Country in lockdown but Ryanair won't offer anything as flight went ahead.

SweetMonetaryJustice

Hi all!

Spent c.£250 on flights to Austria and back early December. Unfortunately we didn't end up going as the country was in lockdown when our outbound flights were (the return flights fell a day after their lockdown ended.)

I didn't take out travel insurance as I didn't think it was going to cover us for this. I gave advance notice to Ryanair and tried following up afterwards too but customer service as you can imagine is blunt, rude, unsympathetic and useless. I did mention that it would have been illegal for us to be in Austria as we would have had no legal basis to be in and travelling through the country.

Is there anyway I could get some or all of the money back or even a travel voucher? Appreciate any input!

Sandtree

If the flight goes its broadly not the airlines problem if you dont have a right of entry to the destination and so decide not to travel. This has always been the case but previously it was fairly rare and mainly around visas but obv now a more common problem. 

Were it the likes of BA etc they would refund the tax element of a non-refundable flight where you have decided not to use the flight. Ryanair being as they are may or may not offer a similar tax only refund 

Upsidedownandaround

No.
It’s your responsibility to make sure you meet the entry requirements of your destination. It’s not Ryanair’s fault these changed.
If you were concerned regarding these changing then there are other airlines who have more flexible flight change terms at the moment e.g Easyjet or BA.

Regarding the customer service it must be pretty frustrating for their customer service having to deal with hundreds of people a day asking for the terms and conditions agreed to to be altered when it suits people. 

NoodleDoodleMan

"I didn't take out travel insurance as I didn't think it was going to cover us for this."

You should always take out travel insurance, from the time you book a holiday or trip etc. abroad.

A few phone calls around the major insurance outfits would have confirmed /refuted if such cover was available. or not.

Westin

I thought RyanAir were offering flexibility to change to an alternative date in the future (paying a fare difference if applicable).  Was this investigated before the flight date?

Upsidedownandaround

I think that the initial flight change waiver applied to flights up until the end of October last year.

Then started again in December for flights booked from then on.

I suspect they were probably outwith the dates.

onashoestring

Is there anyway I could get some or all of the money back or even a travel voucher? Appreciate any input!

@SweetMonetaryJustice -Unfortunately  I don’t think you are going to like the answers that you are going to get (but I guess it was worth a shot in case you’d missed something .) 

 You have answered your own question..

*The flight went ahead so you are not entitled to a refund.

*You booked with an airline that doesn’t offer vouchers . So you can’t get a voucher . 

* You didn’t take out travel insurance policy. So you can’t claim on your travel insurance.

If you could travel back in time ; book with an airline that offers refunds in these circumstances ( Easyjet ) or vouchers (BA) and or take out a travel insurance policy that covers local lockdowns (Direct Line, Churchill )