Israeli travelers are left fuming after the low-cost airline Ryanair suddenly changed the timeframe of some flights without providing an alternative or a compensation.
Israeli couple Yaniv and Or said they booked a flight to Corfu, an island off Greece’s northwest coast, through the Irish carrier for the beginning of July.
After securing the tickets, they booked a relatively expensive hotel for the four days stay on the Island.
However, Ryanair decided to change the fight's arrival and departure times, essentially turning their four days stay into less than three.
After talking with the company's representative, Yaniv and Or realized that their only option is to cancel everything or pay hundreds of shekels to change the flight if they want the four-day vacation.
"They told us we can either get our money back or change the date and pay nearly $600, while our tickets originally cost $220," Yaniv said.
Canceling the flight also meant they also had to cancel their hotel room, which incurs a cancelation fee.
Although Ryanair allowed the couple to get their money back, in accordnace with the law, it failed to provide the couple with any other alternative.
According to the law, if an airline tells a passenger the flight was changed or canceled up to 14 days before takeoff, it is exempt from paying a compensation, but it is obligated to provide a replacement ticket for free at the earliest date possible (or any other date if deemed appropriate by the customer).
Lior Koren, CEO and owner of Explorer – a travel booking website – said that similar complaints not only come from low-cost companies like Ryanair and Wizz Air, but also from standard carriers like Turkish Airlines and American Airlines.
"The reason for this is that low-cost companies work faster for better and for worse," he said. "They are more capable of quickly opening routes but also canceling them."
It is important to note that if a flight was booked through an Israeli travel agency, the passenger is protected under the Consumer Protection Law.
But, if the flight was booked directly with an international company, it is much more difficult to claim your rights since many low-cost carriers do not have a representative in Israel.