Easyjet cancelled my flight and won't reinburse my expenses as I accepted a refund for the flight

Ladyhall

Last year I was at Nice Airport waiting for my flight to Bordeaux when it was cancelled about ten minutes before boarding. No explanation was given. I had a wedding to officiate the following day, so getting home to the Dordogne was essential. We were told we could claim expenses if we arranged our own transport, so I hired a car and drove the nine hours back.

I submitted a claim for my expenses, which came to over €500. A few days later EasyJet emailed asking if I wanted a refund for the cancelled flight, which I agreed to. What I didn’t realise at the time was that accepting the refund would apparently cancel my right to claim the travel expenses. Had I known that, I obviously wouldn’t have accepted the refund.

EasyJet now says I’m not entitled to the expenses, but from what I’ve read online it seems I may still be able to claim them. I’ve already submitted a complaint through the aviation authority channels, but I’d be really interested to hear if anyone else has had a similar experience and what the outcome was.

Thanks.

eskbanker

The regulations do state that when cancelling flights, the airline must offer passengers the choice between rerouting or a refund, and it is very much one or the other, as it's obviously unreasonable to expect them to pay for both, in order for the journey to become completely free, so once you accept a refund, it does make it difficult to then claim for the expenses.

Re "We were told we could claim expenses if we arranged our own transport", was this in writing by any chance, or just verbal?

Once you've received a final response from the airline, you can escalate to AviationADR for adjudication - is that what you mean by "the aviation authority channels" or have you gone to the CAA (who will probably direct you to AviationADR)?

Ayr_Rage

Take it up with the French aviation regulator as it appears to be an internal flight from Nice to Bordeaux.

saajan_12

How much was the refund? At most you'd get the difference, not a refund plus expenses covered.

EasyJet now says I’m not entitled to the expenses, but from what I’ve read online it seems I may still be able to claim them.

What exactly have you read online, from what source and how do they propose claiming this? I think they may be correct, they generally don't have to inform you of your rights nor reverse the original resolution since you did select it (albeit unknowingly).

Can try, maybe you'll get a goodwill voucher, but I wouldn't take this to court as I'm not sure enough that you'd win.