..to wonder if I can claim for any of this holiday saga?

[KnowBetterDoBetter]

Very long, apologies. I think most, if not all of it, is relevant.

Me and 4yo DD went to Disneyland Paris from Monday - Wednesday. Booked shuttle bus transfers to and from CDG airport from a well known company.

Wednesday afternoon, we got on the shuttle bus to go back to the airport and make our way home. My ticket is taken and the barcode is scanned. Traffic is shocking due to the strikes going on in France, but we get there with 90 mins to spare (online check in and no bags to check). Pulling in, I see signs for 'Orly', which is the airport on the other side of Paris. I panic, nobody else speaks much English on the bus, but I work out that we are a long way from the airport I'm flying out on.

I ask the driver for the quickest way to get to CDG. She's very defensive, saying that she asked everyone if they were going to Orly. She didn't, but I said it did not matter right now and I just needed to get there. She directed me to a taxi, but they said it would take over 90 mins due to the traffic and would cost £££. My phone said the train was quicker. And if I was going to miss it any way, I didn't want to pay €100. So DD and I rushed for the train, helped by some lovely people... and made it there just in time for the plane taking off.

Easyjet said their next flight was tomorrow night, as they've cancelled 70 of their flights due to the strike, and they'd book us on it for €400. The closest hotel with rooms available online was 15km away, and would cost €200. I couldn't afford it.

There was a flight leaving at 7am the next morning, which I was trying to book, but I kept getting error messages. So I rushed to the terminal where the airline was (a fair old walk in the freezing cold with DD and our suitcases on a trolley), where they told me it was overbooked, hence why I couldn't book it.

So I paid €400 for a flight to Venice at 7am, with a connecting flight to Gatwick, getting us home at midday Thursday. We went back to the other terminal, and I got DD as comfy as I could on the chairs with all our coats, ready to check in early morning. I get this was maybe shitty parenting, but I was worried about getting taxis to far away hotels in a country where I can't speak the language, have next to no money, and I know there are a lot of riots and tension in France ATM. I was scared. Anyway, I stayed awake all night keeping an eye on her and our bags.

Went to check in at 5am the next morning, and was told that the airline had received no payment from the travel company, so had cancelled our booking. I called the travel company, who said they'd call me back in 10 minutes. I waited half an hour, searching for coach tickets. I found one, and called my DM to ask her to transfer me the money for a taxi and tickets.

The travel company then called back and said sorry for the inconvenience but they'd book us on a flight to Germany that night, and Gatwick tomorrow morning. I said no, I just wanted a refund but I didn't have much battery and couldn't talk right then. Asked them to call me that night when I was (hopefully) home.

Go to the coach station, the taxi ticking up by 10c every few seconds and the taxi driver chatting on WhatsApp the whole way. When we get there, the shutters are all down. I ask the taxi driver about it but he just drives off. Google translate tells me the signs say that it's shut from 5th - 8th due to the strikes.

I was at rock bottom. It's -2, we're stuck outside, I've just spent €60 on a taxi for no reason and will have to spend it again to get back to the airport. I see a family rush past with suitcases saying something about a bus. I rush with them, through a park, and find a coach station with a coach going to London at 10am. Got very cheap tickets (£19 each!) and finally get back to London at 5pm, and back home by 7pm - 27.5 hours since we left the hotel.

I've requested the refund from the travel company that did not pay for the second flight tickets - they say that very few people get refunds, and I'd hear in 30 days (). Can't see how they can't not give me a refund for those tickets, but what about all the other costs I've incurred?

The train tickets from Orly to CDG, food and drink at the airport and for the coach, the taxi to the coach station, the coach tickets, the train fare home from Gatwick, lost earnings from yesterday when I should have been at work etc. all adds up to at least £250. Including the flights is £650+.

I've spent more on this cock up than I did on the whole holiday (which I've been paying off monthly for a year). And I guess it all stems back to whether I should have asked whether the shuttle was going to my airport or not? I just thought that I had a ticket which was checked and scanned, there were no markings on the bus. I don't believe I'm at fault here.

And if I'm not, who should I be trying to claim this money from? Travel insurance, or the shuttle company? Do I have any chance.

Sorry for the length; I still feel absolutely shattered and have had the usual post-holiday stressful day at work with a full to bursting inbox, I owe my family so much money, feel so bad on my poor DD (who actually hardly moaned at all and was a little star throughout; I tried to make it a fucked up kind of 'adventure' for her) and I just wondered if I had any chance in recovering any of this, or if IABU and am at fault for it all.

OP if you don't get anywhere in getting this sorted, it might be worth trying the consumer champions at the Guardian www.theguardian.com/money/series/bachelor-and-brignall-consumer-champions I think the telegraph has something similar too. If the bus didn't indicate which airport it was going to, then I can easily see how you could have made that mistake. Is the situation basically that there was no indication on the outside of the bus which airport it was going to? I can see how this could happen - personally I wouldn't have even known that there was more than 1 airport to ask!

This sounds like an absolute nightmare, thank goodness you managed to get home OK in the end.

If the bus didn't indicate which airport it was going to, then I can easily see how you could have made that mistake. Is the situation basically that there was no indication on the outside of the bus which airport it was going to?

Reallybadidea Who gets on an unmarked bus and just hopes it goes to where they want it to? And anyone who does should be prepared to be surprised at their eventual destination.

personally I wouldn't have even known that there was more than 1 airport to ask!

Geographical ignorance is no reason for a refund.

People need to stand up and take responsibility, not blame others because their assumptions didn’t work out.

You have tried to claim on your insurance, though I don't hold up much hope.

First thing you should be doing is thanking your DM for her help. When you next plan a trip abroad, take time beforehand to learn some basic phrases in the local language. Always goes down very well and I find it gets a better response. Remember that the British are not always seen well given Brexit.

I feel for you but I don’t think you will get away with an insurance claim. Kiwi however should refund you. Contact your bank now to warn them that you will make a chargeback on your debit card if Kiwi give you the runaround.

On the bright side you have a good anecdote and that is priceless!
DM still recites the story of spending a night in a train carriage after boarding the wrong boat train in the 70's.
I can tell you the involved story of falling in love in Birmingham New Street having broken down in a car just outside Kendall 35 years ago. Never palls!

OP, were you the only one who got on the wrong shuttle bus?

If everyone else was on the right bus then it stands to reason that there probably was a sign or announcement that you possibly missed.

@heartsonacake an airport shuttle bus isn't an unmarked bus. If there's more than 1 airport in a city then I think that the shuttle bus company has a responsibility to make sure that their buses are clearly marked with the destination. They even checked the OP's ticket - I think that it would be reasonable to believe that they would be checking that the ticket was valid ie to the right destination.

On the bright side you have a good anecdote and that is priceless!

So true

Kiwi emailed me this morning and said that they have transferred the flight money, and I should get it in the next 10 days! Not even an apology or explanation, but there ya go. I'm happy about that.

I've emailed the shuttle, just because the receipt they say they'll give you on the ticket & ts and cs at the start of your journey (and that a PP mentioned) would have safeguarded against this, and neither I nor anyone else got one on either journey I took with them.

Not in a claimy way, but I honestly don't similar happening to any other families. I guess if you're well travelled it may seem 'geographically ignorant' not to know there were 2 airports in Paris, but I'd say that the majority of the people I know would have no idea. Why would you, if this was your first trip to Paris?

Anyway, I guess I'll just have to chalk up the other £250 as a cost for a good anecdote

First thing you should be doing is thanking your DM for her help.

I haven't stopped thanking my mum or my sister, honestly have no idea what I'd have done without them.

When you next plan a trip abroad, take time beforehand to learn some basic phrases in the local language. Always goes down very well and I find it gets a better response. Remember that the British are not always seen well given Brexit.

This made me laugh as my DD has been saying Bonjour, Merci & Au Revoir to literally everybody we've met, all week. I'm not an ignorant 'little englander'. I'm an ardent remainer, and I spoke earlier of how amazingly helpful the general French public were to us. I know very basic french. I was polite throughout. But I was going to Disneyland - I think I can be forgiven for not spending months on Dua Lingo.

Surely the bus company bears some liability? OP said the driver scanned her tickets, wouldn’t that have alerted them to the fact she was on the wrong bus? Or have I missed something?

I’d contact them about it at the very least, although whether you’d get much more than the cost of your shuttle ticket back is debatable

Cross post, that’s good news OP! Hopefully you get some joy from the shuttle company. Depending on what they say, I’d also consider going through your easyJet insurance to see what they might offer r.e. your original flights and the costs of your final bus ride home. If the shuttle company acknowledge any blame for you missing your flight, your insurers may be more inclined to pay out?

First thing you should be doing is thanking your DM for her help. When you next plan a trip abroad, take time beforehand to learn some basic phrases in the local language. Always goes down very well and I find it gets a better response. Remember that the British are not always seen well given Brexit.

Jesus, that's got to be one of the most patronising posts I've ever read on Mumsnet and that's saying something. You do know the OP is a fully grown adult with a child of her own and you're not her dad?

Years ago I was running late and asked the car park attendant which terminal I needed for France. He sent me to a terminal but having got there was told that Paris was a different terminal. Eventually got that flight by the skin of my teeth. Who knew that Paris isn't in France...

*Surely the bus company bears some liability? OP said the driver scanned her tickets, wouldn’t that have alerted them to the fact she was on the wrong bus? Or have I missed something?

I’d contact them about it at the very least, although whether you’d get much more than the cost of your shuttle ticket back is debatable*

I mean, I think so too. And it says on the ticket I should have got a receipt, which if I did, would have alerted me to the issue. I just went with the consensus that I was unreasonable but I have contacted them so I'll see what they say. The transfers were €30 each way, which would actually make a big difference to my finances. I'd be happy if they refunded that. And I agree with your other post - if they apologise or admit some fault or whatever then it may help with the travel insurance.

I guess if you're well travelled it may seem 'geographically ignorant' not to know there were 2 airports in Paris, but I'd say that the majority of the people I know would have no idea. Why would you, if this was your first trip to Paris?

Because it's the capital city of a huge country which is a major European power and thus is likely to be served by more than one airport? London has six, for example...

@KnowBetterDoBetter

I am travel a fair amount and would have found the situation incredibly stressful, so I just wanted to say well done for dealing with it as you did. You should be really proud of yourself.