any travel horror stories?

I have one to share about, guess who? ryanair of course, things are pending, so cant' say too much yet, but watch this space, meanwhile, what is everyon'es xp with budget airlines, and anyone else been dissed by ryanair? I have to say the time wasting reply has been insulting and not even addressed my concerns at all, someone there, too is illiterate and can't spell, so much for quality people, useless wankers.

 

I have two minor ones but they were my fault

First one was I left a back with my digital camera, phone and CD player in it, the stuff was worth £200 in total in a starbucks on Queensway, London. I had walked to Bayswater Road and disocovered I had left it, so it was a mad rush back, luckily by some mircle it was still there.

Another was in Barcelona, I was on the underground and I got off a train at Cataluna (the main exchange) I didn't know we needed the tickets to get out, so some security guard was speaking at me in Spanish

"no ticket no way out"

I kept trying to say I had one, but he didn't understand, after 10 minutes of searching through all my pockets I found them.

Then there was the Blanc Hamburger confusion in Paris.

There could have been a problem in Dublin, we missed the hotel some how it took us half an hour to find, already in a rush becuase we had to get to the Morrissey gig we were pancining, when we got there the woman at the hotel thought the room had been double booked, it was a few days before Christmas.

Luckily that was sorted out.

So far touch would I haven't had a major travel problem. Unless being sick on a scouser air hostess counts.

 

When I travel with a budget airline I expect the peanuts I have paid to show in costs cut to the bone resulting in service cut to the bone as well delivered by underpaid and overworked staff in undermaintained, old aircraft. If I want a wheelchair to access the plane I should pay for it, not all the other passengers. If I want food or drink I should pay for it and not expect it subsidised by the other passengers. I am therefore continually amazed at the quality of service I receive from Jet2 out of Manchester. If I want to guarantee high quality service I can always pay a premium and go with a more expensive carrier.

Bob

 

I am not too sure, I went to Barcelona via EasyJet liverpool, the aircraft was a 737 I forget the exact model number now, but it was one of the newer generations made in 1998. EasyJet are already replacing these with brand new Airbus 319s. ( I think thats the correct model number, I hate planes).

The staff were nice, and the aircraft was fairly comfortable but I just hate flying anyway. I am 6.1 and I found the leg room wasn't a problem.

 

Indeed sleazyjet are replacing the boeings with airbusses... major coup for airbus, major egg-on-face for boeing who thought they had a safe customer with an all-boeing fleet who would never switch so didn't need to be offered the keenest prices. Which is why ryanair just ordered a load of 737NGs at around 60% discount on list price. Boeing learned...

I flew to geneva on easyjet from hell (spelt L-u-t-o-n). No problems at all... just take your own food, drink, etc and check in early.

 

not mine but a friend who travelled a huge amount as a malt salesman. one trip took him from London to Bogota to San Fran then on to Tokyo. Arriving in SF from Colombia they gave him the full body cavity treatment. It then got worse. He caught a stomach bug in SF and shat himself on the flight to Tokyo. Turns up in Narita to find that his luggage had gone missing. Had to check in to his hotel in a beshitten suit with no change of clothes, then buy a Jap one (with the usual short arms and legs to suit the Japanese body shape) to meet his client......

 

air france caused me the most hassle,flew to phillidelphia and they managed to leave both of our bags at charles de guall,luckilly we had a change of clothing in the hand luggage,unluckily we were attending a wedding,the girlfreind was cheif bridesmade and her custom made outfit was in one of the cases along with my suit (yes i own 1),next day no sign of the suitcases,frantic phonecalls to the airline and promises they would be delivered the next day and yes they would be delivered to the hotel were the wedding was being held,so of we went to princetown,mid afternoon we recived a phonecall from our freinds in phillidelphia to tell us air france had just dropped of the missing lugage,more frantic phonecalls followed, eventually they agreeded for a taxi to deliver them,they finaly arrived late friday evening.To be fair they did pay for a change of clothes for us both and didnt require the recipts,so the travel insurance also payed for them.
As for sleazy jet ive used them numourus times without any problems,was almost a frequent flyer on ther luton-amsterdam route

 

:ffrc: :ffrc: :ffrc:

I wonder what for?

 

Where does the information that the Aircraft are undermaintained come from ? I have personally worked as a technician on several Easy Jet, GO! and Britsh Airways 737's and no corners where ever cut on purely commercial grounds that i ever saw. If something was broken and needed fixing then it got fixed, the cost of the fix was never an issue, the law demands this.

 

The culture?

 

better a well maintained old plane, than a shoddily maintained new one.

 

bollux, these lo cost airlines are all using very new planes, no doubt VERY well maintained, I would rather fly with one of them than mgobo republic airlines

 

I know of no cases of any of the first world budget airlines, such as Easyjet, Ryanair, Jet2, Jetsgo, Southwest or Virgin blue cutting any corners in maintenance. It will not happen because the laws on this are incredibly stringent and strictly enforced.

I would feel safer on Ryanair's 70s vintage 737-200 (which is nearing retirement) than on PIA's 90s 777s (which have a habit of catching fire). PIA is not a budget airline...

The plane that worried me most though was Air Zimbabwe's 707. The 767 was broken, so they put a 762ER load onto the smaller 707, which was pushing 35 years old and still had the old Lufthansa cabin signs in german. Cabin crew had nowhere to sit (this is illegal, but what are you going to do?) and if not over, we were severely pushing max take-off weight. Harare is the longest commercial runway in the world, and good thing too... First take-off roll I've experienced counted in minutes rather than seconds. The Captain said "This plane has been flying for over 30 years, so we see no reason it should stop now". Great.

 

The only time I've been really uncomfortable on a flight was from Verona to Gatwick in 1992.

I've only flown 4 times (2 return trips, both in 1992!), but this one was the killer. It was British Caledonian, a DC10 (well, the "breathed on" replacement anyway), and we were delayed at Verona (can't remember why). Anyway, we taxied onto the runway, and then stopped. And waited, and waited, and waited... Then the captain says "We are having problems with a warning light on the rear cargo door". Great. So that's the REAR CARGO DOOR on a DC10 - the same cargo door that had a habit of blowing out in the 1970s, causing the luggage hold to depressurize and the rear cabin floor to collapse and jam up all the systems that control the flight surfaces. This caused a few nasty fatalities in the 70s such as the (1973?) crash outside Paris, and as a normally well-up on disasters type of guy, I got very uncomfortable.

Obviously the plane took off and landed safely, but i was still very uncomfortable on that flight. Especially since the plane was tatty inside and the cinema screen was bust, so no taking my mind off of that damn cargo door...

 

By the time you flew on the DC10 the design of the cargo door mechanism had been changed to prevent a repeat of the crash. The DC10 has a lower fatal event rate than the 747.

 

four and a half hour flight last month; grumpy wife one side, screaming toddler the other.

 

The 2.5 hour flight to Barcelona was enough, I prefer the train so much, I know its more expensive and it can take days when traveling accross Europe but you get to see so much more.

I also feel much more comfortable and safer on trains.

I was constantly throwing up on the flight to Barcelona, my ears had popped it felt like I was recovering from an operation, it spoilt the holiday a little bit becuase I knew I would have to face this awful flight to get back.

It wasn't quite as bad. I am so glad there is a two hour train from London to Manchester, so hopefully I will never have t fly there.

I know planes are very safe, it just dosn't feel like it when you're up there.

 

flying's never really bothered me .

 

It effects people differently, my sister hates trains I love them. I don't like motorways though but then I have had too many M62 nightmares.

 

I love travelling... trains and planes are both fantastic. Don't fare too well with boats, and can take or leave car journeys (depending on whether I'm driving, and what the roads are like.... 10 hour motorway schleps are no fun, 1 hour of fantastic driving roads can be a good laugh).