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Hi all,
Would appreciate some help with a Wizz Air (yes, I know) booking that has been subject to a Schedule change notification.
My flights were:
LON to IST: Thursday 14:00 – 20:05 and IST to LON Sunday 22:20 – 00:30
My new flights are:
LON to IST: Thursday 22:00 – 04:05 and IST to LON Sunday 04:50 – 6:55
I would like to rebook my outbound to a day earlier (arriving Thursday 4am, rather than Friday 4am which would mean I lose one day worth of the trip) and my inbound a day later (meaning I land at 6:55 on Monday, so I still have a full Sunday in Istanbul).
TO facilitate this I am looking to rebook my flights, which is free, and book the Hampton Hilton Istanbul Airport for Weds night and Sunday night to give us some rest either side of these terribly timed flights. Does anyone know if I rebook my flights am I able to claim this back from Wizz? I believe this is a contractual rather than legal question and include their guidance below. Wizz Air currently advise of 30 day delays in responding to queries of this nature which isnt very helpful. My concern is largely that by rebooking to a different day Idule and allocating me these new flights. Any experience with this sort of issue would be appreciated. Thanks lose any right to claim accomodation expenses if the right to claim was only available due to inconvenience caused by Wizzair changing the schedule.
“If the alternative flight options provided do not meet your requirements, or we cannot provide a suitable rebooking arrangement, you are entitled to arrange your alternative transportation via train, bus connections or alternative airlines.
If you incur any costs due to the re-routing, such as accommodation, transfers to alternative airports, rebooking fees (even with other carriers or modes of transport), or expenses for meals and refreshments, you can request reimbursement by submitting a claim via our website. Please note that we can process refunds based on itemized receipts for the claimed expenses.
We kindly ask you to make reasonably priced accommodation arrangements, such as booking 3-star hotels or equivalent.”
Honestly those flight times are awful and Wizzair are also very difficult to deal with so personally I’d just be looking at getting a refund and booking with someone else – are alternatives much more expensive?
@tiberius – Wizz have put the fine words you quote on their website because they have been forced to by the regulator, not because that’s their real life policy. Your question re hotels is tricky and I wouldn’t count on Wizz paying for them.
The test in the text of EC261 for hotels is that an airline must cover the cost of “hotel accommodation in cases where a stay of one or more nights becomes necessary, or where a stay additional to that intended by the passenger becomes necessary” and the legal test that the courts apply is that any expenses incurred must be “necessary, appropriate and reasonable”
Many of us might consider a hotel necessary either side in these circumstances, but I’m not sure that it isn’t more for comfort than strict necessity and Wizz isn’t known for erring on the side of generosity. Also, by moving your flight you are introducing a voluntary element which Wizz may exploit.
I eventually cancelled some Wizz flights after some cancellations that they labelled as “schedule changes” (new flights were on different days with different flight numbers). I called and spoke to Wizz Customer Service who would not give me any guarantees on Wizz covering any costs associated with additional hotels or transport. They told me after travelling and incurring extra costs to submit a claim, which I was told was filling in a complaint form which was a single text-entry screen so had no fields to fill in details of dates/amounts spent like you might expect on a proper claim form. I then needed to wait to see what response I got. It all felt very hit-and-miss to me, so I didn’t risk it. Even if I eventually got them to pay for everything I thought they should, I expected a long, hard battle and simply couldn’t face it. It would have spoilt the trip, so I cancelled and we went elsewhere using non-Wizz airlines.
Thanks all. Yes not an ideal situation at all and I ordinarily avoid Wizz which is the worst of the LCCs but £70pp return to Istanbul in July for a Thurs-Sun trip was quite unbelievable. Unfortunately cash prices with other airlines at similar times are now around £260pp and avios availability has dried up.
I opted to book for the Weds 10pm-4am flight and booked a £39 Wyndham Airport hotel (on a refundable rate) which I will seek to claim but also not care too much if I fail, with my return being the IST-Luton flight on Sunday at 11pm. A slightly unfortunate arrival time of 1.30am means I will have fun getting home on a combination of the National Express coach and a taxi but it salvages my Sunday at least.
One more change and I shall bin the whole trip – thanks again for the help and I have learned my lesson for next time…
https://www.headforpoints.com/forums/topic/denied-boarding-by-wizz-air-seeking-guidance/
I’m happy to fly LCC normally but having read this thread and some truly appalling Trust Pilot reviews one night recently when I couldn’t sleep, I am definitely never, ever going to book with Wizz Air!
I eventually cancelled some Wizz flights after some cancellations that they labelled as “schedule changes” (new flights were on different days with different flight numbers). I called and spoke to Wizz Customer Service who would not give me any guarantees on Wizz covering any costs associated with additional hotels or transport. They told me after travelling and incurring extra costs to submit a claim, which I was told was filling in a complaint form which was a single text-entry screen so had no fields to fill in details of dates/amounts spent like you might expect on a proper claim form. I then needed to wait to see what response I got. It all felt very hit-and-miss to me, so I didn’t risk it. Even if I eventually got them to pay for everything I thought they should, I expected a long, hard battle and simply couldn’t face it. It would have spoilt the trip, so I cancelled and we went elsewhere using non-Wizz airlines.
You are not forced to use a particular format for claim. Obviously if you do find an airline provides something workable then use it. You can also send to the company by other means but practically this will mean hard copy as you’ll need proof that they received which you should get and keep as soon as delivery has taken place.
I’d also cover myself by using the route they provide to the extent possible and refer to what they also received at their address x at x date for which you have proof of their receipt time x.
I booked with Wizz Athens – Kutaisi (Georgia) as no alternative option. Aware of their problems with aircraft being parked due to the ongoing engine issues, I wasn’t too surprised when the first schedule change arrived. Then another. And then a date change. Requested a refund; much to my surprise, this arrived a few days later, my quickest ever. So well done to the regulators for sorting them out. But whether this extends to more complex refunds of expenses….
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