An unfortunate family found themselves sleeping on an airport floor for two nights after a dream holiday ended in a travel nightmare.
The family from Ferndale in Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales said they had no choice but to book with another airline to get home, flying to Leeds -far from their original destination – after their easyJet return flights were canceled at the eleventh hour.
Lowri Gallagher, aged 30, her partner Shane Stevenson, and their two young kids, ages two and one, hoped to return from their all-inclusive trip to Mallorca on an easyJet flight scheduled for 11.20pm on Wednesday, August 14, having checked in around 7pm that evening.
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But the trip turned sour when, shortly after 8pm, they learned via the airline’s app that their flight was axed, with no easyJet representatives at the airport to offer support or solutions.
(Image: Lowri Gallagher)
Initially told to await further details, they received an update at 8.30pm about seats on a new flight the next day at 2.30pm. Yet, some travellers were rebooked for later dates and left to sort out their own stay, facing hotel prices upward of £1,500 per night, reports WalesOnline.
Lowri expressed concern over the lack of easyJet staff, leaving the family uncertain if they’d be reimbursed for the additional costs they faced due to the cancellation chaos.
The family were forced to purchase any remaining food and drinks at the airport at inflated prices and even had to borrow nappies for their son. The next day, they were instructed to board a second flight, only to be informed of a nearly five-hour delay after checking in.
Their luggage was taken, but as they waited at the gate, all signs of the flight vanished from the boards, and they were told that it had also been cancelled. Lowri claimed that no easyJet representative was available at the airport to assist them.
Eventually, they managed to secure a flight to Leeds, which cost just under £600. Shane’s mother, who had borrowed car seats, drove to collect them.
(Image: Lowri Gallagher)
The family spent the night with Shane’s relatives and had to purchase clean pyjamas for the children. They then borrowed Shane’s sister’s car to drive back to Bristol, where they collected their own vehicle and returned home to south Wales.
At the time, easyJet attributed the flight disruptions to adverse weather conditions and air traffic control issues at Palma airport. On August 19, the airline stated that the family would receive an apology, reimbursement for their expenses, and a “gesture of goodwill.”
The family, let down by the airline, finally received their refund after a staggering six weeks and only following Wales Online’s intervention.
In what the family described as an insult added to injury, easyJet initially handed them a meagre £200 voucher as a “goodwill gesture” which was then increased to £240 after further complaints. According to Lowri, the amount was credited to their account without any prior agreement.
Lowri said: “Our original £200 holiday voucher offer from easyJet, which we laughed at, has now been superseded by a £240 holiday voucher applied directly into our easyJet account without asking if we accept. The voucher is worth absolutely nothing as I’ll never fly with easyJet again and £240 comes nowhere near the anguish of me and my partner seeing our babies sleep on a cold concrete floor with no-one at all from easyJet being present in the airport to advise or help despite their claims that staff were present.
“They were not. It goes nowhere near the fact that we had to fly with a different company and land 300 miles from home because alternative flights weren’t arranged for us and it goes nowhere near the fact that six weeks later we’d still had no reimbursement of expenses, which were close to £1,000.
“If we would have follow their substandard advice and booked hotels of our own accord we would probably be upwards of £5,000 out of pocket, with easyJet owing us that money, and they believe sending a £240 holiday voucher is adequate recompense? No thanks.”
An easyJet spokesperson confirmed that the airline had extended an apology to the family involved, adding: “A member of our team will reach out to the family on Monday and offer them the gesture of goodwill as cash rather than credit.”
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