Thanks. This is extremely helpful.

I called Vueling last night and asked them to rebook me on EasyJet. They refused.

To cancel and request a refund for the outbound flight I decided to call them again this morning in order to be sure to preserve the return leg. LGW-VLC is still timetabled for 3/week at the moment.

The call centre agent agreed to do so. When he came back to the call after actioning it he informed me he’d credited the refund to the booking reference. I immediately rejected this and said I’d never agreed to a booking credit. He checked with his supervisor but said there was nothing he could do to reverse this.

I found it almost impossible but somehow managed to submit something of a claim via the website for the credit to be refunded to the original payment method.

I’ve rebooked myself via EasyJet. Fares are sadly more than £20. I paid £204 for 2 pax one way compared to the €262 I paid for the return fare to Vueling. I have no record of what the two legs cost separately.

I guess I’ll wait and see if I get the cash refund within a reasonable timeframe and then either make a formal request for it and the difference from the EasyJet fare or just the difference from the EasyJet fare and then, if necessary, make an MCOL claim.

Such awful customer service.