Aer Lingus have moved booking to a cheaper flight

senorG

My parents have booked return flights to Edinburgh in April. They got an email today that due to a schedule change their booking has been amended and now their on aer arann/aer lingus regional flights which are at much less convenient times.
The thing is the original flights at the original times are still for sale at top dollar prices. A quick google & I have found out that Leinster are playing rugby in Edinburgh that weekend.

Can they do this? They will ring up in the morning to try and get it sorted but if anyone has any experience/knowledge of this I'd appreciate it..

MyKeyG

senorG wrote: »

My parents have booked return flights to Edinburgh in April. They got an email today that due to a schedule change their booking has been amended and now their on aer arann/aer lingus regional flights which are at much less convenient times.
The thing is the original flights at the original times are still for sale at top dollar prices. A quick google & I have found out that Leinster are playing rugby in Edinburgh that weekend.

Can they do this? They will ring up in the morning to try and get it sorted but if anyone has any experience/knowledge of this I'd appreciate it..

Air Lingus seem to be forever doing that but I think they do have it in their terms and conditions that they reserve the right to schedule changes. That the flights still appear to be available for sale may not make a difference.

lynchie

senorG wrote: »

My parents have booked return flights to Edinburgh in April. They got an email today that due to a schedule change their booking has been amended and now their on aer arann/aer lingus regional flights which are at much less convenient times.
The thing is the original flights at the original times are still for sale at top dollar prices. A quick google & I have found out that Leinster are playing rugby in Edinburgh that weekend.

Can they do this? They will ring up in the morning to try and get it sorted but if anyone has any experience/knowledge of this I'd appreciate it..

All flights to Scotland with Aerlingus are operated by AerArann

MyKeyG

lynchie wrote: »

All flights to Scotland with Aerlingus are operated by AerArann

I think the OP is concerned more about the fact that they've changed the times of the flight rather than the carrier. It appears the original flights are still active yet they've bumped his parents to another time to sell seats for a rugby match!

AngryLips

Isn't this one of those situations where the Aviation Regulator's new website will come in handy? http://www.flightrights.ie/

Jambo

senorG wrote: »

My parents have booked return flights to Edinburgh in April. They got an email today that due to a schedule change their booking has been amended and now their on aer arann/aer lingus regional flights which are at much less convenient times.
The thing is the original flights at the original times are still for sale at top dollar prices. A quick google & I have found out that Leinster are playing rugby in Edinburgh that weekend.

Can they do this? They will ring up in the morning to try and get it sorted but if anyone has any experience/knowledge of this I'd appreciate it..

@ SenorG - How did your folks get on when they rang Aer Lingus today ? - Im in the exactly the same boat - our orig flights are changed now to really inconvenient times ,we are now appraently flying with Aer Arran rather than Aer Lingus - same as with you the original flights at the original time are still for sale !

This is really unprofessional on their behalf - we have a family get together to go to which we cant now make cause of their schedule change - plus we have prepaid for our hire car. !!

@lynchie - I fly Aer Lingus to Dub to Edinburgh monthly and it is always an Aerlingus Aircraft - it usually an Aer Arran Aircraft on the Cork Route

lynchie

Jambo wrote: »

@ SenorG - How did your folks get on when they rang Aer Lingus today ? - Im in the exactly the same boat - our orig flights are changed now to really inconvenient times ,we are now appraently flying with Aer Arran rather than Aer Lingus - same as with you the original flights at the original time are still for sale !

This is really unprofessional on their behalf - we have a family get together to go to which we cant now make cause of their schedule change - plus we have prepaid for our hire car. !!

@lynchie - I fly Aer Lingus to Dub to Edinburgh monthly and it is always an Aerlingus Aircraft - it usually an Aer Arran Aircraft on the Cork Route

They are Aer-arann owned and operated aircraft painted in Aerlingus regional colours.

MOH

AngryLips wrote: »

Isn't this one of those situations where the Aviation Regulator's new website will come in handy? http://www.flightrights.ie/

Don't think schedule changes are covered - denied boarding, cancellation, and delays yes.

However, this doesn't sound like any normal schedule change, if the original flights are still going ahead. Probably worth contacting the NCA, and possibly the CAR.

AngryLips

Is this something that might be covered by travel insurance?

AngryLips

Found this on the above website:

I have been told that my flight is now operating at a different time than when I originally made the booking. The airline says this is because of a “schedule change”. Am I due a refund or compensation?

There are no specific laws governing schedule changes, although the air carrier’s terms and conditions will usually refer to them. You will usually only be entitled to a refund where the schedule change is greater than two hours. There is no right to compensation in the case of schedule changes.

kingofburt

I can't give any advice on the legality of situation but check flights from Belfast. Both easyjet and flybe do this route and its very popular. I think easyjet are doing it for about £50 return although I didn't check specific dates, just a glance at the monthly prices.

Depending on where your parents live the extra journey may not be too long and I think aer lingus have to reimburse the flights if they have been rescheduled by several hours, but I stand to be corrected on that.

zagmund

I've seen this before on this forum and I can't believe they are allowed get away with it. You know exactly what would happen if you told them you no longer wanted to get the 1045 flight and wanted to get the 1700 flight instead.

It's one thing if the flight actually is cancelled, but in this case it's not cancelled. Your parents are just being gazumped, plain and simple. There's got to be some consumer protection in this case, and if not then there really should be.

Why should they be able to bump passengers with a valid booking and *not* allow them to choose which of the equivalent flights on that day they want to pick. I know it's all about money, but there's got to be some limits.

If I were you I would get on the phone and stay on the phone until they answer the question of why your parents can't be rebooked on the earlier flight.

Is there a flight earlier in the day ? Yes

Is it full ? No.

Is it chartered ? No.

Is it available online ? Yes.

Are rugby fans who haven't yet booked more important than your parents who have booked ? Let them answer that one.

So, why can't they be put on the flight ?

z

MyKeyG

lynchie wrote: »

They are Aer-arann owned and operated aircraft painted in Aerlingus regional colours.

To be fair it's easy tell the difference. The Aer Arann/Aer Lingus aircraft have big propellers instead of jet engines and it's very obviously smaller. The OP's parents should be aware of the baggage restrictions, anything bigger than a laptop bag will have to be checked. They're even worse than Ryanair regarding carry on luggage. Quite a comfortable flight though to be fair.

Stinicker

I booked with Aer Lingus for an evening flight from Cork to Gatwick the end of March and they moved the time forward to the morning. They will give me a full refund or change me to a different flight. Just my experiences with Aer Lingus.

adamski8

lynchie wrote: »

All flights to Scotland with Aerlingus are operated by AerArann

im pretty sure 1 out of their 3 flights a day are not aer arann

senorG

When they rang up the help line they were put back on the original flights without much hassle, I didn't get the full story of how the call went yet.

As far as i could see Aer Lingus hadn't a leg to stand on, there was no schedule change.. they were just trying it on to make more on the prime time flights. Not everyone is going to bother ringing up over it.

mattser

Last month I booked flights to UK for end of March, going out Monday, back Wednesday. I booked car hire to coincide. Yesterday I got an e-mail to say Wed. flight is cancelled, but they can bring me back from that airport on Thurs.
I booked the car on their follow on on their site. They say they can refund me the flights but not the car. Lovely.
I now have to take an extra day off work X 2 people, an extra day car hire, and an extra day accom. Only one loser here.
When asked why the Wed. flight was cancelled they said " Operational reasons " and wouldn't enlarge. Well it's not the fcukin weather, is it ?
The next time someone tells me they'd never fly Ryanair, I'll confront them with this.

roundymac

Ryanair did something similer in2008 when Munsters heineken cup semi was moved to Coventry. They cancelled the Birmingham flight, refunded everyone, and promptly put the flight up for sale again with an average price of €400 rtn, so it's not just Aer Lingus.

Jofspring

roundymac wrote: »

Ryanair did something similer in2008 when Munsters heineken cup semi was moved to Coventry. They cancelled the Birmingham flight, refunded everyone, and promptly put the flight up for sale again with an average price of €400 rtn, so it's not just Aer Lingus.

They have actually got away with this a few times. I can't remember the specific dates but I do remember on a couple of occasions Ryanair canceling flights and a day or two later putting them up again much higher. All the people that got in early with the cheap flights where basically suckered out of it. Every instance was when a big Heineken Cup match was on.

mattser

mattser wrote: »

Last month I booked flights to UK for end of March, going out Monday, back Wednesday. I booked car hire to coincide. Yesterday I got an e-mail to say Wed. flight is cancelled, but they can bring me back from that airport on Thurs.
I booked the car on their follow on on their site. They say they can refund me the flights but not the car. Lovely.
I now have to take an extra day off work X 2 people, an extra day car hire, and an extra day accom. Only one loser here.
When asked why the Wed. flight was cancelled they said " Operational reasons " and wouldn't enlarge. Well it's not the fcukin weather, is it ?
The next time someone tells me they'd never fly Ryanair, I'll confront them with this.

This morning I get an e mail to say the new revised flights have peen put back a couple of hours going out and coming back.

And again no explanation of why.