My first experience of being stranded was on a flight from Heathrow to India. Delayed. Engine trouble.
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One happy couple were on their way to a wedding.
When we told about a delay they were not happy. We kept being told to wait because the flight.
Some older couples were resigned.
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They were bored. They slept.
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One cheerful and calm passener told us he was told the flight had a faulty engine and the part was being sent and installed and we would take off in an hour or two's time. Reassuring.
But that did not happen. More delay.
However, a now a little posse of action intent annoyed Americans gathered. One told us that the flight would not be taking off in an hour, as we had been led to believe.
??
QUESTIONS I ASKED
I approached him privately and asked, 'Are you sure? How do you know?'
He replied, 'The next incoming plane is from the USA. I rang to find out what time it left. It did not leave in time to be here in an hour's time. Simple. If it didn't leave, it can't arrive."
I thought about it. Flight times are displayed publicly. You could call a friend. You could call the airline. You could check into a website. Nowadays you can see the flight departures and arrivals all around the world online.
A Lawyer's Class Action Complaint
On a flight in America we were delayed and three families were asked to get off the plane. An American lawyer asked for our contact details. He said he would write on behalf of all of us.
He would fight for us.
He said that having a lawyer in charge would help us. Having several people complaining would help him have a better effect.
We were very grateful for his help.
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An Individual's Persistence
On another occasion, my husband wrote with a complaint. He wrote a letter which
That received another rejection. oints, then wondered what to do if they rejected it and he had to write another letter.
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Simple. He put only the first point in the first letter. The second point was in the second letter. The third point was in the third letter. He now had three devised three letters.
The simple fist letter stating the case and giving full details of the flight numbers and our details and describing the situation. He had two more detailed letters that he had ready to send.
He did not state his entire argument in the first letter, just brief details to see whether we would be automatically compensated.
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We prayed that it would be simple.
Letter One
No. The first letter received a brief response, a we sympathise but sorry can't help type of response. However, he was not deterred.
Follow-up - Letter two
He sent the second letter detailing the section of their conditions under which he made the claim. Did that work? No. But he was not deterrred.
That also received a rejection letter, a second rejection. I and most people would have thought the case was over and been disappointed and given up. Not my husband.
That did not deter him. He had a third letter already prepared, no time needed and no stress and no courage needed. Just routine. Finally, he sent a letter of complaint about how we were badly treated by staff at the airport, the name and number and time, the conversation, action or lack of it, and added other reasons and what futher action he might take.
How would they respond. By now they were compliling a dossier. It was clear the complaint would not go away. It was taking up their staff time.
The writer had facts and a good case. They would be in trouble if they did not respond. Yes, we received the compensation due.
Allow Time
I like to go for prevention rather than cure. I always leave the whole day free on the day of my return flight in case of delays.
In A Crisis - Alternative Routes
My husband was on a small plane which had a hiccup on the runway as it came into land so it could not take off again. He had to quickly check if another airline could take him out, or hire a taxi to another airport which had cheap onward flights.
If your flight is delayed, you may be able to ask the crew to ask the pilot to call ahead to the destination connecting airport and ask if you can be escorted and rushed through the airport to your connecting flight.
How To Hire A Vehicle
I have heard of people who had to get home in a hurry and hired a car. On one occasion there was no car available, only a minibus which cost more and had more seats. So the hirer did everybody a favour and sold a share of seats to fellow passengers.
This only works in a country on the mainland, unless you can get a quick cheap ferry from an island to a mainland and on to an airport.
Your options include hiring a car, a van, a minibus, a coach, or even a helicopter or small plane. Take your driving license with you even if you were not planning to drive. You never know when you might need it.
If you don't have a license or are too tired to drive, you might hire a car or coach and driver.
Why Take Your Driving License?
If your driver's license is stolen or lost, or runs out in less than six months and is not accepted, or the hire car company requires an international license from the driver's country of origin, you might need to show your license in order to hire a car. We had this problem in Bulgaria, with an international driver's license from the UK out of time, and the driver's license from Singapore not recognized.
In the end we hired a car from a local company in a remote town. They were not bothered by the lack of an international license with the translation into multi-languages. They accepted the Singapore license. They either translated it in Google, or just wrote down the licesne number or took a copy and that was good enough.
Did we get our money back from the big car hire company? I don't know. The important thing was that we were able to take two trips planned and dreamed of to other must see cities.
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Good News
To end on a lighter note, we were given free flights after delays on a plane in the USA. They appealed for volunteers to be bumped off the plane and we volunteered. From then onwards we always took reading matter with us to the airport. If you don't want to carry books, buy a kindle or download an ebook reader onto your phone.
Useful Websites
Angela Lansbury
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