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[QUOTE=Robert]......Anyone know if Ryanair reimburse car hire and hotel costs?[/QUOTE]

We had a similar problem once when we were due to fly from Genova....... the rains came in biblical proportions & the flight was cancelled.

As usual with these things, there was chaos at the airport & a 5 mile queue to get refunds, alternative tickets etc..... Thankfully, I called my daughter who booked on line (there & then!) and got us out on the next flight.

........others were not so lucky!

We tried to get in touch with Ryanair so they could provide a letter stating the the flight was cancelled (it entitled us to some cash on our insurance) but after 4 weeks of chasing, I gave up.

All I can say is "Good Luck!", I reckon you'll need it!

[QUOTE=Robert]Anyone else get caught in the cancellation this wednesday in Ancona?We were told 10 minutes after we should have taken off that the incoming plane had had to land at Forli because of fog and we'd have to arrange new flights.Chaos followed with one unfortunate airport official trying to reschedule flights for a plane load of people.No flights from Ancona the day after and none from Forli next morning,they said.Turned out to be wrong info. To make it worse there was no fog in Ancona.Is it possible there was a problem with the plane? Was anyone supposed to be landing in Ancona that day?
These cancellations are great business for the car hire companies.In fact I joked to the man at the Hertz desk at Ancona that maybe it was Ryanair that took over Hertz recently.(Some company did.Cant remember who)
Anyone know if Ryanair reimburse car hire and hotel costs?[/QUOTE]

Hi Robert...

Yes, we were there. :mad: Luckily, I understood the �������� announcement and quickly rushed to the ticket desk before the rest of the crowd got there. They managed to change our flight to the 21:55 from Ciampino, and we also managed to hire a cheap small car to get us to Rome.

We arrived in Rome at about 18:30 and when we asked the Ryan Air desk person if we could check in early, we were told that if we hurry, we could have our flight changed to the 20:30 one at no extra cost - which we did.

It was a hellova nuisance, wasn't it. I was fuming, and had to constantly remind myself that I only paid £40 for the flight (including taxes) to keep me from throttling someone. (I suppose you get what you pay for...)

I did wonder if I should try and get Ryan Air to reimburse the car-hire, and the petrol used to Ciampino, but after reading other people's comments on this forum, I don't think I'd get very far.

They [U]shouldn't be allowed[/U] to get away with it though...... :mad:

Daniela

Was this this Wednesday just gone because friends of mine were dumped in the same situation the Wednesday previous 26/10 which seems mighty odd - they hitched a lift with a big group of people who hired a coach to Calais. Apparantly the group are making a big stink because they want Ryanair to play for the coach. All they will ever offer is the price of the flight - no hire car charges, no hotels.
Some kind person here posted a link to the BBC news report - might be worth you chasing up the BBC regional news centre and finding out their addresses and joining them in the fight? The link was in the post entitled 'ryanair' if you search for it..It was a big party of people named Day.

I had to cancel flights to Montpellier this summer because my stepson had fractured his skull and was not allowed to fly - they would not give me any money back even though we cancelled a week in advance - eventually I got a refund of the tax out of them and an email saying they would not give a refund so we could get something out of the insurers but they will only accept Faxes to their customer services and you cannot reply to emails they send you. It makes you very Grrrrrr but thats how they are so cheap I guess.

Very worrying if this is becoming a trend.

M

[QUOTE=Marinaw]Was this this Wednesday just gone because friends of mine were dumped in the same situation the Wednesday previous 26/10 which seems mighty odd - they hitched a lift with a big group of people who hired a coach to Calais. Apparantly the group are making a big stink because they want Ryanair to play for the coach. All they will ever offer is the price of the flight - no hire car charges, no hotels.
Some kind person here posted a link to the BBC news report - might be worth you chasing up the BBC regional news centre and finding out their addresses and joining them in the fight? The link was in the post entitled 'ryanair' if you search for it..It was a big party of people named Day.

I had to cancel flights to Montpellier this summer because my stepson had fractured his skull and was not allowed to fly - they would not give me any money back even though we cancelled a week in advance - eventually I got a refund of the tax out of them and an email saying they would not give a refund so we could get something out of the insurers but they will only accept Faxes to their customer services and you cannot reply to emails they send you. It makes you very Grrrrrr but thats how they are so cheap I guess.

Very worrying if this is becoming a trend.

M[/QUOTE]

Marinaw,

I do understand your comments however, when you book a flight with Ryan Air the contract tells you that it's non refundable.

O.K. the tax is refunded because you didn't fly, so legally that's what you are entitled to get back?

However, surely if it's you who cancels at whatever time, and for whatever reason, unfortunately you lose your money? You can of course, change your flight - at a cost - to another flight.

Conversely, if Ryan Air cancel, you're only entitled to the same.

This only proves what good value Ryan Air is and we should all appreciate it as it's one of the 'only games in town' getting us cheaply to where we want to be.

Yes of course I understand the no refunds policy although their website does say in the event of one of the party being ill or dying they will consider a refund - it wasn't just a change of heart! They considered and decided against. I loved the way they put it - 'Whilst it is not easy to say no to a passenger' - they seem to find it very very easy!

Never fly Ryanair without additional insurance!

They never mentioned I could get the tax back until someone else told me and I faxed them again..

But I accept in terms of value for money they are fantastic and I would not have bought in Italy without their flights being available. I'd just be happy to pay a bit more and not be dumped like the Ancona flights..

M

My husband was on the flight and I rushed to get to Ancona on time and on arrival found they flight diverted to Forli. They did bring him to Ancona by bus though. Apparently they tried to land twice with no success.

The flight i referred to was this Wednesday
The one last month I read about in one of the nationals after googling Ryanair ancona problems or something similar
We also got out of the mess ok as our son in London got us seats from Forli the next day which the official at the desk said there wern't any of.
Kirstin-you were lucky Ryanair hired a bus to bring passengers to ancona-they didnt do it the other way round
Harleybabe-was that your toe I stepped on?
What I still dont get is-where was the fog? Is there an area between Forli and Ancona maybe out at sea that was very foggy? there was no fog at Ancona or Forli as far as I can see-oops bad pun.

Iam going to go after Ryanair for the car hire and hotel

It does seem very weird that it happened two weeks running. But I guess if Kristin's husband says it tried to land twice he wasn't imagining it!
Good luck with going after them for the car hire - do let us know how you get on..
On the way in (21/10 I think) they had had to land at Rimini and were bussed to Ancona. Wonder what happened to the people going back that day?

Seems to be becoming a very unreliable route - I had no idea Ancona had such weather issues.

M

[QUOTE=Robert]Harleybabe-was that your toe I stepped on? [/QUOTE]

OW !! Was that you ?? I was also squashed up against the Ryan Air counter; elbowed in the back by God knows who; and got told off by some woman who thought was in the queue before me.

Whew - what an experience - I hope it's not a usual occurrence at Ancona airport.

Daniela

[QUOTE=HarleyBabe]Hi Robert...

Yes, we were there. :mad: Luckily, I understood the �������� announcement and quickly rushed to the ticket desk before the rest of the crowd got there. They managed to change our flight to the 21:55 from Ciampino, and we also managed to hire a cheap small car to get us to Rome.

We arrived in Rome at about 18:30 and when we asked the Ryan Air desk person if we could check in early, we were told that if we hurry, we could have our flight changed to the 20:30 one at no extra cost - which we did.

It was a hellova nuisance, wasn't it. I was fuming, and had to constantly remind myself that I only paid £40 for the flight (including taxes) to keep me from throttling someone. (I suppose you get what you pay for...)

I did wonder if I should try and get Ryan Air to reimburse the car-hire, and the petrol used to Ciampino, but after reading other people's comments on this forum, I don't think I'd get very far.

They [U]shouldn't be allowed[/U] to get away with it though...... :mad:

Daniela[/QUOTE]

Ryanair's terms and conditions state that they do not reimburse for delays / cancellations that have occurred due to matters outside their control (not an exact quote but you get the gist). Now fog would be outside their control but broken down plane would not be!

only joking Daniella
didnt really step on anyone's toe though I was in the scrum
no idea why only ONE pc could access the Ryanair site

Living in Ancona, I can confirm that fog is a major problem....

Francesco
[url]www.learnitalian.bravehost.com[/url]
[url]www.italianradio.bravehost.com[/url]

I have read your comments about the fog in the south but it happens here at Pisa airport sometimes.

Last year in Jan and Feb I was flying back to UK but with Thomsonfly. Despite Pisa airport having problems with fog and nothing could land or take off, Thomsfly put all their passengers on a coach to Genoa where our plane had landed and we took off from there. However, the Ryanair flight after mine was cancelled also and everyone had to fend for themselves.

I have unfortunately had to fly Ryanair on some occasions which I do not find a pleasant experience becuase I have to fly into Stansted and also I do not like their policies. Their customer is not of importance to them it seems to me.

Linda

Linda,

What can you expect out of £1 return flight + taxes, total £18??
Would you expect excellent customer service inside a bus? That's what Ryan Air is all about after all.

Francesco
[url]www.learnitalian.bravehost.com[/url]
[url]www.italianradio.bravehost.com[/url]

£1 return?? that's 98% more expensive than what we usually pay....£0.02p :)

That's it then, cheaper than a bus ticket! Can't expect them to give you more than a decent seat and a smile. Low cost is low cost!

Francesco
[url]www.learnitalian.bravehost.com[/url]
[url]www.italianradio.bravehost.com[/url]

But its not always low cost - fly out to Ancona Xmas eve and back NY eve and its over £200..
And if something goes wrong they will no doubt offer you the same level of sevice as the people flying out next week for £25 return (1p plus tax).
Out of interest do Easy jet offer the same customer care?

Still bless em for existing, and roll on more flights from the north..

M

Tangential but related to this topic ........

I don't agree with the sentiment that because fares are inexpensive passengers should have reduced expectation of service. Ryanair is a very profitable company and its success is attributable in part to stripping out services such as 'free' in flight drink/food, assigned seats etc. As a traveller you can choose to take this option or use a different carrier who provides that level of service. But I object to Ryanair's total disregard of after sales service and handling of complaints, refunds, support and back up.

If you need evidence of their attitude to customers consider whether airlines are entitled to retain taxes etc included in the ticket in the event that you (or the airline irrespective of their ticket policy) cancels travel?

[COLOR=Blue][B]Ryanair[/B][/COLOR] are not explicit about their policy .......

[I]Ryanair does not provide compensation for flights which are delayed or cancelled for reasons beyond Ryanair's control. You may therefore wish to ensure that you have suitable private insurance cover in force to cover such eventualities. Your rights under EU Regulation 261/2004 are unaffected so in the case of denied boarding, flight cancellation or a delay in excess of two hours you will be provided with a written notice setting out the rules for compensation and assistance in line with such Regulation.[/I]

Unlike this from [COLOR=MediumTurquoise][B]bmi[/B][/COLOR] ....

[I]If you do not use your confirmed reservation, you will be entitled to claim a refund of any taxes, fees and charges which you have paid, less an administration fee.[/I]

this from [COLOR=DarkOrange][B]easyjet .....[/B][/COLOR]

[I]11.2. Taxes and Charges

If after having made a reservation you do not fly with us, whether or not a refund of the Fare is payable you will be entitled to claim a refund of any taxes or charges advised to you and payable by you in accordance with Article 5.2, which as a consequence we have no obligation to pay to any Government or other authority. We reserve the right to deduct a reasonable service charge from any such refund where you fail to fly with us despite a Flight being available. [/I]

and this from a trading standards site .......

[I][B]Refunds of Taxes, Fees and Charges[/B]
Most airlines list certain taxes and other charges separately in this way if you do not use your ticket – even if your ticket is otherwise non-refundable.
Unfortunately, however, there is no specific law under which they are required to refund these charges. Nor is there any law that prevents them from charging an administration charge for processing the refund. We have seen cases where the administration charge exactly equals the amount of tax being refunded!

In any event, airlines do not routinely refund taxes, fees and charges to passengers who do not travel. You have to ask.

[B]UK Air Passenger Duty (APD) [/B]
The UK’s Air Passenger Duty (APD) (usually listed in a box labelled “UK” on the ticket or confirmation) is payable on all sectors of a journey originating from a UK airport, with certain exemptions for connecting journeys and for the Scottish Highlands and Islands. The legislation that brought in the Duty does not deal with the issue of refunds when passengers do not use their tickets. But the AUC has long argued that, as an airline is required to pay the money over to the Government only for passengers who actually travel, passengers who do not travel should get their duty back. Most airlines now refund the duty on request. [/I]

Where there is an option (e.g. Rome) I'll choose easyJet even if it is more expensive for essentially the same service.

[QUOTE=Marinaw]
I had no idea Ancona had such weather issues.

M[/QUOTE]

At this time of year fog is a major problem at Ancona airport as they do not have the radar equipment for landing in poor visibility (can't remember the technical term). If you are inbound they will divert you elsewhere and bus you in to Ancona, but will not bus outbound passengers to the plane wherever it ended up, it flies back empty! If this happens you have to fax them requesting a refund for the fare and they will cough up. I guess their standard response for not refunding anything else is that you should have taken out insurance as they recommend at time of booking. It does seem strange that it should happen 2 Weds in a row, especially if there was no fog.
Good luck to all those claiming refunds. Ryanair is fine if all goes according to plan, but when there is a problem they offer absolutely no passenger support. I guess you get what you pay for, but as has been pointed out, they are not always that cheap. Last Christmas it was cheaper to fly Alitalia to Ancona and change at Milan than to fly to Ancona wiht Ryanair!

First time we are going ot fly to Ancona in three weeks, normally we go to Forli, thought we should try it as our house is not too far from there, wonder if i should change airports now, as i have not had a problem at Forli before, :rolleyes:

[QUOTE=FRANTIANI]First time we are going ot fly to Ancona in three weeks, normally we go to Forli, thought we should try it as our house is not too far from there, wonder if i should change airports now, as i have not had a problem at Forli before, :rolleyes:[/QUOTE]

Dunno about that but try this link for a look ahead

[URL]http://www.lifeinitaly.com/weather/forecast.asp?wcode=ITXX0102[/URL]

We are going at the same time so will be keeping a weather eye on the reports!!

As I already said, I live in Ancona (and quite near the airport) so if you let me know when you're leaving, I can tell you the night before about the forecast. And well I can just open my window and tell you what's going on :-)

Francesco
[url]www.learnitalian.bravehost.com[/url]

[QUOTE=FRANTIANI]First time we are going ot fly to Ancona in three weeks, normally we go to Forli, thought we should try it as our house is not too far from there, wonder if i should change airports now, as i have not had a problem at Forli before, :rolleyes:[/QUOTE]

You should be ok, the foggy time tends to be late Oct/early Nov. This year it lasted longer than usual but by Dec there is usually not a problem.

Thanks everyone, going to stay with Ancona, and hope everything will be ok!!! :)

I took a flight from Venice MP to Coventry last year with Thomsonfly. No joke but walking up the stairs you could not see the plane with the fog. Loads of flights cancelled but Thomsonfly and Easyjet both allowed their flight to go. Was 2 hours late mind.

I see flights were diverted to Pescara once or twice last week and passengers bussed between Ancona/Pescara. Factor in some extra time at each end of the trip I think!

We had problems in and out, tried to land on wed 9/11 three attempts made and aborted then transferred to Forli and busses. Our return Sat 12/11, noticed lack of aircraft at airport (any type) usually some lufthansa. All ryan air passengers hearded into departure cattle pens with constant calls from the tannoy 1hr before scheduled departure time. When hell was let loose and the scrum took place at the information desk 1 poor lady and one pc took two hours to deal with everything. We were fortunate and got an evening flight from Forli. I was happy with that and honestly don't expect any more for a two quid ticket. I think the system at Ancona could be dealt with in a better way, after all its obvious from everyones comments this is a frequent occurance. The staff at Ancona (to get the job done easier and with less stress and abuse to them) could call every-one by their ticket No. This would ensure that people who arrived first would be dealt with first. There was no fog on either occasion! Hills and mountains were visible for at least 7-8 miles around the airport the summits of these would be at least 400 metres. I believe the pilots are regulated to visibility at heights of 8,000 metres.
In order to keep ticket prices low Ryanair must use cheap airports, the ones with less infrastructure, consequently without automatic positioning systems. A shame really as Ancona has spent a lot of money rebuilding the very nice terminal buildings. Can't help thinking it should have got the landing system done first though!

[QUOTE=Marinaw]Was this this Wednesday just gone because friends of mine were dumped in the same situation the Wednesday previous 26/10 which seems mighty odd - they hitched a lift with a big group of people who hired a coach to Calais. Apparantly the group are making a big stink because they want Ryanair to play for the coach. All they will ever offer is the price of the flight - no hire car charges, no hotels.
Some kind person here posted a link to the BBC news report - might be worth you chasing up the BBC regional news centre and finding out their addresses and joining them in the fight? The link was in the post entitled 'ryanair' if you search for it..It was a big party of people named Day. quote

They were on Tonight with Trevor McDonald tonight , did anybody else see it. The news reporter interviewed them and did their return journey by train and ferry to see how long and how much it would have cost. Unfortunatly turned the tv half way though their interview. Mabey somebody caught all of it.