easyJet refund: cancelled and long-delayed flights

How an easyJet refund works in practice

When easyJet cancels a flight, its e-mail and the app offer three options on one screen: switch to another easyJet flight free of charge, take a voucher, or request a refund. Only the third is the cash refund Regulation 261/2004 guarantees; the voucher is a commercial offer you are free to decline, and choosing “switch” counts as accepting re-routing. Take a screenshot of the options before you choose.

easyJet sells each flight as a separate contract, so a cancellation refunds the cancelled sector only. If the outbound is cancelled and the return has become pointless — a weekend away you can no longer take — Article 8 lets you ask for the return to be refunded as well, because that part of the journey “no longer serves any purpose in relation to the original travel plan”. Ask for it explicitly in the refund request; the automatic flow refunds one sector.

Refunds go back to the card used for the booking within seven days. Bookings made through a travel agent or online agent are refunded to the agent’s card, and easyJet will point you to the agent: keep the agent’s confirmation, since the agent must pass the money on. Add-ons (seats, bags, speedy boarding) on a cancelled flight are refunded with the fare; a “Flexi” fare refund follows the same seven-day rule.

When easyJet owes a refund

Article 8 of Regulation 261/2004 (UK261) gives you a refund in three situations: easyJet cancelled the flight; easyJet delayed it by 5 hours or more and you chose not to travel; or you were denied boarding. The refund covers the full cost of the ticket for the parts of the journey not made — and for the parts already made, if the flight no longer serves any purpose in relation to your original travel plan — plus, when relevant, a return flight to your first point of departure at the earliest opportunity.

Refund or re-routing: your choice, not easyJet’s

When easyJet cancels, it must offer you the choice between the refund and re-routing to your final destination under comparable conditions, at the earliest opportunity or on a later date that suits you. Accepting a rebooking in the app counts as choosing re-routing; if you want the money, choose the refund option or say so in writing. While you wait for re-routing, easyJet owes meals and, if needed, a hotel.

Money, not vouchers

The refund must be paid within 7 days in cash, by bank transfer or to the card used, unless you sign for a voucher or travel credit (Article 7(3)). You can decline any voucher easyJet offers, however generous it looks, and you can reject one you accepted only if you were not told a cash refund was available.

Refund and compensation are different rights

The refund returns what you paid; the £220, £350 or £520 compensation pays for the disruption. A cancellation announced less than 14 days ahead gives you both, unless easyJet proves extraordinary circumstances — and even then the refund stands, because Article 8 has no extraordinary-circumstances exemption.

How to request a refund from easyJet

1. Use the refund option in the cancellation notice or through easyJet’s official channel (https://www.easyjet.com/en/help/delays-and-cancellations), quoting the booking reference and the passengers.
2. State that you want the refund to the original payment method, not a voucher.
3. If nothing arrives within 7 days, write again with the date of the request; after a refusal or silence, escalate to AviationADR.