulties that the customer has faced. Given the circumstances, we should have offered a refund. Although we do not normally allow customers to change names, as a gesture of goodwill, we are willing to reissue the ticket in the name of another member of the family.”

One week before our Classical Spain tour, my wife tripped and broke her femur, requiring surgery. Our insurer settled our £1,058 cancellation claim with a cheque for £658, having deducted “the applicable excess of £200pp”. Shocked, I checked out the small print, which, sure enough, stated: “the first £200 of each and every claim... per person aged between 70 and 84 years”. This compares with £40 each for those aged up to 65. It hardly seems fair. Brian Clements, Andover

A friend from South Carolina who is coming to the UK booked a Saab 1.9 sport automatic through Europcar for $376.90 (£190). I thought this sounded too cheap for a week’s car hire, and that she may have confused pounds and dollars, but she sent me the confirmation e-mail and she was right. Out of interest, I tried to make the same booking for the same car, times, length of hire, pickup and drop-off points. I was quoted £430.50. Europcar said that the difference depended on factors such as conditions in the source and destination markets, and that rates for US customers exclude collision damage and theft waivers, which are covered by their credit card. I’m still not sure how they justify charging us double - another case of rip-off Britain? Terry Edwards, London

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