My sister died before her big birthday trip yet the airline charged me for the cancellation
A grieving woman in the UK is blaming Ryanair for charging her around $140 to amend a booking on behalf of her sister — even though she died before the trip.“I just feel it is absolutely disgusting to be paying that much,” Anita Kozłowska, 36, told BPM Media.The Coventry resident had reportedly booked a surprise vacation to Lanzarote, Spain, as a birthday gift for her sister, who would’ve turned 30 in August.The trip was slated for September of this year.Unfortunately, tragedy struck just days before she made the booking for the lodging and flights through Ryanair.
The woman’s mom, sister, three-year-old nephew, and six-year-old niece died when the car they were driving was struck by a train in Masuria, Poland on November 3, 2024.“That was a very traumatic time, especially because it was meant to be a present for her, and I never got to tell her,” Kozłowska said.After the funeral in Poland, the bereaved woman decided to amend the reservation, which still had the name of her sister Ana on it.“I obviously needed to change the passenger on the booking because my sister is no longer here,” said Kozłowska, who decided to take her little cousin instead.On The Beach — the travel agency with whom she booked the getaway — was “absolutely and amended the hotel and transfer lounge booking,” she gushed.Unfortunately, Ryanair was far less accommodating, according to the flustered Brit.
When Kozłowska contacted the budget carrier, she was told they had no policy for amending reservations, which she found absolutely “ridiculous.”Instead, the airline offered her a full refund and claimed that her Spanish vacation could be rebooked — an outcome she also found not ideal.“I never wanted that because I was still planning on going on holiday,” Kozlowska fumed.“With the refund, the problem is I am not guaranteed that I will be able to get on the same flight and that I will be able to sit with my little cousin, who is underage and very anxious....