Don't let a delay ruin your holiday

[dajop]

One couple even trained it to Newcastle then flew to Brisbane last night to catch 9.30 flight to Adelaide. That got cancelled. Then was rebooked for 1pm. That just got cancelled.

I am not a believer in the big guy in the sky, nor fate, but sometimes you got to wonder .... with three cancelled flights ... some force somewhere is trying to stop them getting to the wedding for some reason ...

 

[Pushka]

I am not a believer in the big guy in the sky, nor fate, but sometimes you got to wonder .... with three cancelled flights ... some force somewhere is trying to stop them getting to the wedding for some reason ...

Sh%t happens I guess. Almost a movie.

 

[Bundy Bear]

Delays happen and good to be prepared and hope the delay is at the end of the holiday.
I had a 24hour delay on Emirates from Auckland to Brisbane; plane left the gate on time, and then promptly stopped, sat there for 2 hours then went back to the gate, sat there for another hour before we were left off. It worked out ok but would have been more annoying at the start of the holiday.
Always carry a set of spare clothes and tablets on your carry on.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

And also... delays happen... but our friends in Europe get to take away their cheques for 200/300/400 Euros

 

[Quickstatus]

Things happen in threes

 

[dajop]

And also... delays happen... but our friends in Europe get to take away their cheques for 200/300/400 Euros

Sometimes. If not weather related.

 

[albatross710]

Well this topic brought out quite a few responses.

When I planned this trip I had QF & JQ booking sites open comparing the deals and transit time. JQ was marginally cheaper and much faster direct flight. Going through the JQ booking process, knowing I would have to predict Mrs Albatross's spending into return flight KGs, plus weigh our cabin bags down to the +100 gms I knew that the potential for JQ to spoil a good holiday was more likely that QF.

I just realized that this month it is 30 years since I joined the then "Flight Deck" in my first corporate gig. First went Gold (when there was only Silver/Gold in 1992) That's a lot of aircraft delays and missed events in the early days. A few delayed baggages and a few damaged wheels.

Much of my travel is not on QF metal these days. Without complimentary lounge access I am always prepared to buy Priority Pass or whatever is available on an adhoc basis.

Just dont cut things so fine. If I have a 9am Sydney CBD meeting I dont catch Tiger or JQ. If I'm on holiday I prepare to be delayed.


Pushka sorry to hear about those numerous cancellations.

Alby

 

[codash1099]

All very much situation dependent.

I was in HNL flying to NRT for 3 days in Tokyo. Typhoon struck delaying all flights but no direct notification from JAL. Unable to contact airline, hotel in Tokyo or booking agent. Scrambled to get a hotel in HNL and lost 33% of my trip time, missing out on a booked tour. Managed to recover most of the additional costs but not the losses.

 

[JohnK]

Delays happen and can ruin a holiday.

We were flying BNE-SIN-HKT on Wednesday and due to arrive around 9:30pm and grab a hire a car to drive down to Patong.

Didn't sleep much on the BNE-SIN flight and then a couple of hours to the 3K flight. Gate changed from C18 to D40 and when we are about to board they announce a 2h20m delay and a gate change to D48. Everyone out.

Walked back to lounge for a little then back to D48. By this time I was exhausted. The 3K aircraft is awful. Tight seats with very little legroom. Fell asleep and woke up a few times anxious. Arrived in HKT just before midnight which was 3:00am BNE time and luckily skipped the long immigration queue as we had the little one.

Hired the car after midnight and arrived in Patong at 2:00am. I'm certain my eyes closed a few times and there are quite a few bends on those roads. Luckily I was doing around 50km/h for most of the trip as I don't like speeding in Thailand and if the speed sign says 50 km/h then I do 50km/h or less not the 80km/h that everyone else does.

Hindsight says I shouldn't be hiring a car at that time of the night but that's how it was planned and who factors delays into their planning?

P.S. The legroom on the PG flight HKT-BKK flight was very generous over the 3K flight. Would love to see the specifications of the 2 aircraft. Think they should both be A320's?

 

[AIRwin]

Would love to see the specifications of the 2 aircraft. Think they should both be A320's?

SIN-HKT 3K537 was operated by A320 9V-JSF (whichthe 6th aircraft in their fleet starting from JSA?):
Flightradar24.com - Live flight tracker!
(By the way I just checked my flight logs and I've been on this very same aircraft twice to and from KUL seated in 5A and 5F)

HKT-BKK may have been operated by an A319 (HS-PPN if you flew PG272):
Flightradar24.com - Live flight tracker!

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Hindsight says I shouldn't be hiring a car at that time of the night but that's how it was planned and who factors delays into their planning?

You'll know for next time At least in places like Thailand $30 is all it takes to get a hotel for the night.

 

[Pushka]

Well our friend arrived, 24 hours after he left home and about 2/3 into the reception.

A twist to the ‘travel the day before an important occasion’ advice was that those who left Sydney on the day of the reception experienced no issues at all. Their flights went according to schedule. Those who’d tried to get there the day before went to extraordinary lengths or were rescheduled to fly out to Adelaide late on Saturday and some were told their rescheduled flight wouldn’t be guaranteed anyway.

 

[JohnK]

Things happen in threes

Not always. Sometimes one bad thing can follow another.

I know @Pushka says cough happens but for some it can feel like destiny has other plans.

 

[Quickstatus]

Not always. Sometimes one bad thing can follow another.

I know @Pushka says cough happens but for some it can feel like destiny has other plans.

What was your run of delays @JohnK - I recall it was about 9?

 

[mrsterryn]

After catching up with my son and rather pregnant daughter in law a delay would not good
I have reminded her to keep her bump until we are home. She politely pointed out not up to her
Son just laughed said you would be on the next flight home mum
Don't think travel insurance covers early grand babies lol

 

[JohnK]

What was your run of delays @JohnK - I recall it was about 9?

Think it was 7 from memory.

Today I had a golf ball plug in the face of a fairway bunker on the 7th hole. This is a very rare event. I have had it happen multiple times but never witnessed anyone else come up against the same situation.

If someone above is not watching I'll be stuffed.

 

[Pushka]

Think it was 7 from memory.

Today I had a golf ball plug in the face of a fairway bunker on the 7th hole. This is a very rare event. I have had it happen multiple times but never witnessed anyone else come up against the same situation.

If someone above is not watching I'll be stuffed.

But when playing golf all you see is pretty much the group ahead and the group behind so it’s not like it mightn’t happen very often, you just haven’t seen it. Good and bad stuff happens to everyone. You just don’t see or hear about it.

 

[PJ747]

Just recently did a two month RTW holiday ex BNE. Scheduled on QF15 BNE-LAX, with seperate booking on AA LAX-SEA. Knowing that QF15 can be quite unreliable timetable wise, I made sure our onward flight to SEA had a good margin of error (about 8-9hrs), just in case. Especially as neither of us had negotiated LAX before. Turned out we were perfectly on time on QF15 so we had a nice ling wait in the lounges, but it certainly left me relaxed during the lead up to the flight that we had plenty of time in case of delays.
Continued this theme through the rest of the trip as much as possible, which meant no delays caused massive problems.
We did miss our flight DUB-LCY due to the bus running very late and security holding the other half up for quite a while, however BA rebooked us on to the next available flight to LHR. We were booked on the 1730ish Eurostar service LON-AMS that evening, but I made sure to book us on a morning flight from DUB, giving plenty of leeway, meaning we still had ample time to get to Paddington (after a couple hours plane spotting was conducted at LHR!) for our train. Only real disappointment was that we didn't get to experience the flight landing in LCY like i'd hoped.
I know there are times where it is hard to schedule in such delay margins, but it certainly makes things a whole lot less stressful when it can be done!

 

[drron]

Think it was 7 from memory.

Today I had a golf ball plug in the face of a fairway bunker on the 7th hole. This is a very rare event. I have had it happen multiple times but never witnessed anyone else come up against the same situation.

If someone above is not watching I'll be stuffed.

No it is when you have your ball plugged into the face of a greenside bunker and you give the shot a bit more.The ball comes out easily and lands in the water on the other side of the green. That is when you know someone is watching.

 

[Quickstatus]

That is when you know someone is watching.

Maybe the one who is supposed to be watching couldn’t be bothered?