I am NOT supposed to be at home posting this. At this moment I should be on the Stansted express to Liverpool Station, heading to our hotel to drop off luggage before taking the tube to the V&A. I am
Not Pleased
to be in my own kitchen instead.
As we rolled into the small airport, so did the fog. It seemed to be getting worse after we checked in, as we waited for our flight, but everything proceeded with no problem and they let us in to the international area just before we were supposed to board. As we waited to be called to board there was an announcement in Dutch, and we could tell everyone was getting upset. We asked someone to translate, and were told the flight had been canceled. No one knew what was happening, but they shepherded us out to get our luggage. It turned out the only options were to change to a later flight or get a refund. There was no added flight, no bus to take us to another city, nothing. We could have gotten a refund and booked a KLM flight from Amsterdam, but then we’d have had to drive an hour and a half there and repark – it didn’t seem worth it. After half an hour of standing in line I was able to get through on the cell phone instead (at .70 euros per minute!), and got transferred to the only other flight on Ryanair to London from our airport today. We will be leaving at 7:35 PM instead of 9:25 AM.
It could have been worse: at least our theatre tickets are for tomorrow night rather than tonight. On the other hand we spent about 10 Euros, between the parking, the phone call, and the bottled water we bought because you can’t take your own through security, and we lose a whole day of our London vacation. (Rudder’s theory is that, given Ryan flights tend to cost about 1 Euro plus much more in taxes and fees, and given the high cost to call them, they may make more money on cancelled flights than on ones that actually take off.) I am both pissed and pouting.
Oh, and the fog was lifting by the time we left the airport. All they’d have had to do was to delay the flight an hour. I am NOT impressed with RyanAir.
Here’s hoping for no problems with this evening’s flights.
It’s been almost 5 years since I went anywhere by air. The thing I always hate about flying anywhere is not knowing what the experience will bring. I like things planned out and firm, not up in the air. I’m hoping as I write this you are happily enjoying London at this moment. and again, Happy Birthday.
Hrmph. How irritating. I hope things at least go smoothly from here on…
Unfortunately I’m not surprised. RyanAir may be cheap, but it also has a really shoddy reputation when it comes to these things. I hope you got to London safely regardless.