 Poster: A snowHead
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| e17phil wrote: |
There does seem to be a whole load of smug gits on here who are downplaying the hassle it was/ could have been if you were doing a DIY triip. Doesn't seem as if any of them were caught up in it though.
Armchair experts - P - Off! |
Has it occur to anyone that maybe many DIY's are staying put and skiing more instead of hassling to get back? 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| WiRED wrote: |
| I wan't skiing myself last week, but a friend was out in Tignes with Ski Olympic and they did something similar - got everyone back by coach to Gatwick via Calais and Dover. I think the TOs deserve some kudos for being on top of this situation |
Ironic when you consider that they stopped their regular bus travel option this year..... I wonder whether buses will gain popularity now for next year and whether they put the option back into their brochure
It is actually a very economical way for TOs to operate. I got a quote at the beginning of this week of £3200 for a 49 seater bus for the EoSB, ferry crossing plus two drivers to Geneva and, for an extra couple of hundred, a local driver would then take us all the way to Val T while the UK guys got their rest stop. If you manage to fill the return leg too it gets very cheap.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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brian
brian
Guest
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We were supposed to fly home last Monday, the 19th, easyjet's earliest offer of a seat was next Wed, the 28th! So we made our own way back, arriving home last night. Our journey was slightly complicated by #1 son's broken leg, so we didn't want to turn up at the Channel and wait in some indeterminate foot passenger queue. As :sH:ly good fortune would have it, easiski came to our rescue with a ferry booking she could just add us to as extra passengers. 
Our luck also extended to having no booking in our apartment last week (the lifts shut last weekend), so we had no accom problems. In fact, if mrs b and I had taken laptops we would've just stayed on for the rearranged flight I think. Anyway, we drove over to GVA on Thursday night, stayed in a hotel, got picked up by easiski on Friday morning and enjoyed the spacious comforts of the E-team van all the way to Dunkirk where we were picked up by a mercy mission flotilla of small boats (ok then, a Norfolkline ferry). Premier Inn at Dover on Friday night and train back to the civilised North yesterday, arriving in Edinburgh by tea time, phew.
Network rail came up trumps with a wheelchair laid on from St Pancras to King's X.
Thanks again to easiski!
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Getting back to the UK from Chamonix was a lot less of a problem as 2 of my companions in the apartment traveled back on the days they wanted to by coach. However getting to Barcelona was a problem as the Swiss (Air) telephone numbers in France and Switzerland just gave 3 beeps and cut me off. Spanish Swiss (Air) number finally answered on Wed morning and re booked me on the Friday 23rd flight, which took off only 60% full.
Rail links could not be booked as the SNCF in Cham said they were full, however by the Tuesday online booking could be done, but they would only send tickets to a UK address!!! (I was on the English Language site) The French Lang site was overloaded and kept looping.
I might have been able to go to GVA on the chance of getting a standby seat on Rail or Plane but if that failed I would have to look for a room late at night (rail at 23:45) in GVA along with many others, the hoteliers were not being very helpful with their pricing. My booked transfer for the previous Saturday with Mountain Dropoffs was honored and the flight was at no extra cost.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| abc wrote: |
| e17phil wrote: |
There does seem to be a whole load of smug gits on here who are downplaying the hassle it was/ could have been if you were doing a DIY triip. Doesn't seem as if any of them were caught up in it though.
Armchair experts - P - Off! |
Has it occur to anyone that maybe many DIY's are staying put and skiing more instead of hassling to get back? |
My apartment guests stayed an extra night, took the car back to Turin airport, and took a car hired in France to Calais. They said it wasn't too much hassle, but it was expensive.
As DIY'ers are used to making their own travel arrangements anyway, it probably didn't phase them. A lot of them drive too.
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| abc wrote: |
| Has it occur to anyone that maybe many DIY's are staying put and skiing more instead of hassling to get back? |
Nope
I went out to resort on the sunday and on the way booked 6 coaches from the transfer company we use every week. V easy as I have the director's mobile number.
When I arrived there was a marked difference between the attitude of our clients and the DIY'ers who had turned up at our office. They had mostly come there as they were told by the hotels (from at least 5 different resorts in the Val di Sole) that there was still "an english office open". Or, if you want to look at it another way, the hotel had other people booked into their rooms so it was just a way to get rid of them.
Anyway, the most important difference between our (TO) clients and the DIY'ers was "certainty". Out clients "knew" they would get home or, if not, then they would be put up somewhere, dinner would be provided, etc and it would all get sorted out for them. The DIY'ers didn't know what was going on, how or even if they would get home, where they would stay that night, some didn't have any money or cash machine cards, etc,etc.
That was the difference I noticed and as for the skiing for extra days thing goes, it was only our clients who even mentioned it, the DIY'ers were just happy to see someone who could speak Italian and to be told there was seats on our busses if they wanted one.
We didn't ask anyone for any money up front. Our clients got on the bus as part of the holiday. The DIY'er were told they could pay us when they arrived home - we didn't make anything on the bus costs, just divided the cost between the number of people on the 2 DIY'er busses. We paid the Italian coach company up front and will just wait and see if everyone reimburses us.
I don't know of any TO that had clients held up for more than 1 day or so. So the main difference is that TO clients "knew" things would get sorted even if the situation lasted for weeks on end.
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I was on a package tour in Geilo Norway, due to return on Sunday, 18th April. By the 16th, it was becoming clear we would not be flying back to Gatwick with the charter flight on Sunday. Neilson, the tour operator opted to hang on for a couple of days before making alternative arrangements, to see if there was any prospect of rescheduling the flight, as the overland option was going to be difficult. We stayed on in resort and got a couple of fab extra days' skiing. However, we had to get out as the whole area was booked out from Wednesday 21st for a major race on the 24th.
So Tuesday morning, we made sandwiches and filled flasks and boarded a fleet of coaches at 06:00 on a beautiful sunny day. The journey was from Geilo, to Oslofjord (crossed using the new tunnel at Drøbak); Helsingborg, Sweden (sunshine and windfarms); ferry to Helsingør, Denmark, (nice view of Hamlet's castle); drove through Denmark (snow and more windfarms); to Rødby; ferry to Puttgarden, Germany; arriving at 23:30 at a German seaside resort for an overnight stay. We had been hoping to stay there until noon and have a bit of a break, but as we arrived, our departure was brought forward to 09:00 the next morning, as space had been found on an earlier ferry. We also got the news that British airspace was opening Wednesday. 
So Wednesday morning back on the bus, and a fairly dreadful drive through northern Germany (roadworks, diversions and snow - and more windfarms); Belgium (beautiful gardened motorway verges in Spring finery, and more snow); Netherlands and France (stunned or asleep by then and can't remember anything); to Calais, where we just missed the booked ferry, due the frequent delays and diversions. However, they managed to get us on the 01:00 ferry on Thursday morning. Ferry grim - dirty and smelly, but at least going in the right direction. Arrived back in Gatwick at 03:30 on Thursday morning. Retrieved the car and debated whether to book into a hotel for a shower and a sleep, but opted for coffee and to drive home to Wales before the roads got busy. Home for breakfast, (nine countries in just over two days) and spent the rest of the day blundering about trying to decide whether to stay awake until bedtime, or just collapse. I had eaten something that disagreed (probably on the ferry), so wasn't too good. Work on Friday and then spent weekend in bed with a stomach bug. 
Sort of back to normal now. Neilson organised it all very well, and kept us fed and accommodated. And the two extra days ski-ing was a big plus. However, still a marathon. If I had been DIY, I would have been staying in Bergen, waiting for flights to restart, and then trying to find a seat. As Wayne says, more stress, but ultimately a preferable journey home.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| abc wrote: |
| Isn't that kind of "asking for it" as a DIY? |
I think the problem was that (as a DIY’er) if you are told that the airport is closed. Where do you go. It’s the end of your holiday, you pack your bags, then what. What do you do next if you can’t go to the airport.
It’s easy to say, with 20-20 hindsight, oh you should have got the bus down to the valley floor, got a train to Verona then change for Milan. From Milan take the over night to Paris. Then try and get to the channel ports and buy a bike for each member of your party so you can board a ferry, etc, etc. But it’s not like that in reality. You have booked your DIY holiday and everything is going fine. Then you hear that the airport is closed. The hotel is full next week so where do you go with your kids, where do you sleep that night.
I have been on the Tibetan plateau when the main highway was closed due to Chinese military manoeuvres (the highway is the only way back unless you want to get shot), I have been in the Andes when the only bridge has been washed away and in Nepal trying to work out the way back down off a mountain after hearing on the radio that a landslide has taken away half of the only airstrip for 300 miles, etc, etc. So it happens to us all. But there is a big difference to my experiences and a DIY ski holiday with your family. When we plan an exped we expect things to go wrong and make plans to cope before we even leave the UK and we tend to leave quite a few days (or even weeks in some case) at the end of the trip – just in case. Anyone who climbs in Tibet and expects thing to run smoothly is an idiot. On a DIY ski trip you can normally expect a few things to go wrong but you don’t expect the airports (all of em) to be shut.
I don’t think that anyone was angry about the volcano situation (except of “really” irritating guy and his horrid family).
By the time I arrived, most of the DIY’ers had already made other arrangements for accommodation (booked on the internet) and where prepared to wait it out. I know they were pleased to see our fleet of busses arrive in the coach park and were just happy to end the DIY section of their trip and (for the return journey at least) to be back on a TO operated trip.
Stop Press
I just checked and am pleased to say that almost everyone (the DIY’ers) has paid us back for the amounts that we paid up front for cost of the coaches. Just 4 family groups to go. So it does show that most people are honest.
And the other good news is that our Co insurance have confirmed they will cover the cost of the extra night’s accommodation and coach hire for our clients.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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FAQ
or extra short trip 
I went around the airport car hire desk and quickly found several groups of similarly stranded flyers and join their rank in hiring a car to the next airport (which happened to be the common destination).
