Dear Tripped Up,
Last March, my daughter and I traveled from Berlin, where she was studying, to Italy for her spring break. Our Ryanair flight to Rome at 8:50 p.m. was delayed for several hours and was ultimately rescheduled for 6 a.m. the next morning. We were given the address of a hotel and told we would receive a refund for it, as well as transport and meals European Air Passenger Protection. Since the hotel was fully booked, we found an alternative nearby for 61 euros. As a backup in case our flight was canceled, I reserved a second “Flexi Plus” Ryanair flight for the next evening for a total of $908, which would allow us to reschedule to a later date, as long as we had a new appointment up to 2.5 hours before departure. Our original flight left around 9am, and when we finally arrived in Rome, we spent two hours trying to rebook the replacement flight for another trip in May in the Ryanair app, but the “confirm changes” button just didn't work . So I got in line for the customer service chat – I was number 200 – but the app eventually left me. I then called Ryanair, but the agent told me that rebooking the flight over the phone would cost 180 euros. I declined and decided to discuss it with the airline again – and submit the expenses – as soon as I got home. Neither went well. I received what appeared to be an automated (nonsensical) response to the app fiasco. And the refund form Ryanair put online requires me to submit my bank account information with an IBAN code – which American banks don't have. When I wrote to ask about alternatives, it must also have been an automated response that ignored what I had written and took me back to the same form twice. I think Ryanair owes me around 100 euros for hotel, taxi and food as well as a flight for two from Berlin to Rome. Can you help? Tere, Wellesley, Mass.
Dear Tere,
Ryanair owes you much more than that unless the airline claims the flight was delayed due to “exceptional circumstances”. For flight delays of three hours or more, European law requires airlines to pay passengers compensation of at least 250 euros, in addition to the costs of meals, transport and accommodation.
You've already asked for 100 euros to cover these costs, and your shorter flight entitles you to at least 250 euros per person, bringing the total amount of what Ryanair won't grant you without that IBAN – or international bank account number – to 600 euros . about $625.
When I contacted the Ryanair media office in September, I initially received a response that they were looking into the issue, but then ignored several follow-up requests, including a detailed fact-checking email a week before the holidays.
So you might be out of luck flying to Rome in May. But I have a possible solution for the $625. You could open an account with an international financial services company like Wise, which offers multi-currency accounts – complete with IBAN numbers – so customers can receive payments in euros. When Ryanair deposits the money, you can either transfer it in dollars to your Wise account (in this case for less than $3) or transfer it to your own US bank account (for less than $5).
However, it shouldn't have been so difficult – Ryanair is legally required to pay “in cash, by electronic bank transfer, bank order or bank cheque”. There's no mention of excluding Americans or other travelers whose bank accounts don't have IBANs (or who spell “checks” differently, for that matter). I can imagine Ryanair having a way of doing this if only one person at the airline would talk to one of us.
(At this point I would like to note that I get a lot of nervous messages from Americans who balk when European companies that owe them money ask for their banking information. This is common in Europe and many other parts of the world. As long as it is Since this is done by a reputable company over a secure platform, you should not worry.)
Now about the unresponsive responses you received from Ryanair when trying to resolve your issues.
From the correspondence you shared, I can't say for sure whether it was received by a real person or an automated system. But if it was a human, it wasn't a well-trained human.
When you made a customer service request to explain that you did not have an IBAN number and therefore could not complete the application form, Ryanair sent you an email saying “You used the wrong form to submit your request” and You pointed out, unhelpfully, back to the application form. When you responded the same day and explained the issue again, you received another unsigned response that again referred you to the same form that you were unable to fill out.
“Your request is now complete,” the email ended.
When you wrote a separate query detailing your experience using the Ryanair app when trying to change your Flexi Plus ticket, the response was no better. Whoever or whatever read it responded with a standard letter about refunds – not what you asked for.
I think it's worth speculating that the problems you had finding a trained human to help you are more common on low-cost airlines, of which Ryanair is one. We have come to expect and tolerate a combination of cramped seating, short staffing, less convenient airports, and fees for everything but cabin oxygen in exchange for amazing prices. But cost cutting can also impact the myriad and interacting systems that every airline must develop and maintain to manage its complex operations.
Of course, nonsensical answers and faulty apps are not only available from low-cost providers, and things go well far more often than they go wrong. But when so many things go wrong at once, it's hard to think that alternative travel plans would have been better. I also can't help but point out that the fastest route from Berlin to Rome by train takes about 14.5 hours, which is about how long this trip ended up taking you.
If you need advice on an optimal travel plan that went wrong, Email [email protected].
Follow New York Times Travel on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. And sign up for our weekly Travel Dispatch newsletter to get expert tips for traveling smarter and inspiration for your next vacation.