Easyjet cancellation - no rerouting!

[Deleted User]

Thanks eskbanker,    Are you sure this reg doesn't only cover people who are en route back home and are diverted to another airport or those who are in the middle of a journey and the second plane isn't available?    Interesting to know though and am sure a lot of people will find this thread helpful with all the uncertainty around airlines and travel.    GandalfG....please let us know the outcome.

unforeseen

under comparable transport conditions 

As it is Easyjet then that keeps the standard of alternate transport pretty low. A coach or 2nd class train would meet that standard

silvercar

eskbanker said:

Tedber said:

Personally I think they will just refund you your money.  Hope I am wrong but seems as you haven’t actually set off and don’t agree to the changes then all they need to do is refund?  No?  I took the rerouting as a possible option not a definite and I definitely don’t think Easyjet will pay for a limo.

No, as quoted earlier, they are required by the EC 261/2004 regulations to offer rerouting under comparable transport conditions and thus far are in breach of their obligations by failing to do this, having only proposed a partial journey rather than end to end.

OP mentioned that it's a group of ten passengers on the booking, which probably does affect the economics, in that a decent-quality minibus hire could be cheaper than ten train/bus fares....

Is that true when the notice of cancellation is given 14 days in advance and there is the extraordinary circumstance of the pandemic? Or have easyjet shot themselves in the foot by offering a partial journey?

GandalfG

as far as I understand the regs (posted earlier in the thread) that is true in this case even without offering a partial journey. If there were no flights at all then they cannot be held responsible and that is the only reason why I am not asking them for a direct flight. Were there to be direct flights then that would be comparable and connection not.

eskbanker

Tedber said:

Thanks eskbanker,    Are you sure this reg doesn't only cover people who are en route back home and are diverted to another airport or those who are in the middle of a journey and the second plane isn't available?

silvercar said:

Is that true when the notice of cancellation is given 14 days in advance and there is the extraordinary circumstance of the pandemic? Or have easyjet shot themselves in the foot by offering a partial journey?

I don't see anything in the regulations that suggests that either of these scenarios limits rerouting obligations but happy to be corrected if I've missed something significant?  OP did tentatively suggest an alternative interpretation in their post at the foot of page one, but it seems clear to me that the 14 day window affects eligibility for compensation rather than rights to refunds and rerouting, which is endorsed by https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/travel/passenger-rights/air/index_en.htm#cancellation

If your flight is cancelled you have the right to choose between reimbursement, re-routing or return.

You are also entitled to assistance at the airport.

If you were informed of the cancellation less than 14 days prior to the scheduled departure date, you have a right to compensation. The airline has the obligation to prove if and when you were personally informed that the flight was cancelled. If this is not the case you can contact your national authority for further assistance.

However, compensation is not due if the carrier can prove that the cancellation is caused by extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken.

silvercar

Interesting to see how this pans out. My prediction is that nothing will resolved before your trip, so it will be a case of making your own arrangement and then getting easyjet to reimburse your costs. 
Depending on how confident you are that you would win a case, if it came to court, you could book whatever transport from Manchester to Luton that you think appropriate. I would say only pay out for what you are prepared to lose to be on the safe side.

silvercar

I suspect easyjet would argue that due to coronavirus, no-one is flying MAN to TLV, therefore you would be entitled to a refund and by accepting the offer of LTN-TLV instead that ends their obligation. Happy to be corrected, but that would be my take on it.

GandalfG

Easyjet have responded.
This is the important part
"As previously advised we can offer a change of flight, flight voucher or refund on both bookings.  Sadly we have no flights from Manchester to Tel Aviv on your requested date and the 1st date we have available is not until the end of December 2020.  Unfortunately we are unable to book you onto another airline.

If you would like me to arrange a refund or flight change please let me know and l will process that for you."

I am not sure how to respond. If as silvercar suggests, I book my own transport whether to Luton or a connection to TLV. How confident should I be of getting my money back. I can't afford to pay for it myself. Perhaps to Luton I could take the chance but I would assume that I would have to sign that I have accepted their offer if I take their flights from Luton

silvercar

GandalfG said:

Easyjet have responded.
This is the important part
"As previously advised we can offer a change of flight, flight voucher or refund on both bookings.  Sadly we have no flights from Manchester to Tel Aviv on your requested date and the 1st date we have available is not until the end of December 2020.  Unfortunately we are unable to book you onto another airline.

If you would like me to arrange a refund or flight change please let me know and l will process that for you."

I am not sure how to respond. If as silvercar suggests, I book my own transport whether to Luton or a connection to TLV. How confident should I be of getting my money back. I can't afford to pay for it myself. Perhaps to Luton I could take the chance but I would assume that I would have to sign that I have accepted their offer if I take their flights from Luton

You can always write above your signature that you are signing under duress.
Only you can decide how necessary your trip is. As I wrote previously, only spend money you are prepared to lose.
If it went to court Easyjet could argue that the logical journey would be via land to Luton and then their flight. Anything by air with a change is going to take you just as long, so would be hard to justify. 
If you want to try it, I can see opodo have midweek flights from MAN via Istanbul with pegasus airlines for £156 return, that's nearly 10 hours long (I've used this Tuesday for a fortnight as a guide). It wouldn't take you that long if you drove to Luton and flew from there.

GandalfG

I think it refers to comparable travel time rather than total time (including layover time) so the turkey option is less travel time. Is anyone on here a lawyer or knows of a lawyer who would be willing to advise?