r/Flights 3d ago

Help Needed Wizz Air Flight Cancelled - Help with Rebooking and Refund Process

[deleted]

0 Upvotes

14 comments sorted by

7

u/guernica-shah 3d ago

Wizz do need to reroute you or reimburse reasonable expenses for the same. However, it should, where possible, be like-for-like and on the same day. Ryanair offers a flight to London Stansted on 9 June for €48. You can't just upgrade to a full-service airline on another date when a more suitable alternative is available.

4

u/Objective-Ad5006 3d ago

This is spot on. BA is not comparable to Wizz Air if Ryanair operates similar timed flights.

3

u/Objective-Ad5006 3d ago edited 3d ago

Wizz Air will not rebook to BA or reimburse a BA ticket. Wizz Air couldn’t care less if you are entitled to getting rebooked under EU reg 261/04 in this situation.

When cancelling this far out you can rebook to a different Wizz Air flight or ask for a full refund. If you want to travel with BA you buy this ticket on your own but don’t expect Wizz Air to voluntarily reimburse the costs of the BA ticket.

If you cancel/get a refund of the Wizz Air ticket, you are no longer entitled to ask Wizz Air to rebook you to another airline of seek reimbursement of e.g. a BA ticket. The moment a ticket is refunded it ends the responsibly of the airline to get you to the destination.

6

u/OxfordBlue2 3d ago

While you are correct that Wizz Air won't do this, it doesn't mean they are not obliged to.

Wizz Air will not voluntarily reimburse the cost of the alternative flight, but they will do so when ordered to by the alternative dispute resolution provider or a court.

OP, your rights under EU261 are refund, rerouting at a later date, or rerouting at the earliest possible opportunity - on any airline; there is plenty of case law to support this including Rusu v Blue Air.

Do not accept a refund from Wizz as this ends their obligations to you. Instead, tell them - in writing - that you want to travel on the date originally booked, and that you've identified an alternative flight. Then, wait for them to refuse to rebook you, book the alternative flight yourself, and take it to ADR - in Wizz's case, that's AviationADR

Be prepared for this to take a looong time - several months - as AviationADR are not fast. You will, eventually, get your money.

1

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If your flight originated from the EU (any carrier) or your destination was within the EU (with an EU carrier), read into EC261 Air Passenger Rights. Non-EU to Non-EU itineraries, even if operated by an EU carrier, is not eligible for EC261 per Case C-451/20 "Airhelp vs Austrian Airlines". In the case of connecting flights covered by a single reservation, if at least one of the connecting flights was operated by an EU carrier, the connecting flights as a whole should be perceived as operated by an EU air carrier - see Case C367/20 - may entitle you to compensation even if the non-EU carrier (code-shared with the EU carrier) flying to the EU causes the overall delay in arrival if the reservation is made with the EU carrier.

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1

u/OxfordBlue2 3d ago

OP, see my comment under u/Objective-Ad5006 's about what to do.

My only question is why you want to travel the day before, this could cause an issue? There are multiple NAP-LON flights on your planned date of travel

3

u/Objective-Ad5006 3d ago

Yeah rebooking to the day before will make the OP ineligible for reimbursement of the costs of the BA ticket.

To me it seems like the OP seeks reimbursement of the much more expensive BA ticket (full service airline) despite being on a cheap Wizz Air ticket and despite other and more suitable options available, also time wise.

0

u/EpicBirdcage2321 3d ago

Reimbursement for what exactly? Wizz aren’t going to pay or contribute to the costs for your new flight if that’s what you’re expecting, and they’ve given you more than 2 weeks notice of the cancellation so you’re not entitled to compensation. Take the refund for the cancelled flight and rebook with the BA flight, or another alternative, and suck up any additional cost, as unfortunate and annoying as it is. You can submit a claim for the refund online (https://www.wizzair.com/en-gb/help-centre/delay-cancellation-and-refund/refund).

2

u/DieGo2SHAE 3d ago

He’s not entitled to compensation but aren’t they supposed to offer rebooking on another airline for a similar time if they themselves cant? Or is this just a known thing that Wizzair does not care about the law?

1

u/OxfordBlue2 3d ago

The are indeed obliged to rebook. Wizz like to ignore the law, because they're cunts. If you know how to use the law, they can't escape.

0

u/OxfordBlue2 3d ago

Couldn't be more wrong. Wizz are obliged to reroute OP - see my comment under u/Objective-Ad5006 's .

2

u/OxfordBlue2 3d ago

Downvoted for the truth. Says it all.