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I booked a direct flight from the UK to Norway. The airline cancelled the direct flight and offered me an indirect alternative, which took much longer. As an alternative, I opted for a direct flight on a different date. They changed the flight free of charge. I also booked a hotel (one night) through the same airline. Do I have the right to change the hotel date free of charge as well? On their site, prices for the new date are nearly 50% higher than what I paid for the original date.

Specifics: flight through Norwegian Air Shuttle, London Gatwick to Trondheim. Hostel through Norwegian Holidays (same website). Booking date and travel date are both before Brexit, so the departure airport is within the European Union, but the destination airport is not. The hotel is a hostel booked through Norwegian Holidays (along with the airline ticket) at a refundable rate. I booked flight and hotel 8 months in advance, the change by Norwegian occurred one month after booking, 7 months before departure.

NB: I also asked Norwegian Holidays and will update when I get a response, but it may be of more general interest what passenger rights are in this situation.

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    How far in advance of the flight did they notify you?
    – Doc
    Commented Feb 10, 2018 at 19:19
  • I could see that the airline might be responsible for any hotel change fees, if your booking were ordinarily non-refundable, but I can't see that they would be liable for any increase in rate, especially since it sounds like they gave you a way to get to the destination in time to use the original booking (and you chose to do something different).
    – Jim MacKenzie
    Commented Feb 10, 2018 at 19:45
  • @Doc 7 months in advance.
    – gerrit
    Commented Feb 10, 2018 at 20:46
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    @gerrit I'm afraid you aren't due anything here, as the airline offered a reasonable alternative which allowed you to keep the hotel booking and the timeframe they offered it in vastly exceeds the EU 261 regulations. You voluntarily changed the date, so the hotel booking is your concern, not the airlines in this instance.
    – user29788
    Commented Feb 10, 2018 at 21:05
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    @gerrit proving a negative is a bit difficult - I can easily show that you fall outside EU261 regulations based on the timeframe, but I can't show a lack of regulations which would give you any rights otherwise. It would be easy to prove and source a regulation which gave you rights in this instance, for example if the airline had changed your flight a week out rather than several months, because there is a quotable regulation.
    – user29788
    Commented Feb 10, 2018 at 21:13

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Let's take a look at the facts:

  • You've booked a flight ticket and a hostel room at the same time
  • Sometime later (but a long time before the actual flight) the airline notifies you that you can get a refund, fly with a layover or fly on a different date
  • You choose to fly on a different date out of your own choice

In this case I don't see how the airline owes you anything other than a refund on the hostel booking. You've had the option to get a full refund but you chose not to. You could've also flown indirectly on the same day and keep the hostel booking intact. Anything beyond that is a gesture of good will rather than a legal obligation.

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