Currently stuck in Catania due to volcano eruption

HamsterCheeks

Forum post

Hi everyone,

Could someone please give me some advice regarding a cancelled flight?

I was due to fly home today at 7pm, but my easyJet flight has been cancelled due to ongoing issues with the active volcano near the airport.

Through the easyJet app, I was offered one night’s accommodation, and the next available flight I could book was Monday at 11pm — meaning I’m potentially stuck here for another five nights.

During the rebooking process, I booked the one free night of accommodation offered by easyJet. I’ve also managed to find a relatively cheap Airbnb for the remaining four nights.

Could anyone help me understand what I may be entitled to in terms of accommodation, meals, transport and any other expenses? I contacted easyJet and was told to submit a claim, but they didn’t explain what expenses are covered or whether there are any limits.

I’m travelling as a family of four, and as we were already at the end of our holiday, these unexpected costs could potentially put us into quite a lot of debt.

Any advice or experience with a similar situation would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance! 🙂

eskbanker

https://www.easyjet.com/en/terms-and-conditions/notice-of-rights-for-flight-delays-and-cancellations summarises your rights, in similar terms to the underlying regulations.

MeteredOut

Whilst you want to find out what cover Easyjet offers, have you checked your travel insurance? However, many basic/standard policies don't cover "acts of god" such as natural disasters.

Make sure you keep receipts of all expenses. And always keep them reasonable (which it sounds like you're doing already).

No airline will never give you an figure for refunding reasonable costs, as they expect (know) people will simply have that in mind as their allowance, so you must be prepared to justify every spend.

Did you ask Easyjet to route you home via an alternate airline, recognisning that all other flights might now already be fully booked?

HamsterCheeks

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82100891#Comment_82100891

Thanks for the response. My wife booked the travel Insurance and she’s not getting much luck on a response from them, all automated messages, but we will persist.

The plan is to keep everything to a minimum spend and keep receipts.

I didn’t ask easyJet to route via an alternate airline as it wasn’t an option in the app when I clicked on available options for the cancelled flight. The only direct flight that was available was 5 days later. Could you see that resulting in a problem?

QrizB

Ah, Mount Etna is at it again:

https://www.aeroporto.catania.it/en/news/AGGIORNAMENTO-ERUZIONE-ETNA

A friend of mine visited Sicily earlier in the year, when all the worries were about jet fuel supplies. We worked out if his flights were cancelled he could get a ferry to mainland Italy, from where it was a 36-hour bus and rail trip back to the Channel ports.

This link should take you to the route on Google Maps:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/CpDpEhvJkSjasAHh6

Hope you get home one way or another!