165

My volcano ash cloud flight cancellation experience

Last Thursday, I flew to Amsterdam, with Jet2.com. I did think about cancelling the flight because some airports in Scotland and Ireland were closed, but I would have lost over £150 because the flight was not cancelled by the airline.

165
165

My volcano ash cloud flight cancellation experience

Flight home cancelled

Imagine my disbelief when checking my email yesterday morning to find that my flight home at 7pm that day, was cancelled at 6pm, the day before. I couldn’t believe that they had made the decision to cancel the flight so soon.

I then found out Schiphol airport in Amsterdam was closed, with no estimated time when it would re-open, so at this point, I assumed that the airline must have received information that the airport would be closed all day. Fair enough.

No assistance from the airline

So, I had the option of either booking my flight for the next day; find a hotel for the night, or finding an alternative way back home. I opted for the safest option of booking a ferry from Rotterdam to Hull, and then taking a train home to Leeds.

Airline cancelled flight too early

Imagine my outrage when I arrived at Rotterdam to find out that Schiphol airport had opened at midday. Why did Jet2.com cancel the flight more than 24 hours prior to departure? Surely, they could have delayed the flight; it is only 50 minutes flight time to Leeds and Bradford airport.

Impossible to contact airline

It was and still is; impossible to contact the airline on the telephone, and trying to get a response from them on Twitter is a joke. What is the point of inviting customers to ask questions when they do not respond.

Passenger safety is essential and I know that the airline could not do anything about the closed airspace, but, I do think that Jet2.com could have dealt with this better. Why did they put on a coach to get people from Paris to Leeds, but not Amsterdam?

Cancelling flight is the easy option

I know that their airplanes and crew would be located all over Europe, but no planes and crew in Leeds or Amsterdam, at all? Cancelling the flight was the easy option for Jet2.com; they would not have to deal with putting passengers into hotels. Instead we were left to fend for ourselves.

EU regulations are thrown out of the window, insurance companies blame an ‘act of god’ so what are passengers to do, other than book with an ATOL tour operator.

Thank you P&O ferries

I have highlighted the two questions that I attempted to ask on Twitter and on the telephone, just in case someone from Jet2.com has the decency to reply. I am at home in Leeds, thanks to P&O ferries, who will certainly get my business again.

Add your experiences and responses

In the meantime, an email will be sent to Jet2.com to receive a refund on my return flight, expenses and any compensation due to me. Watch this space. If you have had a similar experience, then please do leave a comment.

One thought on “My volcano ash cloud flight cancellation experience”

  1. For cases when the airline cancelled the flight you can get compensation, though they do try and make it difficult. There are websites and apps that act as a middleman to get the compensation you deserve, I used Refund.me

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.