easyJet compensation - tip

eyesy · 24 July 2006 at 2:45PM

I recently got a flight for two people on easyJet. On Saturday they cancelled my flight for "operational reasons" (I take this to mean that it was probably under-booked).

Whilst they offered me a free amendment to my flight or a full refund, I wanted something more. I checked the T&C and noticed something about the customer "may" being entitled to upto 250 Euro if: -

(a) The cancellation happens within two weeks of the flight - this was 11 days before the flight, and
(b) The only alternative flights are > 4 hours different from the original (in our case, 12 hours apart).

Phoned them up (found non-0871 number on https://www.saynoto0870.com - geographical number and completely skips the queue (which was already > 15 minutes at 9.05 am), after some confusion and denials they agreed I would be entitled to the compensation of 250 Euro. Then I realised that it's for two people - so I ended up with 500 Euro or £315.

This wasn't mentioned anywhere in the flight cancellation email and they never mentioned it on the phone - only when I asked them about it did they admit it, and even then they first said that I wasn't eligible for it.

Bearing in mind that the flight only cost about £125 for the pair of us, easyJet have effectively paid us almost £200 for the privilege of flying out with them. Result!

richardw · 24 July 2006 at 2:53PM

easyJet are cancelling flights because they do not have enough crews to operate them, nothing to do with being under booked.

Just shows that if you don't ask you don't get.

This situation is affecting many peoples' holidays, which is disappointing.

lily_the_pink · 24 July 2006 at 3:05PM

I was contemplating booking easyjet for my holiday next year - but will probably not do so due to all the cancellations. Are there any patterns to the cancellations - ie are any destinations safer from cancelation than others or is it just hit and miss?

o_t_e · 24 July 2006 at 3:54PM

I'm waiting to here if my Prague flight is goiing to be effected later this week - so far that route has been ok. The thing i find galling is that if you go to the website, which is supposed to be the primary source of information about easyjet, there's no mention of cancellations; the 'latest news' section reads like a Pravda piece on the successes of Stalins latest five year plan.

By the way Eysey do you have a link to that part of the terms and conditions?

WiseInvestor_2 · 24 July 2006 at 4:00PM

eyesy,

Well done for pushing for your entitlement according to the EU regulations.

It might be worth apologising to all those people who'd hoped to get a cheap flight in the future, when there are no 'low cost' airlines left once the Belgians have put them all out of business.

eyesy · 24 July 2006 at 4:09PM

For what it's worth, £300 odd quid for a rescheduled flight is much more than I expected - not that I'm complaining of course!

It's symptomatic though of no-frills operators in most industries - 10p minute customer services, premium rate lines, long call times etc. etc. are all necessary to give costs as low as possible, especially with such rulings. I suppose at the end of the day you get what you pay for.

When I found out that the flight had been cancelled, I was pretty peeved off because the only other flight they did that day was 12 hours later at 7.30pm, effectively wasting the first day of our holiday. However, now that I've got the money (or at least will have, it apparently takes 5-10 working days to action - why so long? I don't recall being able to tell them I'd pay them in 5-10 working days after ordering online!) I'm more than satisfied with the outcome.

o_t_e · 24 July 2006 at 4:22PM

WiseInvester surely you'd agree that 'low cost' should not mean low standards? While I'm sure eyesy appreciates being able to get some compensation, I'm equally sure he'd prefer to be travelling on the day and time that he planned and paid for. If Easyjet can't hold onto it's staff should eyesy be expected to grimace and bare it?

richardw · 24 July 2006 at 4:23PM

WiseInvestor wrote:

eyesy,

Well done for pushing for your entitlement according to the EU regulations.

It might be worth apologising to all those people who'd hoped to get a cheap flight in the future, when there are no 'low cost' airlines left once the Belgians have put them all out of business.

The oil price is probably more likely to do this rather than the EU.

WiseInvestor_2 · 24 July 2006 at 5:01PM

o_t_e,

Don't get me wrong, I think eyesy did the right thing. I'm just not sure the EU ruling is in the consumer's best interest. Forcing a budget carrier to pay customers to fly with them is hardly a successful business model now is it? Personally I couldn't care less because I never use them, simply because they never seem to go to where I need them to. The big carriers have been paying proper compensation for years, but they're not always operating in the consumer's best interests either - but they suit me.

richardw,

I disagree. Whilst the world is indeed grappling with record oil prices, the oil companies are making $billions in profits. There is only so much pain the world economy can take before governments start getting involved. It is true that there will be casualties along the way but there are solutions available to airlines to soften the blow (eg fuel hedging). Paying a planeload of passengers £300 to change their £100 tickets is, on the other hand, unsustainable.

alared · 26 July 2006 at 7:11AM

What was the Easyjet number you used that skipped the queue please?

andyinyorkshire · 26 July 2006 at 8:45AM

You should be able to get the EasyJet number through the https://www.saynoto0870.com search for easyjet using the company name. Under other information click on the Forum link... http://www.saynoto0870.com/cgi-bin/forum/YaBB.cgi?num=1104504432

easyJet compensation - tip

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