colinphillips9861

Hi - 3 of us had booked a weekend in Genoa via EDreams for Geno - flying from Stansted.
The flights were cheap but we paid upfront £100 each for Tests, £150 each for Hotels and £40 each for Football Tickets.
24 hours before the flight (and after doing our Tests) - Ryanair have told us the flights are cancelled due to an Airport Staff Strike in Genoa on Friday.
The only alternative flights to Genoa are on Monday - which is useless.
We have looked at alternative flights with a view to flying elsewhere and getting a train. Nothing less than £60 each on Friday for flights alone and we would need to retest.
Furious not the word. We dont have travel insurance - is there any way we can claim back for the costs we have incurred?

bilboburgler

did you do it on a credit card? If so, ring them.

no travel insurance, pity...

dreamon

I've never used Ryanair but I thought all airlines had to refund if they cancelled and the alternative they offer was not acceptable. Is that not the case in Europe?

£60 sounds cheap and well worth paying if it were not for the tests.

janisj

I don't think the OP is asking about getting the money back from RyanAir for the flights. He doesn't mention anything about seeking reimbursement for the original tickets. He mentioned all the other expenses -- covid tests, football tickets, and hotel. He ain't going to get that from the airline -

dreamon

Quite true, janisj. I misunderstood.

KTtravel

I hope someone will be able to buy the football tickets from you and that you had hotel reservations that could be cancelled. I don't think there is a way to get the testing money back as you actually did do the tests.

crellston

Probably not. That is why people take out travel insurance to provide cover for such eventualities. It may be worth considering taking out an annual policy which is usually pretty cheap and will cover you in the future for all your trips in the year. Many do just forget to take insurance for the odd weekend away. That would have covered the majority of the costs you incurred (although the cost of testing may not be covered - depends on the T&Cs of the individual underwriter)

you could try taking it up with your cc providers but, if you are UK based , most do not include travel cover and the relevant consumer credit legislation probably wouldnt cover your losses as the providers of goods and services had held up their end of the deal.

if the hotel rooms were booked via booking.com or similar they may well be refundable if you hurry.

Ryanair are on the hook for the cost of the airfare or, possibly, as it is a delay, you could look into making a claim under what was European Regulation 261/2004 which was enshrined into U.K. law post Brexit .