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Original poster

Allow me to rant about airlines...

17 replies

StillMedusa · 10/02/2020 15:41

Just to make me feel better!
DS1 went to Amsterdam for a final weekend away with his oldest friend, he (DS1) is off to Australia in a fortnight to live (he met his fiancee here but she's an Aussie and had to go back after a couple of years with us)

Flights cancelled Sunday... the storm. Fair enough. Rebooked for Monday. Cancelled. But despite their promises as per website, they have no accommodation and the earliest flights back are Wednesday. Other airlines still flying have oddly hiked their prices from £40 a trip to nearly £400... (those that are still flying.. ) and were all booked up incredibly quickly.

I understand you can't help the weather, but the price hike is disgusting, and EasyJet are 'sorry' they can't help anyone find somewhere to stay ..they have to keep receipts and hope for a refund.

DS1 is moneyless as he'd carefully budgeted for a short weekend ..the rest has gone on shipping him and his stuff to Oz, so I've managed to find a train (prices also rising by the minute) which will bring him back tomorrow at obscene cost (to me) as he is already very stressed about missing work, as it's his last week and lots to do.

I know it's 'one of those things' but the price hike by hundreds of pounds to profit from bad weather really really hacks me off!

OP posts:

BarbaraofSeville · 10/02/2020 15:52

If his flight was cancelled, would his travel insurance reimburse him for the extra cost?

Stick everything on a credit card, keep receipts and details of what's happened and put a claim in.

BarbaraofSeville · 10/02/2020 15:54

Other airlines still flying have oddly hiked their prices from £40 a trip to nearly £400... (those that are still flying.. ) and were all booked up incredibly quickly

But that's how airline pricing works these days. Depending on whether the £40 a single or a return, either £13 or £26 of that is tax, so airlines can't hope to make a profit if they sell all their flights for hardly anything, so they simply have to sell a lot of their flights for more than that - which they do when they can sell every seat on the plane, whatever price they charge.

HalfBiscuit · 10/02/2020 15:55

Does he have travel insurance?

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Seventyone72seventy3 · 10/02/2020 15:58

Surely travel insurance would cover this?

ElloBrian · 10/02/2020 16:00

Train? Change in Paris for the Eurostar.

ElloBrian · 10/02/2020 16:01

Oh sorry I see you’ve sorted it out already.

Vix20678 · 10/02/2020 16:03

I'm stuck here too, easyJet covered the coat of our first night's accommodation but we've had to book 2 more nights and have been told we will be able to claim some of it back.

I just want to get home!

pelirocco123 · 10/02/2020 16:07

Thats what travel insurance is for

BookMeOnTheSudExpress · 10/02/2020 16:08

Low-cost airlines have made it possible for millions to travel.
easyJet seats are released 6-8 months in advance. That's when they cost £20 not the day before you want to travel.
What have your travel insurance said?
Maybe also give your son a reality check that not leaving any money for unexpected emergencies isn't a good way to travel.

notimagain · 10/02/2020 16:38

If Easyjet had hiked the price for the return sector you might have a point..but as for the other airlines, well they don't do charity/rescue work so pricing is down supply and demand in a cutthroat market .

Second/third the advice about keeping receipts, using a card etc.

VenusClapTrap · 10/02/2020 17:28

Two words. Travel insurance.

notimagain · 10/02/2020 22:51

Just to back up what Bookme said about pricing I have just remembered..

About 10 years back I had to book a flight from France to the the UK with Easyjet on the day of travel ..it cost just short of £300....

It's that not some airlines are taking advantage of the storm, it is simply the premium you/anybody will pay for booking at short notice.

FruityWidow · 11/02/2020 00:34

Insurance will pay it

smashstore · 11/02/2020 00:51

His insurance was either a cheap as chips policy that doesn't cover 'acts of god' or he doesn't have any.

JingsMahBucket · 11/02/2020 00:54

Cancel the cheque, OP.

GrimDamnFanjo · 11/02/2020 00:59

Have you checked if we can still claim EU compensation for delays/cancellations? It's a couple of hundred euros as a ball park. Google it or check out resolver,co.uk.

BarbaraofSeville · 11/02/2020 03:55

For EU compensation to be payable, it would have to be the airline's fault, which it wasn't in the first instance, because it was obviously cancelled due to bad weather.

What was the reason for the second cancellation? Was it still due to the weather? Or another reason such as shortage of planes or crew not directly related to the weather? If the latter, it would be worth putting a claim in via resolver.

Broken planes or insufficient staff are the airline's fault because they are expected to have spares available and this does generally happen - we once had to sit for an hour on the runway because one of the pilots didn't feel very well at the last minute and we were waiting for the standby replacement to get sorted and on the plane.

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