Advice on Canceled Flights

Jolita, one of the founders of “Keliones su vaikais ®” shares her experience.

Here you will find some advice on canceled flights – Jolita has personally encountered canceled trips, refund procedures and other inconveniences. These inconveniences occur due to flight cancellations or changes. She shares her experience and wants to advise you on how to behave in such or similar situations.

Canceled Trips

The general rule is that if your flight was canceled by the airline itself, then it has the obligation to return the money to you.

GIFT COUPONS/VOUCHERS or credit to your virtual account in the airline account. The companies primarily offer vouchers to buy other tickets, not refunds. It’s not the worst option, but we need to know the basic rules about using them. I’m talking specifically about the RYANAIR voucher – you can use it very simply. When making a reservation, at the checkout step you can enter its number, BUT you can only use it if the name of the main passenger matches.

Refunds and Personal Experience

FULL REFUND – most want their money back anyway. So what you MUST do to get them back faster if the refund is still pending. If you received a letter from the airlines with a voucher, but you do not want to use it, you MUST contact the airlines. Contact them via the chat app/LIVE CHAT (RYANAIR) or via the CALL CENTER (expensive option) or via the request/complaint form directly.

RYANAIR makes it possible to contact their agents live via LIVE CHAT too. Just do that – contact them with your order number and request a full refund. During the interview, answer the questions asked. Also, make sure to get the answer that you have been “queued” for a refund. After this conversation, you will/should receive a letter stating that you are in line for a refund.

Even later, a letter arrives that the refund has been made and the money will be credited to your account. That procedure takes 5-7 days. Check your bank account after you receive this letter. What will happen if you don’t do it? Nothing, but most likely you will get the money later or only when the voucher expires.

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH RYANAIR: I had to be reminded about the canceled three flights even several times. Nonetheless, I got all the money back for the canceled trips.

ADVICE – if you want to get your money back faster, you need to put in the effort and time to contact the airlines and make your wishes VERY clear.

Your flight was not cancelled, but you did not fly?

RYANAIR and many other companies apply so-called AIRPORT TAXES/GOVERMENT TAXES refunds for flights that took place but you did not fly. Meanwhile, WIZZAIR also refunds part of the money minus the cancellation fees. The difference is that the refund of the airport fees is required after the flight you did not take (the sooner the better, as some companies apply “statute periods.”)  The Wizzair cancellation must be made before flight and depending on whether more or less 14 days are left, cancellation will cost 60 or 80 euros.

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH VUELING: after the flight, I asked the VUELING company to refund the unused airport fees of non-flying passengers and very easily within 3 working days after completing the request, I got almost half of the ticket price back.

ADVICE – do not leave such a situation without attention, as my experience of recovering shows, it can be a win.

You or a member of your family got sick or another accident happened?

You should know that even low-cost airlines must take this into account if you or a passenger traveling with you gets seriously ill (and cannot travel because of that.) That also applies when a family member dies while flying.

Serious illness or death of a passenger or a passenger flying with him is the basis for demanding a full refund to you for everyone traveling according to your order; or, if applicable, waive the flight change fee and any restrictions on flight changes.

IMPORTANT! You must provide adequate evidence of serious illness or death prior to the date of travel.

If you have been affected by the loss of a close family member within 28 days of your scheduled flight date and you do not wish to travel, they can issue a full refund on application.

IMPORTANT! Report the incident before the flight and as soon as possible when you find out that you are sick or a member of your family dies.

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH RYANAIR: we have received a refund when one of the family members flying together got the flu. The diagnosis was confirmed two days before the flight.

ADVICE – be prompt in notifying airlines of these events. Be sure to provide a doctor’s diagnosis and, even better, a written recommendation NOT to travel if available in English (otherwise an assessment may be required).

Other Tips

It is very good if you bought the insurance or Flex packages offered by the airlines when buying the tickets. I will admit that I rarely buy such services myself. However, I think that at the moment it is one of the better options for a relatively reasonable price. That allows us to be able to change the flight or even cancel it.

Exchange with exchange fee is not the worst decision if you really decide not to fly and you paid a considerable amount for the tickets. After paying the change fee of 30-40 euros and the difference between the ticket prices (often it doesn’t even exist or it is insignificant because it is changed to a later date), you won’t lose all your money.

IMPORTANT! Calculate and don’t be too lazy to write down how much the exchange will cost you, because sometimes the exchange is not worth it and it is better to buy new tickets and/or donate the ones you have. And if you use my advice to get back the airport taxes, you’ll get some more back.

Travel Insurance

I am in favor of the ban in principle. I insure myself, my children, car, real estate.

BUT! When buying trip cancellation insurance, it is very important to understand what we want to protect against and what the companies offer us. Don’t just fall for pretty slogans.

It is VERY important to understand that there will never be a double payment, so if there is an obligation to reimburse the airlines and there is no official denial from the airlines, the insurance will most likely not pay you!

All insurances, even those offered by airlines, have their own rules and you must read them before buying insurance. Insurance usually covers only INSURED events, which are often related to illness, death, etc. of you or a person traveling with you. And you will always have to provide evidence that an insured event has occurred whether it would be a doctor’s certificate, a hospital discharge and other evidence.

Our Advice Regarding Insurance

ADVICE: I will not examine the offers of individual insurance companies. Insurance products related to “hot situations” appear on the market from time to time. Do your due diligence and make sure the insurance specifically covers what you FEAR and WANT to cover.

And finally – since I wrote more about flights, and you are also faced with the refusal of other service providers to refund money, maybe this link, which I found while looking for answers to your questions, will help you – click on this link: European consumer rights.

We wish you safe travels, travelers!

This article is author’s work and was prepared by “Traveling with Children ®”. Copying and using without permission is strictly prohibited.

Don’t forget to follow us on social networks. You can find more about travel in Lithuania on the Facebook account “Traveling with children” and on the Instagram account “Traveling with children”.

Information about traveling around the world on the Facebook account “Traveling with children around the world” and on the Instagram account “Traveling with children around the world”.

Looking for more places to visit with kids, travel tips and recommendations? Make sure to connect to groups of travelers with children. We also invite you to share your travel experiences here.

If you want to share your trip or travel experience with children, feel free to email us by post.