Supposed to fly to Malta on Sunday but gales are forecast. Will Ryanair let me change my flight?

[refreshingseahorse]

According to the weather report we will be landing in 65km winds, so chances are the flight will be affected. I'd rather cancel the trip and do it next year. I have my doubts that Ryanair will be sympathetic to this.

• Is the best way to deal with this for one of us to have an unfortunate bout of Covid? Are there credit note options I am not seeing online?
• If we do that and then book a last minute holiday somewhere else (where there is not a gale) will we get found out? ( I would avoid Ryanair!)
• Any suggestions for last minute holidays next week where there are no gale force winds or storms? 2 people 4 - 6 nights about 1.5k to spend.

You want to defraud Ryanair the company who wont care why you did not turn up for the flying bus which you have to clap for if it arrives on time and want to get your money back?

Good luck with that🤷

Ryanair won't give a crap that you don't want to fly on a windy day. Literally they won't care and you won't get a credit note or any other means of refund. Good luck though

You can change your flight. I think it’s £40 per person per flight + any difference in fare.

Only option.

Ryanair aren’t that bad you know. I’ve flown with them 4/5 times this year, no delays, no problems. You just need to follow the rules that you agree to when you book.

Thanks for the sympathy and understanding everyone 👍

Not blaming Ryanair - I literally think the flight will be cancelled due to the weather and I am trying to pre-empt this. Just wanted to know my options. Of which there seem to be not many.

Just go!

It probably won't be cancelled. And if it is, it's likely to be cancelled before by planes being out of place / not flying to the UK due to the weather anyway.

Weather reports are not always accurate. Why would you want to cancel the trip and rearrange for next year (when you could have similar wind speeds?).

65 km gusts equate to 40 mph winds and pilots are trained to land in higher wind speeds than that. It seems like its your fear of gales that is trying to get a grip on you here. The flight may be delayed but they certainly won't cancel the flight.

In the unlikely event it was cancelled it is still Ryanair's responsibility to get you to your destination.

But the wind may not happen until Monday. Or not happen at all. The clue is in the word forecast.

If my past two experiences with Ryan air are anything to go by, they won't cancel it, so you'll either

1. Turn up at the airport, sit there for hours with no information and then they'll cancel it and tell you they're not liable for getting you to your destination
2. Take off and then divert you to another airport miles from your original destination and abandon you.

They did both to me (one with a small child).

Seconded...

The wind may not be a continuous 65 km/h, that might just be the gusts, and in any event the wind direction has more effect on aircraft/flights than the wind speed,

(Even on a calm day airliners are flying into a 100 mph plus plus plus headwind as they lift off....)

Honestly just go - I bet the flight goes without any difficulties. I don't see anything dramatic forecast.

Even if you actually had Covid you wouldn't get a refund. That"s what travel insurance with Covid cover is for.

You might be able to rearrange your flight, with certain conditions.
https://help.ryanair.com/hc/en-gb/articles/12896867878033-I-had-Covid-19-or-I-was-a-close-contact-and-could-not-travel-Can-I-get-a-refund-

What about other expenses? Parking, accommodation and so on?

@refreshingseahorse

Follow up comment: Maybe I'm missing something but if your worry really is the wind at Luqa (Malta) on Sunday can I ask where are you getting your forecast from?

At a very quick glance the worse I'm seeing in the generic forecast for Sunday from the airport's own website is something like 27 knots (which is about 31 MPH/30km/h)..

Better still it's forecast to be blowing from the north west which means it's pretty much aligned with Luqa's main runway so not much crosswind.

In any event forecasts this far out are not going to be highly reliable.

Looking at Windy.com and weather.com forecast for Valletta. Winds on Sunday, storm continuing on Mon - Tue. Local news articles about high winds and storms Mon / Tue. We would be leaving on Thursday so we would pretty much be flying in to enjoy a storm.

Thinking of switching to Spain or the Canaries, looks like a much calmer time there.
( I do have travel insurance! Am trying to salvage my relaxation break somehow )

Fat fingers, 31 MPH-> 50km/h

You can't claim on travel insurance because you don't fancy the weather though.

Just move the flights to a different destination

The forecast for the holiday I've just come back from said rain every day for the first week. Didn't see a drop the entire time.

You'd be bonkers to change your holiday on the basis of a weather forecast - particularly one just for gusty wind.

@refreshingseahorse

"Windy.com and weather.com forecast for Valletta."

OK, as far as Sunday goes other sources aren't showing much more than a stiff breeze/ decent wind, most importantly out of the northwest which shouldn't be an issue for landing/take-off at Luqa..beyond that it's all speculation

FWIW the met people doing the aviation forecasts for the industry/crews don't push predictions out until pretty much the day before, so I'd be waiting until Saturday before a decision.

But surely if you cancel the trip you still have the possibility of bad weather next year? Or same thing could happen if you change the destination for this year?

🤷🏻‍♀️

Are you afraid that the plane will crash?
Planes fly in high winds all the time.

As someone who works in the wind industry I can tell you that windy.com is useless

I feel sad for windy.com now - they have ONE job to do...

🤣🤣🤣

You can't last minute change your holiday because the weathers not exactly as you wish.

I used to fly 3 weeks out of 4 in my previous corporate life.

I can’t tell you the number of winter storms I landed in, in Dublin. Also the amount of times I bounced into Schiphol which is the windiest airport I’ve ever experienced with wicked crosswinds too.

Ryanair don’t tend to play it too safe. In 2017 during a whopping storm, I sat on the runway in Cork airport whilst the pilots waited for a gap in the wind to take off. It was the fastest, steepest take off 😂

You'll be fine.