Turned down for expenses on a non-refundable hotel stay after Easyjet flights cancelled

Flipjango

lisyloo said:

Sorry if I’ve missed it but what do you mean by the flight was reinstated but they weren’t able to provide a replacement outbound flight?

Do you mean they didn’t tell you it was reinstated?
Or you couldn’t take it because you weren’t at the destination?

Apologies, it’s not clear to me.

Honestly I'm not really sure either. I received an email to say our outbound flight was cancelled, but when I logged in to see my options, it also said the return flight was cancelled. I screengrabbed this and have it here. But then I never received an email to say the return flight was cancelled and kept getting messages from them about checking in for the return flight. They are now saying categorically the return flight was not cancelled. 

Flipjango

Caz3121 said:

were both outbound and return flights on the same booking? have you received a refund for the outbound?

Yes, both flights were on the same booking and have both been refunded by easyjet. 

lisyloo

So youve had a refund for both and compensation for the one they actually cancelled.
I think you’ve done very well.

personally I don’t think you’ll get anywhere for a flight that was briefly cancelled. You’ve been lucky to get refunded for that IMO.

Flipjango

lisyloo said:

So youve had a refund for both and compensation for the one they actually cancelled.
I think you’ve done very well.

I'm not sure I agree. I'm absolutely gobsmacked how Easyjet can ruin our holiday due to their poor forward planning and then the costs become someone else's responsibility. The compensation for one flight doesn't come close to covering our lost accommodation and transfer costs. Why should this be the insurance company's responsibility, which will ultimately put our insurance costs up? I quite prepared to take this as far as I possibly can if I have any legal footing to do so. 

lisyloo

EasyJet (or any flight company) are never responsible for your other costs.
it wasn’t a package (I don’t believe).
this is always the case whichever companies it is.

you can disagree if you like, but that’s not a sensible position when I’m presenting you with the law of the land.

that is what insurance is for (or booking an ABTA/ATOL package)

If you want to take it further then consult your legal insurance (might have a free phone number for a solicitor with your home insurance)
or send a “letter before action” to easyjet and take them to the county court.
personally I think you’ll lose but it’s low cost, so that is your route.
personally I send letter like this recorded delivery.
It’s not strictly necessary but it does rule out the “lost in the post” excuse.
send an LBA and give then 14 days.

It will cost you very little to send an LBA 
stamp plus optional recorded delivery.

if you have legal insurance on your home insurance it won’t cost you anything to consult them

please update us (win or lose) as it may help someone else

the screenshot MAY be a get out, but as you say it was accompanied by many checkin messages, so a judge would ask what would a reasonable person do?
I would say a reasonable person would check and not rely on conflicting information but that decision is down to a judge.

Caz3121

Flipjango said:

Why should this be the insurance company's responsibility, 

that is what your insurance is for. Had you booked a package with EasyJet then they would have been responsible but as separate components one has no bearing on the other.
There is still lots of uncertainty in travel industry. I have future bookings but I am still choosing to pay the extra for refundable rates for accommodation and booking packages when previously I would have done diy.

Flipjango

Thanks @lisyloo. Everything has been done by email so I have a good trail of evidence anyway. Just looking for some clarification as to whether the return flight is 'cancelled' by dint of the outbound flight being cancelled and therefore inaccessible, as these two elements were booked together?

Flipjango

Caz3121 said:

Flipjango said:

Why should this be the insurance company's responsibility, 

that is what your insurance is for. Had you booked a package with EasyJet then they would have been responsible but as separate components one has no bearing on the other.
There is still lots of uncertainty in travel industry. I have future bookings but I am still choosing to pay the extra for refundable rates for accommodation and booking packages when previously I would have done diy.

Our accommodation was refundable up to 24 hours prior so we did also follow that route. They cancelled the flight with 12 hours notice and therefore that deadline had passed. Packages are a nice idea but rarely cater for the kind of travel we were booking and have generally poor options for accommodation so don't really work for how we holiday. 

lisyloo

Flipjango said:

Thanks @lisyloo. Everything has been done by email so I have a good trail of evidence anyway. Just looking for some clarification as to whether the return flight is 'cancelled' by dint of the outbound flight being cancelled and therefore inaccessible, as these two elements were booked together?

What do the terms and conditions say?

Most people would replace the cancelled flight and go on their holiday
(ive done that before and claimed the extra costs on insurance - in that case it was a wedding so couldn’t just reschedule).

It’s not generally/automatically inaccessible/impossible.
Although circs vary most people would re-arrange the outbound flight and claim from insurance.

lisyloo

Flipjango said:

Caz3121 said:

Flipjango said:

Why should this be the insurance company's responsibility, 

that is what your insurance is for. Had you booked a package with EasyJet then they would have been responsible but as separate components one has no bearing on the other.
There is still lots of uncertainty in travel industry. I have future bookings but I am still choosing to pay the extra for refundable rates for accommodation and booking packages when previously I would have done diy.

Our accommodation was refundable up to 24 hours prior so we did also follow that route. They cancelled the flight with 12 hours notice and therefore that deadline had passed. Packages are a nice idea but rarely cater for the kind of travel we were booking and have generally poor options for accommodation so don't really work for how we holiday. 

I get that.
so you need good insurance.
were there no other flights from any other airports available? 

Last time it happened to me I travelled from a different airport at a different time and charged all the extras (accom, increase in flights, parking, travel) to the insurance.
It inconvenient and we had to pay excess x 2 but that was better than missing a wedding.

I sympathise re: consequential loss - as I don’t always agree with the law either.

I think you need to consult the contract you had as to whether the flight were linked or sold seperately, but in most circs it’s not inaccessible.