Couple's easyJet nightmare as they end up 377 miles away from home on way back
A couple said they faced a nightmare while flying home with easyJet from a romantic weekend abroad, ending up 377 miles away from their intended destination.
Chris and Trisha Daines, from Essex, travelled to Amsterdam to celebrate their 33rd wedding anniversary - but ended up arriving home more than 24 hours later than originally scheduled due to flight chaos.
The couple were forced to fork out more than £150 in additional expenses in order to keep themselves going as they desperately tried to get home, Edinburgh Live reports.
The pair arrived at Schiphol airport in the Dutch capital with plenty of time to spare, but were shocked when Chris received an alert on his phone announcing that their flight to London Stansted had been cancelled.
The couple were forced to fork out more than £150 in additional expenses (edinburghlive)According to Chris, they were unable to locate any easyJet staff who could explain why their journey had suddenly been called off.
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They then say that there was a fierce scramble for seats on other flights but as those quickly filled up, their best option was to book onto the journey to Edinburgh the next day - which would then connect to Stansted later that evening.
The airline offered accommodation to passengers who had been left without a way home on Sunday night but Chris claims that there were no available hotels via easyJet.
Instead, he said customers were told to pay for their own room at a "reasonable" price which would be refunded. Unconvinced by the lack of clarity, the couple stayed overnight in the airport.
Retired banker Chris, 61, said: "It was a lovely weekend away for our anniversary that now feels like it's been spoiled. It's left a real sore taste. Whenever we look back on this trip, we'll always have those memories of the pain of flying back.
"We arrived with loads of time just because we're like that. We were meant to fly home at 6:55 when, out of nowhere, I get an alert on my phone saying the flight had been cancelled. We looked around for some staff, but we couldn’t find anyone connected our flight. There were no answers.
"There were 180 people all scrambling for seats back to the south of England, so we couldn't get a flight back easily. We eventually found one that came via Edinburgh, and just booked onto it so we could get home.
"Next it was trying to get accommodation, but whenever I clicked on the link from easyJet it said they had no accommodation available. It said we could buy our own at a reasonable price, but what does that mean? We decided it’d be better to stay in the airport, but we didn’t get much sleep at all."
EasyJet apologised for the inconvenience (NurPhoto via Getty Images)The couple eventually boarded their flight out of Amsterdam the next day - only to be faced with a layover in Edinburgh.
Chris added: "Edinburgh was actually one of the places we considered for our anniversary, we love the city. I'd rather have visited it properly instead of just being there for a few hours. It's a shame, and I doubt we would have had all the travel bother there.
"Getting food in Edinburgh and Amsterdam, travelling around, it all cost us more than £150."
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While easyJet has apologised to the couple for the inconvenience, they say the cancellation was outwith their control after thunderstorms in the area around London Stanstead.
A spokesman for easyJet told The Mirror: "We are sorry that Mr and Mrs Daines’ flight from Amsterdam to London Stansted on 18th June was unfortunately unable to operate due to air traffic control restrictions caused by thunderstorms, which meant the flight was unable to operate before the imposed curfew at the airport.
"We did all possible to minimise the impact of the disruption for our customers and provided them with their options which included a free transfer to an alternative flight or a refund. Customers also have the option to book with another carrier if suitable easyJet flights are not available.
"Although we secured some hotel accommodation, as this was in short supply we advised them that should they have secured their own or any other expenses we will reimburse them.
"Whilst this was outside of our control we are sorry for the inconvenience this will have caused them and so we will be in touch with them to understand more about their experience and settle their expenses."
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