My complaint:
On 28th July 2018 flight VY6203 from London Gatwick to Florence was cancelled 10 minutes before departure. I booked the flights for my father daughter to attend a family reunion; my sister her son booked on the same flight so they could all travel together. The reunion was for my family many of whom were meeting for the first time some who hadn’t seen for over 20 years. There were 5 generations coming from all over the world (including France, Canada, USA) with ages from 9 months to 91 years old. The flight was cancelled but instead of following EU regulations to reroute them as soon as possible, we were ‘fobbed off’ with alternative flights to Rome 3 days later! No mention of how to get home from the airport or back again. No mention of how to get from Rome to Florence – just left to work it out. A 76 yo elderly man 15 and 11 year old children effectively dumped at Gatwick. I complained and complained and every now and again I try again – seeing what is going on at the moment and the news advising that the airline MUST reroute you even via another routecarrier, I realised it was time to get this sorted once and for all.
I had to spend 2 hours researching the internet to find an alternative flight. Eventually I found the option of a train from London, then train to Paris, then taxi to Orly Airport where they picked up a Vueling flight (the irony is not lost on me) to Florence arriving 24 hours late. There were no cheaper or alternative options. We checked all airports in the UK within a 5 hour trip, checked alternative airlines with multiple stops but all of these were either fully booked or cost over £1000 just for the flight. The option chosen was the quickest and cheapest way to get all four of them to Florence in time for the reunion. It was not acceptable for Vueling to offer flights 3 days later and to a different destination. The cost of the rerouting was £2977.26 and the £1000 required by EU law compensation has not been paid either. Vueling have breached Articles 5, 8 and 9 of the EU regulations 2612004.
To make matters worse i complained to the CAA and they said Vuelings had to pay up but they still refused.
Suggested solution:
Pay the £1000 compensation immediately
Pay the £2977.26 or provide a credit to the value.
