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

Mithras

Thank The Gods I got a ferry back from my hols.......I got a years supply of Chocomel in the boot rather than having it posted

gbsahne001

at least my wife and daughter are at our home in Istanbul and not stuck at an airport. Booked on a flight back on Wednesday but have my doubts as to whether it will happen.

Going to be a lot of children off school this week I suspect.

lardboy

mapleflot wrote:

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.

None. I spoke to some, and they said that it now counts as a pre-existing problem, so no cover at all.

gb155

andyb78 wrote:

.... 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?

headed off on Holiday in 5 weeks :? :shock:

Aidy

Parents are stuck in spain, and apparently can't get back until next week.

Particularly annoying as they're both self-employed and have businesses to run.
Guess who that job falls down to?

On the plus side, the parking attendant at Stansted was most amused by me turning up a bike to rescue my Dad's car.

jamesco

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.

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...

The problem for the airlines is that they were already up against the wall financially and are now wearing huge daily losses. A typical room-rate for a hotel in London (chosen and paid for by the airline!) would be £40 per night. In an average week, Heathrow alone handles 1.2 million passengers, so you can see that there's just no way they can afford to accomodate the people that've ended up stuck.

It'd be nice if they could do more, but competition from the budget airlines has screwed down the level of service and number of employees they can afford, even on a normal day. My girlfriend works at Heathrow and says that passengers were very grateful just to get some free food from the lounge..

It sucks, hope your family & everyone elses gets away soon

Fireblade96

A mate of mine has quit his job, moved out of his flat, shipped his worldly goods, and is due to emigrate to Oz on Tuesday - to get married.

He's been over in Ireland saying goodbyes to family, he called tonight to say he's getting a *coach* back to here tomorrow. He's then staying with me until flights start again, I'm on standby to get him to the airport as soon as anything moves.

Good things about Reading, #1 - it's near Heathrow.

"Dear missus-to-be, I may be late for our wedding, there's this volcano....." :roll:

lost_in_thought

jamesco wrote:

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.

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...

The problem for the airlines is that they were already up against the wall financially and are now wearing huge daily losses. A typical room-rate for a hotel in London (chosen and paid for by the airline!) would be £40 per night. In an average week, Heathrow alone handles 1.2 million passengers, so you can see that there's just no way they can afford to accomodate the people that've ended up stuck.

It'd be nice if they could do more, but competition from the budget airlines has screwed down the level of service and number of employees they can afford, even on a normal day. My girlfriend works at Heathrow and says that passengers were very grateful just to get some free food from the lounge..

It sucks, hope your family & everyone elses gets away soon

Well, last night (singapore time) they were moved into a lovely hotel in Singapore itself, rather than Changi, and are now happier bunnies thanks to Singapore Airlines. Shame it took them so long to get their act together.

Situation in Moscow is far, far worse, friends are trying to get a train out of Russia but being held under armed guard because they don't have visas... Moral: Don't fly Aeroflot. :shock:

Wallace1492

I have been interested in Eclipses since 1999. I noticed then that a future eclipse - July 2010 - would cross Easter Island, from then I have been desperate to see it, as I have always wanted to go to Easter Island. I have now been saving for it for 8 years, and had plenty of dough saved by last year, unfortunately this was mainly in shares (Banking) and I got hammered!

Still, over a year ago I booked the trip to Easter Island, it will cost a bundle, but will be worth it.

You can re-arrange holiday's, wedding's, visits and all other sorts of stuff, but nothing will stop the eclipse on the 11th July. I just hope this will no be affected..... :shock: :shock:

holybinch

Days like this, you're glad there's the eurostar.
In and out easy.
Now give me a week to recover from that massive weekend...

mtb-idle

my wife and youngest son are 'stuck' in Majorca at the moment. Were meant to be back yesterday (Sunday) but now won't be back until next Tuesday (gone from being a six-day break to a full two-week holiday).

Luckily accomodation is paid for so that's okay.

I'm just kicking back and relaxing at home on my own. Had a lovely long MTB ride on Saturday with no worries about when I needed to be back 8)

Here's a shot of me on the ride (in case you were interested)

jamesco

Some people have been forced to buy a bike and pretend to by cycle-tourers, so that they can get on cross-channel ferries (the foot-passenger count having been filled). The cabin crew are even making them ride the ramp - suitcases and all - just to prove they're really riders.. bit sadistic!

Specialized Needs

Wallace1492 wrote:

You can re-arrange holiday's, wedding's, visits and all other sorts of stuff, but nothing will stop the eclipse on the 11th July. I just hope this will no be affected..... :shock: :shock:

Wow - World cup final (football, as I am sure some of you won't know :roll:), British grand prix, Bikeradar Live AND an eclipse, all on the same day.

Portentous indeed.

secretsam

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:

Not for much longer, my sister knows someone who works for Queasyjet and they said the company can only go for about 10 days without flying then it goes bust. No doubt it's the same for Ryanair.

lost_in_thought

SecretSam wrote:

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:

Not for much longer, my sister knows someone who works for Queasyjet and they said the company can only go for about 10 days without flying then it goes bust. No doubt it's the same for Ryanair.

According to a friend who flies for ryanair, that's why they've had this advance shutdown thing - where they said no flights until monday - so they can not pay staff etc. Nice.

NGale

Jakes cousin is chuffed, the ash has delayed his deployment with the RAF out to the middle east for a while, a bit more time with his baby son which he is more than happy about.

As for Jake, he is currently acting a 'Cruise director' on HMS Ocean to pick up a load of flip flop wearing boozed up British tourists from Spain, he's a bit narked.

Wallace1492

Specialized Needs wrote:

Wallace1492 wrote:

You can re-arrange holiday's, wedding's, visits and all other sorts of stuff, but nothing will stop the eclipse on the 11th July. I just hope this will no be affected..... :shock: :shock:

Wow - World cup final (football, as I am sure some of you won't know :roll:), British grand prix, Bikeradar Live AND an eclipse, all on the same day.

Portentous indeed.

The eclipse on Easter Island will happen at about 8.15pm (UK time) Virtually bang on half time in the World Cup final.....