Vueling Airline

I am writing to formally file a complaint regarding my recent negative and exhausting flight experience on VY 7846 on 22nd September 2024, departing from Barcelona to Edinburgh at 06:50 from gate D09 in Terminal 1.

We arrived at the airport at 04:30 a.m. and waited for flight announcements to proceed to the gate.

Upon realizing there was a delay, we checked and reached gate D09 at 06:20. Its important to note that there were two queues at gate D10, which made it seem like the left queue was for D09.

Eventually we realised that there was no queue at D09 and there were 2 female attendants at the gate. My husband successfully boarded, and I followed, and after scanning my boarding pass the attendant informed me that I hadnt paid for this luggage and asked me to pay 60 Euros. I was surprised as I had recently bought the bag which is made of fabric with wheels and looks small.

Furthermore, I used it on a Ryanair flight to Barcelona on 17th September 2024 (which follows similar under-seat bag policies) just five days earlier without any issues. The bag fitted perfectly under the seat. My understanding from the remarks of the attendant was that the bag was overfilled, and I asked her if I were to remove some items and she agreed. The bag was partially filled with items that I dont value at 60 Euros and I would prefer to throw them away.

There was no mention that time is running out and obviously in the middle of that situation, I was not aware of passage to time. I would have expected a warning that there is no time to partially empty my bag but that never happened. So I began removing some items to comply. During this stressful moment, I misplaced my mobile phone, which heightened my anxiety since it contained my boarding pass and means of payment.

Fortunately, the attendants allowed my husband to return and help me, and we were able to find my phone.

At this point, another person in suit arrived at the gate without introducing himself/herself. From the outset, his tone was condescending, derogatory and not listening, and I was shocked by how dismissive he was, treating us as though we had no right to discuss or have any explanation the situation. He/she asked if the bag would fit in the luggage cage, and when my husband tried to demonstrate that it would fit after removing some items, however unfortunately it didnt fit because of the wheels. My husband tried to explain that to the supervisor and tried to remove the wheels off but it was too hard.

Suddenly the supervisor instructed the attendants to close the flight without any prior warning to us of that, despite me offering to pay the extra charge of 60 Euro and making the phone ready for payment. He/she completely was not willing to reconsider, even though we explained our work commitments as doctors.

The supervisor, refused to give his name, when I asked for a supervisor and informed us that he/she is the supervisor. He/she asked us to step back from the gate, threatening to call the police. We were shocked, as we didnt understand why the situation was escalating in such a hostile manner.

I told him that I am nearly at age like your mother and he replied dissuasively my mother would never do that. I didnt understand what he was referring to. When my husband tried to ask again if we could pay the extra fee, he briefly touched the supervisors arm, prompting an aggressive response: Dont touch me, I dont know you, I dont know what you have. This was deeply upsetting and felt like a discriminatory behaviour, especially given my hijab and our ethnicity.

We felt that we have committed a crime or fault while we were completely unaware of the extra size of the bag and passage of time.

We were also informed that my husband, who had already boarded, had been unboarded from the flight. This decision was made without any warning or communication with us, and it became clear that the staff had no intention of allowing us to board, disregarding our commitments and responsibilities. The supervisor then directed us to Vueling's office outside, claiming they would sort us out. However, upon arrival, we discovered it was merely a ticket office, with no authority to assist beyond offering a refund or complaint form.

We were told that the next available flight to Edinburgh was on Friday 27th September in 5 days time, a fact that the supervisor must have been aware of.

I would also need to mention that while waiting at the gate, another passenger, an elderly lady, was denied boarding because the flight was closed, despite arriving early as she told us and waiting at wrong gate after a mix-up caused by unclear instructions from staff. Her luggage was already checked on the plane. She was devastated, as she was on her way to her daughters wedding that afternoon in Edinburgh. When I tried to speak up for her, the supervisor who was chatting to staff at gate D10, loudly told me to go away, I dont want to speak to you, you are rude once again threatening to call the police.

This outburst was witnessed by other staff at gate D10, leaving me deeply upset, angry, disturbed and traumatised by this unprofessional behaviour.

When my husband raised his phone, to record the incident, the supervisor became agitated, asking us not to video him, threatening us again, stating that if the video was shared on social media, that will be reported to the police. He raised his phone to take a picture/ video of us. His demeaning dismissive attitude and the repeated threats and refusal to disclose his name again in dismissive manner, along with his ID being obscured, were deeply humiliating and unjustified. It made us feels like criminals who did something wrong intentionally.

I am a respected medical consultant, and this experience severely impacted my self-esteem and dignity. I had done nothing wrong but tried to explain the situation and also to pay the necessary fee which was not accepted.

The other passenger, who witnessed the supervisors treatment of us, remarked that she felt it was because of our race and religion. Unfortunately, this was also how we felt. I have traveled extensively with various airlines, but I have never experienced such humiliation for what I believe was related to my hijab, which the supervisor seemed to take issue with.

This was my first flight with Vueling, and it has left me deeply distressed and upset.

Unfortunately, we needed to book another expensive flight, we arrived home late almost 24 hours later, missed several appointments, and were left emotionally drained by the disrespectful behaviour and terrible communication of Vueling staff, particularly that supervisor.

In summary the points that I would like to raise are the derogatory attitude of the supervisor, lack of communication regarding lack of time to arrange the bag and also lack of warning that the supervisor would close the flight and deny our boarding, behaving in a way that we have made something wrong and had to be punished and denied boarding.

I want an apology for that treatment as well as refund of the tickets fees. Also, I have paid about £300 for the extra journey and I would ask for the airline to refund that as well.

Dear Vueling Airlines Customer Support,

I am reaching out to request email confirmation that Coletta Giuseppe Domenico was on board flight VY 1503 from Paris Orly (ORY) departing at 09:40 AM. to Florence (FLR) on 14/12/2024, Additionally, I require detailed information regarding the delay that has occurred on the flight, specifically the exact arrival time in Florence.

This information is necessary for an insurance claim against a rental car supplier in Florence, and I would appreciate your prompt response. Please let me know if you require any further details to process this request.

Thank you for your assistance.

Giuseppe Domenico Coletta

Ph: +61 (0)493****18

E: colettafd@***.com

Directed us to wait 3 days, stay in hotel, and expenses would be reimbursed. REFUSED TO PAY ANY EXPENSES

Total expenses as a result of Vuelings LAST MINUTE cancelation: Є1,023.33 (which was Є511.67 per person for Victoria and Carmelo Tringali), plus 101 for the hotel and rental car that we were not able to use in Valencia on the night of 19 July 2024.

Cost Breakdown:

Mallorca Expenses Replacement flight with Ryan Air = Є415.73.

Because we were scheduled to fly back to the United States on Sunday and because we had to drive our rental car, which was parked in Valencia, to Madrid to return it before our return flight to the USA, we had to immediately return to Valencia and could not wait in Mallorca for more than the following morning. We attempted to book the Vueling flight from Mallorca to Valencia at around 0600 on 20 July 2024 after we spoke to the lady at the reception desk after our flight was cancelled but seats sold out on that flight as we attempted to book them. Moreover, the receptionist informed us that Vueling would not be providing us with alternate flight options until late morning the following day. Indeed, when we eventually received our replacement flight offer from Vueling on 20 July 2024 at 1000 (which was after we already arrived in Valencia on our Ryan Air replacement flight) the proposed replacement flight was for 22 July 2024, which would not have required us to cancel/reschedule our return flight to the United States and would have resulted in numerous days of expensive lodging in Mallorca plus per diem expenses.

As such, the flight on Ryan Air actually saved money since it was able to return us to Valencia the next morning. Mallorca Hotel accommodation for the night of 19 July 2024 after the flight had been cancelled = Є313.50. We attempted to book a hotel after rescheduling our flight, but by the time we had finished booking a replacement flight, the average price of hotels for the night (which was a Friday night) in the southern part of Mallorca were 700. We attempted to book one hotel for 230, but that hotel was no longer available by the time we attempted to finalize the booking.

Accordingly, the cheapest option we were able to find after that was the hotel that we had booked for 313.50, which was still significantly less than the average price of hotels available. This price was also less than the 430 hotel that we had stayed in the night before in Mallorca, which we could have booked as well. Rental car for the night of 19 July 2024 and return to the airport on 20 July 2024 = Є186.10 plus mandatory after-hours fees of Є50 plus gas costs of Є15. Since taxi prices were around 70 and taxis at 0500 could not be guaranteed since we were not able to book such a taxi 24 hours in advance given the last minute flight cancellation, the rental car was only slightly more expensive than round trip taxi costs would have been and, more importantly, the rental car provided guaranteed transportation for us to the airport at 0500 on 20 July 2024 so that we would be able to make our flight.

Parking expense = Є43. Had our original Vueling flight on 19 July 2024 not been cancelled, we would have retrieved our rental car, which was parked in the Valencia airport parking garage, in time to prevent the parking garage from charging us for another days parking fee. Because, however, we were not able to retrieve the car until after 0800 the next morning, we were charged this parking fee.

Valencia Expenses: The cancellation of our 19 July 2024 Vueling flight also deprived us of the ability to use our rental car that was parked in Valencia, which cost us Є28 per day The cancellation of our 19 July 2024 Vueling flight also deprived us the use of our Valencia hotel (Є73) at a location we WANTED to be at rather than Mallorca.

Again, all of these expenses are less than what would have been charged had we taken the Vueling-offered replacement flight, which was scheduled TWO nights past our scheduled departure date.

This flight would have required double the local/taxi transportation costs, double the per diem costs, double the hotel costs (at Mallorca prices), and possibly the reschedule costs of our return flight to the United States. The desk agent also confirmed we are entitled to rebook on our own for a replacement flight with any airline and other related expenses.

We want to take our small chihuahua dog (3.5 kg) with us. We booked our flight with Booking-Nr.: SHQH7Z.

1) Why is it so expensive to take a dog on board? In Vueling's explanation, costs were 60, but we had to pay 220 for our small dog. It's a very high amount. 2) Do we have to send a declaration of taking the dog with us 72 hours before the departure of our flight?

3) Do we have to do the same before the return flight from Alicante to Berlin? 4) We want to fly with 25 kg of luggage per person, but we will fly back from Alicante to Berlin with only hand luggage, because we will leave our suitcases with clothes in our flat in Torrevieja. Unfortunately, it is not possible to remove the allocation of 25 kg of luggage per person for our return flight from Alicante to Berlin. We can take more luggage with us, but we cannot reduce our luggage on the return flight to hand luggage.

How can we do this? Could you support us? Unfortunately, there are no answers for our requests on the mobile phone. Please contact us and clarify our questions and issues with our dog and luggage.

Thank you very much for your friendly reply in advance.

Best Regards, Dipl.-Kfm. Jan Lukasiak.