An easyJet passenger has won back almost £380 after he successfully sued the airline at the small claims court.
Edward Baker, 78, took legal action against easyJet after arguing that he was "pressured" into booking seats at a higher price after his flight was cancelled.
The retiree, who lives in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, had paid £361.92 in February 2020 to fly to Lanzarote in September 2020 with his wife Sandra, 74.
But weeks before they were due to fly, the flights were cancelled by the airline in July 2020, with Mr Baker being sent an email from easyJet saying he could “switch” his flight “for free”.
Fearing they wouldn’t be able to travel on the same date as planned, Mr Baker clicked an embedded link in the email where he says he was told that "only two seats remain" on the new flight.
Mr Baker said: “At this point I had no idea whether there would be any flights that day, or that week.
“I had firm bookings for airport parking, a rented house and a hire car. If flights did not happen on the original date our accommodation would be a problem as it was booked each side of our dates.
“I explored, via the attached link to the email, what opportunities there were. Based on this I took the two seats remaining on the original date of our flight.”
Mr Baker was then instructed to pay £16 to “switch” his flights, despite being told the process would be free.
After confirming his new booking, he received an email from easyJet which, he told the court, showed he’d been allocated the same seat numbers as his original booking, but with a slightly different flight time.
Mr Baker went on to check the easyJet website and said the flight on which "only two seats remain" showed "an aircraft largely unfilled" and seats at a cheaper price.
He said: “The airline had lied. It had panicked me into taking an action which given the full facts available to other consumers, would have been more considered.
“The airline website showed our flights now cost £144 and still advised that there are only two seats left.
“Had I not been panicked into ‘switching’, had I been furnished with all the facts, I would have held back to a date in my favour.”
The flights then continued to fall in price as the date of their holiday to Lanzarote drew nearer - eventually falling to £88 for two return tickets on August 28.
Mr Baker contacted easyJet to claim he had “not been given the same opportunity” as other customers when booking tickets directly through their website, as he’d followed their embedded link.
He also argued that he wasn’t “switching” his flight, as the original booking had been cancelled.
The airline agreed to reimburse the £16 it charged for Mr Baker after his original booking was cancelled as a “one-off” after initially telling them this figure was a difference in fare price.
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EasyJet had also argued the “only two seats remain” message was in reference to seats at that price.
Mr Baker decided to take easyJet to the small claims court in Hasting to claim back the difference in ticket prices between his original booking and the £88 price he saw in August.
In return, easyJet said it would try to claim back £7,000 in legal costs should Mr Baker lose his case.
The judge ruled in favour of Mr Baker on the grounds of a breach of contract in July 2021, and he was awarded £378 including court fees.
He received £273 "for debt and interest to date" of the judgement and £105 for costs.
A spokesperson from easyJet said: “Following the cancellation of Mr Baker’s flight, and in line with our obligations under the appropriate regulations, we communicated all of the options to him which include receiving a full refund, a voucher, or transferring to an alternative flight free of charge.
“Mr Baker chose to transfer onto an alternative flight for free, rather than opt for a refund.
“We are aware that Mr Baker was incorrectly charged a change fee, which we reimbursed him for as soon as we became aware of the error and apologised for any inconvenience this caused.
“While we disagree with the judgement in this case we now consider the matter closed."
How the small claims court works
Going to the small claims court should be a last resort and only after you've tried to resolve your complaint directly with a company.
There are fees involved when going to the courts, starting at £25 and rising up to £455, depending on how much you’re trying to claim.
But if you win your case, you should also win back these costs.
If you don't win, you could end up paying legal fees for the other side - so be sure you have a good case on your hands first before going ahead with an application.
You’ll need to be trying to win back £10,000 or less to open a case through the small claims court in England and Wales, or under £5,000 in Scotland or £3,000 in Northern Ireland.
Mr Baker paid £25 to submit his case to the small claims court.
He said: "The thing I would say to anyone else contemplating the small claims court, is don’t give up if big law firms start making threats about legal expenses in the hope that you’ll not show up.
"You’ve got to stick it out if you think you’re in the right. Stay calm, stay polite always and set out your case clearly.
"I think a little man should be given every encouragement to take on the big chaps."
