Ryanair - *7* Hour delay, any comeback?

Yakuza

Hello again folks,
I've just had my worst Ryanair experience. The return leg of my flight to Spain (in my previous laptop thread), the 18:30 flight on the Jan 3rd from Madrid finally took off at 01:30 on Jan 4th. Apparently the inbound plane had some technical problem and wasn't going to be able to be flown back before being serviced. Still, I knew about this when I checked in at 4:40 local time; the plane was still in the air on its way to Madrid....why didn't they send an empty plane after it from somewhere to pick us up?

Perhaps there are operational reasons I don't know about, but a 7 hour delay seems unacceptable to me when the flying time from Dublin is only a little over 2 hours, surely they could have had a plane in Madrid before midnight (we actually boarded the plane at midnight, but due to some other monumental cockup at the boarding gate we were delayed an hour while boarding passes were rechecked etc) (so if that hadn't happened we would "only" have been delayed 6 hours))

Has anyone else had a similiar experience with them, and is it worth persuing with Ryanair? Or should I check with my CC company? (I think there is some travel insurance included on it).

We did get a measly €5 voucher which bought all of a sandwich and a bottle of coke in the airport, and it was business as usual in terms of charging for the inflight snacks etc (I thought the least they could have done was made one snack/drink complementary as a goodwill gesture).

Anyhoo, I await your collective wisdom. It's 4am and I'm tired, grumpy and off to bed!

ednwireland

nope - its ryanair they don't have spare planes you get what you pay for (all airlines these days)
i got to Manchester airport to be told my 10 am flight was cancelled (snow in Budapest or somewhere) left Manchester at 4 that afternoon (the next flight was 12 noon) bmi baby .

WexCan

Length of the delay should have warranted an extra voucher. That's about it really.

therecklessone

The relevant legislation states:

1. When an operating air carrier reasonably expects a flight to be delayed beyond its scheduled time of departure:

(a) for two hours or more in the case of flights of 1500 kilometres or less; or

(b) for three hours or more in the case of all intra-Community flights of more than 1500 kilometres and of all other flights between 1500 and 3500 kilometres; or

(c) for four hours or more in the case of all flights not falling under (a) or (b),

passengers shall be offered by the operating air carrier:

(i) the assistance specified in Article 9(1)(a) and 9(2); and

(ii) when the reasonably expected time of departure is at least the day after the time of departure previously announced, the assistance specified in Article 9(1)(b) and 9(1)(c); and

(iii) when the delay is at least five hours, the assistance specified in Article 8(1)(a).

Article 9 states:

Article 9

Right to care

1. Where reference is made to this Article, passengers shall be offered free of charge:

(a) meals and refreshments in a reasonable relation to the waiting time;

(b) hotel accommodation in cases

- where a stay of one or more nights becomes necessary, or

- where a stay additional to that intended by the passenger becomes necessary;

(c) transport between the airport and place of accommodation (hotel or other).

2. In addition, passengers shall be offered free of charge two telephone calls, telex or fax messages, or e-mails.

3. In applying this Article, the operating air carrier shall pay particular attention to the needs of persons with reduced mobility and any persons accompanying them, as well as to the needs of unaccompanied children.

Article 8 states:

Article 8

Right to reimbursement or re-routing

1. Where reference is made to this Article, passengers shall be offered the choice between:

(a) - reimbursement within seven days, by the means provided for in Article 7(3), of the full cost of the ticket at the price at which it was bought, for the part or parts of the journey not made, and for the part or parts already made if the flight is no longer serving any purpose in relation to the passenger's original travel plan, together with, when relevant,

- a return flight to the first point of departure, at the earliest opportunity;

(b) re-routing, under comparable transport conditions, to their final destination at the earliest opportunity; or

(c) re-routing, under comparable transport conditions, to their final destination at a later date at the passenger's convenience, subject to availability of seats.

2. Paragraph 1(a) shall also apply to passengers whose flights form part of a package, except for the right to reimbursement where such right arises under Directive 90/314/EEC.

3. When, in the case where a town, city or region is served by several airports, an operating air carrier offers a passenger a flight to an airport alternative to that for which the booking was made, the operating air carrier shall bear the cost of transferring the passenger from that alternative airport either to that for which the booking was made, or to another close-by destination agreed with the passenger.

The bits in bold are what you are entitled.

In addition, you might have been able to demand hotel accomodation as the departure time of the delayed flight was after midnight, therefore may qualify as the next day.

WexCan

(a) - reimbursement within seven days, by the means provided for in Article 7(3), of the full cost of the ticket at the price at which it was bought, for the part or parts of the journey not made, and for the part or parts already made if the flight is no longer serving any purpose in relation to the passenger's original travel plan, together with, when relevant,

This does not apply as the entire journey was completed and it was the return sector so the flight "served it's purpose".

AckwelFoley

Any comeback?

Lol, you're lucky u got back using ryanair!

JustaJourno

You would be entitled to at least 200EUR (prob credit) if the delay was over 3 hrs and Ryanair's fault (which sounds like it in this case as you say it was a technical fault with the aircraft).

Write to the Customer Services Dept with your details and photocopies of boarding cards etc.

therecklessone

JustaJourno wrote: »

You would be entitled to at least 200EUR (prob credit) if the delay was over 3 hrs and Ryanair's fault (which sounds like it in this case as you say it was a technical fault with the aircraft).

No he is not. Read the EU directive.

JustaJourno

therecklessone wrote: »

No he is not. Read the EU directive.

Well, from experience: A flight from Alicante to Stansted was pushing back last year when the aircraft came in contact with the airbridge. Pax were offloaded which resulted in a 4hr delay while the aircraft was inspected. Whoever wrote in claiming ended up getting a 200EUR voucher so its not impossible. Clearly it was the company's fault so they had to pay out. Its a bit vague with a "technical fault" but if it was weather or airport strike youd have no chance of comp.

Yakuza, when you were at the airport and received the vouchers for food, did you receive a claim form to send into Head Office?

Even if you didnt, Id highly recommend writing into the Head Office anyway, no harm as you could end up with a bit of comp.

EU Passenger Compensation Dept
Ryanair Head Office
Dublin Airport
Co Dublin

Let us know the outcome anyway.

Yakuza

Thanks for the input folks, I will follow it up, and let you know what happens. To be honest, I'd be suprised if I get any more than a "go f*ck yourself" from them, but I was interested to hear about anyone here's actual experiences with them.

Cheers

John R

JustaJourno wrote: »

Well, from experience: A flight from Alicante to Stansted was pushing back last year when the aircraft came in contact with the airbridge. Pax were offloaded which resulted in a 4hr delay while the aircraft was inspected. Whoever wrote in claiming ended up getting a 200EUR voucher so its not impossible. Clearly it was the company's fault so they had to pay out. Its a bit vague with a "technical fault" but if it was weather or airport strike youd have no chance of comp.

Yakuza, when you were at the airport and received the vouchers for food, did you receive a claim form to send into Head Office?

Even if you didnt, Id highly recommend writing into the Head Office anyway, no harm as you could end up with a bit of comp.

EU Passenger Compensation Dept
Ryanair Head Office
Dublin Airport
Co Dublin

Let us know the outcome anyway.

You may have gotten something out of them on that occasion but it wasn't compensation that you were entitled to under the law.

Flight cancellations are the only times when you are entitled to compensation and even then they use the "extraordinary circumstances that could not have
been avoided even if all reasonable measures have been taken" clause to get out of paying compensation.

If you had been compensated under the law it would have been cash or payment to your bank/cerdit card account not airline vouchers. You benefitted from a Ryanair goodwill gesture, if they sent a letter with the vouchers frame it and sell it on ebay because that is a very rare item.


Link to the EU passenger Rights Legislation


JustaJourno is correct in that you may as well put in a written complaint to them (by post, not e-mail).