Worst Case Scenario
I like to travel fully prepared to re-route in an emergency. What are the alternative modes of travel?
USA
You can get delays anywhere. We were bumped off flights in the USA at Xmas. (Bumped meaning denied boarding, or boarded and found your seat already occupied and were asked to get off the plane.
The first time I experienced a major delay was on a flight to India.
Indian flag.INDIA
The first travel delay I had was outgoing from Heathrow, London, on a flight to India. Engine trouble. We were told to wait. Another plane was due in from the USA and we would be transferred to that flight. Wait a couple of hours.
An American was canny. He told me and other passengers, "Goodbye folks. I'm going to book on another airline. The plane will not be arriving in the next two hours."
I asked, "How do you know?'
He replied, "I phoned the USA and it has not taken off yet. the flight takes five hours or longer. So it cannot arrive here at the time they told us. You will be hanging around all day."
What could possibly go wrong?
EUROPE - UK, London
We were at home asleep before midnight, in a quiet suburb, woken when we heard banging. A woman was driving out our car and shouting.
We called the police. She drove off but we had the number plate.
EUROPE - France
We overnighted in a small hotel garni (guesthouse). We woke in the morning to find a large vehicle, possibly a delivery van, or cleaning vehicle, had damaged my mother's car.
EUROPE - Madrid, Spain
We drove out car to Spain. We parked outside Madrid Zoo for a few hours. We returned to find the window broken by thieves. We had to hire a car one way back to our home, leaving our car to be repaired and shipped back.
The flag of the Czech Rpublic and the former Czechoslovakia.
EUROPE - Prague, Czech Republic
One year we drove our car from the UK across Europe to Prague in the Czech Republic. Our car was broken into. Windows smashed. Over Xmas and New Year garages were shut, police stations were shut or they were out manning the crowds. Parts needed to be ordered were from factories shut over the holidays.
Make sure you are fully insured and have the insurance company numbers.
EUROPE - Spain - Marbella
My handbag was snatched as I was unloading the car. My husband chased after the assailant's car, put his hand through the window, and was dragged around the corner and disappeared.
I ran after the car, screaming, "Let go!"
My husband reappeared but had to go to hospital to be patched up.
A passer-by, alerted by my screaming, saw the car dragging my husband and memorised the numberplate. I could not write down the number because the bag containing my pen had been stolen.
We reported the crime. The police had arrested one of the four boys in the car, a stolen car, when it went around the corner and crashed into parked cars. I was left in the waiting room with my small son, sitting opposite the lad who had stolen my bag and whose gang had injured my husband.
Alternative Transport
Can you go buy a low cost flight, another airline,or hire a helicopter? Could you take a train, a ferry, a bus, a taxi, hire a self-drive car.
Could buy a motorbike, rent a bicycle?
Even if you have the money, and can afford to pay a driver, and have a driving license for that vehicle, what if the emergency means all the hire cars are booked?
What about hiring a minivan or coach to drive a whole group of people? I read of one incident where an airline had no plane able to take people back to the UK.
Somebody said, "They could hire a coach and take us back!"
What about everybody hiring cars? No cars were available. Besides, the price quoted for hiring a car was equal to or more expensive than hiring a coach!
An enterprising passenger with initiative and funds decided he would hire a coach. To recover his money, and do everybody a favour, he sold tickets to all the other passengers. He got everybody back from Europe to the UK.
The moral is, always have your international driving license, or a photocopy of it, even if you had not intended to drive.
Alternative Routes
Go to an intermediate country away from terrorists, natural disaster, medical emergency or quarantine?
Alternative Accommodation
What about accommodation? Could you hire a flat, or a caravan to live in at lower cost than staying in a hotel for months?
ISRAEL
I heard from people in Tel Aviv that they were in what I call a semi-quarantine, not confined to their rooms but allowed to leave so long as they kept distance from others. They said they were allowed out to exercise and had walked along the beach.
Flag of Israel
QUARANTINE and homestay and isolation
What about food? Can you pack tinned food in your suitcase or carry on bag or briefcase or handbag. I like to travel with a small tin of sardines, and another of baked beans, and a third of fruit, in case we arrive late and the hotel restaurant is closed, or we are stuck at an airport, or stuck on the runway for hours.
Flag of Singapore
Home Delivery
Find out who does home delivery? My family renting a condo in Singapore found out about a shop selling provisions in the condo. We asked if they would deliver if we were ever quarantined. It turned out that the shop already offered delivery to the 1000 people on the estate. But few people bothered to use this service. So we took their names and phone number and put it in our phones and on the fridge in case we ever needed it.
About the Author
Angela Lansbury is a British citizen and also had family who are Singapore Permanent Residents (a renewable legal status).
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