[Dragonlady]

@Lady London – I am unfortunately working tomorrow (as I was supposed to be yesterday and today ) starting my 12 hour shift at 7am. I’ve got as far as Cardiff and currently waiting for another connection to take me onwards and eventually a taxi as I live in a small rural village.
I’ve missed two days of work which I’ll either have to take as annual leave or unpaid leave which I’m sure Ryanair won’t choose to compensate me for either. Luckily my super colleague covered for me at very short notice.

[Dragonlady]

Our plane has arrived from BRS.They’ve corralled us outside -disembarking passengers are being herded past us and they are literally pushing us on to the plane . It’s almost funny !

[Dragonlady]

NorthernLass wrote:

@Dragonlady, do you know why your EZY flight is delayed? They seem to be quite good at paying compo where applicable these days, which might cover your taxi in the event of Ryanair not being liable. I have a feeling their responsibility would be to get you to BRS only. Insurance might also cover it.

No -it’s all a bit vague. Given (in my view ) Ryanair still have a duty of care to get me home in a timely manner ) I think they should be liable initially (albeit I know they won’t make it easy). I’ve been cautious in terms of accommodation ( but La Rochelle on first day of the holidays wasn’t ever going to be cheap and as a single woman traveller I wasn’t prepared to stay somewhere that wasn’t central .Likewise with food -a couple of cheap set menu lunches and dinner . I didn’t even take a taxi to the airport I got the free bus !!

[Dragonlady]

LD27 wrote:

@Dragonlady – Sorry to hear of your ongoing issues. Feeling fortunate. Having thought we would be stuck in UK yesterday, a big thank you to BA who flew us yesterday evening from LGW to BOD arriving on time.

Glad you got there OK . I did look at flying out as I think you’d suggested but had the issue of then getting from LGW to home ( and having to double back to BOD when OH was not heading that way).

[Dragonlady]

Wiseoldman wrote:

Dragonlady wrote:

So my woes continue. Having arrived at La Rochelle airport my flight is delayed by 3 hours currently ) .There is no later FlixBus ( to get me home to Wales )that I can book onto so I am essentially stranded in Bristol. Can I legitimately book a taxi from BRS to home and bill Ryanair as they were my initial carrier ? I am cheesed off beyond belief.

In principle yes but you will have a fight on your hand.

Ryanair have been unhelpful +++ thus far and whilst I appreciate this is EasyJet’s delay I should have been home yesterday morning (from Limoges) not having to scrabble back to La Rochelle to get home ( next flight from Limoges was Monday). I don’t really want to ask my 87 year old mother to drive to Bristol to retrieve me and train options ( which would still need a taxi to get me home ) are limited too. It doesn’t help that they’re being vague about the delay ( and the aircraft hasn’t left BRS yet …).

[Dragonlady]

So my woes continue. Having arrived at La Rochelle airport my flight is delayed by 3 hours currently ) .There is no later FlixBus ( to get me home to Wales )that I can book onto so I am essentially stranded in Bristol. Can I legitimately book a taxi from BRS to home and bill Ryanair as they were my initial carrier ? I am cheesed off beyond belief.

[Dragonlady]

@Tracy – what’s the maritime law issue with the back to back you’d booked ?

[Dragonlady]

Tracy wrote:

@Dragonlady, lol, have pulled the trigger and booked the Reykjavik cruise, insider price dropped to £690 for the 11 nights….
Had to cancel my back to back cruises New York/Quebec/Miami due to stupid maritime law 😭, so this is the replacement.

Woo hoo ! It’s back up to £1200 ish ( which it had been for a while ). Got to snag the bargains as soon as you see them 😀😀 It’ll be interesting to see how the Insta / FB mob fare with the temperatures. Can’t see many people lolling around the pool on sea days (unless they’re wearing jumpers ). I’m not sure some of the passengers are really aware of how chilly it’s likely to be 🤣🤣🤣

[Dragonlady]

@Gagravaar- hope you got to Paris via Eurostar.
I’m now in a hotel in a hotel on the quayside in La Rochelle – there was no mention of the building work undergoing when I booked it this morning ( there is literally no ground floor as it’s all been ripped out and dust and muck everywhere).The kids break up for the summer here in France today so everything is super busy.
Hoping that I manage to get home tomorrow and I’m then expecting a battle with Ryanair for my Easyjet flight,hotel and associated sundries.
If anyone’s off to see Oasis in Cardiff tonight I hope you have a great time ( and that the Gallagher boys don’t come to blows with each other ! ).

[Dragonlady]

Lady London wrote:

Dragonlady wrote:

@Lady London BA CDG LHR 22.15 tomorrow €1004 -only J seats available ( I had to get to CDG and home from LHR at gone midnight). AF economy entailed non direct at £400 plus ( and getting home to Wales ) so that was a nonstarter too.

Eek. You’re doing well. Keep the evidence. Hopefully Ryanair won’t try it on but in case you have to take any further steps this is good stuff to have.

Was it a case for compensation as well, as does not sound like they gave you 14 days notice? Or are they relying on presumably flights to F being reduced by air traffic control due to French strikes so they got told to cancel some?

Less than 24 hours notice. I’ve screenshot the evidence .OH is heading off today to continue things he’d planned before I decided to fly out (and he’s now 3 + hours drive from where he should be this morning).

[Dragonlady]

@Lady London BA CDG LHR 22.15 tomorrow €1004 -only J seats available ( I had to get to CDG and home from LHR at gone midnight). AF economy entailed non direct at £400 plus ( and getting home to Wales ) so that was a nonstarter too.

[Dragonlady]

Flight booked with EasyJet.

[Dragonlady]

@Lady London @ NorthernLass
Given there are no Ryanair flights back to BRS from Limoges until next week I am now booked on a flight from La Rochelle on Saturday.Not ideal but the best of poor options . Flights from all the Paris airports were crazy prices and getting there a pain (and then getting home from LHR / LGW / wherever again a total pain ). I looked at Bordeaux but same problem with that. I’ve spoken with work who are being pretty understanding. My cat sitter is also happy to provide another couple of days service.
Just so I’m totally understanding this I can claim the cost of a hotel from Ryanair for tomorrow night / reasonable dinner / transportation to airport ?

[Dragonlady]

@Lady London.I eventually spoke to somebody who was extremely unhelpful . I explained I need re-routing back to UK ( I’m supposed to be working tomorrow evening ).I asked to be rerouted – he said I need to do this ( and said Ryanair might pay ..)but refused to answer how I’d then get from arrival airport ( unlikely to be BRS where I flew from )to home. Asked if I wanted a refund – to which I repeated NO incessantly. Refused to let me speak to a supervisor and hung up.
I think I’m about to implode…

[Dragonlady]

LD27 wrote:

NorthernLass wrote:

Speaking of Ryanair, they’ve just announced loads of cancellations due to strikes in France. Presumably other airlines are affected. OH just returned BVA-LBA last night so narrowly escaped the disruption.

<a
href=”https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz9k37xxdkxo&#8221; rel=”nofollow”>https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz9k37xxdkxo

It wouldn’t be summer if French ATC were not on strike! Fingers crossed that our flights this weekend are not affected as we’re all on different PNRs.

Help !! Just went to check in on- line to see banner that flight is cancelled ( email at 9.3O telling me to check on didn’t mention it ) . Presuming Ryanair not on the hook for EU 261.Trying to work out how to get home now ( still on Ile De Re and we were heading to Limoges later for my flight in the AM back to Bristol ) . Husband here for another week.

[Dragonlady]

A (very) warm afternoons greetings from St Martin de Re on the Ile De Re. Looking forward to a couple of days of total relaxation quaffing nice French wines ( and I’d forgotten how good they can be) and eating delicious seafood.

[Dragonlady]

Afternoon from BRS where after a journey on the FlixBus ( surprising ok ) and and an hour in the Escape lounge ( having been placed in the virtual queue ) I’m I’m waiting to board my flight to Bergerac. The flight looked reasonably empty ( but clearly heaving ) and we’re nowhere near departing on time . Hoping OH will still be there when I arrive ( parking up a great big Motorhome is a bit of a challenge !!)

[Dragonlady]

NorthernLass wrote:

Can anyone recommend a reliable car hire company at Alicante? Avis/Budget are quoting £250 for 3 days which is insane! Lots of other cheaper options but I haven’t used any of them before.

My experience has been that AVIS prices do come down at ALC . I generally book something I want as soon as I know I’m arriving and cancel and rebook as the price comes down (often multiple times as their cancellation policy is very straightforward ).My last one at ALC ( January ) had halved by the time I collected it . Easter may be a bit more tricky though. Service level has always been ok there too.

[Dragonlady]

Tracy wrote:

Just received an email from virgin voyages with details of the new itineraries in place of these cancellations…6/7/8 night itineraries. All shorter, maybe the longer cruises weren’t that popular?

@Tracy I don’t think they appealed to the insta/ Tik tok / ‘effleuncer’ crowd who want warmth and glamourous locations at which to take selfies 😊.

@peeps -I’ve said before I can’t see VV being sustainable. Loot and bar tabs are long gone I’m another passenger who’s enjoyed points cruises and has moved onto being a paying passenger. My next cruise is another (IMHO) bargain but these are becoming few and far between.

[Dragonlady]

slidey wrote:

What do we think it will be replaced with. Considering they never brought back the lounge booking credits, I’d expect that they will try to let the HN credit quietly exit out of the door and hope no one notices 🙂

The agent who spoke to me a couple of weeks ago said it’s being replaced with absolutely nothing. At least you could actually use the HN credit on something you might buy anyway ( booze and cosmetics for a start ).

[Dragonlady]

@danstravel Not sure if you’re planning to keep the plat card long term but it’s also worth remembering the insurance offered with Amex plat won’t cover anyone over 70 years old.

[Dragonlady]

Yes – lots reported on it earlier in this thread ( and another ).Several are now 1,000,000 plus .
There have been a few cash ‘bargains’ but they’ve seemingly disappeared again.

[Dragonlady]

davefl wrote:

It’s also pretty easy to avoid these companies if you look at the reviews on google maps. Advice given one the Avis at Ace thread is relevant everywhere.

I’ve been studying reviews for my upcoming rentals in Iceland since @davefl !

@pedro on the brighter side you’re off to Silverstone !

[Dragonlady]

@NorthernLass- she was awesome and set a PB. She’s completed Ironman Wales ( aka Tenby) twice which is hard enough but Lanza had heat , wind and even more elevation. The other two from her club also completed which was fabulous for all us supporting crew 👍👍. Ironman Tenby isn’t full ( end of September ) so she’s now muttering about entering that (one of the other two signed up the next day much to his wife’s horror 🤣🤣).Entering Lanza next year is also on the cards..
Re Avis – I thought being Avis they’d have a standard service level but sadly it appears that the franchise depots do pretty much what they want.
FWIW the pick up point is in the car park across the road from the terminal area A11. The (singular) shuttle bus operating was tatty ( no exterior handle on the passenger door ) and rammed to absolute capacity on the return journey.If you’re collecting the car the next day just go straight to the depot.

[Dragonlady]

davefl wrote:

@Peter-K Yes sorry I forgot, they’re the best. In order at Ace, people should look at the following and forget the rest

Autoreisen
Autos Cabrera Medina
Topcar

@davefl of whom none were on my radar . Thanks for the info.