Removed from my flight as it was overbooked .....

[Forest2017]

Aibu. To be ridiculously angry and fed up because I didn't think that "overbooking" a flight existed...

Due to fly to Croatia today, 7.25am. With two female friends (all professionals in our late 20s). Tried to check in yesterday but it wouldn't allow us to. Tried and tried. In the end we just decided to get to the airport early and check in.

Printed our boarding passes and then headed through security, had breakfast and went to the gates and joined he queue.

On passing over our cards and passports we were told we had to stand aside. We were not told why. Everyone walked past us one by one.

Finally they told us "this flight is overbooked and only two of you can fly, the third person can't" they explained: albeit rather abruptly and with little apology, that there was nothing to be done. So between us we had to choose who stayed and who went, we were assured the third person would be out on the next flight. I stayed.

I then have a lengthy walk back through to departures, found a help desk, explained, waited... was escorted through security (with others who'd missed flights) and then left to queue in the "EasyJet queue". My friends flew to Croatia and messaged me before I even got to the front TWO HOURS of queing: I needed the loo, had no water and quite frankly was losing patience.

I knew there was another flight at 1pm but it said online fully booked. There are three more tomorrow. Although in my head I was very disappointed to be missing a days holiday, having to wait and fly alone, re book ferry crossings in Croatia etc etc life is what it is....

AND THEN....
I was told I couldn't wait as standby for the 1pm flight. And that they couldn't we book me for a flight for another three days THREE WHOLE DAYS as they are overbooked on all their flights to Croatia until then. Like wtf...?!?!

I went away in tears. I get one holiday a year. I haven't endless money to whittle away on taxis, food, flights.

So I sit down and look at easy jet. Tomorrow 5.55am flight is still up for sale (although I've just been told it's sold out and overbooked by 4 seats). But whatever it's £290 so I put that on my credit card.... I then pay an extra £16.99 for reserved seating and I check in and print a new boarding pass.

I go back to the front desk and explain. They've put me up overnight in a hotel: no lunch offered or snacks. Just dinner.

My issue here is tomorrow the flight is iverbooked. I have paid for speedy boarding, and for an extra leg room seat. All of which I hope to be compensated for. I will join my friends a day late and hopefully enjoy my holiday. BUT that flight is iverbooked and unless five people don't turn up then they'll be removing people from the flight. I hope to God it isn't me.

How do they get away with this?!

And EASYJET YOURE COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY INCOMPETENT.

just to add the queue was so long due to various complaints: one lady who's seat wa double booked so she was thrown off, 30 people also denied boarding S they'd downgraded to a smaller plane, a few missed flights due to the gate being changed and then not knowing, then those that were there due to overbooking. As well as the misfortinate who had simply missed their flight.

So I'm in my hotel room, bored and hungry and yes ranting!

OP, keep ALL of your receipts for insurance claim. Plus you will ba able to claim maximum compensation from Easyjet.
So sorry for your miserable start to your trip.

"That's why I won't book with any of the cheap crap airlines any more. BA (for example, other airlines are available) are more expensive, but reliable and will do their utmost to help."

Not true. BA are apalling at bumping off holidaymakers for more lucrative business customers.

If you can't check in online, it's a good sign that the flight is full & you won't be able to get on it.

DP didn't realise (until I innocently asked if he'd checked in the evening before he flew) that he had to check in with Easyjet (& give his passport details...) when his company moved from a business booking firm who did everything for them, to a cheapo firm who booked them onto the cheapest flight going & nothing else. I think it cost them more than it saved with missed flights & arguments at check in. They're back to the more expensive lot now...

Hope you get there & back OP.

I've only ever been abroad once in my life and I went with my parents. Now decades later we're going abroad next year as a family: DH, 3 kids and my DDad and his GF. This kind of thing has me absolutely freaking out. What if they separate us from my children? What if they make one or two of us stay behind? It seems that no matter if we pre-book seats, turn up in plenty of time and do everything that is required, we could still get shafted? I would be terrified to be left alone to fly out by myself. I'm perfectly fine in everyday life but the thought of long distance travel has me anxious as hell.i really think it should be made illegal now for these companies to sell the same seat twice. You can't do it in most other businesses so why is this allowed? It's not like they lose money on an half empty flight. They still get paid! And they can THEN resell seats. AFTER the no shows haven't arrived.

Something to read while you wait (or hopefully wjen you land because you're already in flight):

one family's story of being bumped

OP

This is why we always get to the airport very early if we are flying economy.

What worse is it's happening more and more despite the legal compensation so they must still be making more from overbooking than they are from removing and compensating

Really? Is this a fact or just something you think is happening?

It is particularly bad that they are overbooked and have extra people they need to fit in yet they are still selling seats

EasyJet give priority to: disabled, those that pay extra for EasyJet membership and those that pay for seats. Then they do it in order of check in and we must've near the end (however we did try).

We were there super early. I learn from my mistakes fortune and will be checking in and booking seats from now on!

On a plus note I'm enjoying my book and Prosecco!

I cannot believe they were still selling seats online for a flight they already told you was overbooked

I can just about understand overbooking on busy business routes where people often don't turn up, but overbooking seats when they know they've already got hoardes of desperate people waiting at the airport is just appalling!

It's very common and agree with meg54 regarding BA, et al.

You're probably more likely to be bumped from a premium airline flight than a budget one if both flights were fully booked.

The reason being that premium airlines will guarantee frequent fliers a seat on an already fully booked plane if they book (for example) 24hrs before departure.

I travel regularly on business and with Lufthansa in particular I've been given a seat on a fully booked flight because my 'status' (I hate that it's called that; just means I'm a corporate slave in reality) allows it.

I don't know what can be done to stop it though other than increasing prices to cover empty seats and then never booking the whole flight up.

But even then, if a dozen people with a particular level of frequent flyer card suddenly wanted a seat, however unlikely, there could be problems...

You are entitled to compensation. I think it will be £540 in this case.

But....be aware that they will at first refuse to pay. Write to them asking for the compensation though. You have to do this, before you can take them to small claims court.

Me and DH had a 9 hour delay when travelling with Thomson. All my letters were ignored. E-mail to the Director of Thomson was ignored. E-mail to the Director of TUI was ignored.

I took them to small claims court. Only cost £72. On the day the case was to be heard, they paid up. And they ad to pay me back the £72.

Don't back down. Small claims court forms are really easy to complete. You download on-line.

It's really shitty you need to go to the lengths of taking them to the Small Claims court. Obviously they assume lots of people just won't bother.

Easyjet are shit bags. They treated us awfully last year. You will be pushed from pillar to post and have to phone every few days to hassle them for your money back, you will be promised your claim has been passed to dept X for action & find that it hasn't next time you call. It took me 6 weeks of aggro to get 1/3 of the money I'd claimed back. I think they do it in purpose on the basis that less bloody minded people will run out of steam. Fuckers!

BA overbook flights too. They might be nicer about it, but if there's no seat, there's no seat.

Ryanair are one of the few big airlines that don't do this, surprisingly.

Anything to do with airports or airlines seems to be off limits with regards to complaining. We recently flew to New York. The queue at immigration was over 2 hours and they said it was because some system had gone down 2 DAYS before. The immigration officer just didn't care. He also said that we needed another world wide bug/illness to stop people flying!! I didn't dare say anything as I wanted to be let into the country but wtf!

Any hint that someone is going to complain and security is called and your holiday/trip ruined so people just keep quiet.

I was overbooked on a flight a couple of years ago and they told me that I could fly out the next day and they would put me up in the Holiday Inn at Heathrow (I was going to a 5 star city hotel!). I thought the only thing to do was to beg for that day and claim I would go from any airport and would not insist on sitting next to my travel companions etc. It was a very popular route so he found me something but why could he not have said he had 2 tickets in the first place.

I think airlines try it on now. Its such a horrible way to travel. The hostesses (yes, Virgin, I am looking at you) are just collecting rubbish and serving plastic food. They clearly don't want to be there and neither do you. I guess though that air travel is now within reach of most so that is the price we need to pay

OP
Make sure you inform housekeeping that your minibar was empty when you arrived in your room.
You dont want the entire missing contents added to your bill. I know Easy jet are paying but dont leave anything to chance. Take a photo.

I have never had this problem with Easyjet but we had a bad experience with Jet2 this year on a flight home from Spain. We had done online checking about 4 weeks in advance and we turned up at the airport pretty early, i.e. 2hrs and 30mins before the flight. In fact a full 30 minutes before the check in desk even opened.

We were surprised to see the queue was so long that far ahead. Anyway, just before we got to the front it was announced that the flight was full as the aircraft that had been sent was too small. Loads of disgruntled passengers not just a few. We were lucky and got one of the few remaining seats on an alternative flight to the UK and then had a bus transfer back to where we were meant to be. However the vast majority of the people behind us were faced with something like a 12 hour wait for the next flight and even then no certainty of getting on.

I think most of the people in front of us were on a package so I guess the reps made sure that the coaches picking people up from the hotels got there really, really early so that package customers would get on the flight. Poor suckers like us who had booked flight-only had to take their chance

We've flown Easyjet a couple of times and always pay for seats at time of booking, so we've touch wood never had a problem. Takes away the point of booking a "cheap" flight but I tend to go by times rather than the airline itself. What a shit start to a holiday though.

Here's another prosecco for you, op [ and remember, when you've finished your book somewhere there's a whole bar rammed full of new friends
Once, a strike at Heathrow meant that my flight back from Bangkok couldn't take off, so we were put up overnight in an hotel before a 7.30am flight. Single men to the left side, single women to the right...
Bugger that! I listened intensely, followed the increasingly more raucous noise to the bar. Only left it to stand in the check in queue at 6am . Great ending to a great stay

OP - I'm SO sorry and really feel for you. I hope when you do get there, you have a wonderful time. Croatia is lovely so I'm sure you will. Just to say, I will now, because of your post NEVER fly Easy Jet again. EVER.
XXX

Wey Hey! Good on you Tigerlovingall! :-) X

Time to threaten legal action if they don't move their arse and get you to Croatia.

that is shit OP, really feel for you! The problem originated because people don't turn up for flights. they buy flexible tickets and then go whenever. so the airline loses out with empty seats (which haven't been paid for as it was a flexible ticket).

Then the industry became far more competitive with the cheaper airlines. And margins dropped. And now they all do it - although some with a little more grace than others.

BUT if they were to do it, the cost of your flight would go up. as a consumer we have to make the decision that if we want cheap as chips flights for our hols, something, somehwhere, as to give. Service, food, drinks, space, luggage....

I'm not saying it's right. However, the trade off is plain to see.

About 15 years ago my BIL flew Ryanair from Italy (with two children ) to Stanstead. They arrived at the Italian airport to leave, and went through to the departure gate with no issue. When they go there, instead of a plane, they were boarded on a bus to go to another (much smaller) airport as the flight couldn't leave from where they were (can't remember why).

When the passengers got to the new airport -(2 hrs later) , it was now quite late and the passengers were all delivered to the departure lounge (as they had already gone through security). Nothing was open at the new airport and it soon became clear that there was not going to be any plane leaving from there any time soon either .

So all of the passengers were stranded in a tiny airport, miles away from home, even for the Italians, with nothing open and no taxis. The airline staff soon went home as their shift was finished (I kid you not) and the passengers were forced to spend the entire night (10 hrs) in a departure lounge with nothing open and no comfortable chairs.

Some people managed to call cabs to hotels but a lot did not want to leave in case they missed the flight the following morning.

The following morning it took about another 10 hours to organise a flight. Nothing in the way of compensation apart from a 5 euro voucher for lunch was offered. My BILs and DNs arrived in London over 24 hours late, having spent most of the time in a tiny airport, sleeping on the floor.

This was one of the reasons that as a family, we NEVER our DNs unaccompanied on their 4 times a year regular flights to and from Italy/UK. A family member always accompanied them until they wr 17/18 years old, even if it meant someone just flying with them, delivering & or collecting them at the airport. If they had been alone (children over 12/13 are often expected to fly unaccompanied on some airlines) it would have been a traumatic experience ,as opposed to just the irritating and uncomfortable one it was with their dad there.

As for compensation we tried to get some compensation but got nowhere at all, they just refused to pay anything.

Also, they should have paid for you to fly same day with another airline (you are not restricted to easyjet under EU law!), or given you compensation.

This is happened to my ex and I many many times on transatlantic flights. We did manage to get compensation back once - more than the face value of the ticket so $1300.

It is absolutely atrocious! They also routinely flout the law on compo and when they do get taken to court they just get a small fine and a slap on the wrists. The people who are most vulnerable are single travelers and especially men.

I'm due to fly to Seville in a week or so with BA and the mini rens. I am hoping that we will all have that 'can't touch me' cos I'm a single mum with 2 kids. I seriously want no kerfuffle at check in as kids have not flown before and DD1 is already anxious.

I hope.