Ryanair has undergone some serious backlash from travelers with their cancellations of 2,100 flights due to what they describe as “a rostering failure“. I have had family traveling on Ryanair over the last week or so and they have managed to avoid any cancellations on their flights but thousands of other travelers were not so lucky.
Ryanair Lists Flights Eligible for EU261 Compensation
Link: Ryanair EU261 Compensation Update
Link: What is EU261 and How Does it Work?
One of the things I noticed from this whole ordeal was that Ryanair had still been selling seats on some of the flights they had announced that they had cancelled! I honestly do not understand the reasoning behind that other than they though some people may not actually put in for refunds since the amount was “small” enough and not worth the hassle.
Aside from the inconvenience of having a flight cancelled is the actual ability to find a replacement flight. Ryanair provides some incredibly cheap tickets around Europe (they running a sale of 1 million seats from about $13). This is great if you are traveling light and don’t mind having the occasional slight delay.
The Struggle of Finding Equivalent Costing Flights
But, when Ryanair cancels your holiday flights, a refund does not do that much in helping you to still realize your vacation. When I book with Ryanair over, say, Aegean, it is because they are providing me with an exceptional deal that cannot be beat by other airlines. This is likely the case with most of the tickets that people have bought as well. This is especially true when it is just one week or two before the flight/trip is scheduled! So, while it is nice to get the money back, travelers are still likely to need to spend a lot more for an equivalent flight.
EU261 Eligibility
Link: EU261 Policy
However, the flights that Ryanair cancelled between September 16 – October 2 are eligible for EU261 compensation. This means full refunds as well as additional compensation depending on the distance of your intended flight and the duration of the delay if you were rebooked. This should help a bit with those passengers who were severely inconvenienced at the late date.
You can view the full list of EU261 eligible flights at this link here. However, if your flight takes place after October 2 through October 28, you will not be eligible for EU261 compensation due to their notice of the cancellations more than 2 weeks in advance of the flights. You will still be able to apply for a refund or a rerouting of your flight and see the link at the top of the page for the links to get that done.
I have had good success when I have flown with Ryanair but I can imagine that many who had tickets booked with them will be loathe to book again in the future. Hopefully, Ryanair comes up with a good solution and policy for future issues like this so they can provide their customers with the travel they had planned.
Were you subject to a Ryanair cancellation recently? How was the process getting rebooked or refunded?
Featured image courtesy Senohrabek / Shutterstock.com
