Made any travel mistakes lately?

[Flashback]

More snow, ice and rain to hit UK and flood warnings in place

Rain warnings are in place for southern England and south Wales, with flood warnings issued as snow melts due to milder temperatures.

www.bbc.com

Ahhh the delights of an English summer winter - I can never tell the difference

Yep, I've already seen some videos of cars skidding/getting stuck on roads around where we live (it's very hilly...... and some people think attempting it in 2WD cars is smart).

 

[cove]

Makes it easier to get a cold beer when it is wintry in London. I do hope the weekend demonstrators are afraid of the cold as we are planning on getting to some live shows and last visit we couldn’t always get to the theatre due to the demonstrations.

 

[VPS]

Yep, I've already seen some videos of cars skidding/getting stuck on roads around where we live (it's very hilly...... and some people think attempting it in 2WD cars is smart).

I'm glad I don't have to walk up that hill in the ice then

 

[Flashback]

I'm glad I don't have to walk up that hill in the ice then

Don't worry, the wind would easily blow the packs of chicken Twisties up no problem at all.

 

[blackcat20]

Don't worry, the wind would easily blow the packs of chicken Twisties up no problem at all.

I saw chicken flavoured cheezels today

 

[marki]

If you intend to drink in the sky in economy, far better news =>

Most full-service carriers, including Emirates, Qantas, Qatar, Singapore Airlines and Etihad all provide complimentary beer and wine on international flights. Air France even offers free champagne in all its cabin classes – the label changes every few months, but this January, economy class received Vranken Heidsieck Monopole Silver. I am happier to be in cramped conditions if a full service airline lubricates my knees with champagne. Especially these long trips via NZ to NY, where guess what awaits….

"New York City follows London with congestion charge to tackle traffic" …it would be a mistake not to drink as who wants to be paying those nine US dollars during peak hour? Or get the century old subway into town. I am not keen on subway travel due to recent setting on fire of passengers by certain people who avoided the ESTA totally. Not me - I will be quizzed to death with every single question possible until Sunday next week as to why I am boarding and flying to the USA. A Prof. with PHD might be dangerous. Unique thoughts I wish everyone unique thoughts. ​

 

[jimmy hutspah]

had too many espresso martinis in EK F on the way from Mel-Sin, during transit went up to the cactus garden bar and tripped over the step, fell onto a large cactus. cut my hand open pretty bad. arrived at aerotel for my 6 hour transit room bloodied and sheepish - CSA asked "are you ok"? yes im fine just give me the key please. woke up and headed straight to pharmac_ for some benadine and bandages before continuing on to eventually finally arrive in Marrakech some ridiculous hours later. had to then nurse a badly cut hand through a week of various sand based activities like quad biking and camel riding.

 

[Seat0B]

had too many espresso martinis in EK F on the way from Mel-Sin, during transit went up to the cactus garden bar and tripped over the step, fell onto a large cactus. cut my hand open pretty bad. arrived at aerotel for my 6 hour transit room bloodied and sheepish - CSA asked "are you ok"? yes im fine just give me the key please. woke up and headed straight to pharmac_ for some benadine and bandages before continuing on to eventually finally arrive in Marrakech some ridiculous hours later. had to then nurse a badly cut hand through a week of various sand based activities like quad biking and camel riding.

Oh that sounds like a painful lesson.

 

[RSD]

had too many espresso martinis in EK F on the way from Mel-Sin, during transit went up to the cactus garden bar and tripped over the step, fell onto a large cactus. cut my hand open pretty bad. arrived at aerotel for my 6 hour transit room bloodied and sheepish - CSA asked "are you ok"? yes im fine just give me the key please. woke up and headed straight to pharmac_ for some benadine and bandages before continuing on to eventually finally arrive in Marrakech some ridiculous hours later. had to then nurse a badly cut hand through a week of various sand based activities like quad biking and camel riding.

And I thought Bali was dangerous for Aussies!

 

[Beano]

Just made one. I was booking a MAD-FRA flight in May and saw that J was about 7 euros more than the equivalent Y so went for it and got as far a choosing seat before paying. At that point there was no indication of the departure time, so I started again and made sure I got the correct time. The cost had not increased to 100 Euros is all of 5 minutes! I then booked Y when they said that only two seats left at that price. However at seat selection the plane was virtually empty. It was the same as J with all seats free though they said on 4 seats left at that price. OK, so all good so far.

8 hours later checked the web site and the original, cheaper seat in J was available again, but I had booked non-refundable Y so have to stick with it. I wonder if my incomplete booking was still in the system so wouldn't give me the lower fare? Any ideas?

 

[SYD]

Just made one. I was booking a MAD-FRA flight in May and saw that J was about 7 euros more than the equivalent Y so went for it and got as far a choosing seat before paying. At that point there was no indication of the departure time, so I started again and made sure I got the correct time. The cost had not increased to 100 Euros is all of 5 minutes! I then booked Y when they said that only two seats left at that price. However at seat selection the plane was virtually empty. It was the same as J with all seats free though they said on 4 seats left at that price. OK, so all good so far.

8 hours later checked the web site and the original, cheaper seat in J was available again, but I had booked non-refundable Y so have to stick with it. I wonder if my incomplete booking was still in the system so wouldn't give me the lower fare? Any ideas?

Yes, quite possible. I had that happen to me trying to book a QR fare. SYD+1 was travelling outbound on a seperate day but returning together. It took a couple of goes to get one booking done by the time I went to do mine, the J fare had jumped $2k!

I had to wait a couple of anxious hours for it to drop out and rebook….

 

[Beano]

Yes, quite possible. I had that happen to me trying to book a QR fare. SYD+1 was travelling outbound on a seperate day but returning together. It took a couple of goes to get one booking done by the time I went to do mine, the J fare had jumped $2k!

I had to wait a couple of anxious hours for it to drop out and rebook….

I was not sure that it could happen. I was booking late at night so morning in Spain, and bookings could have been coming in with the Y, and J increasing or even fully booking. An early Monday morning flight MAD-FRA would be ideal for business travel.

 

[Cynicor]

Yeah, EF would tell you if the fare bucket was taken up, but as soon as you go to book you take the seats out of play for that fare code.

I suspect it’s why some people believe that booking companies change the price on you the more searches you do. The reality is likely- seats finally sell and the price goes up, and sometimes they hold a seat, do a search elsewhere and the fare bucket supply is exhausted.

 

[Beano]

Yeah, EF would tell you if the fare bucket was taken up, but as soon as you go to book you take the seats out of play for that fare code.

I suspect it’s why some people believe that booking companies change the price on you the more searches you do. The reality is likely- seats finally sell and the price goes up, and sometimes they hold a seat, do a search elsewhere and the fare bucket supply is exhausted.

To true, now I know. The same must have happened on a MAD-FCO booking, but I assumed it was a genuine increase and paid the price.

Post automatically merged: Jan 24, 2025

But it a bit of a gamble so "Do it Once, Do It Right"

 

[serfty]

To true, now I know. The same must have happened on a MAD-FCO booking, but I assumed it was a genuine increase and paid the price.

Post automatically merged: Jan 24, 2025

But it a bit of a gamble so "Do it Once, Do It Right"

What generally happens here is that the cheaper seat is in a nearly exhausted fare bucket (e.g. I1 ) and the booker (you), in selecting it "holds" the seat reducing the fare bucket availability to zero (e.g. I0). When you exit and come back in, depending on how you exit and how the airline software's handles that exit, those seats can remain "held" for a period of time. As a result, a search immediately after your exiting returns availability in a higher fare bucket (e.g. D) as the systems see none left available in the lower fare bucket. To the booker, this can make it seem the cheaper seats have been sold. Later on, the holding times out and the cheaper seats get returned making the cheaper fare again available.

Similar has happened to me in the past. In such cases, if I need to recheck times etc. such as what happened here, I avoid going back and use a different resource/browser to make that check.

 

[Beano]

What generally happens here is that the cheaper seat is in a nearly exhausted fare bucket (e.g. I1 ) and the booker (you), in selecting it "holds" the seat reducing the fare bucket availability to zero (e.g. I0). When you exit and come back in, depending on how you exit and how the airline software's handles that exit, those seats can remain "held" for a period of time. As a result, a search immediately after your exiting returns availability in a higher fare bucket (e.g. D) as the systems see none left available in the lower fare bucket. To the booker, this can make it seem the cheaper seats have been sold. Later on, the holding times out and the cheaper seats get returned making the cheaper fare again available.

Similar has happened to me in the past. In such cases, if I need to recheck times etc. such as what happened here, I avoid going back and use a different resource/browser to make that check.

Thanks @serfty. I may be an experienced flyer but most of my bookings are through an agent. I may make some personal complicated bookings once very three to five years. I think is was mostly to my uncertainties of when I would be travelling. In this I am certainly a newbie. Thanks to those who replied. This is showing the worth of joining AFF.

 

[drron]

Having experienced a few lost bookings in the past if i want to check things such as times,plane types etc I now always open the airline site on another device.. I usually have a computer and phone travelling but also used Mrsdrron's phone a couple of times. Then go back to the initial device to confirm booking.

 

[Beano]

Having experienced a few lost bookings in the past if i want to check things such as times,plane types etc I now always open the airline site on another device.. I usually have a computer and phone travelling but also used Mrsdrron's phone a couple of times. Then go back to the initial device to confirm booking.

Thanks will do but without logging-in to the website.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Thanks will do but without logging-in to the website.

For the booking itself? Doesn’t matter if you log in or not, if you go through to selecting a fare, the seat can be held.

But similar to the responses above, i’ve had that happen several times, including with award inventory. Waiting for a while usually returns the seat.

It’s a gamble, but if you know it’s 2am in the home country of the airline, you might risk that no one is booking at that time, and just give it 30 mins.

 

[Beano]

For the booking itself? Doesn’t matter if you log in or not, if you go through to selecting a fare, the seat can be held.

But similar to the responses above, i’ve had that happen several times, including with award inventory. Waiting for a while usually returns the seat.

It’s a gamble, but if you know it’s 2am in the home country of the airline, you might risk that no one is booking at that time, and just give it 30 mins.

Just what I thought but it was 10 am in Europe.