Ryanair cancelling flights....

roddabaz

My son and his girlfriend have had their travel plans scuppered by Ryanair too. They booked to fly from East Midlands to Marrakesh in April and have now been told that their flight is cancelled and alternative flights go from London Stansted, or Luton. When checking there are only flights from Stansted. Can they claim the travelling from Stoke and back (around £70) and the £50 airport parking fee, as they would have been dropped off at EMA and would not have needed to park their car for a week. What is it with Ryanair and all these flight alterations? What a shower they are!

Centipede100

roddabaz wrote: »

My son and his girlfriend have had their travel plans scuppered by Ryanair too. They booked to fly from East Midlands to Marrakesh in April and have now been told that their flight is cancelled and alternative flights go from London Stansted, or Luton. When checking there are only flights from Stansted. Can they claim the travelling from Stoke and back (around £70) and the £50 airport parking fee, as they would have been dropped off at EMA and would not have needed to park their car for a week. What is it with Ryanair and all these flight alterations? What a shower they are!

If the option of flying from STN is not attractive, then you could suggest to Ryanair that they transfer you to an Easyjet flight from Manchester to Marrakesh as this would be more convenient for you than flying from STN.

Regulation 261/2004 Article 8 states (in the event of cancellation) that:

Article 8

Right to reimbursement or re-routing

1. Where reference is made to this Article, passengers shall be offered the choice between:

(a) - reimbursement within seven days, by the means provided for in Article 7(3), of the full cost of the ticket at the price at which it was bought, for the part or parts of the journey not made, and for the part or parts already made if the flight is no longer serving any purpose in relation to the passenger's original travel plan, together with, when relevant,

- a return flight to the first point of departure, at the earliest opportunity;

(b) re-routing, under comparable transport conditions, to their final destination at the earliest opportunity; or

(c) re-routing, under comparable transport conditions, to their final destination at a later date at the passenger's convenience, subject to availability of seats.

2. Paragraph 1(a) shall also apply to passengers whose flights form part of a package, except for the right to reimbursement where such right arises under Directive 90/314/EEC.

3. When, in the case where a town, city or region is served by several airports, an operating air carrier offers a passenger a flight to an airport alternative to that for which the booking was made, the operating air carrier shall bear the cost of transferring the passenger from that alternative airport either to that for which the booking was made, or to another close-by destination agreed with the passenger.

Whether Ryanair choose to play ball is a different matter but what I have stated above is the law.

And no, the airline won't reimburse the car travel or parking fee.

FreeRider

Ian 41,

I didn't realise you were the MoneySavingExpert police and that there was a limit in which i can post my concerns. If you were that good at policing you would have been correct in your observations which claimed that i had posted the same comments at least three times, wrong you are incorrect. I think you will find it is twice, i posted once on a thread and then started my own thread. I will continue to do such posts if i feel that i need help and i will not miss you comments, so thank you for your withdrawal of help, much appreciated in fact!

Alisha2008

I had a similar issue with Ryanair last week, my flights Gatwick-Madrid were cancelled. Luckily I could book with Easyjet for not much more, and I asked for a refund.

I doubt very very much Ryanair will pay for anything else, or for booking other flights, but good luck to those who try!!

zash

Hi there,
I am new to this forum, but read for a few hours now. Our Ryanair flights form Leipzig to Faro were cancelled with 14 days notice. As our accomodation etc. is booked I would like to fly (no travel insurance!!!). What are my legal options?
1. Can I ask Ryanair to re-route on 2 of their flights instead of the direct one? I.e. Berlin-Stansted & Stansted-Faro?

2. In case they fail to re-route: Can I book on a different airline also a day or 2 before the scheduled departure of my cancelled flight and then claim the money from Ryanair?

3. Can I book on a different airline on the same day, but 2 different airports? I.e. Berlin - Lisbon instead of Leipzig-Faro (as original with Ryanair)? Would Ryanair still have to refund that too?

Or am I generally stuck to fly on the same day to the same airports? Basically my question is: how much flexibility does this "re-routing under comparable transport conditions" give you?

I'm glad to hear any voices! Thanks,
Sascha

luci

You are entitled to a re-routing or refund. They will no pay if you book with another airline and try to claim consequential losses.

zash

Hi Luci,

as far as I understand from all the forum posts re-routing can be with another airline. See:

(b) re-routing, under comparable transport conditions, to their final destination at the earliest opportunity; or

(c) re-routing, under comparable transport conditions, to their final destination at a later date at the passenger's convenience, subject to availability of seats.

BUT does it have to be on the exact same route? Or can I fly to another airport close to my final destination, if the connections are better and the flight is much cheaper?

And: Can I fly a day or two earlier if I choose to go down the other airline option?

ian41

luci wrote: »

You are entitled to a re-routing or refund

That is right under EC Reg 261/2004 Article 8

They will no pay if you book with another airline and try to claim consequential losses.

IMO that's not quite right. It is always very difficult to extract money from Ryanair - apart from a refund under certain circumstances. However, under the Regulation you are entitled to a re-routing and if Ryanair are unable to provide a re-routing under Art 8 b or c

(b) re-routing, under comparable transport conditions, to their final destination at the earliest opportunity; or

then you would be able to ask Ryanair to re-route you on another airline and if they say refuse, then you could book and seek to recover those flight costs, generally through legal action. This option is a hassle and is not recommended for the faint-hearted or those seeking either a quick or easy solution.

No airline will pay for any consequential losses.

Zash - Ryanair has had a spate of cancellations recently and has been very flexible in terms of changing dates and routes (even more expensive routes FOC) to accommodate affected passengers - but only on Ryanair flights. As a point-to-point airline they might or might not consider a re-routing via Stansted. Work out what is right for you and then call them.

That's my view.

zash

Hi Ian,

thank you for your reply. I called Ryanair the other day. They were not very forthcoming in routing me via Stansted, they just offered one flight from some other German airport. That's when I started looking for help.

If I fly from another airport in Germany to my destination with Ryanair, I will incurr a cost for the train and eventually and overnight stay. As far as I could follow other threads I should be able to claim that money from them. Is that correct? What if they do not agree to cover the costs for train and overnight stay? Would I then be able to book with another airline? If that is the case does it need to be the exact same route?

zash

Hi all,

so Ryanair will only offer a direct flight with them. NO re-routing via another of their airports/flights! I am happy to fly from a different German airport, but I could not get Ryanair to send me a confirmation that they will cover the extra expenses to get to that different airport. Will I be able to claim the travel expenses on the train and bus/taxi that I will incurr? It will be around 100€ per flight (I/my partner had in total 3 flights cancelled).

Any advice is appreciated!