Ryanair cancelled flight 40min before take off

housebuyer7

Hello I travelled to France with Ryanair the other week with no issues with my husband. The return flight to the UK however was cancelled 30-40 min before we were due to take off while everyone was sat at the gate. An earlier BA flight was also cancelled so around 500 people were stranded at 8pm at a small rural regional airport with no further flights that day. The queues were huge and the staff at the airport advised that due to a sporting event there was no accommodation available within a 2 hour radius. 

We were very lucky that a family we happened to be standing next to had a second home in France with a spare room and offered to take us in. We attempted to book an alternative flight but nothing showed in the app as the flight was cancelled so close to take off. Alternative flights that I could pay for myself were selling out in seconds and I just about managed to get the last seats on an Easyjet flight for the next day, departing from a different airport in France and landing at a different airport in the UK.

I want to claim from Ryanair the following costs:

- New flight for myself and husband: £725.95
- Train to new airport: £16.07
- Train from landing airport in London to the city of the original airport where our car was parked: £58
- Taxi from train station to original airport: £24
- Parking charges for extra day: £15

Total: £839.02

Fortunately for Ryanair, as the family took us in I do not need to claim for accommodation or food! The experience was awful though and despite leaving that family’s house at 08:45am, we did not put the keys in our front door until midnight due to all the travel between different airports.

I take it I should just try and claim for the above expenses and not try and get compensation for stress/time/hassle? How am I best to do this? Should I use their form which only allows me to choose to claim either expenses OR compensation? 

Or should I put everything in an email and give them 28 days to respond or advise I will be going to court and that I have all receipts?

I also see on some websites that you can’t claim for more than ~£540? My total exceeds this and I put everything on my card but that’s for both me and my husband. If I divide by two it’s £419.51 each. Should I approach it in this way? Would this entail two separate claims?
Thanks!

The_Unready

housebuyer7 said:

Hello I travelled to France with Ryanair the other week with no issues with my husband.

Sorry, I can't answer the question, but I'm glad to hear that you're both getting on OK now 😃.

JPears

Re-routing - you should be able to claim for your new flights and transport to original airport.  I think you will struggle with the additional costs as the airline only have a duty to get you to your point of arrival.

Wether compensation is due depends upon the reason for cancellation. What were you told?

If compensation is due and Ryanair's website/page is awkward, just make a seperate claim for the compensation.

Expect a struggle.

housebuyer7

We weren’t told any reason but no plane ever arrived at the airport. That’s fine re compensation, I just want to get back all the financial costs I had to make.

bagand96

You're confusing compensation and expenses. Compensation is the fixed amount you've seen referenced online. Compensation is not payable if there are extraordinary circumstances outside of the airlines control. If another airline's flight was cancelled then it may be that it was some issue beyond Ryanair'a control. 

As @JPears said they still have to meet your expenses. Although I personally don't think that includes the parking so would leave that off. 

housebuyer7

OK so I’ll put in a form for expenses or email? Why would it not include the parking? I paid until I was due back and ticked the box for insurance for late collection and was still charged £15.

eskbanker

Additional parking is a consequential loss that the airline isn't liable for, so you'd need to claim on your travel insurance if it covers that.

Ryanair summarise their obligations under UK/EU 261 regulations at https://www.ryanair.com/content/dam/ryanair/help-centre-pdfs/eu261-notices-v15/EU261 for United Kingdom - EN.pdf

bagand96

housebuyer7 said:

OK so I’ll put in a form for expenses or email? Why would it not include the parking? I paid until I was due back and ticked the box for insurance for late collection and was still charged £15.

Personally I would use their claim form it will be easier to follow their process rather than just sending an email. Make sure you have receipts/proof of purchase ready to send and itemise each item individually.

Your contract with the airline is for transportation from point A to point B. Arrangements you make for parking or onward transport etc are not their business and is a consequential loss for you. (Unless my understanding is incorrect)

If you booked for some insurance for late collection then you need to look at who you booked with and why you were charged, it might be that you need to claim it back, or that there was a time limit to it? 

housebuyer7

OK thanks that’s really helpful! Do I need to do two separate claims for myself and husband? Or can I do one joint claim given everything was paid together using one bank card?

bagand96

housebuyer7 said:

OK thanks that’s really helpful! Do I need to do two separate claims for myself and husband? Or can I do one joint claim given everything was paid together using one bank card?

You should be abkt to do one claim covering all passengers on the booking.  I've never done it with Ryanair but that's how it works with most airlines.