Lithuanians on vacation were not expecting the blink of an eye: when they arrived at the airport in four, they learned that there would be enough space on the plane for just one.

Traveling brings a lot of excitement, but sometimes it can be ruined even before you start due to the lack of seats on the plane. It turns out that it is not enough to just buy a ticket and calmly wait for the holidays. And I was convinced of that Delphi the reader Tom (first and last name known to the editorial board – auth. note), who with his girlfriend and a couple of friends bought plane tickets to the island of Zakynthos in Greece. The company, which was planning to spend the last days of summer on a warm island, was slowly loading suitcases, but encountered the first problems a few days before the flight.

“There are 48 hours. Before the flight, we try to make the call Online Billing (record, – in Lithuanian), but we were not allowed to. It was written that this could not be done for this flight. We thought we would do it at the airport. Upon arriving at Vilnius airport, it became clear that check in it costs 40 euros per person instead … We pay a total of 160 euros “, – about the beginning of the problems Delphi he tells Tom.

The additional costs were not to the liking of the companies, but later it turned out that they only increased the amount of all incurred losses. Lithuanians received airline tickets without the indicated seats, where a specific seat is usually indicated, “AT G” was entered.

“The clerk who issued the tickets told us that we would get ourselves a seat on the plane at the gate if something didn’t arrive, because now there is a vacancy. We asked him why our entries were like this, but he couldn’t explain anything. When asked if we could fly, he reiterated that we would only fly if something didn’t arrive and that now there was a vacancy. “

Tom immediately rushed to call WizzAir, where the consultant who responded explained that such situations are normal airline practice.

Earlier Delphi has written about the position of airlines on this issue: “According to the applicable passenger protection legislation, the practice of selling slightly more tickets than seats on the plane, the most popular destinations cannot leave seats on the plane “.

“They told us to wait at the door, if something does not arrive, we let us know. Clearly, everyone came, they left a place and asked us who we would fly to. Well forgive me, but there are four of us, two couples … what are we going to do? What to do with that place? Then they warned us that if no one flies, we will not receive compensation, because everyone was offered the opportunity to fly, but we all gave up that place, “says Tom about the unpleasant situation.

According to Tom, after a blink from the airline, the company received not only the money paid for the plane tickets and check-in, but also for the hotel, since the reservation can be canceled more than 24 hours.

Specialist: the situation is really atypical

Sigitas Kačiušis, Head of Operations at Skycop, explains that the phenomenon of airlines selling more tickets than seats on the plane has existed and has existed for some time all over the world. This is not an exclusive WizzAir practice. According to him, such a situation is described in simple practice as “overbooking” or reselling, but in this case the situation is really non-standard and interesting.

In this case, the situation is not favorable for the aforementioned group of 4 passengers. If none of the passengers chose to fly on this flight, the plane was formally left empty and took off with a free seat. In this case, one in 4 people had to “sacrifice” and fly, while the other 3 passengers would have received a written confirmation from the airline that they did not fly due to “overbooking”. This would entitle the 3 passengers to claim € 400 (total € 1200) and the airlines would have paid them. Passengers also had to demand that airlines take them to their final destination as soon as possible. It probably would not have been possible for WizzAir to offer this, giving passengers the right to search for other tickets on their own and subsequently claim a refund for new WizzAir Airlines tickets. Conclusion and advice for future travelers: fill the plane “, said S. Kačiušis.

According to him, passengers who do not fit in could claim compensation under EU Regulation 261/04, which states that compensation can range from 250 to 600 euros, depending on the distance traveled. To determine the distance, the last destination to which the passenger arrives later than expected will be taken into account in the event of denied boarding or flight cancellation.

“This group of 4 passengers can still apply to WizzAir Airlines and claim a refund of airport charges for unused airline tickets. This will at least partially offset the loss of passengers,” advised the specialist.