AIBU to take this to court

[RiceRiceBaby16]

Let me preface with it's been 3yrs since the event
At the time, we were so exhausted with everything we decided not to take things further. Then I got pregnancy, had a baby, didn't have time to even think about going through something as long as a legal process involving courts. Now our baby is a toddler and I still can't get this situation out of my mind, and how unfair it was. It's not even about the money anymore.

We had booked a Wizzair flight to a European country on Boxing Day. Booked 5 night hotel in said country, a romantic Xmas getaway just me and my DH.
DH, at the time, held a travel document not a UK passport. We double, triple checked that he can travel to aforementioned country without a visa. Even the country's official embassy website (sorry I forget the correct name) clearly stated that no visa is required.

Trip planned, we are excited. Fast forward to Boxing Day, Stansted airport. We arrive packed up and ready to go, early so that we can enjoy the experience without rushing. We enjoy some free festive shots at duty free 😂 grab some snacks, chill by the gate until it's time to board. Boarding is ready. 21-23yr old guy checking passports. Checks my passport- perfect. I walk through. Checks DH passport- please wait, I need to call and double check that you can board. Makes a call. Neither the person on the other side of the line, nor the young male employee has seen such a travel document before and they struggle to understand if he needs a visa or not. I step in and show all my screenshots and the official website stating he DOES not need a visa. They refuse him boarding anyway- stating - if he lands there and he is refused entry to the country, Wizzair must pay 10k euro fine. The employee was of course scared to put himself into trouble due to their lack of knowledge. He offered I can fly on my own ( 😂 wtaf) but my husband cannot board. We are devastated and try every phone line we can. No luck. We head home in the worst mood- 2hr journey home . Xmas ruined.

At home, after hours of trying, we get in touch with that European countries border control. They confirm he CAN fly with that travel document and enter Without visa. We are even more furious. Decide to try with another airline 6am next day. Book flights spending another £200 or so. Lost one day of holiday already, but we try again. This time we leave at 2am to head to Heathrow, LOT airlines. HE BOARDS WITHOUT HESITATION FROM THE STAFF. No questions asked. We land and of course everything is fine. However with the travelling between airports and new flights we lose about £350 and a day of our holiday. We had an awesome
Time there in the end but it affected us financially as we weren't doing so well.

After we got back I made a claim through an aviation company as it's recommended to do that before court. They responded asking for more evidence, email went to my junk and I didn't see it for 9 days. Time limit to reply was 7 days - so they dismissed my claim and ruled in favour of Wizzair. I then gave up as it was tiring. But I still think of it now and I'm furious. Is there a point going to court? As it's just on my mind.

Or am I being ridiculous. I just want Justice even though it was a long time ago.

@Herewego81
Total financial loss from the top of my head I'd say about £500-700 if we are talking missed flight, new flight, missed hotel, airport travels etc. I'd forgotten about the hotel we lost out on for Boxing Day

I've read there's a 5 year limit with Wizzair, up to 5 years we can take it to court. The financial loss hurt but it's more the principle of what they did to us, they were awfully rude and unhelpful too, even though they were in the wrong

It doesn't keep me up at night and I am not traumatised. Some of you are so harsh. It has been eye opening anyway that I should just leave it. It would have just been great if they were made aware of how they can really mess with people because their staff aren't trained well. Unfortunately I didn't take action earlier, well, due to having a small child. Anyway- I shall "let it go"

@Oysterbabe no court proceedings were started. We went through some kind of middle man aviation company. Nothing to do with courts.

Also, we did check with Wizzair before flying. I even had a live chat transcript. They said all will be ok and still denied- because the member of staff was not knowledgeable

@ForeverFriendsAndPierrot these things take a long time with the company through which we made a claim. So I checked my account a couple of times, no updates. They said they will email when there is an update. Next I checked- they had emailed and sadly I missed it. My mistake of course. I could have kept logging in daily. I then got super frustrated and didn't go back to it, didn't think I could do anything further anyway. When I eventually came back to it and gathered everything again with the idea of going to court, got swept away with first pregnancy. Yes, I could have and should have done more.

DH could not get a passport. He was going through the process of getting ILR in uk

Where on earth could your husband travel from and to the UK without a passport and only with a “travel document”?

What about the passport from his home country?

And stop with the “swept away with the first pregnancy and so busy busy busy that I could check my emails and I was exhausted and….”

You were pregnant. Then you had a baby.
Utterly irrelevant to this issue

This

Sorry, no advice, but I think posters are being mean, even if there is nothing more to be done. This would still annoy me 3 years later too! And your explanation of how life got in the way makes sense to me.

This is one of those things you need to deal with at the time, not three years later..

Can someone tell me what European country permits someone to travel to and from without a passport and only a travel document?

and if so, what travel document?

and entry to the UK? Given the dh had even got Indefinite Leave to Remain?

and why couldn’t the dh use the passport from his home country?

Not even got ILR

I would make a claim directly to the airline for denied boarding compensation. They won't pay it as they're a shit airline but it's worth a try