A couple from Stoke have said people are paying hundreds more for a flight home as 'free transfers' from Ryanair glitch.
Chris Wood and his wife Julia became stranded in Spain when Ryanair twice cancelled their flight home and they were unable to rebook their flight using its system.
"We flew out with Ryanair on March 7. There was no indication from the Spanish authorities that there would be any issues because of coronavirus and there was no guidance not to travel," Chris told StokeonTrentLive.
"About four hours after we arrived they went into lockdown."
The former fire officer, 61, said his return flight was cancelled twice - but when he tried to switch it he couldn't make the system work.
"It said you could swap flights for free in March, so we booked for March 31. Two days later I got an email to say that flight was cancelled," Chris said.
“Again there was a link to follow to get a transfer for free, but every time I went through the process it froze. I tried 10 or 12 times."
But when he tried to book a new flight instead, things were a lot simpler.
"Being cynical, I then tried to book the same flight but as a new customer," Chris said.
"The price was coming up as €400 one-way, when it usually costs around €160 return. There was no problem with the website then and I got all the way to the point of payment.”
Chris and Julia decided not to pay for another ticket, and instead set out to travel to the airport in Alicante on the off-chance they could get on a flight.
They managed to get back to the UK after turning up at the airport and getting put on standby for a flight from Alicante to Liverpool.
Retired Chris, who used to work for Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service, said: "Julia’s mother has dementia and we needed to get back, so on March 20 we went to the airport. We got there at 9am and were offered two flights that evening. But when we checked in two hours before the flight we were told we didn’t have a seat and would be on standby.
“When we boarded we had to stand to one side while the other passengers got on, then they called us over and let us on. To our amazement the plane was only half-full.”
When they spoke to other travellers, they discovered many other Ryanair customers had also struggled to rearrange their flights and had instead paid the airline for new tickets, because they were so desperate to get home.
Some had shelled out almost €1,000 to get back to the UK.
Chris said: “They had the same problem as us transferring their flights for free so had paid for new tickets, which for a couple was €800, because they were in panic mode."
Julia, 63, said the ordeal had been very worrying. She said: “My mum is elderly and has dementia and Parkinson’s. She has carers coming in.
"All I could think about was what if she got ill and I couldn’t get back, I might never see her again. I wanted to get home so desperately. It was a nightmare and very stressful.”
StokeonTrentLive contacted Ryanair for a response but received no reply.
