Ryanair - a new low?

pocketse

So we booked a holiday in may with the family in Lanzarote. Flying out with air Lingus back with Ryanair. 3 flights on the day home. We picked the 2pm one, the most expensive of them at the time as kids are only 3 and 4 and back on school the next day.

Just received an email from Ryanair informing us that there were changes to our flight time. We’re now landing at midnight. Nothing too out of the ordinary so far. Have 3 option, 1 accept, 2. Change to different flight and pay difference or 3. Refund.

Heres the interesting part!!!! Our original flight is still for sale on the website except it’s now €350 a seat.

So from what I can gather, Ryanair have moved us to a cheaper, less convenient flight to sell our original seats for more money??? Is this possible or even legal??? Has anyone heard or anything like this before???

gipi

There's a similar discussion on askaboutmoney regarding changes in flight times (and lack of notifications).

bilbot79

Following

kingstevii

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058331195/ryanair-a-new-low

What did they say when you rang them?

Mellor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058331195/ryanair-a-new-low

Has your flight number changed? Or has the flight simply moved times.

Is the flight still on sale at the original time the same flight number or a new one?

pocketse

just checked.

We originally booked flight fr7125 which was down for a departure time at 14:05. We paid a premium for this flight time on the day as there were cheaper options available.

fr7125 is now departing at 20:00 we have been informed.

There is now a flight fr5911 departing on the same day at 14:35. 30mins later than or original time.

Had we originally booked the 20:00 flight we would have saved another €140.

I haven’t contacted Ryanair yet. Just trying to get as much information as possible before I do.

Have they got us on a technicality?

pocketse

Further info.

There we’re 3 flights originally on the day. Morning, afternoon and evening. The afternoon being the most expensive. There are now 2 - afternoons and evening. Ours has been moved later and I’m assuming the morning flight been moved to the afternoon. Have we a leg to stand on trying to get on the earlier flight at no extra cost.

Padre_Pio

What's the compensation for that? 250 euro per seat?

Check it here: https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/travel-and-recreation/air-travel/compensation-for-overbooked-and-delayed-flights/

waterwelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121613644#Comment_121613644

If the kids are 3 and 4 they can presumably miss school Monday?

Something similar happened me recently

Moved to a later flight. Then another flight was moved to close to my original time.

So I booked again, cancelled the original, got refunded and it worked out cheaper.

If FR9511 shows up at any time at a price something similar to what you are paying at the moment then just book that and get a refund on the originals.

Trampas

I noticed this summer that Ryanair seem to be using a Lanzarote based plane for most of the week for morning flights. Didn’t trust them to do the full week so booked ei instead. We prefer the early out and lunchtime flight back which ei do. The late flight back can be a nightmare with younger kids as can be tired and get cranky.

Hopefully you’ll get sorted

pocketse

That’s exactly it. The kids will be like deamons. Will be uncomfortable for us and everyone around us!!

Of course we could pull them from school but they’re already missing a week and would prefer not to. But it’s not a deal breaker. It’s more the emotional dizzying highs and terrifying lows I’m worried about.

in my mind we paid extra not to have to deal with this.

afkasurfjunkie

Similar thing here too. Booked flights to Carcassonne for a ten day trip in July. Got a good deal in the Black Friday sale. Family of 5 with luggage for less than €1000. Times were handy. Flying out at 2pm. Get email a week later to day flight has been moved to 6am the next morning. Accepted the switch as there was nothing else in the window of availability worth switching to. And I hadn’t booked the accommodation yet. But it’s an annoyance as I’m losing a day of holidays and the travel day will be a bit of a write off now too as we will be wrecked from the much earlier flight.

holliehobbie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121613726#Comment_121613726

How is a 3 year old in school anyway? They have to be 4 to start school in Ireland. And the four year old is already missing a week so one more day is no odds. Do they not sleep on the flight? Mine would have at that age.

pocketse

So my kids are just giving context as to why I made the decision to pay a premium to fly in the afternoon. That’s great your kids sleep! Wanna swap? 🙂

Basically Ryanair operate under a system of supply and demand. Where demand is higher price goes up. All very fair.

Demand was highest for the afternoon flight the day I booked. I paid a premium to fly at that time.

The goalposts have now shifted. They’ve moved me into a cheaper time slot. The original time slot is still there but to move back to the time I originally booked would cost an additional €700.

if there was only one flight that day. I’d suck it up and deal with it. But there’s not.

If Ryanair had numerous flights on a day but priced them all the same that would be fine also. But they’ve placed a premium on the time you fly.

So does anyone know so I have any rights here? Any way of getting on the earlier flight without paying?

RunningFlyer

As your schedule change is more than 3hrs, they should change your flight free of charge to the afternoon flight.

Under no circumstances would I pay a change fee or fare difference!

TheDriver

I've found Ryanair helpdesk quite helpful when you want something that isn't unfair to ask for so I'd ring them and state you booked an afternoon flight and should be on the afternoon flight. Hopefully the human will understand when the computer is only dealing with your orig flight number

I've known ppl whose flight was moved to the following day which didn't suit, ring up and get it changed to say 2 days beforehand. They don't want you cancelling.

Van.Bosch

It’s not that they are out to shaft you, although it seems that way. I’d be annoyed too but more likely happens is they switch things around, maybe the flight is now operated by a Dublin aircraft rather than a Lanzarote one. So your flight them moves later, they then make another change that puts one back at the original time, it’s all computerised so you move and it looks bad but the fact is no one really saw the big picture. I’d say if you call them, they’ll sort you out.

raclle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121613661#Comment_121613661

I thought they had a no refund policy for cancelling a flight?

waterwelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121614063#Comment_121614063

• You are entitled to be re-routed to your final destination, under comparable transport conditions, either at the earliest opportunity or at a later date at your convenience, subject to availability.

• You can quickly change your flight for free on Ryanair.com or on our App by selecting an alternative date and/or time (before, on or after your original scheduled departure date) to the same destination. Click here to change your flight for free.

I got the above in the cancellation email. But now I notice it was a cancelled flight not a time change.

waterwelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121614063#Comment_121614063

2. Change your flight for free• You can choose to change your flight to the next available flight on the same route or to a flight departing one day before or one day after your new departure time. There are no flight change fees and you do not have to pay any fare difference.

This was for another flight that had a schedule change. Did you read the schedule change email?

waterwelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121614420#Comment_121614420

Of course they have to refund you if they cancel a flight.

Padre_Pio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121614522#Comment_121614522

EDIT: you can't get compensation if you get more than 2 weeks notice.

You can claim extra money if they cancel or reroute you.

I think 250 euro per seat in this case, so if it's a family of 4 that's €1000 euro into your pocket just to fly later in the day.

I had a United flight to the US move me from 11am to 4pm flight and I was able to claim €700.

raclle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121614522#Comment_121614522

If "you" cancel a flight.

Living Off The Splash

Ryanair changed my flight times and they don't suit me | Askaboutmoney.com - the Irish consumer forum

Ryanair are doing this all over the place.....and getting away with it.

Living Off The Splash

My flights have been changed by 4 hours.

No email from them to notify me of this.

I paid €78 for a mid morning flight.....now it's a late afternoon flight and priced at €38. I could have chosen a later flight for a lower price but wanted the convenience of a morning flight.

I cannot cancel until I get their email which they are refusing to issue.

This is happening to lots of people and they keep doing it because they are getting away with it.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121614420#Comment_121614420

It’s Ryanair effectively cancelled the flight, by considerably changing the flight time, so they are legally onliged to at least offer a refund.

waterwelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121614588#Comment_121614588

Interesting. Even if it's months in advance?

waterwelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121614601#Comment_121614601

Oh I see. No they cancelled my original flight and gave me the option to get a refund. So that's what I did.

But you are correct, if you randomly decide to cancel you lose your money.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121614631#Comment_121614631

I think people should try taking cases to the Small Claims Court

https://www.courts.ie/small-claims-procedure

If enough people did this and were successful they would likely change their modus operandi

Padre_Pio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121614864#Comment_121614864

Ahh, no. I thought the flight was in the next week. My mistake. I'll correct the comment above.

If you get more than 2 weeks' notice you can't get compensation.