..to wonder if I can claim for any of this holiday saga?

[KnowBetterDoBetter]

Very long, apologies. I think most, if not all of it, is relevant.

Me and 4yo DD went to Disneyland Paris from Monday - Wednesday. Booked shuttle bus transfers to and from CDG airport from a well known company.

Wednesday afternoon, we got on the shuttle bus to go back to the airport and make our way home. My ticket is taken and the barcode is scanned. Traffic is shocking due to the strikes going on in France, but we get there with 90 mins to spare (online check in and no bags to check). Pulling in, I see signs for 'Orly', which is the airport on the other side of Paris. I panic, nobody else speaks much English on the bus, but I work out that we are a long way from the airport I'm flying out on.

I ask the driver for the quickest way to get to CDG. She's very defensive, saying that she asked everyone if they were going to Orly. She didn't, but I said it did not matter right now and I just needed to get there. She directed me to a taxi, but they said it would take over 90 mins due to the traffic and would cost £££. My phone said the train was quicker. And if I was going to miss it any way, I didn't want to pay €100. So DD and I rushed for the train, helped by some lovely people... and made it there just in time for the plane taking off.

Easyjet said their next flight was tomorrow night, as they've cancelled 70 of their flights due to the strike, and they'd book us on it for €400. The closest hotel with rooms available online was 15km away, and would cost €200. I couldn't afford it.

There was a flight leaving at 7am the next morning, which I was trying to book, but I kept getting error messages. So I rushed to the terminal where the airline was (a fair old walk in the freezing cold with DD and our suitcases on a trolley), where they told me it was overbooked, hence why I couldn't book it.

So I paid €400 for a flight to Venice at 7am, with a connecting flight to Gatwick, getting us home at midday Thursday. We went back to the other terminal, and I got DD as comfy as I could on the chairs with all our coats, ready to check in early morning. I get this was maybe shitty parenting, but I was worried about getting taxis to far away hotels in a country where I can't speak the language, have next to no money, and I know there are a lot of riots and tension in France ATM. I was scared. Anyway, I stayed awake all night keeping an eye on her and our bags.

Went to check in at 5am the next morning, and was told that the airline had received no payment from the travel company, so had cancelled our booking. I called the travel company, who said they'd call me back in 10 minutes. I waited half an hour, searching for coach tickets. I found one, and called my DM to ask her to transfer me the money for a taxi and tickets.

The travel company then called back and said sorry for the inconvenience but they'd book us on a flight to Germany that night, and Gatwick tomorrow morning. I said no, I just wanted a refund but I didn't have much battery and couldn't talk right then. Asked them to call me that night when I was (hopefully) home.

Go to the coach station, the taxi ticking up by 10c every few seconds and the taxi driver chatting on WhatsApp the whole way. When we get there, the shutters are all down. I ask the taxi driver about it but he just drives off. Google translate tells me the signs say that it's shut from 5th - 8th due to the strikes.

I was at rock bottom. It's -2, we're stuck outside, I've just spent €60 on a taxi for no reason and will have to spend it again to get back to the airport. I see a family rush past with suitcases saying something about a bus. I rush with them, through a park, and find a coach station with a coach going to London at 10am. Got very cheap tickets (£19 each!) and finally get back to London at 5pm, and back home by 7pm - 27.5 hours since we left the hotel.

I've requested the refund from the travel company that did not pay for the second flight tickets - they say that very few people get refunds, and I'd hear in 30 days (). Can't see how they can't not give me a refund for those tickets, but what about all the other costs I've incurred?

The train tickets from Orly to CDG, food and drink at the airport and for the coach, the taxi to the coach station, the coach tickets, the train fare home from Gatwick, lost earnings from yesterday when I should have been at work etc. all adds up to at least £250. Including the flights is £650+.

I've spent more on this cock up than I did on the whole holiday (which I've been paying off monthly for a year). And I guess it all stems back to whether I should have asked whether the shuttle was going to my airport or not? I just thought that I had a ticket which was checked and scanned, there were no markings on the bus. I don't believe I'm at fault here.

And if I'm not, who should I be trying to claim this money from? Travel insurance, or the shuttle company? Do I have any chance.

Sorry for the length; I still feel absolutely shattered and have had the usual post-holiday stressful day at work with a full to bursting inbox, I owe my family so much money, feel so bad on my poor DD (who actually hardly moaned at all and was a little star throughout; I tried to make it a fucked up kind of 'adventure' for her) and I just wondered if I had any chance in recovering any of this, or if IABU and am at fault for it all.

Did you pay on credit card

*If I'm understanding correctly, you were not able to use the flights from Kiwi.com (as they hadn't booked them)? So you're owed money from them?

As they are based in the Czech Republic, you can raise a complaint through the EU Online Dispute Resolution Platform. All EU traders are required to link to the platform on their site, but they usually hide it somewhere obscure. It's super easy to complete, takes a few minutes.*

Thank you, that's really useful. Should I wait to hear back from them, then if they refuse, contact my bank, and if they can't help, contact the EU resolution platform?

Do you think there's any chance of getting back all of the other costs I've incurred due to their cock up? I guess I've actually saved money if I get the flight costs back, as the coach was really cheap, even adding the taxi and train fares, and the day I missed at work. But it still grates as it was such a horrific journey, my boss wasn't pleased, my clients aren't pleased, and my poor 4yo had to travel for 27 hours. Annoying even if they give me my flight money back in a months time that they don't have to incur any other penalty.

But you got in the wrong bus and missed the flight so your responsibility, and probably no insurance payout. You don’t have proof that the bus was supposed to go to cdg so can’t see you getting anywhere.

Regarding payment to Kiwi I assume you paid by credit card in which case you can claim this money back via them.

I didn't, I paid by debit card.

Did you try to get Eurostar train at all?

They were/ are on strike, no trains from Paris to London on Weds, Thurs & Fri when I looked.

They have just sent me the email below. Looks like a generic email, but are they going to try and wriggle out of the refund due to it?

The airline specifically told me that they had not received payment for the flights - nothing to do with the strikes.

You could raise a chargeback for none receipt of service given you've paid on your debit card. Give your bank a call to request this.

Do kiwis T&Cs state anything about rebooking due to their error?

You can't claim a refund from the airline as they were never paid. Your flight wasn't cancelled by the strikes. The email will not effect your ability to claim.

Hi there - did you book the holiday as a package? Eg did you book the flights plus other items from the same supplier?

I'm not confident you'll be able to get much back here - missing the flight was a genuine error but it was your error, and you didn't give Kiwi the chance to resolve the problem with your flights, by the sounds of things. I'd talk to your holiday insurance; and push Kiwi for a refund, but I wouldn't expect much and I'd be pleased if I got some back!

I'm sorry this happened

You can't claim a refund from the airline as they were never paid. Your flight wasn't cancelled by the strikes. The email will not effect your ability to claim.

Sorry, this email is from the travel company - not the airline. I was just saying that they're saying they won't refund due to strikes, but this specific issue was not due to strikes, though it happened at the same time. I was worried that this email pre-empted them using a 'get-out clause' of strikes to refuse a refund.

Hi there - did you book the holiday as a package? Eg did you book the flights plus other items from the same supplier?

No, they were all booked separately unfortunately

I hate being a killjoy but I doubt your insurance will reimburse you, the problem started with the shuttle bus. Were you aware that they operated to two different airports and if so did you ask which was the right bus? If that portion was booked through a UK based company you may have some luck there.
Good luck.222

I'm not confident you'll be able to get much back here - missing the flight was a genuine error but it was your error, and you didn't give Kiwi the chance to resolve the problem with your flights, by the sounds of things. I'd talk to your holiday insurance; and push Kiwi for a refund, but I wouldn't expect much and I'd be pleased if I got some back!

I (respectfully) disagree on the last part re Kiwi. They took my money, confirmed my booking, and then did not use my money to pay the airline. So they have my money. Why should they keep it? I don't understand.

When your 4yo has slept in an airport all night, whilst you have sat awake watching her waiting for a flight, to then get told your flights haven't even been paid for, I'm not sure how much time you should give the airline company to resolve things.

They told me they would call back in 10 minutes. I was very distressed. They didn't call back for an hour, and when they did, they offered 2 flights (and no explanation) which would still mean we would not get home for a further 24 hours. And understandably, I didn't hold much faith that they would actually book us on these flights.

If they'd offered me another flight that morning, I'd have walked back into the airport instead of continuing to try and hail down a cab. But I did not feel that their offer resolved the situation satisfactorily in any way, shape or form.

I'm sure their hands were tied - I'm aware that a great deal of flights out of Paris were cancelled/ delayed that day. But they (knowingly or unknowingly) made a colossal error which caused severe and significant upset, and they still have my money. I get that the consensus with the shuttle and the first flight is that I'm at fault - but I cannot for the life of me see why Kiwi should keep my money.

Sorry that sounds awful, and as I was reading though "hmmm that sounds like kiwi.com experience" and yes, it was. They are thieves who have form for taking your money and then nit passing it on to the airline. In my case it was just for my luggage, but they will just pass your refund application to the airline who won't refund money they didn't receive. The only way I got remedy from them was to complain all over their social media (they have a Facebook page) and I also reported them to my credit card company. They are really shit and deserve to go out of business

I. Think how the shuttle was booked is key,. If they asked for flight details and fucked up then you must have recourse with them, did you keep all receipts?

That sounds awful, but because you got on the wrong bus I don't think you will get anything back. No one else is liable.

I. Think how the shuttle was booked is key,. If they asked for flight details and fucked up then you must have recourse with them, did you keep all receipts?

They asked for the airport and whether my flight was in the morning or afternoon. Attached is my ticket. You can see the Ts & Cs on there - 'this ticket is only valid for the date and journey above' 🤔 it also says I should have been given a receipt, but I wasn't. I wasn't on the first journey either, and didn't see anybody else getting a receipt.

Two separate problems - getting on the wrong bus and the Kiwi business.

The bus is exactly the sort of thing I'd screw up too, but I don't think you can really blame the bus service unless they specifically told you they were going to CDG. Sadly I think you'll have to write that off.

The Kiwi bit is unacceptable and I'd pursue that down every possible avenue until they reimburse you. Twitter, the EU complaints thing, the lot. Make yourself the squeaky wheel that gets oiled.

Sounds awful OP. It’s easy to laugh these things off when money isn’t tight but when you save hard all year for one trip and it goes to shit it’s pretty upsetting.

I was so close to a similar situation to your wrong bus earlier in the year (also in France, also heading to CDG). I’d booked train tickets from Lyon to CDG. Got to the train station and went to the platform to the train to Paris. There are gates for that platform at and I’m furious because my ticket isn’t opening the gates. Turns out to get the train from Lyon to CDG you need to take the train to Lille, not Paris. My ticket does have a train number but not Lille, just CDG.. I made it to the train to Lille just in time only to find out I’d accidentally book the ticket for 14.00 instead of 4pm and my ticket is no longer valid. Trying to do the right thing I risked missing the train to buy a new ticket and had to run to make the train.

It so easily could have ended in disaster. If I’d missed the train I would have likely missed my flight to Australia via Singapore. I shudder to to think how much a last minute flight to Australia would have cost

Definitely try and claim back for the flight that Kiwi fucked up but the rest is down to your error and bad timing with the strikes.

Agh I really feel for you. That sounds awful and my heart goes out to you, we're due to go to Paris with the kids next week first time but I've been following fb pages and seeing people being stranded and you did the best you could in an unsafe situation judging by stuff I saw on the news you were in the airport safe as opposed to a hotel in an area you didn't know.
You say you booked shuttle from a well know company. If it's the one we're using they issue a ticket and you hand it to the driver who issues you a receipt - did the driver check your ticket as they should have spotted you were on the wrong bus that is in their terms and conditions.
Insurance companies will always find a way not to pay our. Keep copies of everything and if you're not happy take it further.

Very upsetting and the bus mistake is very easily done.

While it sounds like an absolutely nightmare, it happened because you didn’t check you were on the right bus. It sounds like you even knew they ran shuttles to both airports but didn’t check which one the bus you were on was going to because “they run more frequently to CDG”.

You say they checked your ticket and knew which airport you were going to, but that’s doubtful. Most likely they didn’t read the ticket and just scanned it.

You say the bus lady was very defensive about it when you got there, implying she spoke fairly good English, so you could (and should) have asked her to double check where you were going, not assumed they would take you to the right place because they scanned your ticket.