Ryanair cancellation refund

[diian]

DD was booked on a Ryanair flight from Hamburg to Stansted in June. 30 mins before boarding at 8pm her flight was cancelled. All staff disappeared, no one on boarding gate, check-in gate etc. DD (21) was due to start a new job at 10am the next day and was left stranded on her own in the airport. She phoned Ryanair but got a message saying lines were closed and open at 9.30am the following morning.

We booked her into the cheapest airport hotel (£110) and tried to book the next Ryanair flight home... this was 4 days later!! So we ended up finding a flight that would get her home the next day to start her job (7.30am flight). This cost £300 (hand luggage only) and got into Heathrow.

Ryanair are refusing to refund her and will only give her a voucher for the initial £40 her flight cost. They say the flight was cancelled due to airspace issues out of their control.

Hep! any advice?

Bump

So the original flight itself cost £40 and they are refunding that but won’t refund the cost of the hotel accommodation or the alternative flight you booked?

What do the terms and conditions say of the original booking with regard to ‘in case of cancellation’? Alternatively, can your DD reclaim the costs on her travel insurance?

This page sets out what their general policies are when flights are cancelled.

Keep talking to them and send them EU261 insisting they must pay - full refund + compensation as it was so late.

Then, your DD needs to claim the extra expenses on her travel insurance.

She did not have travel insurance as she was staying with a family friend for a week and was hand luggage only.

Thank you @TheOnlyLivingBoyInNewCross. The General policies make it sound so easy and straight forward. If only there were Ryanair staff on hand to offer free phone calls, alternative flight options or accommodation. DD, along with 50 or so other passengers, were just left with no help or support. By 10pm she was panicking, standing outside the airport not knowing where to go. The family friend lived in Hannover (1.5 hours by train away) and she needed to get back to start her job. It was a nightmare of an evening.

Keep insisting with EU261 then. Send them a link to the regulation (there’s actually a full section on it on their own website) and remind them that on top of the flight cost, she’s also owed €250 in compensation.

Are you sure EU261 applies? The cancellation was due to airspace problems, presumably beyond Ryanairs control. I suspect they would argue "extraordinary circumstances".

If it was an airspace problem, Ryanair should still pay for accommodation overnight, surely?

An update:

It has taken nearly a year to sort out.

DD got no where with Ryanair. They ended up refunding the £40 even though DD did not want a refund, just the cost of her accommodation and alternative flight. They said if she was not happy with that she could fight it through the Aviation Alternative Disputes Resolution portal (the ombudsman). She did and today was awarded the full £410 (£300 flight and £110 hotel)

The Aviation ADR is like going through a small claims court case online, but it is straight forward and well worth pursuing these claims.

Glad to know you finally got a result @diian .

Please don't fly Ryanair again. I would take their landing slots off them, one for every time they behave like this.

Well done ! Shame on Ryanair for not coughing up in the first place.