Ryanair cancelling flights....

ian41

zash wrote: »

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!

Sascha

When Ryanair cancelled/re-scheduled other flights recently, they have sent an email detailing alternative flights or giving you the option of a refund.

Did you receive such an email and what specific re-route options did Ryanair offer you? What was their explanation for the cancellation?

If I was in your shoes, I would want to make sure that Ryanair understand fully that I want

1. A re-route with Ryanair from Leipzig to Faro on the same day.
or failing that

2. A re-route with Ryanair from Leipzig to Faro on the preceding day
or failing that

3. A re-route with Ryanair from Leipzig to Faro on the following day
or failing that

4. A re-route with another airline from Leipzig to Faro on the same day (give full details flights, times and cost)
or failing that

5. A re-route with Ryanair from another (close-by) German City (B) to Faro on the same day with Ryanair's prior agreement to pay the cost of tranferring me from Leipzig to airport B as specified under Art 8.3.
or failing that

6. A re-route with Ryanair from Leipzig to another (close-by) Portuguese airport (C) on the same day with Ryanair's prior agreement to pay the cost of transferring me from C to Faro as specified under Art 8.3

Now if Ryanair refuse to do any of the above or something very similar, then of course you do have the right to arrange flights yourself to complete your holiday and reclaim the cost of the re-route from them. But IMO it is 99.9% certain that you will have to take legal action to recover any monies from Ryanair and it is not unlikely that Ryanair will defend such action - because they know most claimants will not follow through with action.

Can I fly to another airport close to my final destination, if the connections are better and the flight is much cheaper?

Much cheaper than what? If that new flight was OK for you and cheaper than your Ryanair flight, its simple - just ask Ryanair for a refund and buy the new flights. Once you have a refund from Ryanair your contract has ended and you can fly whereever you wish with any airline on any date.

Perhaps you mean much cheaper than the cost of the cheapest flight from Leipzig to Faro with another airline? First things first. It is incumbent on you to find the cheapest re-routing from Leipzig to Faro - take a screenshot of this and get a quote for this flight emailed to you. If you can then find a cheaper re-routing by using close-by airports, then you will be able to substantiate this in your reduced claim on Ryanair.

Remember to be very careful not to use the word "refund" in any conversation with Ryanair unless you want a refund.

That is how I would interpret the Regulation and your situation but that is irrelevant as you need to come to your own conclusions. So accept, reject or suitably amend my view as you see fit.

Hope that might help you.

zash

Wow Ian,
that was very comprehensive. Ryanair stated no reason except for "operational review" and the last flight out of Leipzig is on the 25th of March which is not suitable for me (kids still in school). They did not detail any alternative flights.

Only option 4 and 5 are possible in my case. So I have to see if I want to risk option 4 and chase the money from Ryanair (but quite likely I do not have the funds to dish out for some other, quite expensive flights right now). But hopefully with this armed I can get them to agree to cover the cost if I choose option 5.

And yes, I meant cheaper flight from another start airport than Leipzig.

Thanks for this very detailed breakdown of options. I hope it will help other people too! I will post my experiences once it is "all over"!

ian41

So they cancelled by email but did not offer you any alternative flights?

Did they ask you to call to discuss alternative flights - if so where did you have to call - a German call centre?

If it was the latter, it might pay you to contact a different call centre - perhaps in the UK? They might be more flexible - it might be worth trying - out of desperation!