Ryanair changed flight, offering credit - Advice?

hotnuts21

Hi Guys,

Im feeling a mix of anger, frustration and of being let down. I arranged a romantic week away for me and girlfriend after what has been a really crappy couple of years.

I saw ryanair were doing a £1 per flight offer and I managed with all fees etc to get a return trip to Prague for 2 for £30, leaving Thur 1st Oct and returning Wed 7th Oct. Car parking booked, Hotels Booked the worked.

I got an email today from Ryanair saying 'notification of flight change' no sorry or anything, and it says flight has been changed, click here to accept. Then click here to get credit or click here to get refund, the new details are way at the bottom of the email. For a start I can really see someone clicking the first link to find out whats going on and they have accepted the changes!

I believe the credit is just for what I paid against another flight if I take that option, and looking at their website no flights anywhere around that date are as nearly priced, I feel like this has been done to get more money out of me.

My original flight was the Thursday midday, allowing us late afternoon evening in Prague, this new flight is much later on the Friday so we miss Friday afternoon too and holiday is suddenly a lot shorter. I did ask if they could change the return date for free, but they will only change it to the Friday which means another night in the hotel to pay for, plus im supposed to be going away to Ireland that day

We will loose the parking and the hotel 1 night as it was a special (albeit still expensive) offer for the nights.

Sorry im just venting my annoyance, anyone else had their flights changed? This happen often? Maybe cheap flights are just too good to be true. Do you think they should just credit me a 'flight to prague' on dates that suit me or is that unrealistic?

Paul

dmg24

No, they will not credit you with a flight to Prague at any time, they will credit you with the price you paid.

Do Ryanair fly to Prague from another airport that is reasonably close to home? They may let you change departure airport at no extra charge, we have done before.

This is a chance that you take with any airline when booking DIY I'm afraid.

stoneman

dmg24 wrote: »

This is a chance that you take with any airline when booking DIY I'm afraid.

No it isn't! VA, BA, AA, United, AF, Delta would ALL try and accommodate you, offer to put you on flights that would be more sutible, shift around returns, sort out connectiions (if ticketed through). Read my signature.;)

PolishBigSpender

stoneman wrote: »

No it isn't! VA, BA, AA, United, AF, Delta would ALL try and accommodate you, offer to put you on flights that would be more sutible, shift around returns, sort out connectiions (if ticketed through). Read my signature.;)

Of course.

All those airlines will also take considerable amounts off you for the 'privilege' of getting your connections sorted.

What's the issue anyway? Ryanair have changed one of your flights and offered you a full, unconditional refund. Can't ask for more, can you?

To the original poster - you booked Ryanair flights on the understanding that you are booking single flights. They're a point to point airline - they don't 'do' returns.

robin123_2

PolishBigSpender wrote: »

Of course.


What's the issue anyway? Ryanair have changed one of your flights and offered you a full, unconditional refund. Can't ask for more, can you?

To the original poster - you booked Ryanair flights on the understanding that you are booking single flights. They're a point to point airline - they don't 'do' returns.

"What's the issue anyway?" Did you actually read the original post? The fact is that Ryanair, acting as they are entitled to do, have ruined his holiday, or at least got if off to a very bad start.

Clearly, from your point of view, you shouldn't be upset if this happens to you as Ryanair are entitled to do it. And as long as Ryanair are entitled to do something, then thats fine.

PolishBigSpender

robin123 wrote: »

"What's the issue anyway?" Did you actually read the original post? The fact is that Ryanair, acting as they are entitled to do, have ruined his holiday, or at least got if off to a very bad start.

Ryanair have offered him alternative flights or a full refund. Seems fair enough to me. If he didn't want to take chances and wanted peace of mind, then I'm sure Thomas Cook would have sold him a nice holiday.

Clearly, from your point of view, you shouldn't be upset if this happens to you as Ryanair are entitled to do it. And as long as Ryanair are entitled to do something, then thats fine.

You've got it. I have a travel insurance policy to cover such eventualities.

hotnuts21

All fair points, and like i said in my original post, you get what you pay for.
I was just very annoyed and upset that my holiday had gotten off to a bad start before it was started, and wondered if many other people had been messed about who took up the offer.

I also think the way they handled it, regardless of how much you pay was wrong, there was not the word sorry or unfortunately in the email anywhere. It just said your flights been changed, you need to tell everyone in your party. I would think they could be a little more understanding as anyone who has flights booked is probably going there on that date for a reason! So changing the dates is going to be an issue!

Holiday insurance i was going to book this weekend!! I have a medical condition which means its very difficult to find insurance that will cover me so I dont have a rolling yearly policy I have to get it individually each time I travel and its a lot of work to find one that will cover me, 3 major hospital visits in 2 years and some rather nasty surgery tends to put them off. Hence why we were looking for a nice holiday to put the past behind us! (hopefully)

lufcgirl

I can totally understand your frustration OP at the holiday not getting off to the best start possible, and an apology from Ryanair would have been some way appropiate.

Looking at it now though, theres not much in terms of what you can do. As said before, and probably the best thing to do is to try contacting Ryanair and see if they can change your departure airport so you can still fly on the date you chose originally. Or accept the changes and take the flights.

Good luck, and I hope you have a good holiday regardless!

zidanee

I am in a sort of similar situation right now. I've had everything arranged for a weekend in Brussels for myself and 6 other people who were flying into the country first to spend couple of days in UK and then go to Brussels with me. Ryanair has cancelled most of the flights. That's brilliant for them to sell £1.00 tickets that we purchased in JULY to cancel them in September when all alternative journeys through the same Ryanair are much more expensive!! I think it's sort of a tactical move - I don't believe that 2 months ago they did not know that they were going to cancel all flights from Manchester!!

Anyway, they do not want to give us an alternative flight through Dublin and they are offering a refund. But that's just stupid considering that new tickets will cost 10x more!

Is there any chance to tie this in to EU Regulation 261/200?
Under EU law you are entitled to
A refund of the full price you paid for your ticket within seven days for the part or parts of your journey not made (and for the part or parts already made if the flight is no longer serving any purpose in relation to your original travel plan) and a return flight to the departure airport as soon as possible.
or
Re-routing to your final destination as soon as possible or, if you agree, at a later date. (If the airline flies you to another airport in your destination city then they must pay for the transfer to the airport you were booked for or to another close-by point of your choice)


Can I force them to re-route the travel instead of the refund?

Thanks

Shona99

zidanee wrote: »

I am in a sort of similar situation right now. I've had everything arranged for a weekend in Brussels for myself and 6 other people who were flying into the country first to spend couple of days in UK and then go to Brussels with me. Ryanair has cancelled most of the flights. That's brilliant for them to sell £1.00 tickets that we purchased in JULY to cancel them in September when all alternative journeys through the same Ryanair are much more expensive!! I think it's sort of a tactical move - I don't believe that 2 months ago they did not know that they were going to cancel all flights from Manchester!!

Anyway, they do not want to give us an alternative flight through Dublin and they are offering a refund. But that's just stupid considering that new tickets will cost 10x more!

Is there any chance to tie this in to EU Regulation 261/200?
Under EU law you are entitled to
A refund of the full price you paid for your ticket within seven days for the part or parts of your journey not made (and for the part or parts already made if the flight is no longer serving any purpose in relation to your original travel plan) and a return flight to the departure airport as soon as possible.
or
Re-routing to your final destination as soon as possible or, if you agree, at a later date. (If the airline flies you to another airport in your destination city then they must pay for the transfer to the airport you were booked for or to another close-by point of your choice)


Can I force them to re-route the travel instead of the refund?

Thanks

There are some people who are looking at the strict legal interpretation of Art 5 and 8 of EC 261/2004 rather than "exchange of opinions" on the macro economics of airline operations or what they think the relevant legal provisions "say" or "should say"- without presumably any reference to the legislation itself. Or alternatively what the carrier "offers" as if this is the same thing as to what the law may provide.

Have a look at this thread
http://www.flightmole.com/forum/showthread.php?t=614

The pertinent aspect is- as you say-how do you force a reasoned examination of the issue?

(Incidentally just because someone says that bank charges are "unfair" or "unlawful " does not make such bank charges such-this can only be expressed as an opinion (valid or not) until determined. Ultimately it is up to the appropriate court or appeal court to make that determination-or indeed allow an appropriate State body to be allowed to make such a determination).

PolishBigSpender

zidanee wrote: »

Can I force them to re-route the travel instead of the refund?

With Ryanair, frankly speaking, no. You could attempt to go down the litigation route, but that could see you up against the best muscle that Ryanair have - and with the uncertain nature of EU regulations (as far as I know, they've never been tested in a UK court!), you might not succeed.

As they say, you pays your monies and you takes your choices.

Shona99 - that's one of the best posts I've ever read on here, thank you!