Low cost airlines not low cost

No1Alicat

Last Sept I booked fliughts for myself and 2 daughters to fly to Poland at New year to stay with friends. Because of the time of year, the flights were over £600 but the best I could find.

Just before Christmas my friend's little boy was taken into hospital. Unfortunately a pre-existing medical condition, therefore not covered by my travel insurance.

I contacted the airline, who have a 'no refunds' policy and asked for advice. I also explained that I am a single parent.

Despite much further correspondence, the situation remains thus. I couldn't get any refund, either full or partial. Even on baggage, tax etc for the flights we didn't travel on.

I exchanged the flights to fly at Easter. The cost, had I booked directly, was just over £300 - so almost half the cost of the original flights.

On top of this, I had to pay an admin fee of £17 per person, per flight - ie. £102. My flights now cost me over £700.

Now, I acknowledge that I am the party breaking the original contract, but it seems to me that the terms are highly unfair; I was locked in - either not take the flights, and lose the £600+, or transfer them, and pay an additional £100 for flights which were cheaper anyway.

The company (RyanAir) are based in Eire, so challenging this in court would mean European court and very expensive. I have also been reliably informed that there would have been a high chance, when I cancelled the New Year flights and swapped to fly at easter, that the original seats would have been re-sold.

It's sickening. And looks like there is nothing I can do (other than never book with the same airline again).

Alison
x

student100

As you pointed out yourself, you agreed to those terms when you formed the contract. The fact you are breaking the contract now due to circumstances that you didn't anticipate is not Ryanair's problem; they have done nothing wrong.

dunx

Student100 is correct about the contractual situation, and you are right that challenging Ryanair would be costly and complex, and certainly not assured of success.

There is an important point you are raising here, and it's a valuable one. The no-frills airlines are exactly that, and they consider customer service to be a frill. They are only low cost for the traveller who is able to flex their arrangements to fit in with the many and various cheap flights offered, and who then doesn't need to change the arrangements.

If you have no flexibility in your plans when it comes to the time to book you may find (as indeed you did) that the fares are not low at all. In these circumstances do not limit your search to the low frills airlines - scheduled (full service) flights are often cheaper, and the conditions less restrictive, and they might even treat you like a human being.

So if low frills isn't low cost for your journey, don't forget the scheduled airlines - you may be pleasantly surprised. (Based on personal experience, finding Olympic Airways 25% cheaper than Easyjet for a flight to Athens).

student100

There's perhaps a lesson to be learned for anyone that might be reading (I'm not meaning to get at the OP in any way). Most people shop around on the basis of price (or reputation for low price) alone. They see terms and conditions as one of those inconvenient pages of nonsense that you have to agree to anyway.

In fact the terms and conditions detail the contract you are forming, and the price is only one very small term in the contract.

Maybe if people were more aware of the T&Cs - and shopped for things on the basis of the full contract terms rather than just the price - the airlines wouldn't get away with harsh terms quite as easily. But of course it would take forever - and a reasonable ability to comprehend legalistic English - to shop for anything...

Voyager2002

Another important lesson from your experience is to take out travel insurance as soon as you have booked your flights or whatever. Travel insurance usually covers you against this sort of tragic circumstance that forces you to cancel your holiday. It costs the same whether you buy it the day before you travel, or months ahead, but as soon as you have bought it you are covered for cancellations.

No1Alicat

Voyager2002 wrote:

Another important lesson from your experience is to take out travel insurance as soon as you have booked your flights or whatever. Travel insurance usually covers you against this sort of tragic circumstance that forces you to cancel your holiday. It costs the same whether you buy it the day before you travel, or months ahead, but as soon as you have bought it you are covered for cancellations.

I have an annual policy, so that wasn't a problem - but unfortunately my friend's son was hospitalised for a pre-existing medical condition, so we weren't covered on that part.

As I said in my original post, yes, I realise I was breaking the terms of the original contract. However, isn't this a similar situation to banks charging £35 for tiny breaches of overdrafts etc? In other words, an unfair term. After all, I bought the tickets online, RyanAir being a ticketless airline sent an automatic email confirmation, and my flight changes were made and issued in exactly the same way - hence, I feel that the admin charge is excessive in comparison to the actual cost to the organisation in question, notwithstanding the fact that they wouldn't even refund taxes and baggage charges!!

Having done quite a bit of reading about the company in question since this happened, I do feel that they overstep the mark - frills or no frills.