Stranded in Italy by RyanAir should we sue?!

[Plentifulpenguins]

My husband and I are in our late 40s flew to Perugia for a much-desired holiday after my terminal cancer diagnosis as a final hurrah and we were due to stay at a hotel there. We flew with RyanAir to Perugia but 15 minutes from landing they said we were diverting to Bologna for weather reasons and then changed it to Pisa. We landed in Pisa which is 4 hours from Perugia, at 9pm, and assumed Ryanair would help us get back to Perugia. They told us they’d put us all on a bus but when we cleared security there was no bus!!!!!!!!!!! Im not well enough to drive and my partner is unable to drive so we couldn’t get a car hire.We waited until midnight trying to call taxis, hotels and Ryan air and nobody would help as there were no hotels available and over 100 passengers stranded including a couple with a newborn baby!!! In the end we and several others slept on the floor outside the airport because nobody from Ryanair was around and there was nowhere in the airport or neighbouring places to stay!!!!. At about 4am we managed to get a taxi and paid 675 euros to go to Perugia, and have almost arrived. I can’t even get hold of Ryanair and was just told via an automated email to put a claim through their online system. AIBU to bring legal case against Ryan air because they couldn’t even provide any alternatives and just left us stranded?? Does anyone even know how to do this or whether I’m wasting my time?

I don't think they will pay you the taxi..they will simply state there are trains for fraction of that cost

"So the easiest way is still two changes, bus to Florence then the train"

That's just one change. A "door to door" one at that from directly outside the terminal. But no, the easiest alternative is the direct bus to Perugia.

It doesn't matter anyway for the OP since they got a taxi. I'm just wondering if there was a bus supplied by Ryanair but the OP and others were badly directed and headed straight outside the terminal? They usually hold you in a side area or closed part of the terminal while arranging buses but, because of their sheer incompetence when it comes to communication, some passengers miss the transport.

"Le Marche and Umbria are on their knees, caused by the floods yesterday evening. The worst hit area is the province of Perugia where there have been more than 200 emergency interventions by the Fire Services and last night, all flights into and out of local airports were grounded or diverted"

Today's news. 8 dead, 4 missing now.

Don't think Ryanair have made it up tbf.

I'd agree with that supposition. When it happened to us in Pescara, it was a good 2 hours before we heard anything, and then dp and I (and baby dd) only managed to get onto the first coach that came because dp was outside having a fag.

There is a clearly set out process for getting a claim both from Ryanair and from travel insurance.

The only thing you have to overcome with Ryanair is the weather but it is definitely worth starting

"When it happened to us in Pescara, it was a good 2 hours before we heard anything, and then dp and I (and baby dd) only managed to get onto the first coach that came because dp was outside having a fag."

Yeah, it happened to us in France and half of the passengers were missing from the waiting area. Probably 2/3 hours until the coaches came but they'd all disappeared. Some of them popped up on social media complaining about being stranded there/no coaches etc. The fact is they'd walked straight out of the terminal and completely missed the waiting area (not surprising since there was no obvious Ryanair representative nor any signs!)

@Geamhradh

Cripes that news is grim...

Given that situation it's not impossible Ryanair had a plan to bus outbound passengers from Perugia to Pisa and then use the same buses to take the OP and companions Pisa> Perugia... so there would have been a very lengthy delay before coaches arrived.

Whatever the reality the communications went wrong somewhere.

Travel insurance claim surely??

Yes, having done some very basic investigation, I agree this is a worry.

I went on Google maps and checked public transport from Pisa International Airport to Perugia vs. car. Car takes 3 hours and 4 mins. Train via Florence takes 3 hours and 27 mins (so not much longer) and costs under €19 per person. If I were Ryanair looking at this claim I'd ask why the travellers didn't take the train.

Put in a claim but be aware that airlines can use weather as an "extraordinary circumstance" to get out of paying you.

They won't pay because there was a coach. Unfortunately the OP missed the arranged transport. Others on Twitter seemed to expect a line of coaches waiting outside for them too, understandably that isn't a realistic expectation. When this happens you need to stay together and stay inside the terminal.

Chalk it up OP and enjoy your trip, hope it's not affected further by the storms

I thought they still had to get you to your final destination though? They can use weather as force majeure to justify landing elsewhere (justifiable, in this instance), but not to fail to provide a bus or some other onward transport to the final destination. I fear 'reasonable costs' doesn't include a €700 taxi though!

Plus Radio 4 You and Yours (which can often be very effective getting fast results) and perhaps your own regional BBC station (if you flew from a regional airport, that will be a lot of people from your locale effected and therefore a local news story of note). Companies will often react quicker to a public shaming - although Ryan Air have no shame, just legal obligations they need to fulfil.

I'm really sorry you are going through this, OP. I hope you and your DH are able to enjoy your time in Perugia. 💐

The fictional "groundside assistance" is pretty standard, since basically they just want you through immigration and out of their hair - I had it with Virgin and with Ryanair would almost expect it

Certainly I'd do whatever it takes to get the money from them, but for now just try to enjoy your much-needed holiday - and as others have asked, do you have insurance?

What if your final destination is - literally - in crisis, underwater for instance? There has to be a limit on this stipulation. These floods have only just occurred and Perugia seems the worst affected. BBC and Guardian don't even have this yet! Bit concerned that OP is travelling towards a crisis zone.

Just to jump on your point about weather- it’s not always the weather in your immediate region though. That plane has been on several flights in the morning and if there are weather problems in the first region, it can cause a serious knock on delay for the rest of the day. That knock on reaction is still a weather delay.

that’s why sometimes passengers get annoyed when it’s delayed because of bad weather but yet the weather looks fine- it means it was delayed because of weather earlier on. The weather in Italy will be completely different to the weather in Iceland for example.

Make a formal complaint and then after eight weeks take it to aviationadr which is the alternative dispute resolution Ryan air are a member of.

keep all your receipts and submit them and very clearly set out what compensation you want.

ryan air are liable to transport you to your final destination and should be required to reimburse you for the taxi costs and other incidental costs related.

it’s not always the weather in your immediate region though.

Good point, you can get slot delays out of your airport of departure due to weather earlier in the day (e.g. Fog) so "weather delay" can be quite legitimate even though the sun might be shining where you are sitting right now on a delayed flight.

Back to the thread, no idea what's been mentioned in the UK but French news is covering this I don't think Ryanair will have any problem justifying diversion due weather;

www.lepoint.fr/monde/italie-sept-morts-dans-de-violentes-intemperies-dans-le-centre-du-pays-16-09-2022-2490192_24.php#11

Shelve this until after your holiday, and then go through the channels with RyanAir and your insurance company if necessary.

"Sueing" Ryanair by engaging a solicitor would be costly and stressful and probably fairly fruitless. You just want to recoup your losses ideally, you're not going to be able to get a cheque for thousands out of anyone and the stress wouldn't be worth it even if you did.

You sound like you need a bloody good holiday, so try not to let this take over, get what you can out of the week and deal with the admin when you get home.

Exactly- good point about slots too. I’ve seen passengers getting upset and understandably confused because the flight was delayed due to weather, but the weather in their departure and arrival destination was 30 degrees and sunny!

what they didn’t realise was that the aircraft had been delayed due to snow at an alpine airport earlier that day.

I really hope you manage to get your money back OP. I don’t work for Ryanair so can’t help specifically with that but just make sure you keep all your receipts. Not a great start to your holiday but I hope you can enjoy the rest of it. Good luck x

What rotten luck. I imagine you've got enhanced (and expensive!) travel insurance due to your diagnosis so make sure that you claim everything you can.

Not sure if what you've experienced can technically be considered a "delay" but when we were delayed travelling to Croatia we applied for compensation through the EU route. Ryanair qualify as an EU carrier. We got 400€ each for the 4 tickets back (flights were significantly cheaper than that btw). Process was quick and easy, money was in the bank in 2 weeks. My experience in getting compensation from Ryanair hasn't been positive in the past, so this might go some way to meeting your costs. Link is here europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/travel/passenger-rights/air/indexamp_en.htm hope you manage to enjoy your holiday despite a difficult start.

Ah.
I expect that's that then. Ryanair would simply say (rightly or wrongly) that the OP chose to travel on to Perugia under their own steam.

"Ryanair are liable to transport you to your final destination and should be required to reimburse you for the taxi costs and other incidental costs related"

Not if they provide buses but the passengers don't get on them, which appears to have happened in this case.

No direct trains at 3am unfortunately!

thanks for all the replies, we have made an online claim and will put a complaint in when we return. Just feel for all those families - there was a newborn baby there!