We have two stories this week from readers who were let down by Aer Lingus and left wondering what they needed to do to make things right.
A reader by the name of Roisin and a young child under her care, were denied boarding on an Aer Lingus flight from Birmingham to Dublin due to overbooking during the summer.
“More than 20 other passengers were also denied boarding, with some missing funerals and the All-Ireland Final,” she writes. “It was absolute chaos at the boarding gate with people in hysterics and zero communication given from Aer Lingus.”
She says that despite the fact that she arrived at the airport in plenty of time “no alternative flights or assistance were offered by Aer Lingus staff. Passengers were left stranded, distressed, and forced to make emergency travel arrangements at their own expense, including last-minute taxis and flights with other carriers”.
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Roisin says that after submitting claims for compensation under EU261/2004 regulations, Aer Lingus has now refused reimbursement, claiming that the young person in her care was “travelling alone as a child”.
She points out that this is despite the fact the boy’s father “booked the flight via a travel agent and clearly stated that [I] would be his guardian on the day”.
She says the “lack of communication, support, and accountability from Aer Lingus has been shocking. After three months of waiting, they are refusing compensation for a situation entirely caused by their own overbooking and mismanagement”.
She suggests that the incident “raises serious concerns about Aer Lingus’ duty of care to passengers, particularly families and children, and highlights the need for urgent review of airline practices in overbooking scenarios.
We also heard from Aoife who lives in Vancouver. On September 13th she saw flights home for Christmas for a “really good” return price of $1,300 and she booked immediately.
“A Revolut notification came up saying it was paid,” she writes.
“A few days later I was showing my boyfriend the flights and tried to manage my booking on the app and it wouldn’t let me click in and said to call for assistance as I had no reference,” she says.
So she called the airline with a screenshot of the confirmation screen when she had made the booking.
“I contacted Aer Lingus to no avail. The first person told me he could help then went silent and hung up. The second person just told me to file a complaint and that I would have to rebook.”
She says by the time she was told this the cost of the flights had climbed by $1,000.
“I filed the complaint and on September 24th they replied looking for more info. After this they ghosted me, and after multiple follow up emails and even opening a new complaint I decided to post about it online.”
Not long after she did she heard from the airline and in an email she was offered “flights at the same price with a different return. I jumped at this and called the call centre immediately, gave the case number which the girl confirmed she could see and waited 40 mins on the phone while she said she was reinstating the flights, I was delighted”.
The delight did not last long, however.
“At the end of the call she said: ‘Ok so that will be $7,850.05 total’. I said the email says at the original fare. She had no idea what she was doing and told me to reply back to the email to book even though it says to call. I am not sure if you can even help or if this is of interest to you. But at this point, I thought why not? I have nothing left to lose and a possibility of not getting home for Christmas since the prices are now crazy.”
We contacted the airline about the two stories.
It said that when it comes to Roisin’s story it “regrets that an overbooking occurred on this customer’s flight due to the cancellation of an earlier separate flight and the re-accommodation of these passengers. We understand this is a frustrating situation, particularly when travelling with children. In accordance with EU261 regulations, Roisin and the child under her care are entitled to compensation”.
“We have also processed a refund for alternative flights booked. We sincerely apologise for the issues these customers encountered on their journey with us,” Aer Lingus said.
It said that Aoife “encountered a technical issue while booking flights with a partner airline on the Aer Lingus website. While we’re working with our partners to resolve this issue, we are pleased to confirm we have liaised directly with the customer to rebook the flights at the original fare price.”
