Dear Alice,
Most airlines – both scheduled (i.e. “full-service” carriers) and low-cost – reserve the right to change the time, or even the date, of a flight, as schedules are never guaranteed and don’t form part of the booking contract.
Airlines launch their flying schedules up to a year in advance, but airports – especially busy ones such as Manchester – may confirm slots only three months in advance. Airlines themselves may also change the timings if they switch aircraft types near the time of travel.
Note that unlike scheduled airlines, low-cost airlines sell single point-to-point tickets, so if you cancel the outbound flight you can’t also cancel the inbound unless its timing has also changed.
In your case, both flights appear to come under what are considered “significant” changes. Ryanair’s site says that refunds for rescheduled flights apply when the departure time has been moved earlier by more than one hour (as in your return flight) or later by five hours or more (as in your outbound flight).
I asked Ryanair why it won’t allow you to apply for a refund so you can re-book elsewhere. The airline says that the schedule change is not yet confirmed and the timings may change again, so it reserves the right to refuse your request for a refund at this time.
“When schedule changes occur, passengers are notified approximately 90 days in advance of their flight by email/SMS and advised of their options to either accept the flight-time change, change flight free of charge or to receive a full refund,” said a Ryanair spokesman.
I agree with you that if the flight-time change is posted on a booking, it is surely likely to happen, and therefore not fair that you can’t cancel. But Ryanair – and other low-cost airlines – don’t see it that way: so buyers beware.
Your travel problems solved
Gill takes on a different case each week – so please send your problems to her for consideration at asktheexperts@telegraph.co.uk. Please give your full name and, if your dispute is with a travel company, your address, telephone number and any booking reference. Gill can’t answer every question, but she will help where she can and all emails are acknowledged.