Help with Ryanair refund please

Angelina67

Hello Everyone, could I have some advice please on who to approach for a refund ? 
Booked a holiday via Love Holidays to Fuertaventura was due to fly on 7th November. 
Could not fly for two reasons
1) Our hotel was shut due to COVID  and it is not reopening until end of December - On a positive note we got our refund for the hotel from Love Holidays.

 2) Government states we can not fly as lockdown in England. 

Ryanair say we cannot be refunded as they still operated the flight, the cost of changing the flights amounted to more than we paid for them so that was not an option, despite them saying they would change them FOC!   They also said we did not initiate the change 7 days prior to the date of our flight, we could not do this as we were not aware of the points above.

Spoke to my insurers Staysure who advise we could only claim for the flights if we had tested positive for Corona.

Should I raise a complaint on Ryanair? Go to Citizens advice, CMA? 

Any guidance would be gratefully appreciated.

Many thanks

[Deleted User]

if if you booked a package holiday with Love Holidays (got ATOL certificate stating package?) then the should refund you the lot.  If not then you won’t get a refund of flights if flights went ahead - sorry ☹️ 

mattyprice4004

The problem is you're not entitled to a refund just because you can't travel - if the flight operated, you're classed as a no-show.
Was the holiday booked as a package?

Angelina67

Ahh ok, they advised us that they could only refund the hotel part of it, which they did.  We did get an ATOL certificate I shall check to see what this covered, thank you

Angelina67

mattyprice4004 said:

The problem is you're not entitled to a refund just because you can't travel - if the flight operated, you're classed as a no-show.
Was the holiday booked as a package?

Yes it was, in that case I assume Love Holidays should refund us for this?

Caz3121

If it is all covered on your ATOL certificate then it is down to LoveHolidays to refund. (they will not be getting anything back from Ryanair as the flight operated)

Angelina67

Caz3121 said:

If it is all covered on your ATOL certificate then it is down to LoveHolidays to refund. (they will not be getting anything back from Ryanair as the flight operated)

So I have checked the ATOL certificate, it mentions both the flight and the hotel details and shows prices for both.  I got onto Love Holidays 'chat' as they are not taking calls and they are pushing me back to Ryanair, seem to be going around in circles.

[Deleted User]

All in the detail. If your ATOL certificate clearly states a “package “ holiday then LH owe you for all.  You may have to be forceful and be prepared for a long fight as LH are trying to pass package holidays flights onto airline but under the package holiday rules you are entitled to a refund of all components when one or more are cancelled.  Just be sure your ATOL certificate states “package” 

Hammer_Time

I also have the same problem but my ATOL certificate states “package” (multi-contract) sale, is mine the same? Or do I put it down to experience.

Angelina67

Tedber said:

All in the detail. If your ATOL certificate clearly states a “package “ holiday then LH owe you for all.  You may have to be forceful and be prepared for a long fight as LH are trying to pass package holidays flights onto airline but under the package holiday rules you are entitled to a refund of all components when one or more are cancelled.  Just be sure your ATOL certificate states “package” 

My certificate states Package (Multi-contract) sale.  Would I need to go to the ATOL website to get a copy of the package holiday rules you mention, I will then be more than happy to push LH for the money back   thanks for all your help.

eskbanker

Angelina67 said:

My certificate states Package (Multi-contract) sale.  Would I need to go to the ATOL website to get a copy of the package holiday rules you mention

No, your rights are defined by The Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018, and in particular Regulation 11: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2018/634/regulation/11/made

As would be expected with formal legislation, that's quite a dry and technical read so you might wish to research at more user-friendly sites such as this one (https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2020/02/coronavirus-travel-help-and-your-rights/#airlinecancels) or Which? (https://www.which.co.uk/news/2020/11/coronavirus-outbreak-advice-for-travellers/#money)