Ryanair, law unto themselves?

Ale_bale

hello, i have 2 questions to pose re flights.

My sister was meant to travel to Scotland last month but a few days before her planned trip Boris Johnson made the announcement that people travelling to the UK would have to do a PCR and self isolate until this was negative. She decided not to travel as she was coming for the weekend and didn't seem worthwhile given the times for the tests to be analysed (she would have arrived late at night, no testing facilities at the airport at that time + going into the weekend). Ryanair has told her she could not get a voucher or refund because this was only allowed if the booking had been made within a certain date. Only, the secondary term was that a change was also only allowed 7 days prior to travel, the announcement was made less than 7 days from when she was meant to travel. Does this sound correct? Can they prescribe when the booking is made and the number of days from the flight if government changes are made at short notice?

To make matters worse, my family and I were due to travel back home for Christmas with Ryanair but my son and I tested positive the day before the flight. We contacted Ryanair via the chat immediately. at first we were told we would be allowed a refund/voucher based on a senior member of staff approving this. we were directed to a form via a link only to discover this didn't work (it had a 404 error message). we then joined and queued for the chat again and the next person told us we were not allowed to a refund at all and that the option we were previously given only applies to serious illnesses. my argument that covid is a pandemic and we were physically not allowed to board the plane didn't work either.

We have complained to Ryanair but we have had no answers at all, any suggestions on any possible alternatives?

onashoestring

The T&C’s of the Ryanair flights that you purchased mean that they are correct in declining you a refund as the flight still went ahead. However, you likely will be able to claim on your travel insurance for the flights that you and your son couldn’t use due to testing positive most travel insurance policies now cover this.

In your sister’s case she could have travelled but decided not to ( disinclination to travel)  - she is not due a refund from Ryanair . Your sisters disinclination to travel is unlikely to be covered by travel insurance but it’s worth checking her policy .

( To note for any future flights , if the flights were with EasyJet or BA , she wouldn’t have got a refund but could have cancelled and rebooked for a later date )

Upsidedownandaround

It sounds like Ryanair have acted exactly as per the terms and conditions of the flights you booked.

Your only valid complaint is them wasting your time by giving misleading infromation re the second flight refund but then that depends on what was said in the chat and I doubt Ryanair would be willing to give out any goodwill gesture for this which is all you can really ask for.

As above there are alternative airlines with more generous flexibility on flight changes you can book if your not happy with Ryanair's terms.

Ale_bale

thanks for your replies. Unfortunately Ryanair is not a choice, they are the only ones flying from the most convenient airport, we wouldn't choose them otherwise!

eskbanker

Ale_bale said:

thanks for your replies. Unfortunately Ryanair is not a choice, they are the only ones flying from the most convenient airport, we wouldn't choose them otherwise!

The fact that they're the most convenient option for you doesn't mean that you don't have a choice!  Without knowing which routes you're referring to, there will in all probability be alternatives involving other airports or indirect flights....

emmajones1976

eskbanker said:

Ale_bale said:

thanks for your replies. Unfortunately Ryanair is not a choice, they are the only ones flying from the most convenient airport, we wouldn't choose them otherwise!

The fact that they're the most convenient option for you doesn't mean that you don't have a choice!  Without knowing which routes you're referring to, there will in all probability be alternatives involving other airports or indirect flights....

Exactly. After my experience of Manchester Airport a few weeks ago we have made the decision here not to use the airport again, yes this is going to cause some mild inconvenience but it is what it is.

If you morally felt that strongly against Ryanair you would be prepared to travel to different airports and use different routes. As an aside I have used them three times in my life, including the time through Manchester Airport the other week, and never had an issue with them. They even held the plane an extra 20 mins to make up for Manchester Airports shortcomings, they didnt have to.