help me get my friend's daughter back home for her birthday

[greyfriarskitty]

Can you help me help my friend? She's European and her two daughters have been over there spending time with their grandmother.

All well and lovely until Easyjet cancelled their flight home yesterday, and could only offer a replacement, a week later. Both will miss the first day of the new school year, but the youngest one will also miss her 1*th birthday at home!! Everyone is pretty upset and worried.

I am trying to help as both my English and my general level of arsiness is much higher than hers. So far I have battled with them on Twitter DM, when they are saying they can't help, not even to book them onto an Easyjet flight to Gatwick or Luton on Saturday. I have also emailed the CEO and head of Customer Service.

Where else can I go, what else should I do? (details kept vague so they can't be identified). Thank you in advance.

Do any other airlines fly that route or could they use an alternative airport at either end. What has ej offered as compensation?

They can't use an alternative airport in that country (long way, vast airport, no way of getting there) but I am trying to get Easyjet to transfer them onto an flight to either Gatwick or Luton but they are refusing to do that.

My friend is very worried about spending the extra money on new flights (a couple of us have offered to lend it to her) because she is scared she will not get it refunded and does not have that kind of spare cash.

They have offered no compensation as yet, but I will be helping her take them to the cleaners later on; first priority is to get younger back for her birthday.

Who booked the flights? Unless it was you ej actually are not obliged to discuss it with you, under gdpr.

EU regs require the airline carrier to provide "re-routing at the earliest opportunity". If they haven't accepted compensation as an alternative, then you can argue that a flight a week later isn't "at the earliest opportunity" and research alternative flights for them to get on. If they still drag their feet, and you / they can afford to, buy the tickets for the flights you want and then deal with getting them to reimburse as per the European regs, later when they are home.

Don't accept any compensation now as it may negate your right to get the re-routed flights.

The only other option at the moment is £1200 worth of British Airways flight to Gatwick + arranged cab home.

Has she spoken to her travel insurance provider?

Fortunately they have agreed to discuss it with me - she sent email saying she was happy to.

It's the affording to that's the problem - I am happy to put the new flights on my credit card, but she is scared she will not get the money back. But there may be no choice.

Have you looked on [[https://www.skyscanner.net/ sky scanner to see if there is a sooner flight, even if it is indirect? Eg, if there are flights to a major hub like Paris, Brussels, Madrid or Amsterdam from the country they are in, they'll be able to get back home in a day. If there are no Easyjet flights, it will be cheaper for Easyjet to put them on another carrier, rather than paying for hotels etc for a week. When a KLM flight I was booked on was overbooked, they put me on a BA flight.

Also look here for their rights while they are stuck (food, drink and accomodation - keep all receipts for everything they spend) plus compensation if this is Easyjet's fault.

Good luck and hope they get home soon.

Who else flies from that local airport to the UK?
When DHs flight got cancelled, we threw all sorts of possibilities at them - new starting airport, different airline, and even sending him to a different country and taxing him home (obviously this doesn't work in the UK!!!!). They got him back "only" 12 hrs late. BUT it took me on sky scanner at home looking up alternatives (with availability) and messaging DH - the air staff seemed unable or unwilling to offer any other route until forced.

Is there any airline staff at the departure airport? Can Grandma get there fairly easily and argue the case that a flight one week later is unacceptable?

I'd get on sky scanner. You have said departure airport is unchangeable, but select "add nearby airports" for the return leg, and see what is available with 2 seats (and then check the girls are old enough to fly unaccompanied on that airline).

Good luck!

Sorry, messed up the link, here's the guide to their rights.

www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/flight-delays/#cancelrules

Don't buy flights if at all possible. EJ need to reroute, and sort it from their end - but remember there is a whole plane of people looking for ways home!

Yes, but they can use Skyscanner to let EasyJet know that their offer of a new flight next week is not reasonable.

And if there really is a whole plane load of people needing to travel, WTF don't EJ just put another flight on, in the next couple of days? The flight they were offering them next week will not have had loads of seats on it, so it's not like they can transfer everyone travelling to that flight.

If there are many displaced passengers are they perhaps giving priority to others in the meantime, such as those insisting they need to return for work or would need to be put up in a hotel at ej cost rather than children who are able to stay with family. Are there other ej flights before the one offered? Are they in a position to turn up for a flight at short notice ?

Not offering another flight for a week is rather bizarre ~ are you sure you/whoever is relaying the information to you has got the right end of the stick? I know budget airlines aren't exactly the gold standard in international travel, but leaving an entire plane's worth of passengers stranded for over a week in an apparently otherwise inaccessible area of Europe, whilst refusing even to fly them to an alternative airport, is most peculiar practice.

What was the reason for the cancellation? They can't just decide it's cancelled, not provide a reason, and refuse to transport the paid-up passengers for seven days

Right, am going in to speak to Easyjet rather than doing it via Twitter.

The irony is that they themselves have a flight to Gatwick this weekend, but they are refusing to transfer the girls onto it, for reasons that are utterly beyond me.

The flight was cancelled for training reasons - had the pilot flown on it, he would not have been able to get back to base in time for his training. I kid you not.

And yes, I am certain about the not offering a flight for a week - have had this confirmed by Easyjet Customer Service. There are no flights at the weekend; nothing available until Tuesday. Because, of course, everyone else is trying to get back in time for the school term.

Do they have travel insurance? They should be able to help.

Are they paying costs and compensation for the delayed time?

Is everyone flying a child?

No, no insurance. She's really not that well off at all, and decided to risk it as they were staying with family.

From their website:

------
Alternative transport to my final destination

If your flight has been cancelled we will endeavour to get you an easyJet flight to your final destination within 48 hours of your original flight departing.

If we’re unable to do this, you have the option to switch to another airline, take a train, bus or hire a car.

The alternative transport must be within the price range you paid for your original return flight or as close to it as possible. We will not be able to reimburse premium tickets, only economy.

Please ensure you obtain a valid itemised receipt from the company you use to submit when claiming.
------

So, if £1200 is the closest possible alternative fare, they will reimburse that so long as you can prove there were no cheaper alternatives (so keep screen-shots of flight-sourcing websites, etc.)

Still utterly baffled that children would be refused an alternate flight home and expected to hang around for a week.

The irony is that they themselves have a flight to Gatwick this weekend, but they are refusing to transfer the girls onto it, for reasons that are utterly beyond me

What are the reasons that they have they given for refusing to fly them to Gatwick?

The irony is that I did all of this for my own family in May, as Easyjet cancelled our return flight from home, and me and DH had Serious Work Stuff to get back to - and they did reimburse us for all our flights + hotel (and we went back via KLM, a different airport and a train; it wasn't cheap). But my friend is very worried about getting a debt that doesn't get paid back.

What I am hoping to achieve for now is that we can get them into Gatwick and that Easyjet will agree to pay a taxi for them to get home. If so I will pay for that for her.

And yes, I can't quite believe that they aren't prioritising children, either. The flight was only cancelled 3 hours before departure too.

" do apprciate that this is difficult circumstances but unfortunately we would not be able to offer further help with this. Apologies, "

So no reason.

do apprciate that this is difficult circumstances but unfortunately we would not be able to offer further help with this. Apologies

If that's their actual response, then go public with it all over social media: two children are stranded at an inaccessible airport for a week because a training exercise was prioritised over a scheduled flight, and they're declining to transport them to an alternate airport in the UK and won't give a reason why.

They'll be on a flight ASAP. Get your MP involved, and ask them to contact Easyjet as well. Tag all sorts of media/news outlets in your posts.

Baffled that this would happen

Easyjet helpline is closed. I am going to speak to them tomorrow and point out that as I have already emailed the CEO, how wonderful it would be if I could email him back and tell him that one of his employees had sorted it. If that fails, then yes, I will do exactly what you suggest.

Although our MP is worse than rubbish, my husband was seriously thinking we needed to put up WANTED posters for him the other day. But that's a whole other thread....

But yes, I was baffled too, that's why I offered to help, I thought it was a no brainer that someone would see the issues and try and sort it. How old fashioned of me.