Travel Question: Can I claim over issue with Ryanair?

Have a question? Ask our expert Simon Calder

Unfortunately the airline is not responsible for consequential losses of a delay (Getty)

Q On Saturday we left our home in good time to board the 10.05am Ryanair flight from Newcastle to Dublin, to connect with the 2.30pm Norwegian flight to New York.

First they said the flight might be an hour late, which would have been OK. But our plane did not take off until 2.20pm because of high winds in Dublin, and we missed the Norwegian flight. In the middle of all this Ryanair texted me a £5 refreshment voucher, which wound me up even more.

Rebooking for Sunday cost us nearly £600. When we arrived in Ireland, Ryanair staff at Dublin airport advised us to use whatever hotel we could get and claim it back. Only the Radisson was available at €200, so I will fill in the claim forms and hope to be refunded for all of this. But what upset me more was the total lack of interest by Ryanair staff in helping with what was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime for my girlfriend. What is your advice on taking this further?

James W

A I am afraid my advice is: prepare for further disappointment when Ryanair rejects your claim.

Ryanair has always been a point-to-point airline (with the recent exception of some connecting flights from one Ryanair plane to another). You buy a piece of transportation from A to B. Your contract with Ryanair obliged the airline to convey you safely from Newcastle to Dublin, and because of the delay to provide refreshments, as it did. But Ryanair is not responsible for the consequential losses of a delay.

Once you were delivered to Dublin, the airline’s responsibility ended. I am very surprised that a member of Ryanair staff advised you that the airline would pay for a night in an expensive airport hotel. For any claim to succeed you will need to demonstrate that you were told this, with details of the staff member and what exactly was said on both sides. Even then, I would not rate the chances highly.

Nor can you claim compensation for the four-hour delay to Dublin, because the wild weather on Saturday counts as “extraordinary circumstances”.

When you chose this “self-connect” route to New York, you doubtless saved a small fortune compared with a through-ticket on Aer Lingus from Newcastle via Dublin – not least because you paid only the European rate of Air Passenger Duty, £13, instead of the worldwide tax of £78.

It is conceivable that your travel insurance might pay out for the costs you incurred, but I think this is highly unlikely. On most policies with “missed departure” cover, only the initial journey counts. You didn’t miss the first flight, it was simply delayed. Sorry I can’t be more optimistic.

Every day our travel correspondent Simon Calder tackles a reader’s question. Just email yours to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder