A family had to pay more than £2,000 for return flights to Manchester after their flight home was cancelled. Natalie Steele had been in Prague with her two children.
Their flight home was repeatedly delayed until it was eventually cancelled just before midnight on Friday, April 23, the Mirror reported. She said that the next available easyJet flight was six days away.
Instead she found three seats on an Air France flight which left the next day, costing £700 each. Needing to get home for work and so her sons didn't miss school, teaching assistant Natalie booked the tickets and made it home.
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The family say they received a refund for the hotel, but claim the airline has pushed back their bid for compensation on the new tickets. "They left my wife and kids in Prague after a cancelled flight," Natalie's husband Jim said, who was helping his family with arrangements from his home in Manchester.
"The next easyJet flight was a week later and they didn’t offer to rebook them. They have now turned down her claim of flights she had to book to get home. Disgusting behaviour.
"The ground staff said 'book yourself into hotels and then book new flights'," Jim said. "They were given a list of recommended hotels, but they were all fully booked. This was past midnight at this point.
"They found a hotel close to the airport which was more expensive than the one easyJet had said they could have." Natalie decided to go ahead with that one," Jim, a geologist, said.
The trip included a stopover in Paris. The family had previously secured tickets back from Prague costing £60 each.
"The kids got a few hours sleep," he added. "They were pretty tuckered. Midday the next day they got back.
"Unfortunately my boy was in a cup semi-final football match on the Saturday and he didn't make it." Natalie said: "I couldn't miss work and the kids couldn't miss school.
"The T&Cs said if easyJet can't get you back within 24 hours (of your flight) you should make your own way. It doesn't guarantee a refund, but it says you can submit a claim.
"There were other people on our cancelled flight who did the same process." EasyJet has been contacted for comment.
