New ruling from the Supreme Court regarding ticket intermediaries’ refund obligation

Avoid travel agents/ticket brokers when booking flights – Passenger rights are significantly worse

In a new judgment of March 26, 2024, the Supreme Court has ruled that Ryanair was entitled to refund the ticket price for a canceled trip via the travel agent (ticket broker) that the passengers had used when purchasing the flight tickets.

Ryanair was thus not obliged to pay the amount again, even if the ticket agent had not paid the amount to the passengers.

Today, many airline tickets are sold through so-called ticket intermediaries (such as Kiwi.com, Skyscanner, Flybillet.dk, Travellink, Supersaver etc.) Many of these are not based in Denmark, and we therefore have no means of prosecuting these companies if, for example, they do not refund the money for a canceled trip.

This creates a very uncertain legal position for passengers.

The Supreme Court’s judgment is very specific, among other things because the passengers in the case 1) had accepted that the payment would be made to the ticket agent (and not themselves), and because the passengers 2) had also contacted the ticket agent themselves and requested a ticket refund from the ticket agent.

Nevertheless, we strongly recommend that you only book flights directly with the airlines themselves and do not use these ticket brokers. Your legal position is far too poor if – against all expectations – your trip is delayed or canceled and you have not dealt directly with the airline itself.

Have you experienced something like this? Contact us today so we can help you.