Yahoo Finance Airline accused of ‘cheating’ customers out of compensation on overbooked flights
An airline has been accused of using a loophole to “cheat” customers out of compensation on overbooked flights.
Passengers flying with Spanish carrier Vueling are being contacted in advance if their flight has been overbooked, and offered travel vouchers to change their flight.
But travel experts warned that flyers who accept the offer could be missing out on the full compensation owed, including cash payouts and hotels.
Callum Tennant, who was due to fly from Gatwick to Bilbao on January 6, received an email days before he was due to travel, offering a discount of €225 (£194) on future bookings if he moved his flight to the next morning.
The email from the airline read: “In order to save you having to make last-minute plans, we are offering you the choice of another flight and, in exchange, you will get a discount of €225 per person which you will be able to use for future bookings. Would you be interested?”
Mr Tennant said: “I wasn’t convinced about changing my flight, because it would mean having to get to Gatwick from London at 5.30am. However, €225 seemed too much to refuse.”
He accepted the airline’s offer, but when the discount code for his flight credit arrived, the terms and conditions stated that the credit must be used on a single booking.
The terms said: “This discount code can only be used once and any remaining balance cannot be reused or refunded.”
The budget airline, which launched 20 years ago and has grown to be one of Spain’s biggest, launched its “voluntary rebooking” policy last year.
Vueling, which owns 124 aircraft, flies to 148 locations and operates more than 530 flights a week.
There are not many bookings available on the Vueling website that cost the full €225 voucher, meaning he felt that it was likely that he would not be able to make full use of the credit.
He said: “I feel cheated because I was taking them up on their deal in good faith. But they were completely misleading when they said future bookings.”
If Mr Tennant had been unable to board the flight because it was too full, he would have received more compensation than he was offered by Vueling.
Flyers who are “bumped” or denied boarding to their flight because it is overbooked, are due compensation under UK regulations, as long as they checked in on time.
Depending on how much later their replacement flight arrives, they can be due up to £220 for short-haul flights, and up to £520 for those of more than 3,500km.
But if travellers decide to voluntarily give up their seats, then it is up to them to negotiate with their airline the benefits that they receive in return.
Which? travel expert Jo Rhodes said flyers should think carefully about the benefits being offered by airlines before accepting.
“While the benefits offered by an airline may at first seem enticing, you should think carefully about how these measure up against your rights if the decision were taken out of your hands.”
She said: “If you were denied boarding at the gate you’d be entitled to the same care and compensation as if your flight had been cancelled.
“A flight voucher for a lesser amount seems rather stingy in comparison – particularly if it can only be used once and all remaining credit is lost.”
In 2019 Vueling was named the “most delayed” airline, with departures delayed by an average of 31 minutes, following French strikes. It improved to 10th place last year according to the latest Which? report, with an average delay of 22 minutes.
A Vueling spokesman confirmed that their “volunteering rebooking system” is activated when needed to “minimise any potential disruption to our clients”.
The spokesman continued: “The clients that accept this offer can use the discount code in the flight of their choice up until December 2024 as it is indicated in the terms and conditions. Our passengers have the right to not accept this offer and keep their original booking.”
The airline offered to allow Mr Tennant to return to his original booking as a one-off.
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