Stranded in Portugal for a week?

[InOffice]

My boss was due back form holiday yesterday, but is apparently now stranded until Saturday.

It doesn't really matter, we'll be fine without her, but is it really that bad?!

Yes

Hmmm
We were stranded in Geneva. When we first looked for flights they said Thursday to rebook direct flights. But then they came back with a flight via Munich within 24 hours of original time.
But it does depend....she might have accepted the original offer of rebokkkng for Saturday, if she didn't mind being in Portugal!

Yes. Someone who works for my dh is stranded in Poland until Saturday. It really is happening

Well, the flights from loads of airports reduce significantly at the end of August so there are less flights anyway, and loads of people booked the spare spaces.

So yes probably. I'd have booked a train back the minute I heard about it but alot of people just waited to hear from the likes of Ryanair and so on so it's no surprise they have got nowhere fast.

Hmm.
There are flights available from Faro to London tomorrow, both direct and indirect. Airline would be offering these... as per their obligation.

A quote from the story on this on the BBC News site.

"Cricket journalist Rory Dollard and his family are stuck in Bergerac, France and were told it could take up to six days to get home after his Ryanair flight was cancelled."

The government Transport Secretary has saud it would take "some days to get completely everybody to where they should be".

So yes.

I've got a friend stuck in Portugal, she's been told a week at a minimum.

One of my DDs is in Portugal and has been told it'll be at least 5 days before they can get her back.

My understanding is that airlines.have the obligation to offer flights ASAP after original booking, including using other carriers. Given there is flight availability starting tomorrow from Portugal to UK... I would say the flight companies were being a bit naughty.

Yes it’s that bad.
some stranded abroad. Some left at home without holiday, and without refunds yet sSo can’t afford to book anything else.

Yes I have a colleague stranded in Spain. Doing her nut with anxiety as she has an important medical appointment tomorrow which she now cannot attend and will inevitably be put back at least a few weeks.

My granddaughter is stranded in Spain. Looks pretty chaotic. 🙄

Yes- I know someone currently stuck in the Algarve. The flights are all sold out and other options such as flying from Lisbon then going on the euro star is costing about 4 x the original flight prices.

They have been told around 6 days to clear the backlog- meantime they have nowhere to stay...

Regarding the appointment, could it be done via video link?

My son is due to fly home from Geneva tonight….

I have 2 friends who should have flown home yesterday but instead are stranded in Porto. They have been told the earliest flight BA can get them on is Thursday afternoon.

We got a Ryanair flight to Porto this morning from the UK, all on time and straightforward. Obviously could be issues getting back but you’d think it would be both ways 🤷‍♀️

Yes it is.

See my comment on another thread about reducing flight numbers in peak times to ensure resilience, as some incident or delay seems always to happen.

Got friends stuck in Luxembourg. Their airline could only offer them flights on Saturday.

Lots of people may not have spare cash for flights after forking out extra for Airbnbs or hotels.

Why?

My DS has friends who can't get back from Ibiza till Saturday. Apparently hotels there are hiking their prices for those stranded. DS's friends are students who were down to their last few euros of spending money as on their way home when the chaos occurred.

It's like the Icelandic ash cloud. Not quite as bad but similar.

Credit cards are invaluable for things like this. Hopefully insurance etc will settle before cc bill is due!

I know someone stuck in Cyprus until at least Thursday. Was due to fly back today. Turned back at the airport.

I'm stuck in Spain. Original flight this morning was cancelled, no direct flights for a week and absolutely nothing on the airline's website. If took 6 hours to book a replacement on Thursday costing 3x the already extortionate original, takes 20 hours and will get me to Newcastle not Liverpool. On the bright side I forgot to cancel the travel insurance! There looks to be an additional jet2 flight leaving Thursday afternoon into Manchester if anyone is still stuck in Malaga.

W were supposed to fly from Gatwick yesterday. Late in the evening they cancelled our flight and our holiday was cancelled. We got a refund but couldn’t rebook till next week and not the same hotel.