EU261 Compensation less than requested

H8GHOTI

Had a Ryanair flight cancelled in May, Dublin to Nice, due to ATC strike in France.

Ryanair told me on live chat it was ok to book flight with Aer Lingus and I would be refunded. But afterwards they refused. Back and forth for weeks, got nowhere with them.

I lodged a complaint with the aviation authority but heard nothing from them beyond a reply to say they received the complaint and would look into it.

The Aer Lingus flights for 2 passengers were €360. Today Ryanair emailed to say compensation of €200 was approved and they want bank details. No explanation for that figure and this is the first contact I’ve had in about 5 months.

Anyone have similar experience?

Wondering why not the full amount & is it worth questioning it with them.

Van.Bosch

H8GHOTI wrote: »

Had a Ryanair flight cancelled in May, Dublin to Nice, due to ATC strike in France.

Ryanair told me on live chat it was ok to book flight with Aer Lingus and I would be refunded. But afterwards they refused. Back and forth for weeks, got nowhere with them.

I lodged a complaint with the aviation authority but heard nothing from them beyond a reply to say they received the complaint and would look into it.

The Aer Lingus flights for 2 passengers were €360. Today Ryanair emailed to say compensation of €200 was approved and they want bank details. No explanation for that figure and this is the first contact I’ve had in about 5 months.

Anyone have similar experience?

Wondering why not the full amount & is it worth questioning it with them.

I’m no expert but I’d say if you accept this there will be a clause to say this is your full settlement and you can make no further claims. I’d be wary of taking the €200, read the email you got carefully before doing anything.

vicwatson

If it says “in full and final settlement” don’t do it

joeysoap

Just so I can understand this, Aer Lingus flights were €360, and Ryanair compensation was €200. Basically you paid €160 for two flights to Nice. How much would you have paid Ryanair for the same flights?

Seems small by eu 261 rules

AGC

joeysoap wrote: »

Just so I can understand this, Aer Lingus flights were €360, and Ryanair compensation was €200. Basically you paid €160 for two flights to Nice. How much would you have paid Ryanair for the same flights?

What about the flights the OP had paid for with Ryanair originally....

joeysoap

Does the compensation figure include them? I would have thought that was a straight refund?

H8GHOTI

The original flights were €70.

This was refunded months ago, even though I told them I didn’t want it because I wanted the full €360. So I guess we are still due €90 more.

I did apply for EU261 compensation as well. We lost a day of our holiday & paid for accommodation for the first night that we missed out on.

Mebuntu

I must be missing something here.

The original Ryanair flights cost was €70. The flight was cancelled due to ATC strike and Ryanair refunded the €70.

The OP then booked with Aer Lingus for €360 and Ryanair is expected to pay for it and compensation as well. If that's what the EU insists on then that is madness personified.

joeysoap

AFAIK strikes ( not your own, somebody else’s , French ATC in this case) are outside EU261. It’s not nice missing of your holiday, but Ryanair are not the cause. Depends on what Ryanair said re booking AL. Did they say they would refund you (they have) or they would cover the costs of the alternative flights?

H8GHOTI

I wouldn’t expect a refund and compensation. Tried for compensation first.

Ryanair said they would reimburse the Aer Lingus flight, that is what I was chasing.

Thinking about it now, we paid €360 instead of €70, so they owe us €290. They refunded original flight already and today have offered €200, so actually I think we are only due €20 more.

Don’t have a clue why they have changed their mind all of a sudden & the amount they are offering doesn’t add up but probably not worth the hassle arguing with them.

billy few mates

H8GHOTI wrote: »

I wouldn’t expect a refund and compensation. Tried for compensation first.

Ryanair said they would reimburse the Aer Lingus flight, that is what I was chasing.

Thinking about it now, we paid €360 instead of €70, so they owe us €290. They refunded original flight already and today have offered €200, so actually I think we are only due €20 more.

Don’t have a clue why they have changed their mind all of a sudden & the amount they are offering doesn’t add up but probably not worth the hassle arguing with them.

Had a Ryanair flight cancelled in May, Dublin to Nice, due to ATC strike in France.

Ryanair told me on live chat it was ok to book flight with Aer Lingus and I would be refunded.

Did the ATC strike not affect Aer Lingus as well...?

H8GHOTI

We booked Aer Lingus for the following day. Ryanair could only accommodate us 2 days later.
As it turns out, Aer Lingus did have a flight that went ahead on the day of the strike. We didn’t book because of the risk. Don’t know how they weren’t affected.

Mebuntu

H8GHOTI wrote: »

We booked Aer Lingus for the following day. Ryanair could only accommodate us 2 days later.
As it turns out, Aer Lingus did have a flight that went ahead on the day of the strike. We didn’t book because of the risk. Don’t know how they weren’t affected.

I think this is the reason. Ryanair is huge compared to Aer Lingus and would have had a multitude of affected flights (both to France and traversing French airspace) on the day not just from Dublin but from many of their other bases as well. With major traffic restrictions due to the ATC strike the airlines affected would have been forced to reduce a proportion of flights on the day to avoid congestion and you were unlucky that yours went by the board. Correspondingly, the proportion of Aer Lingus flights affected would have been tiny, if any.