EasyJet customer fury as cancellation fee is more than price of ticket

An easyJet flyer was left dumbfounded when they found out that the cancellation charge for their flight was higher than the fare itself. The customer booked the London Gatwick to Rome flight for £43.99 one day before departure, yet when they cancelled it they were issued a £49 fee, which meant no refund was possible.

In frustration, the traveller reached out to the airline over X, saying: “How do you justify a £49.00 cancellation fee on a £43.99 ticket? Literally tried to cancel seconds after I booked as booked the wrong day by mistake…now either no refund or a £75.00 change of date (£60 change fee! ). Justify these charges please.”

A screenshot provided by the passenger detailed a £43.99 cost for ‘Flights-marked for cancellation’ and a ‘Cancellation fee’ of £49.00, resulting in a ‘Total refund’ of £0.00. EasyJet offered an apology for the inconvenience and asked the customer to send them a direct message for more assistance.

The airline has stated that passengers can change their booking details for a “small fee”, with their website outlining a £49 fee for online cancellations made within 24 hours of booking or £55 if completed through customer service. Should you want to make a change to your booking, this will cost £49 online or £54 through customer services.

The airline stated: “Offering the choice for customers to make changes to existing bookings for a small fee is one way we help keep fares low for everyone and provides flexibility to change flights rather than losing a booking altogether. Customers are able to change within 60 days and up to two hours before departure for a fee of £49, plus any fare difference between the two flights.

“For changes made more than 60 days of departure, a reduced fee of £25 is applicable, making it one of the lowest airline change fees available.” However, in this instance, the airline decided to relax the rules given when had happened.

EasyJet commented: “On this occasion, as a gesture of goodwill we have waived the change fee.” Any refunds from the operator are paid back into the original bank account used to make the booking.