Rights when flights cancelled

[Loopylou1975]

I’m just after info to see where we stand. We arrived at Gatwick this morning with two very excited kids only to find out our flight had been cancelled. They’d actually rebooked us on to a flight yesterday but we knew nothing about it! We’ve been booked on a new flight in the morning at 5.30am but have had to book a very expensive hotel in Gatwick for the night.
I then checked and saw that next weeks flight has also been cancelled and we’ve been moved onto one a day later. There are no other flights for the day we were due to leave Italy so I’ve had to book another hotel for next Sunday night as I can’t extend our original accommodation booking. Currently £700 out of pocket on last minute hotels so just wondering where we might stand on compensation / insurance for missed flight for any of it? Any thoughts appreciated and please be kind, it’s been quite a day! Thanks :)

EasyJet cancelled our flight last month after we sat at the airport for 5 hours.
Applied for compensation but because they are classing the issue as 'exceptional circumstances' we are not eligible to receive compensation. I've disputed this with them but they're standing by their decision.
We did however get refunded the cost of the hotel room we had to book for the night the flight was cancelled.
I would never book with easyJet again.

Yes, sorry, they changed the schedule of the flight, they didn't cancel it.

Had you either seen notification that the times changed or checked online you would have had the option of saying no, these changes don't work for me, then you could cancel the flight and get a refund.

What's actually happened though is that they made a change that you didn't see, and therefore you didn't show up for your flight- you were a day late. I'm sorry, I know it's harsh, and like I said the airline gets around liability for this by saying you should have checked times.

No one will compensate you for this I'm afraid.

If you'd booked a package through the airline, ie the hotel and transfer, then yes they'd have to book you into a hotel. But I don't think that's the case...?

Everyone saying you should be recompensed for the delay is wrong. You actually should have been at the airport a day later. Your flight wasn't canceled or delayed, it left as scheduled, it's just that you weren't there for it.

Sorry 😞

This is where I'm at with it.

Unless you can PROVE liability with the airline.

But you won't manage to prove there was no email sent (as there is no way to do this) and they will merely claim about checking on the app for flight updates anyway.

So I don't think the OP can win a claim.

Can you not request that they prove they sent you that email?

Thanks guys, I appraise that’s the case for today. So how about next week. Flight has been changed to a day later. I’ve had to pay £240 hotel, £100 taxi, both miss a day of work. Any chance with this? It was either do that or forfeit our entire holiday?

I can’t help but just sending sympathy, I also had a flight cancelled (no other flight offered!) with easyJet. I got it sorted and am claiming the cost of the new flight fingers crossed.

However, I will never fly easyJet again, I’ll always pay more now for a decent airline . I’d planned it all and to just have a flight cancelled with no replacement was just ridiculously awful. I’m done with budget airlines ! It just meant a load of stress and a very late flight which meant we effectively lost a whole day and a half .

@Ihavekids times wouldn’t have worked yesterday, I was working but what would have happened if I said refund for flights - I’d have lost out on £2k accommodation? So will insurance help me? I have very good insurance.

@Ihavekids and no they didn’t change schedule of flights. They cancelled and tried to put us on another. Different flight numbers.

This is the difficulty with booking flights and accommodation separately. In theory insurance should cover consequential loss but it may depend on why you do not travel. If you read the link I posted further down the extra hotel bill and food etc should be covered by easyjet but again it may depend how much notice they claim to have given you. Failing that a credit card company may recoup it, if you paid more than £100 on it. Having accepted the new flights I doubt you can change your mind now,

They did change schedule of flights. There's no longer a Sunday flight. The flight wasn't scheduled to leave on Sunday. They rebooked you and you didn't find out about it as they failed to notify you, and you failed to reconfirm your flight. I'm sure I'm right about this.

Good question about the insurance. Had you known about the change to your flights and been unable to accept an alternative flight, maybe your insurance would have covered for your hotel? I'm not sure?

However, the airline is in no way responsible for your separate hotel booking unless it was a package booked through the airline.

Airlines change schedules, flight numbers, aircraft types all the time. They should notify you and some absolutely do, but I guess some don't, and certainly emails get missed ( not saying you missed yours! ) and that's why it's important to always check your flight times.

Definitely speak to your travel insurance. If it's really good maybe they'll cover you.

I do know the airline won't tho.

Ex travel agent btw.

@Ihavekids

If it's EasyJet, the likelihood is that it's a cancelled flight and not a rescheduled flight.

Two weeks ago they announced they were cancelling over 1500 summer flights from Gatwick. Not rescheduling them, they've been completely removed, and where possible passengers were move to existing flights that had space.

amp.theguardian.com/business/2023/jul/10/easyjet-axes-1700-summer-flights-over-air-traffic-control-delays

Thanks guys. Yes it’s a bummer. A £700 bummer and who has that spare at the moment!! still fingers crossed we’ll be there and round the pool by 10.30am tmw and my kids will get the holiday they well and truly deserve after a very traumatic year. Thanks for all feedback. My hood is we can claim something for the extra day we are forced to stay on way back.

@Loopylou1975

Thus might be helpful: news.sky.com/story/amp/easyjet-summer-cancellations-what-are-your-rights-if-your-flight-is-cancelled-12918950

It all hinges on when they changed the flight.

Resolver is really good for this. Got all costs back when used it got cancelled flight.

Hi OP, read these links. You'll be able to submit your claim for compensation and expenses here.

https://www.easyjet.com/en/terms-and-conditions/notice-of-rights-for-flight-delays-and-cancellations?clickref=1011lxGUUQXf&appclickref=1011lxGUUQXf&utmmsource=partnerizeflights&utmmmedium=affiliates&utmcampaign=skimlinkssphg&utmcontent=Subaffiliate&utmmterm=305950

www.easyjet.com/en/help/boarding-and-flying/delays-and-cancellations

Have you double checked that they had the correct email address for the booking. Might the notifications have gone to another one? Did you receive a reminder that online checkin had opened a month ago, to prompt you, or did you just do so from a mental note of the date?

hmmm not exactly helpful

@Weflewinstyle I haven't got a clue as we haven't had a holiday abroad for at least 5 years, so can't really contribute.

All I have seemed to pick up is to avoid Tui (from a different thread) and don't rely on Easyjet for flights!

How much notice were you given when they changed your flights?

EasyJet cancelled our outgoing flight a couple of years ago. It was only for a long weekend away so the alternative they offered from the same airport wasn't appropriate as it was a couple of days later and so we would have been left with only 1 night away. I found more suitable alternative flights flying from a different airport the other side of the country, but they were very early morning flights (the morning after we should have been flying) so we had to travel down the night before and stay in a hotel. EasyJet agreed to transfer us to those flights and said we could claim back the cost of the train tickets to the other airport, but they would not pay for the hotel and so if we wanted to do it, we would have to cover the cost of the hotel ourselves.

When we got back and I put the claim in, I included the receipt for the hotel booking and explained why it was necessary. I wasn't expecting to get the hotel expense reimbursed but thought I had nothing to lose by trying. Surprisingly, they did end up paying for the full claim. I don't know if I got lucky or they realised it would be unfair to expect us to pay it but I was very happy either way!

So I would definitely try and claim back all of your out of pocket expenses when you return and see what they say. No harm in trying! Hope you enjoy your holiday when you finally make it anyway!

@babybrain999 thank you!