Budget Travel - What to do if a LCC flight is cancelled ?

Am being swayed by recent sub-£20 flights w/weekend avail. Last time I looked these deals were always mid-week, so didn't appeal.

Now, how do I go about protecting myself against these lcc's when things go wrong, like if they lose my suitcase or cancel a flight leaving me stranded, giving a lousy £10 refund?

Should I just pay on my Amex Prem Plus & have a perusal of the t&c's? Or is there an insurance policy specifically tailored to lcc's?

thanks.

Get a good annual travel insurance policy. If you shop around you should be able to get something for less than £100. Make sure there is adequate cover for travel disruption - which some of the cheaper policies don't cover.

From what I heard it's only Ryanair that leaves people stranded, so another option would be to avoid Ryanair and stick with the more responsible LCCs.

PS I'm assuming you're in London, England - as opposed to London, Ontario or some London in the USA! The above is based on you being a UK resident; I understand that UK-style annual travel policies don't necessarily exist in other countries

Keeping this UK based, I get travel insurance with my RBS Gold current account, travel insurance with my Citibank Aadvantage Visa card and I wouldn't be surprised if I get a trave component with my home contents insurance.

I suppose I should read the T&Cs to see whther there's a get-out clause for FR stitching me up...

I don't know about your specfic Amex Platinum card, but usually Amex Platinum has an insurance for delayed baggage and flight delays.

My Amex Platinum (from the continent) has the following travel insurance perks:

If expenses are paid with the Amex card, the following expenses are reimbursed:

- flight delay more than 4 hours/flight cancelled/missed connecting flight: up to 225 EUR for meals + hotel
- involuntary denied boarding with more than 6 hours delay or departure after 22 h: up to 600 EUR for hotel costs

- baggage delay: up to 425 EUR, more than 48 hours: up to 1050 EUR

- taken as hostage for at least 24 hours: 2500 EUR, more than 72 hours: 5000 EUR (paid without any expenses proven) :D


As long as you avoid Ryanair who leaves passengers completely stranded, this insurance should be sufficient to cover costs of longer delays.

As far as I know Ryanair doesn't accept Amex. They used to, but they stopped a few years ago (and MOL made a big song and dance about "rip-off Amex")

Amex offer simply the best travel insurance and when you way up that if you use it once its paid for. I budget on around £150 per year to cover me as high risk and all my family as well.

They are 2nd to none to deal with.

Vicky at Amex Travel in Nottingham is very well trained in answering questions as well.

Does AMEX travel insurance work if your flight is not booked with AMEX, and it's impossible to do so?

Does AMEX travel insurance work if your flight is not booked with AMEX, and it's impossible to do so?

I think Steve was talking about a paid-for policy arranged through Amex Travel - as opposed to the free cover you get when you pay for your travel using your Amex card. The paid-for policy is a travel policy like any other.

Keeping this UK based, I get travel insurance with my RBS Gold current account, travel insurance with my Citibank Aadvantage Visa card and I wouldn't be surprised if I get a trave component with my home contents insurance.

I suppose I should read the T&Cs to see whther there's a get-out clause for FR stitching me up...

I get my travel insurance through my bank a/c also except it's a Barclays additions plus version. I'm pretty sure I'm covered for abandonment like that, but I think I'll check my t&c's too... not that I plan to fly Ryanair this side of death. :D

London, Uk & BA Amex Premium Plus, not Platinum - to clarify!

Haven't got a clue if I bought an annual policy - thought had maybe for my honeymoon....gmail search of 'insurance' gives 1-20 of hundreds, so will require further work - but I bet I just chose the cheapest provider without bothering about the small print & relevancy.

Kind of thing I'm mainly interested in is knowing, that if there is a huge delay or canc. & I can just go ahead and book a hotel on either rack rate (or internet rate if can find a terminal) & an alternative flight, and get back my money easily. I'm, not worried about suing for thousands for stress etc., just want to not lose out, or be stuck in an airport all night & day. Baggage loss - say £1k max. Not exactly going to be carrying around loads of bling.

On the other hand, which presumably makes it monre expensive - I don't want any first loss...even if £50 - I don't want to lose out, or I'll feel an idiot & her indoors will say never again, go by bus or something.

Having booked my 1st ever trips in the last week to Poland & Austria low-cost early next year, seems worth the effort - as will only take one heavy delay or cancellation to ruin it, as going for weekend breaks.

My girlfriend from Lithuania is coming to visit me this August, but she's terribly afraid of having her Ryan Air flight cancelled and not knowing what to do than.

I believe you can allways get the next flight in most carriers, but in LCC ones (specially ryanair) so many stories get the news and web that people get scared. And she is.

So my question is, if you're on a different country and you get your flight cancelled or you miss your connection because of a previous delay, what can you do ? Specially if you're short on cash...

thanks

Very good question, but it has been asked before.

Please see this thread:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=501034

Very good question, but it has been asked before.

Please see this thread:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=501034

It's not the same question. But for what I've read there, with Ryan Air if a flight is cancelled you get stranded ?

Nothing else to do except getting a good insurance ? What about getting you in the next flight to the same place ? If I pay for a flight and I don't get to the place I want to be, that means my money has to be returned. The opposite means breaking every european law..

thanks

It's not the same question.
Since the older thread is from December, I kept the title of the new thread.

Please continue the discussion in the merged thread.

Thanks for understanding !!!

EmailKid
Budget Travel Moderator

It's not the same question. But for what I've read there, with Ryan Air if a flight is cancelled you get stranded ?

Nothing else to do except getting a good insurance ? What about getting you in the next flight to the same place ? If I pay for a flight and I don't get to the place I want to be, that means my money has to be returned. The opposite means breaking every european law..

thanks

I know it seems unfair, but Ryanair have made a habit of flouting these laws.
Unfortunately, the words: "extraordinary circumstances" that are included in the Law's wording is seen as a get out clause for FR and other LCCs.

FR will certainly return your money, eventually. But considering how low their fares can be, that won't always help getting yourself an alternative flight much. They tend to email you with as much notice as possible when they cancel flights/change scheduled times. When they do this you have the option to cancel both parts of your flight if you've booked a return, change the date or claim a refund.

The only meaningful way to safeguard your rights is to take out insurance. Unfortunately, it's not very clear which policies will best cover you. I'd love to know from someone more knowledgeable if Ryanair's own policy is worth anything.

EZ have a much better track record than FR of sorting things out when things go wrong. Having had a long problem free track record with FR I've actually started to avoid them... I can't help feeling that I've used up my luck with Ryanair!

EDIT to add: As a contrast, you might find this thread of interest to see how non LCCs deal with this kind of predicament: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=580922

Sorry, forgot to add - Ryanair make it pretty clear on their website that they are a point to point airline and take no responsibility whatsoever for a missed connection should one of their flights be delayed, even if the connecting/onward flight is with them.

Only way to safeguard against that particular problem is to get an onward flight at least 10/12 hours later that day, or better still, get an onward flight for the next day - unfortunately this means staying in a hotel or slumming it in the airport overnight.
http://www.sleepinginairports.com/

I find this all easier to deal with if I compare the cost and inconvenience of travelling on a cheap airfare to the torments of travelling across Europe by coach/bus - even a fitful overnight sleep on a cold marble airport floor with my bags knotted around my legs is preferable to 2 days sitting upright next to an alcoholic nutter on a coach. :eek: And the price is usually cheaper by air now too.