(OT Grumble) Thanks very much, Icelandic volcanic ash...

andyb78
andyb78 Posts: 156
edited April 2010 in Commuting chat
.... for scuppering our 3 day rugby tour to Portugal which was supposed to start at 0600 tomorrow. Fecking flight cancelled :( Been looking forward to it for 6 months.

I know there's a lot of people far worse off, but still thought I'd have a moan anyway.

Anyone else been affected by the barsteward thing?
Road bike FCN 6

Hardtail Commuter FCN 11 (Apparently, but that may be due to the new beard...)
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Comments

  • Splottboy
    Splottboy Posts: 3,695
    Right..I'll try it here as it got nowhere on another tread:

    Saw two kids today by themselves and crying.
    Then, the mother turned up covered in grey volcanic ash.
    I asked one of the kid what was going on.
    He replied, "Mums gone to Iceland..."
  • asprilla
    asprilla Posts: 8,440
    Inlaws were supposed to be flying to Zambia today, they are now booked on next Friday. They didn't pay extra for the change but they've lost a week with their grand kids.
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  • andyb78
    andyb78 Posts: 156
    Fair play Asprillia, that sucks. Guess I haven't got it that bad. The 25 of us can always go another time I spose...
    Road bike FCN 6

    Hardtail Commuter FCN 11 (Apparently, but that may be due to the new beard...)
  • cjcp
    cjcp Posts: 13,345
    Yep, had some fun getting back from Genoa yesterday. The sight of a few hundred Brits pulling their wheelie bags through the centre of Calais to the ferry terminal, to either the bemusement or amusement of the locals, will lie long in the memory. Have to say, there was a very good spirit amongst the stranded once they'd left Gare du Nord.
    FCN 2-4.

    "What happens when the hammer goes down, kids?"
    "It stays down, Daddy."
    "Exactly."
  • bobgale67
    bobgale67 Posts: 10
    I'm in the RAF and the lack of flying due to the volcanic ash gave us an earlier friday finish than we normally have, feel bad for the people that got stranded but quite happy myself as i got on the stella well early. :D
    Loafmaster extraordinaire!
  • trtimothy
    trtimothy Posts: 117
    had flight booked to get back to uni in time for the hetton hawks race in durham...obviously not happening now..bad times!
  • lost_in_thought
    lost_in_thought Posts: 10,563
    My little brother and his GF were meant to be flying back from Singapore arriving thursday evening on their way back from a month's holiday in Australia.

    They left Singapore, flew for 5 hours, and then turned around and flew 5 hours back to singapore, arriving back 3pm on Thursday UK time. They were offered no accomodation or food apart from sleeping bags for the airport floor. They're still in Singapore, in transit, which they can't leave. No news of rebooking or alternatives.

    Oh and they missed a big family milestone event today.

    Do they win? :(
    FCN 7/1
    Viner Maxima, Tifosi CK7, Giant Bowery, Old commuter.
  • Splottboy
    Splottboy Posts: 3,695
    Do you still look like that actress bird?
  • gabriel959
    gabriel959 Posts: 4,227
    Lets hope the other one doesn't wake up...because if it does it might mean 6 months without air travel
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  • lost_in_thought
    lost_in_thought Posts: 10,563
    Splottboy wrote:
    Do you still look like that actress bird?

    Do you still act like a teenager?
    FCN 7/1
    Viner Maxima, Tifosi CK7, Giant Bowery, Old commuter.
  • gbsahne001
    gbsahne001 Posts: 1,973
    wife and daughter still away; fingers crossed it's all cleared up by Monday, as they're meant to be back on the first flight
    Winter Hack
    Everyday Commuter
  • Mike Healey
    Mike Healey Posts: 1,023
    Did you know that Icelanders have 72 words to describe volcanic ash?
    Organising the Bradford Kids Saturday Bike Club at the Richard Dunn Sports Centre since 1998
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  • Stevo_666
    Stevo_666 Posts: 61,200
    Splottboy wrote:
    Right..I'll try it here as it got nowhere on another tread:

    Saw two kids today by themselves and crying.
    Then, the mother turned up covered in grey volcanic ash.
    I asked one of the kid what was going on.
    He replied, "Mums gone to Iceland..."
    This one made me smile:
    What's the difference between the Icelandic volcano and Cheryl Cole?

    - The volcano is still blowing ash.
    "I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]
  • cjcp
    cjcp Posts: 13,345
    gabriel959 wrote:
    Lets hope the other one doesn't wake up...because if it does it might mean 6 months without air travel

    No bad thing, frankly - the skies aboe Richmond Park are very quiet 8) .
    FCN 2-4.

    "What happens when the hammer goes down, kids?"
    "It stays down, Daddy."
    "Exactly."
  • lardboy
    lardboy Posts: 343
    I was supposed to go to Madrid yesterday for my birthday weekend. I'm now going to the Planetarium and Thorpe Park instead, which is pretty exciting on both counts.

    I am 36 years old.

    Edit. Oh yeah, 37 today.
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  • Beeblebrox
    Beeblebrox Posts: 145
    Was supposed to be hitchhiking to Prague and then getting a flight back. Due to the unpredictability and the current massive amounts of traffic in the ferry ports we've decided to take the hit on the flights. Not the worst but this was for charity so we've collected sponsorship without going anywhere :S
  • Cychologist
    Cychologist Posts: 39
    I live about 250 km west of this thing. I see nothing of it, and wouldn't even know it was there if there wasn't for the news....Mean while most of N-Europe is f*ckt. Surreal really.

    Live webcams...
    http://eldgos.mila.is/eyjafjallajokull-fra-valahnjuk/
    http://eldgos.mila.is/eyjafjallajokull- ... orduhalsi/
    http://eldgos.mila.is/eyjafjallajokull- ... olfsfelli/

    On the other hand...I did go and see the other (much smaller) eruption that ended a week ago:
    http://hraustur.wordpress.com/2010/03/3 ... gnar-gosi/

    I actually met some cyclists there....riding on snow and ice on their XC's

    Regards from Iceland....
    C
    Reykjavikian commuter with his knees in a bunch

    Scott Speedster S30 FCN 5 / Jamis Durango SX FCN 11
  • greg66_tri_v2.0
    greg66_tri_v2.0 Posts: 7,172
    lost_in_thought wrote:
    My little brother and his GF were meant to be flying back from Singapore arriving thursday evening on their way back from a month's holiday in Australia.

    They left Singapore, flew for 5 hours, and then turned around and flew 5 hours back to singapore, arriving back 3pm on Thursday UK time. They were offered no accomodation or food apart from sleeping bags for the airport floor. They're still in Singapore, in transit, which they can't leave. No news of rebooking or alternatives.

    Oh and they missed a big family milestone event today.

    Do they win? :(

    I think they're in the lead.

    Are they still imprisoned in the airport transit area? What's the airport providing by way of food and washing facilities?

    From what I can make out with my divining rod, the winds aren't likely to pick up and start to dissipate the cloud for a good few days yet. Even assuming no more eruptions, I wouldn't be surprised if planes are grounded throughout next week.

    And the thing is, once the airspace re-opens, things won't return to normal overnight. One of our girl's classmates is stuck in Florida. Her family Easter holiday was due to end yesterday. Her family has been offered a spot on a flight home on the 26 - that was earliest they could get. I've heard of someone in Hong Kong who was booked to return on 19 and has been told the earliest he can come back is 1 May.

    This has the potential to become a Really Big Thing...
    Swim. Bike. Run. Yeah. That's what I used to do.

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    Bike 2-A
  • gabriel959
    gabriel959 Posts: 4,227
    or a black swan... Wave goodbye to air freighted goods for a while too...
    x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
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  • greg66_tri_v2.0
    greg66_tri_v2.0 Posts: 7,172
    gabriel959 wrote:
    or a black swan... Wave goodbye to air freighted goods for a while too...

    Yeah... I was thinking that about that when I heard that a batch of Cinqos are due to arrive with the UK distributor on Monday... Maybe not.
    Swim. Bike. Run. Yeah. That's what I used to do.

    Bike 1
    Bike 2-A
  • Oddjob62
    Oddjob62 Posts: 1,056
    Supposed to be flying to Canada on Wed. Not been cancelled yet but i don't expect it to happen :(

    Luckily it's just a bit of a fun break, nothing "important".
    As yet unnamed (Dolan Seta)
    Joelle (Focus Expert SRAM)
  • lost_in_thought
    lost_in_thought Posts: 10,563
    Greg66 wrote:
    lost_in_thought wrote:
    My little brother and his GF were meant to be flying back from Singapore arriving thursday evening on their way back from a month's holiday in Australia.

    They left Singapore, flew for 5 hours, and then turned around and flew 5 hours back to singapore, arriving back 3pm on Thursday UK time. They were offered no accomodation or food apart from sleeping bags for the airport floor. They're still in Singapore, in transit, which they can't leave. No news of rebooking or alternatives.

    Oh and they missed a big family milestone event today.

    Do they win? :(

    I think they're in the lead.

    Are they still imprisoned in the airport transit area? What's the airport providing by way of food and washing facilities?

    From what I can make out with my divining rod, the winds aren't likely to pick up and start to dissipate the cloud for a good few days yet. Even assuming no more eruptions, I wouldn't be surprised if planes are grounded throughout next week.

    And the thing is, once the airspace re-opens, things won't return to normal overnight. One of our girl's classmates is stuck in Florida. Her family Easter holiday was due to end yesterday. Her family has been offered a spot on a flight home on the 26 - that was earliest they could get. I've heard of someone in Hong Kong who was booked to return on 19 and has been told the earliest he can come back is 1 May.

    This has the potential to become a Really Big Thing...

    The airline (Singapore Airlines) is providing a world of naff all - literally. No accommodation, no food vouchers, no washing facilities, they were offered a sleeping bag and that was it, which is pretty appalling really. And yeah, they're imprisoned alright, they're not allowed out of transit. Luckily Changi is a good airport, if I had to be stuck in one it'd be that one, and luckily they can afford a transit hotel. Others are not so lucky.

    And yes, it's highly likely that this could turn out to be a Really Big Thing. They haven't been offered anything in the way of flights yet, and the volcano is blasting out more ash if anything. We need this high pressure area to go away so we get a few easterlies, but there's a reason people commuting west-east always seem to have headwinds home.

    The only thing counting in their favour is that they were on the first flight from Singapore that was affected, so they'll be at the top of the list for rebooking. However, so will the rest of the passengers on the A380 in question...
    FCN 7/1
    Viner Maxima, Tifosi CK7, Giant Bowery, Old commuter.
  • stuaff
    stuaff Posts: 1,736
    lost_in_thought wrote:
    The airline (Singapore Airlines) is providing a world of naff all - literally. No accommodation, no food vouchers, no washing facilities, they were offered a sleeping bag and that was it, which is pretty appalling really. And yeah, they're imprisoned alright, they're not allowed out of transit. Luckily Changi is a good airport, if I had to be stuck in one it'd be that one, and luckily they can afford a transit hotel. Others are not so lucky.

    And yes, it's highly likely that this could turn out to be a Really Big Thing. They haven't been offered anything in the way of flights yet, and the volcano is blasting out more ash if anything. We need this high pressure area to go away so we get a few easterlies, but there's a reason people commuting west-east always seem to have headwinds home.

    The only thing counting in their favour is that they were on the first flight from Singapore that was affected, so they'll be at the top of the list for rebooking. However, so will the rest of the passengers on the A380 in question...

    That is quite staggeringly bad. You'd think they'd learn from their own past mistakes and others' (eg the Eurostar fiasco). But oh no. I hope they've got insurance etc to cover all the costs, but they shouldn't have to dig out of their own pockets, and they shouldn't be denied proper accomodation etc.
    Reminds me: ought to get some insurance for my trip to Warsaw in June. Between thngs like this, the BA strikes....
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  • roger_merriman
    roger_merriman Posts: 6,165
    living not under the flight path, and with the lovely weather. the clear sky's are bliss. though I'm sure if your stuck bliss is not yours but down in Hampton it's lovely!
  • cjcp
    cjcp Posts: 13,345
    StuAff wrote:
    You'd think they'd learn from their own past mistakes and others' (eg the Eurostar fiasco).

    Not even Eurostar learned from the Eurostar fiasco.

    A work colleague and I had "confirmed" tickets on the 1843hrs out of Paris on Thursday. Got to Gare du Nord to be told they were not confirmed at all and that we didn't have tickets. We spent £800 getting to CDG on Air France from Genoa when our BA flight was cancelled.

    And even though BA had cancelled their flight and reports were that British airspace was closed, Ryanair were still letting people check-in. It was an hour or so later before they formally announced the flight was cancelled. Not very impressive at all.
    FCN 2-4.

    "What happens when the hammer goes down, kids?"
    "It stays down, Daddy."
    "Exactly."
  • greg66_tri_v2.0
    greg66_tri_v2.0 Posts: 7,172
    cjcp wrote:
    And even though BA had cancelled their flight and reports were that British airspace was closed, Ryanair were still letting people check-in. It was an hour or so later before they formally announced the flight was cancelled. Not very impressive at all.

    Is that because Ryanair charge people to check-in, I wonder? :shock:
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  • Jay dubbleU
    Jay dubbleU Posts: 3,159
    Past history - 1783 Laki Eruption - note wind direction

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laki#Conse ... _in_Europe
  • cjcp
    cjcp Posts: 13,345
    Greg66 wrote:
    cjcp wrote:
    And even though BA had cancelled their flight and reports were that British airspace was closed, Ryanair were still letting people check-in. It was an hour or so later before they formally announced the flight was cancelled. Not very impressive at all.

    Is that because Ryanair charge people to check-in, I wonder? :shock:

    Things that make you go "Hmmmm"
    FCN 2-4.

    "What happens when the hammer goes down, kids?"
    "It stays down, Daddy."
    "Exactly."
  • prj45
    prj45 Posts: 2,208
    Well, I'm going on a 100km ride tomorrow, hope I'm not coughing too much by the end of it, car was covered in fine dust this morning.
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  • mapleflot
    mapleflot Posts: 81
    StuAff wrote:
    Reminds me: ought to get some insurance for my trip to Warsaw in June. Between thngs like this, the BA strikes....

    Question is....what insurance co. currently covers, or is going to cover, any extraneous costs caused by volcanic activity now?
    Answers here please because I have a Barcelona trip supposedly at the end of May.
    Apologies to those obviously far worse off at the moment.

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