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I was so organised for our holiday, but Sod’s Law stuck its oar in….

(21 Posts)
Witzend Tue 05-Sept-23 09:21:21

Cab to airport ordered for 8.30 this morning, I was virtually all packed and ready last night, alarm set for 7 am.

Only dh woke me at 6 with a cup of tea - he’d had an email at 3 am to say our flight was cancelled - one option much later today with a budget airline - another, original non-budget, tomorrow morning.
Fridge virtually empty, hardly any milk or bread, sod all for dinner tonight. I feel a takeaway coming on….

So we’re going tomorrow, original booking was business class (only courtesy of air miles), EasyJet flight today would have cost another £650. Will still have to pay for tonight in the hotel (we’re not on a package) but c’est la vie.

Bea65 Tue 05-Sept-23 09:23:44

How disappointing for u- hope u still get away 🤞

FarNorth Tue 05-Sept-23 09:37:13

Compensation from the airline?
Travel insurance?

TerriBull Tue 05-Sept-23 09:41:19

Very disappointing, commiserations.

luluaugust Tue 05-Sept-23 09:42:56

This is exactly what happened to DD1 and SIL. They were staying in a hotel at the airport ready for an early flight when they were informed at 4 0clock in the morning that the flight was cancelled. They were in Scotland the flight offered was in England. As they were only going for 4 days they had to cancel everything.
I hope you do get away and enjoy your holiday

Georgesgran Tue 05-Sept-23 09:46:33

That’s very disappointing and at such short notice.
You should get the price of your air fare back. BA cancelled our return flight from New York last Christmas - it was a real faff to claim - thankfully SinL did it all. It took months and BA vetted our claim with a fine toothed comb, striking off several items - very petty, considering the inconvenience.

Witzend Tue 05-Sept-23 09:58:44

Thanks, everybody.
We won’t get the fare back (air miles but still £££ for taxes etc.) since we’re going with the same airline tomorrow. Could possibly claim on insurance for one night at the hotel, probably a huge faff, but we shall see.

I realised that there was a cupboard/freezer emergency dinner I could make, but dh really fancies a Waitrose Nasi Goreng 🙂 so he’s gone to get that, with any other SE Asian for me.

I don’t actually mind losing a day too much - it was supposed to be 3 nights in Athens (which will be stinking hot) before driving to the Peloponnesian coast. However we were supposed to be meeting up tonight with old friends we haven’t seen for ages, to repeat a previous hol with them.

So that’ll just be delayed 24 hours. Obviously it could all be a lot worse!

toscalily Tue 05-Sept-23 10:16:21

How inconvenient, hope you do get away on time with your new booking and enjoy your holiday.

crazyH Tue 05-Sept-23 10:21:55

Enjoy your holiday ✈️

Witzend Tue 05-Sept-23 10:28:08

I really can’t complain - poor dd and family had a much worse scenario last summer. Turned up at 9pm at the airport in Croatia - with 3 young children and printed confirmation of the booking - only to be told in a couldn’t-care-less manner, that there was no record of the booking! Apparently computers/internet were on the blink, so dd and SiL couldn’t even book another flight with a credit card.
Zero help or assistance offered.

Thank goodness the airBnB where they’d stayed the previous night was happy to take them back, and they found another flight the following day.
But please beware of Wizzair! Absolutely atrocious service (or lack of) and I’ve heard since of similar.

ruthiek Tue 05-Sept-23 11:56:48

I was so organised this year only to be woken on the morning by husband who said I don’t feel well!! 2 hours and 2 tests later we both had Covid and lost a week of our holiday , thank god for for travel insurance 😘

jen53 Tue 05-Sept-23 13:08:14

I really feel for those of you who’ve had last minute upsets to travel plans. It (almost) makes me feel guilty for my moan but here goes. 🤦🏼‍♀️
Like many, we’ve not been on a plane for almost 4 years after having 3+ jaunts a year. Yesterday, we needed to be at Heathrow for a 12.25 flight to Madeira so we stayed overnight in a nearby premier inn because we know how bad the M25 can be. The journey from Ashford to the Travel Lodge took almost 3 hours so that started to build up the stress levels. The journey from the Premier Inn and parking at Heathrow was equally stressful despite booking ahead.
Then, although already checked in online, the whole process of registering the baggage and going through security felt 1000 times worse than ever before. The whole time, we were saying ‘never again’ especially when we were delayed twice.
So, poor old Funchal has a really tough job to deliver. So far, the hotel is amazing, the locals absolute stars and we’re slowly finding our shoulders and necks beginning to relax so who knows? 🤷🏼‍♀️

rascalsgran Tue 05-Sept-23 16:00:48

Our DS, DSIL &DGS were going to Venice then onwards by train to various other destinations , all planned meticulously with trips and experiences all booked. EasyJet cancelled their flight after they got to the airport,no explanation , they managed to book another flight the next morning with Jet2, booked into the hotel at the airport. Next day the flight was delayed, no explanation, then the Air Traffic fiasco occurred. With no idea when or if they would ever fly they decided to come home, only to find their luggage had gone awol. Just an absolute disaster.

Witzend Tue 05-Sept-23 17:07:02

What a nightmare, rascalsgran - the poor things!
At least we were informed several hours before we needed to leave for the airport.

And I’ve had a very nice chilled day - all packed and sorted yesterday - and have finished knitting the head and body of my big worry-eating 🐸.

B9exchange Tue 05-Sept-23 19:28:24

We made it on holiday, but BA told us, just before we set off, that they had cancelled our return flight. Next one was two days later. They would not fund the Easyjet taking off at the same time, so we have had to rejig accommodation, car hire, pet care and airport car parking in the UK. What with a frozen credit card and pet sitter reporting a leak through the ceiling the day after we left, it has not been relaxing. But hey, we have two extra days holiday now!

pandapatch Tue 05-Sept-23 20:29:48

We are supposed to be going on holiday in UK next Wednesday, but our car has broken down. Waiting for parts, which have to come from Sweden. Every day keep saying tomorrow, but tomorrow never comes!!! 7 days and counting!!! Most stressful. If worse comes to worse we will hire a car but expense we can do without, on top of car repairs. Not excited anticipation I have been looking forward to,

Carmo1 Wed 06-Sept-23 06:44:31

Jen53 we use a company called Airportr they pick up luggage 24 hours before flight and you pick it up at your destination. When you arrive at airport no queueing just straight through security

BlueBelle Wed 06-Sept-23 07:34:11

Just got back from a lovely weekend in Barcelona (Ryanair) and we ve all gone down with Covid Not an airport problem I know and no one’s fault but a holiday problem never the less
My friend, husband and little girl got to airport last week when all the flights were cancelled so lost their holiday completely and as it was nt the airlines fault no compensation

I think I ll be staying at home in future

JackyB Wed 06-Sept-23 10:46:00

I fly from a small airport as often as possible. Hate having to go from Frankfurt, but I don't find flying stressful. Just come well prepared with plenty of time in hand. I treat the airport time as part of the holiday and enjoy a coffee or even a meal if that's doable, and browse the shops.

For those whose flights were affected by the recent glitch in traffic control systems, I have heard that the airline is not obliged to return your ticket price, but they should cover hotel and other expenses incurred.

nanna8 Wed 06-Sept-23 10:49:44

Flights do seem to be becoming more unreliable now. A few years back cancellations were unheard off unless the weather was really bad. The service just isn’t there now, either. Foul food ,especially our domestic airlines and we have vowed never to use Qantas again - we used to be their biggest fans back in the day.

SynchroSwimmer Thu 07-Sept-23 12:44:04

Here’s a useful Facebook Greek weather page that I like OP, if you are not already a follower….
m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100069563434391