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Original poster

To never book an 'un' package holiday again. Furious!!!

61 replies

Halle71 · 31/01/2017 15:57

So, last year we went to Sri Lanka at Easter and found out 3 days before we were due to fly that our airline had changed our flight to leave a day earlier and return two days later (WTF?) and our travel agent forgot to tell us. This was a massive ballache - extra time off work, time off school and 3 nights extra accommodation. Not to mention the stress.

Must be unusual right? Airlines can't just do that can they?

Anyway, had the January blues a couple of weeks ago and booked our summer holiday. Booked Ryanair flights to Girona, an airport hotel, a villa for the first week and Eurocamp for the second week. Great deal because we booked so early. I thought.

Just had an email from Ryanair saying they have made significant changes to our flights. Now, instead of leaving for Spain at 6am we leave in the evening (and don't therefore need the airport hotel). But worst of all, they have changed the date of our flight. Instead of coming back on SUNDAY 3 Sept, we are coming back on MONDAY 4th Sept. A FUCKING SCHOOL DAY, WORK DAY (we have booked all our holiday for the year). CUNTS.

I literally don't know what to do 😥😥😥😥😥

OP posts:
stopfuckingshoutingatme · 31/01/2017 16:41

maybe its an inset day

looks its really annoying but there is not much you can do, do you think its only you that has this? every year we have something fuck up, I plan for it now

In face I have planned for my luggage being late already (too short a connection time)

Firstly cancel the airport hotel...that's some money saved.

But I do agree Ryanair are cunts, but personally I would just suck up the extra day. really all you lose is 1 day of unpaid leave versus

time to find a new holiday
stress to find a new holiday
extra costs for the new holiday

Nah. the school went mind its really only 1 day

But its the RAGE that they fuck about peoples holidays basically because they are tight motherfuckers that have poor agreements in place with the local airports

GeekLove · 31/01/2017 16:43

I had booked a package holiday to Mexico and only found out that they don't necessarily reserve the seats on the plane back as we got the last two seats flying back on Saturday night. If we'd have been later we'd have had to wait for the next flight which would not be until Sunday meaning that we'd arrive on a working day and school day - just to know that don't assumed seats are guaranteed even on a package holiday.

stopfuckingshoutingatme · 31/01/2017 16:51

and my "package" hotel downgraded me. to a ground floor room, in India

with cockroaches galore as by the kitchen

awful. and they can, bastards - its in the ts and cs

WritingHome · 31/01/2017 16:51

That is really bad luck. We have travelled extensively, a lot of long haul too and never ever book packages and have never had this happen. Oh wait...once in China about 2 years ago I had a time change of about an hour on an internal flight and I got a text and an email about it in advance.

We have flown with Ryan Air a lot and never had an issue

Helbelle75 · 31/01/2017 16:52

We booked a package holiday and had flights changed to very inconvenient ones, meaning we arrived home at 5.30am, both of us were working that day. It'seems terrible, but they seem to be able to get away with it.

Ceaser1981 · 31/01/2017 16:57

Arseholes arent they! Not sure if u have seen this www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/flight-changes

Caroian · 31/01/2017 16:59

I think you've been really unlucky, unfortunately.

You can cancel the Ryanair flights though. There own T&Cs state that if flights are changed by more than 3 hours you can have a refund instead. Shop around for different flights. By the time you factor in all the "extras" with Ryanair, you'll likely get something just as cheap with another airline.

m0therofdragons · 31/01/2017 17:02

Our New York flights have been booked for April since July but so far BA has changed the times twice. So hard to plan car hire etc!

rookiemere · 31/01/2017 17:05

If you're wanting to check alternative flights OP www.skyscanner.net is a great way to see pretty much all available options

BeansMcCready · 31/01/2017 17:10

This has once happened to me but it was actually great. DILs (they actually are D!) arranged a family holiday to France, the flights from our local airport at a perfect time were £300 quid ish each, but there were rubbish timed flights from an airport two hours away for £60 each, so we booked those. Less than a week after we had booked then, we were informed that our flight had been cancelled and we had been booked on the flights we actually wanted in the first place from our 30 mins on the tube airport. We were delighted!

Sorry though OP, pretty rubbish for you x

FireInTheHead · 31/01/2017 17:11

I think it's something you have to factor in as a strong possibility when booking with budget airlines. Even with scheduled regular airlines I've had flights cancelled on me while sitting at the bloody boarding gate. If your dates are set in stone with no flexibility by a day or two there's no easy answer. Suck it up or cancel if you can't arrange with work/school. In this case you have enough advance notice to cancel and rebook, it may cost you more to get different flights allowing for some date wiggle room in case, heaven forbid, it happens again.

Frazzled2207 · 31/01/2017 17:16

This happened to us with flybe. Booked a long time in advance and about a couple of months out they cancelled the flight and offered alternatives which were no good. They refunded for "free" but you had to call a premium rate number to get it Angry. And we had to buy other tickets from another airline, obviously more expensive by then
AngryAngry

bluetongue · 31/01/2017 17:19

I had Singapore Airlines cancel my Tuesday flight from Milan to Singapore and they automatically rebooked me for the a Monday so it's not just budget airlines.

Luckily I'd already booked extra days off work after the flight so just extended my trip for one day.

Original poster
Halle71 · 31/01/2017 17:20

They were dirt cheap flights for Spain/school hols (£110) and when I looked last week they were almost £200 so I suspect we have been bumped for someone less tight 😕 But because of the cheap flights we had splashed out on everything else so it would have been really bloody annoying to add anothe £400 in flight costs. We have annual travel insurance but wanted to avoid that - if nothing else what we've booked is lovely.

Anyway, I came up with a solution that they have accepted. My first port of call was school in case there is an inset day but they don't know yet. Luckily Ryanair fly into Barcelona as well which is close to Girona so we are leaving from there in the Sunday - pain in the bum with the hire car and different UK airports, but I can get my 4 year old to his first day of school if needs be!

Off to Phuket for Easter and cutting it fine on the return again so watch this space!!

OP posts:
5foot5 · 31/01/2017 17:32

Eek. We were booking our summer holiday at the weekend and have booked a flight to Girona with RyanAir on a Saturday in June.

Hope they don't do that to us or I will be livid as we have an itinerary at the other end that will be totally buggered if they change the day.

Branleuse · 31/01/2017 17:36

ryanair changed my flights recently too, but thankfully it was in good time and i was able to sort it out, but it means we have to go for 13 nights instead of 9, which is a bit of a pain

RedSauce · 31/01/2017 17:50

I fly once or twice a year (always book directly with airlines) and have never had the date of my flight changed ever. They've been moved by a few hours before but new more than that. Maybe it's a Ryanair thing.

RedSauce · 31/01/2017 17:51

*never more than that

BarbarianMum · 31/01/2017 17:55

Sorry, that's crap. I have to say I think you've been exceptionally unlucky though. I've never booked a package holiday and have never had this problem with flights. I did stop flying with Ryan Air some years ago and rarely fly in winter (when there's likely to be bad weather) though.

Frazzled2207 · 31/01/2017 18:50

Come to think of it this has also happened to me with Qatar airways and KLM too. Not a major drama but were put on different flights the same day- original flights were cancelled.

So not just a budget airline thing.

ForalltheSaints · 31/01/2017 19:09

I wonder why I never travel with Ryanair?

BarbarianMum · 31/01/2017 19:19

Different flights, same day is one thing. But changing the date of flights is another.

maddiemookins16mum · 31/01/2017 19:25

I work in the travel industry, have done for 28 years. People look down their noses at "traditional" package holidays now. I will say one thing, you have far more protection when booking a "package", than self packaging (sourcing your own flights, hotels etc).

IonaNE · 31/01/2017 19:27

I've never booked a package holiday in my life (late 40s) and nothing like this has ever happened to me. Nor would book a package holiday - I like to choose everything myself. OP, Girona is very close to Barcelona and you might be able to arrange to drop the hire car off at Barcelona airport.

BankWadger · 31/01/2017 19:27

Ryanair are shit.