Airlines will sometimes have schedule changes, whereby the schedule for a flight will be changed at some point before departure. As a traveler, you can often make these work to your advantage, since you can typically make a (reasonable) change without incurring a fare difference.
However, the policies do vary by airline, and it seems like EasyJet may have a particularly “unfriendly” policy in this regard, as shared by an OMAAT reader. I guess that’s not too surprising for a European budget carrier that largely makes its money on fees, but still…
In this post:
EasyJet’s unreasonable schedule change policy
OMAAT reader Mike booked a flight on EasyJet for next June from Lisbon (LIS) to Bordeaux (BOD), which was scheduled to depart at 1:05PM. Separately, he had booked a TAP Air Portugal flight to Lisbon out of New York (JFK), scheduled to land at 10:15AM.
So while it required two separate tickets, this was the most convenient routing for getting from New York to Bordeaux, and he figured with a 2hr50min layover, that would be plenty of time to collect bags, and once again check them in for the second flight, and make the connection.
Recently, Mike received a schedule change notice from EasyJet, informing him that his Lisbon to Bordeaux flight was moved by 1hr5min, from 1:05PM to 12:00PM. With just 1hr45min to make his connection, he’s understandably more concerned.
Fortunately EasyJet also has a flight in the market at 3PM, so Mike figured he could be moved to that flight at no extra cost, given that it’s EasyJet that made the schedule change. When he contacted EasyJet, he was informed that he’d have to pay around €50 to move flights, as the airline reportedly only waives change fees for schedule changes of three hours or more.
When he asked them to show proof of where this policy is written, he was informed this is an internal policy, and there’s no public documentation of this. Mike concludes the following:
This seems very unreasonable — to enforce a policy that was: 1) not disclosed at booking; and 2) not available for reference anywhere (even after booking). I’m considering disputing the charge on my credit card — but I hate to resort to that if it’s avoidable. It seems like they should take accountability for their schedule change, and simply move me to the other flight on the same day? I know this is what a US carrier would do (as I’ve done it several times), especially since I’m NOT looking for a refund.
For what it’s worth, below is part of Mike’s chat with the EasyJet customer service representative.
Is EasyJet’s policy even remotely reasonable?
There’s a lot going on with EasyJet’s schedule change policy. As I see it, the biggest problem here is how the company doesn’t clearly publish its rules. I’ve looked through EasyJet’s contract of carriage, and (unless I’m missing something) nowhere does the airline state what its policy actually is.
That’s a problem, and a little bit of transparency shouldn’t be too much to ask for. Airline contracts of carriage are one-sided under the best of circumstances, let alone when you see stuff like this.
While the European Union has strong air passenger consumer protections (in the form of EC261), that doesn’t really address situations like this, where a schedule change is published many months in advance. So it’s up to each airline to set their policy (though again, the issue here isn’t even the policy, but instead, the lack of publishing the policy).
Now, of course I should add the obvious caveat that there’s always a risk when you’re booking flights on separate itineraries. Also, the further out you book, the better the odds that there will be a schedule change. So I can’t say that I’m shocked to see a schedule change like this, and I think a potential €50 fee might just be the “cost” of this kind of an arrangement, when confirming travel far in advance, and hoping for things to work out.
Of course watch him pay a €50 fee, only to then have that afternoon flight have a schedule change as well. So I’m not sure I have any great advice here, though at least let this act as a warning to other travelers. With many airlines, a schedule change is essentially carte blanche to pick the flight you want. With EasyJet, it’s an opportunity to pay another fee.
Bottom line
While most airlines are pretty generous when it comes to how they handle schedule changes, EasyJet isn’t. The company’s policy seems to be that if they change the schedule for less than three hours, you’re stuck with the same flight, and have to pay a fee to change to a more convenient flight.
I think that policy is a little aggressive, but worst of all, it doesn’t even seem to be clearly published. So if you do book an EasyJet flight, let this act as a warning…
What do you make of EasyJet’s schedule change policy?
I learned this year that equipment changes are not considered a legitimate reason for a free change on DL
Come on EJ!! Mike had a perfectly workable 2h50 connection with bags and everything, and a 65-minute slide forward turns it into a 1h45 gamble. Asking to shift to your own 3PM flight that actually fixes the problem should be a no-brainer, not a €50 surprise because of some “internal policy” that only kicks in at three hours and isn’t published anywhere.
Most airlines just move you to a flight that works when they cause...
Come on EJ!! Mike had a perfectly workable 2h50 connection with bags and everything, and a 65-minute slide forward turns it into a 1h45 gamble. Asking to shift to your own 3PM flight that actually fixes the problem should be a no-brainer, not a €50 surprise because of some “internal policy” that only kicks in at three hours and isn’t published anywhere.
Most airlines just move you to a flight that works when they cause the issue. That secret three-hour rule is as legitimate and useful as Vincent’s undescended testicles: completely hidden, totally inconsequential, and never dropping when anyone actually needs them.
A quiet goodwill switch here would cost you almost nothing and would save a customer a world of stress.
Micahel, politely push back, quote EU Regulation 261 (significant schedule change = right to rerouting at no extra cost)
Hope they sort it without the €50 nonsense. Feels like the kind of thing that should just get fixed.
Russ
Eh, you get what you pay for.
It’s illegal to charge a fee in the event of a a schedule change under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 let alone not publish it in their conditions of carriage. However could this be a fare difference? UK/EC261 refers to disruptions over 2-3 hrs.
I would advise the passenger to complete the online form explaining the situation and attaching the booking on the other airline as evidence and demonstrating the concern of misconnecting. This team have a lot more latitude than the hybrid workers on the chat system;
https://www.easyjet.com/en/help-centre/contact/contact-us-form
There is a risk purchasing separate tickets. They will only be concerned about their booking.
Absolutely separate PNR is not a sleazyjet problem but it’s worth escalating to the guys at Luton HQ for a more senior review.
Agreed. I mean, seriously, shifting the flight 65 minutes and then demanding €50 to fix their own mess because of some secret "three-hour" rule nobody can read? That policy is as useful as undescended testicles (hidden, pointless, and never there when you need them).
Russ
Is there any "LCC" who doesn't apply a ridiculous policy?! Never flew one of them and will keep it like that forever.
I used to be a fan of Easyjet (rather than Ryanair) but 2 tactics of theirs I encountered repeatedly have turned me off:
1) Incentivizing me to buy the higher fare at more desirable flight times, and then changing the time of that departure to nearly something as bad as I could've paid less for to begin with
2) Changing the flight times *just enough* to avoid EU compensation requirements, but still being very inconvenient...
I used to be a fan of Easyjet (rather than Ryanair) but 2 tactics of theirs I encountered repeatedly have turned me off:
1) Incentivizing me to buy the higher fare at more desirable flight times, and then changing the time of that departure to nearly something as bad as I could've paid less for to begin with
2) Changing the flight times *just enough* to avoid EU compensation requirements, but still being very inconvenient (and related to above #1).
Add to that the only time I've ever been aggressively charged for my carryon after years of flying (Easyjet), and I'm ready to swear off of their practices.
In the EU a change made with advance notice is required to be "significant" before the customer gets rights to refund etc. "Significant" is defined by airline – BA is 2hrs, Ryanair is 3hrs, EasyJet is 5hrs, Virgin is 12hrs.
I don't think easyJet did anything wrong here – the same thing would've happened if the affected flight was Virgin etc, this is the risk of the customer took by booking an unprotected connection.
( the internal policy actually seems to have improved compared to the published state that I can find online that a significant change is 5hrs for easyJet!)
As far as I understand, the flight was moved more than 1h earlier and as such he's entitled to a refund as per EC261. The policy probably applies for vol change and the customer service agent didn't understand that
Even if an airline has written policy on flight changes on their website, they don't always follow it.
After Air Canada had a schedule change on my flight last winter of just over an hour, I tried to change my flight over the phone. I was told by multiple agents that the change was not sufficient for a fee-less flight change. This contracted policy on their website.
It is unclear why the customer believes a “policy” is required. This is not the United States; European countries tend to be governed by legislation, not improvisation.
This is a one-hour schedule change.
With more than 14 days’ notice, it entitles the passenger to nothing.
With less than 14 days’ notice, it remains reasonable and still entitles the passenger to nothing.
Finally, nearly all travel insurance policies require a minimum four-hour...
It is unclear why the customer believes a “policy” is required. This is not the United States; European countries tend to be governed by legislation, not improvisation.
This is a one-hour schedule change.
With more than 14 days’ notice, it entitles the passenger to nothing.
With less than 14 days’ notice, it remains reasonable and still entitles the passenger to nothing.
Finally, nearly all travel insurance policies require a minimum four-hour layover when flights are booked separately, a fairly standard point that appears to have been overlooked.
"It is unclear why the customer believes a “policy” is required. This is not the United States; European countries tend to be governed by legislation, not improvisation."
Like the EU, the United States does, in fact, have a regulation on schedule changes (14 CFR Part 399); it is not left up to "improvisation" by carriers, though carriers can choose to go above the legally required minimum—which is also true in Europe.
Moreover, in Europe as...
"It is unclear why the customer believes a “policy” is required. This is not the United States; European countries tend to be governed by legislation, not improvisation."
Like the EU, the United States does, in fact, have a regulation on schedule changes (14 CFR Part 399); it is not left up to "improvisation" by carriers, though carriers can choose to go above the legally required minimum—which is also true in Europe.
Moreover, in Europe as in the US, carriers are obligated to follow the policies in their contract of carriage, so the airline's written policy on this, if it exists in the contract of carriage, does matter.
(As it happens, he would not be entitled to a refund in the United States nor a change to another flight, though many US carriers would allow this as a courtesy.)
So we are aligned that the client’s request for a “policy reference” was entirely pointless. :) There is no obligation for the airline to spell this case out in its conditions of carriage. As an aside, corporate "policy” is a distinctly American affectation, not standard English.
My point is why an airline based in Austria (Easyjet Europe) operating between Lisbon and France, should be expected to indulge in American corporate vernacular at all. Projecting American terminology onto a European aviation framework is not only inappropriate but a rather tiresome display of colonial style intellectual overreach.
I thought 2-3 hour schedule difference was around the norm for free changes. Occasionally I’ve changed flights with smaller schedule adjustments than that but always assumed the airline was doing me a favor (elite status etc)
In my mind it’s fortunate there is even an option for a €50 change. I would expect to forfeit the flight if the change was less than 3 hour adjustment.
Couldn’t he demand a full refund for the ticket since the schedule has been changed, and then choose any suitable carrier and flight he prefers?
Refunds only for changes 3+ hoursas well, the chat agent already clarified this.
I believe that this option doesn't exist anywhere in the world (for a 65 minute schedule change)
Yes it does. Turkish Airlines will refund on anything over 15 minutes change
This is covered by EU261.
If a flight is cancelled (any time) the passenger has the right to get a rebooking on a (later) flight of their choice on the same airline or on the next available flight on any airline.
Except the flight wasn't cancelled
According to EU261, if a flight is brought forward by more than 1 hour, it counts as a cancelled flight.