EasyJet Cancelled Return Flight 30 minutes before Departure. Guidance Please.

Charsiu

Hi All,

Just need some advice and guidance on how to proceed today.

My wife and kids are in Spain and their return flight was cancelled 30 minutes before departure last night (Sunday). They then e-mailed her details of the replacement flights for Tuesday morning, which includes a several hour layover in Scotland.

None of their ground check-in staff knew what was going on really, but she was advised that she can just book back into the same hotel as long as it wasn't more than 200 something euros per night, but to retain receipts (she took a photo of her badge number for reference). 

She retrieved her luggage and grabbed a taxi back to their original hotel for another night.

Easyjet sent her an e-mail whilst she was enroute with their own accommodation, but by then I think she had already checked in (not sure on exact timings tbh).

Back in the UK, I was going through our Insurance policy wording to see how to see proceed, what was covered etc, tried to speak to someone today, but no one was willing to talk unless I was making an actual claim. 

Chatted to someone via WebChat and the general gist was that nothing was guaranteed until the claim was submitted and reviewed, nothing was really black and white; I was hoping to book them a direct flight back for today so they don't miss too much school, but apparently if EasyJet has provided replacement flights, even if the return is much later and a connecting flight I cannot claim on Insurance if I purchase our own.

I've advised her to take a taxi to Easy Jet's hotel for tonight and just take their flight back tomorrow morning, since nothing is guaranteed and we could be out of pocket on overall.

I'm just seeking some guidance on the best course of action, what peoples experiences are with such claims, what's reasonable to claim on so forth? I'm already expecting that last nights hotel stay and maybe even transfer won't be covered by my insurance company (Holiday Extras Deluxe) as EasyJet eventually sent out details on accommodation.

First time in such a situation or had to make an insurance claim!

Mark_d

I've had similar things happen to be and been stuck in both Milan an Sao Paulo.  When you get a flight cancelled late at night, it's natural to want to get an instant solution.  But if you want to be able to get your expenses covered then you need to be reasonable and keep costs low.  The airline will provide a 3-star hotel and meals and then arrange all transport (transfers to/from hotel an alternative flight).
If you want to jump in an Uber, stay at a Hilton and order a 3-course meal with wine from their a-la-carte menu then it's highly likely none of this would be covered by insurance because it's not necessary or reasonable (given that the airline are offering something for free).

Charsiu

Mark_d said:

I've had similar things happen to be and been stuck in both Milan an Sao Paulo.  When you get a flight cancelled late at night, it's natural to want to get an instant solution.  But if you want to be able to get your expenses covered then you need to be reasonable and keep costs low.  The airline will provide a 3-star hotel and meals and then arrange all transport (transfers to/from hotel an alternative flight).
If you want to jump in an Uber, stay at a Hilton and order a 3-course meal with wine from their a-la-carte menu then it's highly likely none of this would be covered by insurance because it's not necessary or reasonable (given that the airline are offering something for free).

That makes absolute sense, in hindsight perhaps my family could have waited a few more hours into the late evening to see if anything was arranged, it was probably around 22:00 local time when they left the airport (3 hours after flight's scheduled departure) - this will definitely be the case in future. The presence of a customer service liason at the airport would have helped.

I did trawl through the policy wording, but this was under Missed Flights as opposed to Cancellation/Abandonment:

"Your reasonable and necessary additional travel and accommodation expenses (room only) of a similar standard to the original booking, to allow You to reach Your trip destination or catch up on Your scheduled itinerary (for missed departure on Your outward journey) or to return Home (for missed departure from Your last departure point on Your homeward journey)."

As lengthy and detailed the Wording document is, it didn't provide me with sufficient guidance on what I should/can do and how long to wait before it's deemed "reasonable" etc - I guess everything is too fluid to be able to put on paper.

bagand96

There shouldn't be any need for an insurance claim. You can claim from easyJet as per European Passenger Rights Legislation EC261.

https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/i-had-a-flight-cancellation-can-i-claim-compensation-alAuW6y0rZX2

https://www.easyjet.com/en/help/boarding-and-flying/delays-and-cancellations

They are entitled to a replacement flight home. This doesn't have to be on the same airline, even though most airlines will only offer their own services.  You'd have been within your rights to book a different flight home and claim from easyJet.

easyJet are responsible for accommodation during the delay. It seems they have arranged this, although not before you have found your own. Again you should be able to claim the cost of last night's hotel as long as it's reasonable. easyJet may push back given they arranged their own, but it doesn't seem unreasonable given the staff guidance and time of day. 

You may also be entitled to fixed compensation of £350/€400 per passenger, although that depends on the reason for the cancellation.

Charsiu

bagand96 said:

There shouldn't be any need for an insurance claim. You can claim from easyJet as per European Passenger Rights Legislation EC261.

https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/i-had-a-flight-cancellation-can-i-claim-compensation-alAuW6y0rZX2

https://www.easyjet.com/en/help/boarding-and-flying/delays-and-cancellations

They are entitled to a replacement flight home. This doesn't have to be on the same airline, even though most airlines will only offer their own services.  You'd have been within your rights to book a different flight home and claim from easyJet.

easyJet are responsible for accommodation during the delay. It seems they have arranged this, although not before you have found your own. Again you should be able to claim the cost of last night's hotel as long as it's reasonable. easyJet may push back given they arranged their own.

You may also be entitled to fixed compensation of £350/€400 per passenger, although that depends on the reason for the cancellation.

Thanks, there's been a lot of information to dissect and read between the Insurance Policy and consumer rights, I didn't want to hastily book return flights at a cost of £1,000+ last night, if there was no guarantee for full reimbursement. There are definitely direct flights back tonight via the likes of British Airways, but like I said at a fair bit more cost!

Do you know how this work in practice? If things don't go anywhere with EasyJet, is it just a case of booking the direct flights ourselves, then making a formal claim with them?

saajan_12

You'd push Easy Jet customer services as much as pos to book you onto an alternative leaving earlier.. with a fairly well frequented country pair and no widespread issues affecting the whole industry, this SHOULD be done. 
In practice its often not, in which case you'd book yourself and submit the receipts to them for reimbursement. 

They have to reroute you on a reasonably soon flight, so they should cover the replacement flight, accommodation, taxis between the accommodation and airport and small amounts towards food and phonecalls if this was actually spent. Crucially you would NOT request a refund as that's seen as INSTEAD of the above. 

Depending on the reason for the cancellation, they might ALSO owe a fixed compensation per person depending on the length of the flight if the cancellation was their fault. That's regardless of whether you incur further costs, so its basically for the inconveniences and other costs you face (eg taxis after getting back to the UK airport, etc). 

eskbanker

EasyJet are responsible for arranging replacement flights 'at the earliest opportunity' (and 'under comparable transport conditions', e.g. direct flights where practical) so if they've offered flights tomorrow but there are more suitable ones today then it'll be worth contacting them and asking them to book you onto those, even if they're with a different airline.

Realistically they're unlikely to comply but it puts you in a stronger position when it comes to reclaiming the higher cost later on....

Charsiu

Thanks for the input all! Even trying to get the reason for Cancellation (for insurance purposes) is tough, their e-mails don't explain the reasoning so not sure how to compell them to state anything on paper - maybe an explanation over the phone with EasyJet and referencing the phone call timestamp?

Looking at the immediate options, today's flight is pretty much a right off given the time remaining, so I'm considering DIRECT flights tomorrow and asking them to cover once we're back in the UK.

EasyJet has provided the following:

Spain to Edinburgh 7:00 - 9:00
Edinburgh 13:30 to London 15:30.

There are Direct flights available with Jet2, 10am departure, arrive in London 12:00.

So would the best approach be to call EasyJet and say book us on the Jet2 flight number XYZ for tomorrow, if not, I will book myself and claim back?

Sorry for the never ending questions, wish there was a guide with the correct (Consumer centric) procedures.

Voyager2002

eskbanker said:

EasyJet are responsible for arranging replacement flights 'at the earliest opportunity' (and 'under comparable transport conditions', e.g. direct flights where practical) so if they've offered flights tomorrow but there are more suitable ones today then it'll be worth contacting them and asking them to book you onto those, even if they're with a different airline.

Realistically they're unlikely to comply but it puts you in a stronger position when it comes to reclaiming the higher cost later on....

In practice, this means that you can INSIST that EJ put them on the flights today. If you don't have any joy with EJ customer services, buy the tickets and send EJ the bill.

When I say "send them the bill" you will be completing three of their online forms. One form will be for "care" and will cover the hotel bill, transport to/from the hotel and food while delayed. If you have to pay for the flights back you will also claim these using a form for "rerouting". Depending on the reason for the cancellation, you may also be claiming compensation and so will use another form for this.

eskbanker

Voyager2002 said:

eskbanker said:

EasyJet are responsible for arranging replacement flights 'at the earliest opportunity' (and 'under comparable transport conditions', e.g. direct flights where practical) so if they've offered flights tomorrow but there are more suitable ones today then it'll be worth contacting them and asking them to book you onto those, even if they're with a different airline.

Realistically they're unlikely to comply but it puts you in a stronger position when it comes to reclaiming the higher cost later on....

In practice, this means that you can INSIST that EJ put them on the flights today. If you don't have any joy with EJ customer services, buy the tickets and send EJ the bill.

I think theory and practice differ - in theory you can insist they do so (in the sense that they're legally obliged to) but in practice their call centres typically aren't geared up to rebooking on other airlines so the pragmatic option will generally be to DIY and claim back, but as above it leaves them less room for manoeuvre later on if you expressly reject the offered flights and give them the chance to rebook onto the earlier flights.

Westin

Does your wife have a mobile phone? The cancellation notification plus alternative arrangements and options would have been sent by EasyJet via text plus under within the EasyJet App.

Travel Insurance doesn’t need to come into this. Easyjet will cover reasonable expenditures for overnight accommodation and food.

Flights were cancelled yesterday at short notice due to European ATC issues.