A mum and her two kids paid £2,100 to get home from Prague after easyJet cancelled their flight at the last minute.
When her repeatedly delayed flight back to Manchester was cancelled close to midnight on Friday, April 23, Natalie Steele found herself having to make a difficult decision.
With her two tired and upset children in tow, and more than a hundred frustrated travellers competing for hotels and flights, the teaching assistant had to choose between waiting six days for the next available easyJet flight, or going with another carrier, she has said.
Unable to keep the boys off school from Monday, Natalie bought the cheapest available tickets - three seats on an Air France service the next day, costing £700 each.
Have you got caught up in a holiday nightmare? Email webtravel@reachplc.com
A month on and the family are beginning to give up hope that they'll receive any compensation for the costly purchase from easyJet.
From their home in Manchester, Natalie's husband Jim was trying to help his family get back.
"They left my wife and kids in Prague after a cancelled flight," he explained.
"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."
When the flight was cancelled late on the Friday evening, the only information Natalie received from staff at the airport was that they could transfer to any easyJet flight.
The problem being there was no availability on any until the following Thursday, the mum-of-two claimed.
"The ground staff said 'book yourself into hotels and then book new flights'," Jim told the Mirror.
"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."
Once settled into their hotel room, Natalie again turned her attention to finding a flight home.
Before their trip the trio had managed to find flights back from Prague for £60 each.
However, with demand causing the prices on other airlines to spike, their next cheapest option cost more than £2,000 in total, and included a stopover in Paris.
"Natalie decided to go ahead with that one," Jim, a geologist, explained.
"The kids got a few hours sleep. 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."
While the cost of the hotel was quickly refunded, easyJet has twice pushed back their ticket compensation claim.
Now the family are waiting to see whether their latest attempt to recoup some of the costs are successful.
"I couldn't miss work and the kids couldn't miss school," Natalie said.
"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."
An easyJet spokesman said: “We can confirm that unfortunately Ms Steele’s flight from Prague to Manchester on 22 April was cancelled as a result of a technical issue with the aircraft due to operate the flight.
“We did everything possible to minimise the disruption and directly notified customers of the options available to them, including transferring to an alternative flight for free or obtaining a voucher or a refund, along with advice on how to do so.
“We sourced available hotel accommodation and meals for customers where available and customers who were required to source their own hotel or alternative flights because no easyJet flights were available will be reimbursed for these and any other reasonable expenses.
“Ms Steels’ expenses were delayed as unfortunately the incorrect flight details were provided with her request, however we are now reimbursing these for her as the correct details have been received.
“We are very sorry for the inconvenience caused by the cancellation. The safety and wellbeing of our customers and crew is our highest priority.”
Sign up to the Mirror's travel newsletter for more holiday tips and updates.
