Any sympathy?
geordieindevon
Posts: 127
Read this on the BBC website: Travel Chaos: Your stories
Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12027553
We're currently stuck at our Hotel Le Preskil in Mauritius and I'm desperately trying to make it back to the UK with my family. So far I've had no constructive news from British Airways for the last 10 hours.
We left the UK on the 6 December and we were supposed to fly out this morning. I was notified by email, text and fax that our flight was cancelled. BA has now offered to reschedule our flights. They have tentatively suggested that our family might be able to fly out tomorrow afternoon.
The BA customer service representative has said that we will need to get a flight to Johansburg or Cape Town and then get a connecting flight back to London.
But BA hasn't been able to guarantee that we will be able to get a flight tomorrow afternoon. I'm travelling with two small children, both under the age of five. Our children are confused about what is going on much like us.
Last year we had to cancel our Christmas celebrations in France with my wife's parents due to problems with EuroStar and our plans to spend Christmas in London seem unlikely.
I'm paying for a downgraded hotel room which I assume I'll be able to claim back from BA at some point. The hotel has made it clear that while we are welcome they need our rooms because it's their peak season for bookings.
Our Christmas tree delivery was going to be delivered tomorrow, but we have now had to cancel that order. All the presents I bought for my family are still at my office.
Although I'm bitterly disappointed, we shouldn't really complain. I'm sitting on the beach and around the pool at 32 degrees compliments of BA
Now I do feel for him that he may not be with his family at xmas and he has small children BUT he is in Mauritius, sat around a pool in 32c heat! Whereas others on the site are/have been in airport terminals and stuck on motorways! :shock:
Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12027553
We're currently stuck at our Hotel Le Preskil in Mauritius and I'm desperately trying to make it back to the UK with my family. So far I've had no constructive news from British Airways for the last 10 hours.
We left the UK on the 6 December and we were supposed to fly out this morning. I was notified by email, text and fax that our flight was cancelled. BA has now offered to reschedule our flights. They have tentatively suggested that our family might be able to fly out tomorrow afternoon.
The BA customer service representative has said that we will need to get a flight to Johansburg or Cape Town and then get a connecting flight back to London.
But BA hasn't been able to guarantee that we will be able to get a flight tomorrow afternoon. I'm travelling with two small children, both under the age of five. Our children are confused about what is going on much like us.
Last year we had to cancel our Christmas celebrations in France with my wife's parents due to problems with EuroStar and our plans to spend Christmas in London seem unlikely.
I'm paying for a downgraded hotel room which I assume I'll be able to claim back from BA at some point. The hotel has made it clear that while we are welcome they need our rooms because it's their peak season for bookings.
Our Christmas tree delivery was going to be delivered tomorrow, but we have now had to cancel that order. All the presents I bought for my family are still at my office.
Although I'm bitterly disappointed, we shouldn't really complain. I'm sitting on the beach and around the pool at 32 degrees compliments of BA
Now I do feel for him that he may not be with his family at xmas and he has small children BUT he is in Mauritius, sat around a pool in 32c heat! Whereas others on the site are/have been in airport terminals and stuck on motorways! :shock:
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Comments
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Sympathy is twixt sh*t and syphilis in the dictionary.
Neil
Help I'm Being Oppressed0 -
he faces being evicted from his hotel room and paying for whatever he can get and has 2 young children who are prob. bursting to get home for Christmas. He'd prob. be happy if he and his wife/girlfriend were there on their own but it's not like that.M.Rushton0
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Could be worse, he could be stuck at Heathrow with two small kids!
Personally I'd be over the moon to be stuck in Mauritius, especially when someone else will bee footing the bill for the hotel rooms!0 -
Xmas without the inlaws....sounds like a result to me.Giant XTC Pro-Carbon
Cove Hustler
Planet X Pro-Carbon0 -
Michael White on the whinging...Do we want to stockpile snow ploughs, salt, grit etc on a Russian scale when they haven't been needed here since 1962-63 or possibly 1946-47?
Short answer: no, especially when public spending is already in a blizzard of coalition-driven economies, some of which will prove to be false ones.
Seasonal travellers, the ones not hardened to the routine inconveniences that are part of life on the road, rails and wing, get cross very easily. They are on a tight schedule; precious holiday time on the Alps or beach at risk.
They have the kids with them. They want someone to blame; it's the modern way.0 -
Yea although stuck in the sun I wouldn't like to explain to my 2 small children they may not get their xmas pressies.
Every sympathy for them.0 -
WisePranker wrote:Personally I'd be over the moon to be stuck in Mauritius, especially when someone else will bee footing the bill for the hotel rooms!
Will someone else be picking up the tab then?0 -
So what if the kids don't get their presents, it's better than being stuck at Heathrow. Does he know how cold it is here?Smarter than the average bear.0
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32c or frost bite?
decisions, decisions
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MrChuck wrote:WisePranker wrote:Personally I'd be over the moon to be stuck in Mauritius, especially when someone else will bee footing the bill for the hotel rooms!
Will someone else be picking up the tab then?
BA or travel insurance - BA first.0 -
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I was nearly stuck in Florida a few months back due to the ash cloud and yes, it does sound like things could be worse but to be honest it was a big worry. We had saved up spending money for the two weeks holiday and ended up holding some back in case we had to stay. We had a villa for the second week of our stay which we would have had to have left, I would have had to have taken unpaid leave for any extra time I was out there and we would have had the extra costs associated with kenneling our dog not to mention the kids missing valuable school time. We may or may not have got refunded through our travel insurance for the extra costs but would still have had to find the money up front. So, it's easy to sit here in front of a laptop criticising people for whinging and saying they should be grateful for being stranded in such a lovely place but I suspect that most of you would be equally unhappy in their situation.0
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Gazzaputt wrote:Yea although stuck in the sun I wouldn't like to explain to my 2 small children they may not get their xmas pressies.
Every sympathy for them.
Might they get them when they do make it back or if they're not back by xmas day do they lose them?More problems but still living....0 -
I got stuck in Zambia a few years back when then were strikes. BA put me up in one of the best hotels in Lusaka until I could get a flight. I'd been staying in a grotty campsite that cost a few dollars a night....More problems but still living....0
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amaferanga wrote:Gazzaputt wrote:Yea although stuck in the sun I wouldn't like to explain to my 2 small children they may not get their xmas pressies.
Every sympathy for them.
Might they get them when they do make it back or if they're not back by xmas day do they lose them?
Don't be pedantic you know what i mean.
Xmas day is special day for kids.0 -
Xmas day is special day for kids.
It's special for adults too, you know. It's my birthday . I was hoping to go out for a festive 50 but sod all chance of that with weather and my dodgy leg. Ho hum, off to the boozer at lunchtime as a fall back plan...No sympathy required. 0 -
Hmm, yes got some sympathy but this is becoming a regular occurence at this time of year and people aren't forced at gunpoint to go in holiday during the season when it snows. Not quite in the same unexpected league as a volcanic eruption.
You pays your money, you increasngly takes pot luck0 -
Gazzaputt wrote:amaferanga wrote:Gazzaputt wrote:Yea although stuck in the sun I wouldn't like to explain to my 2 small children they may not get their xmas pressies.
Every sympathy for them.
Might they get them when they do make it back or if they're not back by xmas day do they lose them?
Don't be pedantic you know what i mean.
Xmas day is special day for kids.
Well yes, but its pretty easy to have Xmas day a few days late. Its not as if there's much significance to the day for most people other than eating a lot, drinking a lot and giving out presents.More problems but still living....0 -
Must be related to the middle class christmas crisis lady.
http://redirectingat.com/?id=92X1020&xs ... 3D127453440 -
Time to Spare? Travel by Air
as we say in ATC0 -
Gazzaputt wrote:amaferanga wrote:Gazzaputt wrote:Yea although stuck in the sun I wouldn't like to explain to my 2 small children they may not get their xmas pressies.
Every sympathy for them.
Might they get them when they do make it back or if they're not back by xmas day do they lose them?
Don't be pedantic you know what i mean.
Xmas day is special day for kids.
Sorry but I wouldn't go too overboard with sympathy for kids getting their pressies a bit late...there are millions of children worldwide who'd swap lifestyles with them in the blink of an eye, it really is about perspective. Missed Christmas day? Boo frickin hoo the homeless guy I saw the other day would probably say...0 -
My son was trapped in Naples in the early summer because of the ash cloud. Now he cannot get out to us for Xmas and has decided to head back to his flat so he return to work. Seems incredible that both his flights to visit us have ended in significant delay.0
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When anyone decides to book a foreign holiday at this time of year they must take into consideration that events beyond their (and anyone else's) control may ruin things for them It's a risk. Usually everything is fine but just occasionally it goes tits up and they would have known that when they booked. So tough. Shut up and suck it up. No sympathy at all.0
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proto wrote:When anyone decides to book a foreign holiday at this time of year they must take into consideration that events beyond their (and anyone else's) control may ruin things for them It's a risk. Usually everything is fine but just occasionally it goes tits up and they would have known that when they booked. So tough. Shut up and suck it up. No sympathy at all.
That's maybe a bit too harsh. As usual though exaggeration makes it worse, so while I do have some sympathy for people sleeping on airport floors or stuck on holiday as soon as words like 'ordeal' and 'traumatised' start being bandied about it starts to evaporate.0 -
proto wrote:When anyone decides to [do any activity] they must take into consideration that events beyond their (and anyone else's) control may ruin things for them It's a risk. Usually everything is fine but just occasionally it goes tits up and they would have known that when they [decided to do that]. So tough. Shut up and suck it up. No sympathy at all.
I have some sympathy for them, I got stuck in Dubai for a while due to the Volcano at easter, ultimately, I didn't mind, but that was because I was staying with my brother, and therefore didn't have to worry about accommodation and fortunately, managed not to miss any university. However, the majority are not in such a position, and have to worry about missing work/missing family and friends that they only get to see once a year not to mention potentially footing the bill for an extra x nights holiday, they can reclaim the hotels but then there will be extra expenses incurred for entertainments and the suchlike.You live and learn. At any rate, you live0 -
Yes for all the people here.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/haiti
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/afghanistan
and for all those on the ground trying to sort it out.
There are many other places around the world that could go on this list.
However airport terminals is not one of them.bagpuss0 -
Interesting comments from everyone....much as I expected..some sympathy to none...I guess sympathy for others is a spectrum!
On a personal note my folks are in Cuba, due to fly back today but cancelled due to Gatwick problems...when I text them though they were happily sat around the pool as First Choice had sorted them out and they kept their room.
I do agree that people need to keep a perspective....how long will it be before we hear about a typhoon, flood, earthquake etc etc in a another part of the world where the effects WILL be beyond the comprehension of someone stuck in an airport or train terminal?
Remember Boxing day 2004?0
