How to get compensation for a missed flight.

adbad100

On boxing day our families fateful time started at Gatwick airport. We stayed at the Premier Inn at the airport to ensure we had plenty of time. We were supposed to be heading to Lapland, with matching family hoodies and Christmas hats we joined the queue to do our bag drop. We had checked-in online the night before.

The bag drop area was chaos with only one person checking all the COVID paperwork. When we got to the front of the line and went to the automated bag checkin we were told that it had closed even though there was more than the 40 minutes until flight departure that Easyjet state on there website.

We were left heartbroken with two young daughters in floods of tears and the staff member just left us. We asked to speak to a supervisor but were informed they did not know where one was.

At this point we pulled our luggage to one side and comforted each other whilst working out what to do next. A staff member from the airport asked if we were ok as our daughters were still crying. They kindly guided us from the bag drop area to the Sky scanner desk in a different part of the airport, where we were able to get new flights but from Heathrow later that morning. After hitting the credit card for the flights and a taxi from gatwick to heathrow we eventually got to have our Lapland adventure.

We filed a complaint with Easyjet whilst abroad and had several phone calls and emails exchanged to no avail. We have been through the complaints procedure with Easyjet and now the ombudsman but both have said we are at fault even though we have evidence that our new flights were purchased (time on credit card receipt) at a time prior to the time that the bag drop should have closed. Easyjets defence is that we were a no show for the flight as we did not arrive at the gate, this is correct as we could not check our bags in so would not have been able to fly without them.

We are at a loss as to what to do next. We have clear evidence that the bag drop closed earlier than it should have done by the fact we had moved to another part of the airport, sourced flights and paid for them all at a time that was before the bag drop should have closed. However, both Easyjet and the Ombudsman have not paid any notice to this evidence and have both just declared because we were not at the gate it is our fault.

Please help and offer any advice on what we could do next. We are considering going to a county court.

Thanks

Adam & Rachel

Thrugelmir

Checking bags in that are going into the hold some 40 minutes prior to departure isn't unreasonable.  Has to be a cut-off to allow adequate time for the baggage handlers to load the plane prior to scheduled departure. 

Westin

To stay at the airport (or just over the drop off access road) yet miss your flight is very unfortunate.

What time did you get to the airport bag drop area that morning? Was it the recommended two hours before scheduled departure?  If you did experience 1h 20min queuing to enter the bag drop area there must have been lots of people missing flights that day.

As Thrugelmir states, not really unreasonable for bag drop to close at -40min.  To get from bag drop, up the stairs and through security, the labyrinth of the duty free shop and then a long walk to the gates - would probably take 30-40 minutes on a good day.

adbad100

We joined the bag drop queue an hour and a half prior to it closing. Our main issue is that the bag drop closed earlier than Easyjets stated times on there website. At a guess due to the time it took to get to another part of the airport and buy new tickets the bag drop must have closed 20-30mins earlier.

We don't know if the bag drop is Easyjets or the airports responsibility and how we are supposed to now if it is closing early and why?

Upsidedownandaround

What were your flight times and the bag drop closure time you read on the website?

Your first post suggests the bag drop closed roughly just over 40 minutes before flight time.

“we were told that it had closed even though there was more than the 40 minutes until flight departure”

EasyJet states the boarding gate closes 30 minutes before departure so it is unlikely the bag drop would still be scheduled to be open roughly 40 minutes before departure.

adbad100

Hi, This is what we have seen from EasyJet's website.

Voyager2002

Your complaint should not be that the bag-drop closed early (had it still been open you would almost certainly not have reached the departure gate in time) but the length of time you needed to queue to reach the bag-drop.