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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To wonder about a few things with the LGW drone attack

868 replies

badlydrawnperson · 20/12/2018 11:32

Before I get flamed (and not that anyone will resist flaming if they want to anyway). I know-

-It's not that easy
-Safety First
-People are doing their best

But I can't help wondering and idly speculating about why -

We apparently don't have any counter measures for this.
It can go on so long
We aren't seeing any News footage of the drone(s)

I am 100% NOT a conspiracy theorist but I am very curious about exactly what is going on.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
11
Spaghettibol · 21/12/2018 19:38

I completely agree with you nicoala1
If you can afford a flight abroad then you can afford travel insurance

Reallybadidea · 21/12/2018 19:38

@nicoala1

You don't sound judgemental, you sound like someone who lives in an ivory tower.

HowlsMovingBungalow · 21/12/2018 19:40

Yup a lot of us will just wing it and hope nothing happens to us whilst travelling.

HowlsMovingBungalow · 21/12/2018 19:42

Oh Bollocks Spagetti, you can get a flight for £40 to Spain - its cheaper for me to travel there than a train ticket to London.It doesn't mean you can afford insurance.

brizzledrizzle · 21/12/2018 19:43

it's looking very quiet again on flight radar.

HelenaDove · 21/12/2018 19:48

I know a tosser of a taxi driver in my area who would definately do something like that.

nicoala1 · 21/12/2018 19:55

To those who have had a go at me ( I don't mind I can cope!)

Say one of your party has a life threatening injury and needs to be brought home, or indeed passes away abroad. THAT is where annual travel insurance for 40 quid or so for the year or something will step up.

We need to be a bit responsible, no one knows what could happen even with the reciprocal EHIC, which doesn't cover repatriation but just saying.

Small price to pay for peace of mind if anything did happen is all I am saying.

IamPickleRick · 21/12/2018 19:57

Sky scanner shows flights to Dublin tmw for £391 each. Flights would realistically have been about £50 or less at the time of booking. I am in agreement that when we go away lax we do always have contingency money but whether you would be prepared to pay £2000 extra, on top of costs already incurred like your Airbnb or hotel or whatever, or whether you’d just it your losses.

I have yearly travel insurance but it makes no difference really, are malevolent drones even covered?

IamPickleRick · 21/12/2018 19:58

Cut your losses

HowlsMovingBungalow · 21/12/2018 20:00

All of us will have to get insurance for European travel from next year, YAY FOR BREXIT! I don't do long haul - simply can't afford it.

HelenaDove · 21/12/2018 20:04

I havent been on a plane since 1983 when i was 10 years old.

PavlovianLunge · 21/12/2018 20:13

I agree with nicoala1. We flew back to Gatwick today, and of course it was touch and go as to whether or not the flight would even happen. I looked at alternatives, and we could have flown to Manchester or Birmingham via Düsseldorf for about £150 each. Luckily we didn’t need to do that, but I’d wouldn’t travel if I couldn’t access at least £300-£500 by credit/debit card. I don’t think that puts me into an ivory tower, just someone aware that, every now and then, Shit Happens.

I don’t judge anyone who doesn’t take the same view, or who travels and just wings it, but I need to know that I’ve got some sort of Shit Happens Funds that I can access if I need them.

HowlsMovingBungalow · 21/12/2018 20:16

The drone issue isn't covered by insurance.

nickiredcar · 21/12/2018 20:23

Flights for the next day are always expensive, I doubt this time of year last year they would be much difference tbh.

I agree that I'm just happy no one has been hurt.

Can you imagine how angry people would have been if a flight was downed?! They really can't win and it's better to be cautious

PavlovianLunge · 21/12/2018 20:25

Can you imagine how angry people would have been if a flight was downed?!

Absolutely this. The witch-hunt would have been ferocious. Better safe than sorry.

nickiredcar · 21/12/2018 20:26

You would be an idiot not getting instance for Europe as is now, brexit or not it's important and cheap.

Whisky2014 · 21/12/2018 21:00

What are you talking about pickle? 2k insurance?? No, it's like 50 quid a year round the world Inc. Winter sports. My brother broke his back skiing in France. The ambulance cost alone was £60k! Luckily he had insurance...

IamPickleRick · 21/12/2018 21:14

The poster asked why people just didn’t put the extra money for additional flights in to their credit card.

I then said “Sky scanner shows flights to Dublin tmw for £391 each” (which x5 is £1955/almost £2k). FLIGHTS. Not insurance.

I mentioned insurance in the next paragraph and yes, it costs me about £3 a month inclusive of my travel package.

nicoala1 · 21/12/2018 21:17

The big thing for me in all this Gatwick debacle is, the staff on the ground are just as clueless as passengers and the general public are. They deserve to be given a bit of slack really. I put myself in their shoes.

I am sorry, but I get really upset at the way people condemn the desk staff. They know nothing about this kind of thing, no more than we do.

Give them a smile and a bit of a lift. What does that cost?

Safety is everything.

MartaHallard · 21/12/2018 21:32

taxi firm in my region charges £160 Gatwick to Devon. Disgusting!

That doesn't seem unreasonable to me. It works out at about £1.00 per mile to cover petrol, wear and tear on the vehicle, and the driver's pay. And that's without taking into account the return journey to Gatwick for driver and vehicle.

All of us will have to get insurance for European travel from next year, YAY FOR BREXIT!

Everyone should always have been getting insurance for travel to Europe, with or without Brexit.

HowlsMovingBungalow · 21/12/2018 21:39

Taxi firm charging £160 is ok cheap fare imo the one charging £600....fucking rip off.

Ta1kinpeace · 21/12/2018 21:44

You think this is bad ....
wait till the No Deal Brexit next spring ....
Gatwick X every UK airport

nickiredcar · 21/12/2018 21:47

As annoying as it is, we're lucky to have cheap air travel. I went to New York return for £140 this year.

99.9% of flights take off ok, a small amount cancelled is just something to factor in.

Does anyone remember that Iceland volcano? That was way more agro

Bluntness100 · 21/12/2018 21:56

wait till the No Deal Brexit next spring ....

Actually maybe not,,,the eu has requested all member states allow rhe current conditions to remain for nine months to keep flights flying. It's now up to the member states to enable it via their own regulations. So it's possible but due to my job I see the government white papers and the eu is stepping in to help us prepare for no deal behind the scenes.

Nine months later we are fucked though...

canigetaliein · 21/12/2018 22:00

who did you fly with nickiredcar?