EU261/UK261 re-routing rights.

GandalfG

I was supposed to be returning to UK via Budapest and I had booked tickets TLV-BUD and BUD-LTN. Ryanair then cancelled the flights to Budapest "for commercial reasons" (I was therefore left out of pocket my Wizzar flghts form Budapest) After getting in touch with Ryanair who werent offering any rerouting, they told me to book alternatve flghts myself and then submit a clam for the compensation. Because I was wary of a similar occurence, I booked flights via mytrip who offered a connecton guarantee. These consisted of a flight TLV-BUD with Bluebird Air and then BUD-LTN with Wizzair. After this Bluebird Air announced their flight would be delayed by 4 hours (meaning I would miss the connection) I contacted mytrip who promised me a refund (which arrived about two months later) and then I booked wth them alternative flights TLV-OTP and OTP-LTN, which I took and finally arrived home.
I have made the compensation request from Ryanair based on EU261 and the flights I had to pay for to BUD due to their cancellation (I did this with the understanding that even though I was refunded those flghts, I had to purchase flghts of equivalent cost to get home)
Ryanair are asking me for proof I took the relevant flights (which I didnt)
In summary, I am asking.
1. Am I right to assume that Ryanair are liable for the alternative flight which served the same purpose? (similar to the right to be offered a flight ot a close-by airport)
2. Are Ryanair within their rights to ask for proof of flight? Surely they are liable for the expense (had I not been refunded by the connection guarantee) even if I ended up no ttaking it?
I would very much appreciate any help in this.

eskbanker

Ryanair should theoretically have rerouted you themselves but having said they'd reimburse you, they should honour that, whether or not you actually took the rearranged flight.  If they'd done the rearranging (as the legislation obliges them to), they'd be none the wiser about whether or not you actually flew on the new flight, so I don't believe they're entitled to ask for proof that you did, but if they're digging their heels in then you might need to take legal action to force a refund.

GandalfG said:

I have made the compensation request from Ryanair based on EU261 and the flights I had to pay for to BUD due to their cancellation (I did this with the understanding that even though I was refunded those flghts, I had to purchase flghts of equivalent cost to get home)

In terms of being refunded, are you referring to Ryanair refunding the original flights or MyTrip refunding the replacement ones?  Not sure about the reference to 'flights of equivalent cost' either, the regulations require that flights are under comparable transport conditions (i.e. class, etc) rather than being price-oriented as such.

GandalfG

mytrip refunded the replacement flights to budapest so i am essentially claiming the flight to otp from ryanair which they may not be liable for. I'm worried court might find in ther favour even though the expense of the rerouting I did end up paying

GandalfG

Although theoretically, they were liable for the cost of those flgihts until they were refunded, so I'm not sure if that would get cancelled retroactively when the second carrier effectively cancelled (by delaying 4 hours) triggerring the mytrip refund (which is probably insurance)

400ixl

Difficult to follow your narrative. So the below is my interpretation based on that.

The only re-routing costs would be the TLV-OTP and OTP-LTN from what I can see, plus the EU261 compensation. If Ryanair refunded the original flights then it would only be the difference between those and the ones you used for re-routing.

If those are paid then you would not be entitled to a refund for the Ryanair flights as you have had the alternative paid for and are therefore not out of pocket.

The flights that you booked, then cancelled and got a refund for are not relevant as you have been refunded already. Even if you weren't refunded, you can claim for them and the ones you did use to get home.

GandalfG

Problem with that is I dont believe ryanair would agree to be liable for a flight to OTP instead of BUD