Ryanair passenger hit with dead sister’s trip cancellation fee

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.”

She added, “Also, it could cost me more than I have already paid for it.”

After doing some research, however, the determined gal discovered that the booking could be changed via the Ryanair app — for an eye-popping $144.

“I just find it absolutely bonkers, and I do not know how they can get away with it!” Kozlowska fumed. “It is just a crazy situation because regardless of the circumstances I am in now, how can that be justified?”

She claimed she explained the situation to Ryanair, but they refused to budge. ”As per our T&Cs, which this passenger agreed to at the time of booking, we allow name changes on all bookings, which can be made online at the cost of a standard name change fee,” an airline spokesperson said.

Kozlowska said she’ll probably capitulate and pay the penalty, but noted that not everyone has the means to do so.

“There will be so many people in a very similar situation when they lose a loved one, and they simply will not be able to afford to pay that fee to change the name on the booking,” she said.

Ryanair has frequently come under fire for seemingly excessive fees.

Many passengers have claimed they were charged extortionate baggage fees even though their suitcases fit in the sizer.