Holiday/flight cancellations and refunds ( title updated )

[Nucky Thompson]

9 hours ago, Dirk McClaymore said:

 

If I'd stuck to the 2 hours last Sunday I wouldn't have made my flight. 🤷

It's the knock on effect of everyone else turning up far too early.

 

If you have a flight at 6am and people who aren't flying until 9 or 10am all turn up at 4am, it's going to be chaos.

 

 

[stirlo]

11 hours ago, Nucky Thompson said:

People arriving at the airport more than 2 hours before their flights are the ones that are causing the problems.

 

If folk stuck to the 2 hours then everyone would sail through

In fairness, some of the airlines are telling people to do that. I flew with Ryanair a few weeks ago and got a text a couple of days before saying I should turn up three hours before the departure time for a 6.30am departure. I actually ignored it and turned up 2 hours before.

[il Duce McTarkin]

3 hours ago, Nucky Thompson said:

It's the knock on effect of everyone else turning up far too early.

 

If you have a flight at 6am and people who aren't flying until 9 or 10am all turn up at 4am, it's going to be chaos.

 

 

 

Funny, I thought that it was 3 folk on the 8 available desks at the check in/bag drop for every Air France and KLM flight up till the back of 6.

[Footballfirst]

20 minutes ago, Dirk McClaymore said:

 

Funny, I thought that it was 3 folk on the 8 available desks at the check in/bag drop for every Air France and KLM flight up till the back of 6.

That's an improvement on what it was last October on the KLM/AF desk, albeit still under Covid restrictions.  There were only two staff handling a full and snaking queue. One was dealing with "premium" passengers, with the other managing everyone else.  The "premium" line ground to a halt for a full half hour dealing with issues for a single family group.  The woman on the other desk did her best, but it was stop-go throughout, as passengers raked through piles of documents and their phones to find the required documentation.

[il Duce McTarkin]

1 minute ago, Footballfirst said:

That's an improvement on what it was last October on the KLM/AF desk, albeit still under Covid restrictions.  There were only two staff handling a full and snaking queue. One was dealing with "premium" passengers, with the other managing everyone else.  The "premium" line ground to a halt for a full half hour dealing with issues for a single family group.  The woman on the other desk did her best, but it was stop-go throughout, as passengers raked through piles of documents and their phones to find the required documentation.

 

Sounds grim. How was security? 

It wasn't too bad last Sunday, despite the queue coming down the escalator. The staff that were on duty managed it pretty well once you got inro the actual hall, as it could have been chaos. Straight to the gate and straight on to the plane once through. 

[Footballfirst]

7 minutes ago, Dirk McClaymore said:

 

Sounds grim. How was security? 

It wasn't too bad last Sunday, despite the queue coming down the escalator. The staff that were on duty managed it pretty well once you got inro the actual hall, as it could have been chaos. Straight to the gate and straight on to the plane once through. 

I flew to Amsterdam just a couple of weeks ago, but only had hand luggage, so was able to avoid the check-in/bag drop. Security was a breeze with a queue of maybe 20 in front of us meaning that we got airside in 5-10 minutes. That was at 8am on a Friday.

Edited June 24, 2022 by Footballfirst

[Jambo-Jimbo]

23 minutes ago, Barack said:

My BA flight doesn't go from Heathrow to Paphos, until 2nd of September.

 

There might be a knock on effect, that means I'll have to cancel, etc. Tbh, after the 3rd attempt(covid reasons previously) I'm genuinely not bothered now. 

 

I'll just take a voucher from them, use it next year, and go away somewhere like the Lake District or that instead this year. 

 

If I fly, fine. If not, the beach will still be there in 2023.

 

Over 90%+ of flights are getting away on time and with no problems whatsoever, as always it's the small % that don't, are the ones in the media.

 

Of course it's pretty shit if your flight happens to be in that small percentage of problems.

 

[Dazo]

3 hours ago, Dirk McClaymore said:

 

Funny, I thought that it was 3 folk on the 8 available desks at the check in/bag drop for every Air France and KLM flight up till the back of 6.

To be fair I’d expect 3 to manage if more passengers had more than half a brain between them. The amount of folk who turn up at checkin desks completely unprepared is shocking. 🙄

[il Duce McTarkin]

1 minute ago, Dazo said:

To be fair I’d expect 3 to manage if more passengers had more than half a brain between them. The amount of folk who turn up at checkin desks completely unprepared is shocking. 🙄

 

I wasn't anywhere near the end of the queue so not sure if they managed, but my flight took off on time and wasn't full. I generally pitch up at half 4 for a 6am flight and have time for a couple of pints and breakfast in the lounge. I'll agree though, particularly at security, you wonder whether some folk have ever been in an airport before. 

[JudyJudyJudy]

Even before any pandemic  i always made sure  i was at the airport 2 hours before the flight.

 

 

I prefer a nice train ride though.  Get to see the nice British scenery too . 

[Jambo-Jimbo]

A spokesman for Glasgow airport was on Reporting Scotland and his advice was to arrive at the airport at least 3 hours before an International flight and 2 hours for a domestic flight.

[WorldChampions1902]

9 hours ago, Dirk McClaymore said:

 

Funny, I thought that it was 3 folk on the 8 available desks at the check in/bag drop for every Air France and KLM flight up till the back of 6.

My aforementioned TUI  flight to Madeira from Birmingham only had three check-in desks open out of 28, which was to cater for those who hadn’t bothered to complete online check-in. Those who had checked-in online had to endure the one-mile snaking queue to the automated scales/boarding pass printers.

[Nucky Thompson]

Flying to Ibiza from Newcastle next Monday.

Been checking and there's no problems getting through security, seems to be 3 minutes.

8.30am flight so booked a Premier inn at Gosforth. 

Leave the hotel at 5.45am and head to McDonald's near the airport.

Short stay parking booked for 6.30am and over to the terminal for bag drop for 6.40.

 

No panic and not expecting any problems........Touch wood

[WorldChampions1902]

18 minutes ago, Nucky Thompson said:

Flying to Ibiza from Newcastle next Monday.

Been checking and there's no problems getting through security, seems to be 3 minutes.

8.30am flight so booked a Premier inn at Gosforth. 

Leave the hotel at 5.45am and head to McDonald's near the airport.

Short stay parking booked for 6.30am and over to the terminal for bag drop for 6.40.

 

No panic and not expecting any problems........Touch wood

My son flew to Lanzarote from Newcastle on Sunday whilst my wife and I endured the Birmingham s**t show the same day. His departure went like clockwork, so in all likelihood you will be fine.

[Nucky Thompson]

6 minutes ago, WorldChampions1902 said:

My son flew to Lanzarote from Newcastle on Sunday whilst my wife and I endured the Birmingham s**t show the same day. His departure went like clockwork, so in all likelihood you will be fine.

Hopefully mate. 

The smaller airports seem to be less impacted.

Enjoy the rest of your holiday and hope you get back without any problems

[WorldChampions1902]

43 minutes ago, Nucky Thompson said:

Hopefully mate. 

The smaller airports seem to be less impacted.

Enjoy the rest of your holiday and hope you get back without any problems

It seems that way. Thanks and enjoy your break too.

[graygo]

5 hours ago, Jambo-Jimbo said:

A spokesman for Glasgow airport was on Reporting Scotland and his advice was to arrive at the airport at least 3 hours before an International flight and 2 hours for a domestic flight.

 

What does he know? I'll take my advice from Nucky Thompson thanks very much. 

[westbow]

BA cancelled my connecting flights for a second time and their booking system has crashed. Cheaper to get a taxi from Edinburgh to Heathrow door to door. Not relying on them anymore. This is before any strikes.

Edited June 25, 2022 by westbow

[Nucky Thompson]

18 hours ago, graygo said:

 

What does he know? I'll take my advice from Nucky Thompson thanks very much. 

Whereas the manager from Edinburgh airport, Gordon Dewar, was on TV 2 weeks ago saying that the problem was people turning up early and everyone should stick to the 2 hours before flights

[heartsfc_fan]

22 hours ago, Nucky Thompson said:

Flying to Ibiza from Newcastle next Monday.

Been checking and there's no problems getting through security, seems to be 3 minutes.

8.30am flight so booked a Premier inn at Gosforth. 

Leave the hotel at 5.45am and head to McDonald's near the airport.

Short stay parking booked for 6.30am and over to the terminal for bag drop for 6.40.

 

No panic and not expecting any problems........Touch wood

Fingers crossed you should be ok.

Used to fly from Newcastle a lot as it was much cheaper than Edinburgh.

Never had any bother.

[graygo]

19 hours ago, Nucky Thompson said:

Whereas the manager from Edinburgh airport, Gordon Dewar, was on TV 2 weeks ago saying that the problem was people turning up early and everyone should stick to the 2 hours before flights

 

Yes and now the advice is 3 hours if flying internationally and 2 hours if domestic.

[Jambos_1874]

Top tip: do not fly from Schiphol Aiport. Absolutely horrific queues - minimum 2 hrs to get through. Shite.

[Nucky Thompson]

Just checked Newcastle airport departures as I'll be there about this time next Monday.

 

My flight is 8.30am with Jet2. There's a few other Jet2 flights up until 7.30am, but no other one until 3pm, so bag drop off should go quickly.

 

Security looks like 3 minutes to get through

 

When I flew from Edinburgh last month there were 5 Jet2 flights flying at roughly the same time and it took a while to drop the bags and security was busy too.

Still got through with loads of time to spare even with arriving 2 hours before

 

[Dazo]

2 minutes ago, Nucky Thompson said:

Just checked Newcastle airport departures as I'll be there about this time next Monday.

 

My flight is 8.30am with Jet2. There's a few other Jet2 flights up until 7.30am, but no other one until 3pm, so bag drop off should go quickly.

 

Security looks like 3 minutes to get through

 

When I flew from Edinburgh last month there were 5 Jet2 flights flying at roughly the same time and it took a while to drop the bags and security was busy too.

Still got through with loads of time to spare even with arriving 2 hours before

 

Done Jet2 from Edinburgh and Newcastle loads of times. Never had any real issues at either but Newcastle was always a breeze. Bar was always busy though. 🙄

[hmfc_liam06]

On 24/06/2022 at 11:37, Dirk McClaymore said:

 

Funny, I thought that it was 3 folk on the 8 available desks at the check in/bag drop for every Air France and KLM flight up till the back of 6.

 

At the BA desk at Glasgow, they had 1 priority desk and 2 general check in desks. One prick was holding up one the general check in desks, arguing that he should be allowed to board despite only testing positive 3 days prior. The other general check in desk then proceeded to deal with the priority line as that line was growing to a shocking 6 deep! Leaving it 2 priority and 0 general for around half an hour. The queue at the general was then out the door within that half hour.

 

Contrast that to the American Airlines check in desk in Orlando where they had around 10 desks open, everyone literally flew through.

[hmfc_liam06]

On 24/06/2022 at 21:49, Nucky Thompson said:

Hopefully mate. 

The smaller airports seem to be less impacted.

Enjoy the rest of your holiday and hope you get back without any problems

 

If you encounter any queue issues just say to a member of staff you're on a flight that takes off soon and you'll get to the front of the queue, check in or security.

 

Seen plenty folk do it when I was away at the start of the month.

[Boab]

30 minutes ago, hmfc_liam06 said:

 

At the BA desk at Glasgow, they had 1 priority desk and 2 general check in desks. One prick was holding up one the general check in desks, arguing that he should be allowed to board despite only testing positive 3 days prior. The other general check in desk then proceeded to deal with the priority line as that line was growing to a shocking 6 deep! Leaving it 2 priority and 0 general for around half an hour. The queue at the general was then out the door within that half hour.

 

Contrast that to the American Airlines check in desk in Orlando where they had around 10 desks open, everyone literally flew through.

Only takes one plonker to hold things up. 

Depends on the staff I suppose. Had one idiot who had nothing ready and was holding up the whole show. Staff were good and asked him to stand aside till everyone else was attended to. 

[hmfc_liam06]

4 minutes ago, Boab said:

Only takes one plonker to hold things up. 

Depends on the staff I suppose. Had one idiot who had nothing ready and was holding up the whole show. Staff were good and asked him to stand aside till everyone else was attended to. 

 

Was an American couple trying to get home, he was trying to use his positive test as proof of recover, despite him only testing positive 3 days or so prior. Nugget.

He proceeded to try plead his case, all the while wearing his mask around his chin.

 

Top bloke.

[Boab]

3 minutes ago, hmfc_liam06 said:

 

Was an American couple trying to get home, he was trying to use his positive test as proof of recover, despite him only testing positive 3 days or so prior. Nugget.

He proceeded to try plead his case, all the while wearing his mask around his chin.

 

Top bloke.

Yea, airports seem to be an idiot magnet at times. 

 

[mrmarkus1981_1]

I'm flying to Fuerteventura on Thursday morning. Chance Ryanair will be on strike over there 😮 

 

Cant wait  

 

I have put off going abroad for years too since covid etc, now this!

[Dagger Is Back]

On 26/06/2022 at 16:22, Jambos_1874 said:

Top tip: do not fly from Schiphol Aiport. Absolutely horrific queues - minimum 2 hrs to get through. Shite.

Nightmare. Wife and son flying back from there tonight with EJ. Flight at 630pm and it took them 3 hours to get through security. 
 

Flight delayed until 8pm. 15 minutes before take off they get an email to say flight cancelled. 15 minutes after that another email to ask them to rate EJ service!!!!

 

Put up in hotel but €30 down on a taxi along with extra food costs.

 

Back tomorrow for another go.

 

EJ saying flight cancelled due to exceptional circumstances so no component.

 

Utter pondlife. 

[Jambo-Jimbo]

Yet more travel woes for some in the last couple of days, it seems when things go wrong, they really go wrong.

 

A Ryanair flight from Prague to Manchester is claimed to have taken-off with most of the passengers still at security, over 100 people were left stranded at Prague airport.

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/its-totally-put-ever-going-24357594

 

And a TUI flight from Cyprus to Bristol was at first delayed by 2 hours which ended up being 24 hrs, then their flight was diverted to Gatwick, only for them to find that there were no buses to transfer them to Bristol airport, it's claimed some were told to make their own way home.

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/tui-flight-bristol-airport-delayed-7265446

 

I heard on NBC news that there has been over 3000 flights cancelled in the US this week alone, and it's not just regional airlines, but also the likes of Delta, United & American that are having to cancel flights, again sighting staff shortages.

 

[Peebo]

Anyone got any tips or tricks to actually speak to someone at British Airways? It is literally impossible to get through on there main phone line (simply says not taking calls and hangs up) and DMs on Twitter go unanswered for days or ignored. I know they are under pressure and understaffed but their customer service is beyond a joke. 

[jvm32]

9 hours ago, Peebo said:

Anyone got any tips or tricks to actually speak to someone at British Airways? It is literally impossible to get through on there main phone line (simply says not taking calls and hangs up) and DMs on Twitter go unanswered for days or ignored. I know they are under pressure and understaffed but their customer service is beyond a joke. 

If you sign up for their executive club membership programme they have a number you can call specifically for members that I've never had any issue on getting through to them on over the last couple of years. It has been a while since I've had to contact them to be fair, but the last few times was all covid related refunds/reschedules and always got through. Sometimes I had to call a few times to get in to the queue, I used to just call early in the morning, but was always able to get connected and in the queue within an hour or two. Early weekend mornings used to work best. 

 

The other option is the live chat on their Website, just keep typing you want to speak to an agent and you should be connected to a human at some point. 

[jambo89]

On 26/06/2022 at 15:22, graygo said:

 

Yes and now the advice is 3 hours if flying internationally and 2 hours if domestic.

I turned up for my flight on thursday 3 hours before my check-in (flying to Fance) and the desks never opened until 2 hours before my flight.

 

It was carnage once through security though. people everywhere, I never boarded my flight until the time I was due to take-off. Pilot then informed us we would be stuck in the plane for 2 hours for new schedule departure, but was evetually only delayed for 1.5 hours. Had to run to catch my connecting flight though.

 

On 26/06/2022 at 16:22, Jambos_1874 said:

Top tip: do not fly from Schiphol Aiport. Absolutely horrific queues - minimum 2 hrs to get through. Shite.

Schiphol has been a disater for months now. My company does not use them as part of their route now as the amount of cancelled flights and missed connections has cost a fortune.

[theshed]

11 hours ago, Peebo said:

Anyone got any tips or tricks to actually speak to someone at British Airways? It is literally impossible to get through on there main phone line (simply says not taking calls and hangs up) and DMs on Twitter go unanswered for days or ignored. I know they are under pressure and understaffed but their customer service is beyond a joke. 

Try their live chat. I used it during the week and was waiting around 30 mins. 
 

Like you I tried to phone loads of times but was waste of time 

[Peebo]

7 hours ago, jvm32 said:

If you sign up for their executive club membership programme they have a number you can call specifically for members that I've never had any issue on getting through to them on over the last couple of years. It has been a while since I've had to contact them to be fair, but the last few times was all covid related refunds/reschedules and always got through. Sometimes I had to call a few times to get in to the queue, I used to just call early in the morning, but was always able to get connected and in the queue within an hour or two. Early weekend mornings used to work best. 

 

The other option is the live chat on their Website, just keep typing you want to speak to an agent and you should be connected to a human at some point. 

Cheers.

 

I’m in the Exec club but have faced same issue (number not taking calls).

 

Will try the live chat again. I’m in the US at moment and have been pretty busy last couple of days (father in law being laid to rest at Arlington…a mere 30 months after he actually passed away!) but have some down time today so will be able to wait online. 
 

Thanks. 

[Peebo]

4 hours ago, theshed said:

Try their live chat. I used it during the week and was waiting around 30 mins. 
 

Like you I tried to phone loads of times but was waste of time 

Cheers will try that again. 

[Peebo]

Cheers for the advice above, folks. About an hour in the live chat and Rahul did the needful for us and got us new flights. And bonus is we don’t need to transit via the Heathrow shitshow.

 

Bag still missing from outbound journey last week, but **** all he was going to be able to do about that! 

Edited July 2, 2022 by Peebo

[Sooperstar]

3 hours ago, Peebo said:

Cheers.

 

I’m in the Exec club but have faced same issue (number not taking calls).

 

Will try the live chat again. I’m in the US at moment and have been pretty busy last couple of days (father in law being laid to rest at Arlington…a mere 30 months after he actually passed away!) but have some down time today so will be able to wait online. 
 

Thanks. 

Was he from Peebles?

[Peebo]

2 hours ago, Sooperstar said:

Was he from Peebles?

No.

 

Not on here much these days, but presume this is the same old joke. Apologies if I’ve been repeating myself. I’m sure Kickback has never seen the likes. 

[OBE]

Has anyone used the Premium Fast Track Parking at Newcastle airport?

[Swanny17]

Cyprus re-introducing compulsory mask wearing in all indoor settings with effect from Friday 8th July - just a heads up for anyone going there soon. No other changes at this time.

[Jambo-Jimbo]

British Airways are cutting 10,300 short-haul flights from now until the the end of October.

https://news.sky.com/story/british-airways-to-cut-a-further-10-300-flights-until-end-of-october-12647016

 

[Jambo-Jimbo]

3 hours ago, Swanny17 said:

Cyprus re-introducing compulsory mask wearing in all indoor settings with effect from Friday 8th July - just a heads up for anyone going there soon. No other changes at this time.

 

So is the city of Nice in France for public transport.

https://www.connexionfrance.com/article/French-news/Covid-19/City-of-Nice-to-bring-back-masks-on-public-transport

 

[Harry Potter]

Are folk still booking holidays with the chance the plane wont even take off , or be there, shambles.

[Sooperstar]

1 minute ago, Harry Potter said:

Are folk still booking holidays with the chance the plane wont even take off , or be there, shambles.

Most holidays are fine. You can either book one and highly likely get to go on it, or you can not book one and definitely not get to go on it.

[The Real Maroonblood]

5 minutes ago, Harry Potter said:

Are folk still booking holidays with the chance the plane wont even take off , or be there, shambles.

It would appear so.

Far too risky especially seeing the number of people missing their flights for different reasons.

I know some people will have probably booked months ago and didn’t envisage any problems.

 

Edited July 6, 2022 by The Real Maroonblood

[Harry Potter]

1 minute ago, Sooperstar said:

Most holidays are fine. You can either book one and highly likely get to go on it, or you can not book one and definitely not get to go on it.

Bit of a lottery then, rather stay here, folk are getting treated badly, if your paying hard cash you should  get away 100%, nothing less. My opinion , 

[graygo]

11 minutes ago, Sooperstar said:

Most holidays are fine. You can either book one and highly likely get to go on it, or you can not book one and definitely not get to go on it.

 

Exactly how I see it.