To ask you to help me sort this holiday nightmare!!

[CantKeepCalm2]

I’m sick with worry over this and unable to sleep as a result.

My husband, kids and I are going on holiday to Spain in just over a week. We are going to Alicante but to keep costs down, I booked flights to Madrid as I saw the train looked cheap from there to Alicante. I think the airport is half an hour from the train station in Madrid but thought with the train being cheap, we would hopefully be able to figure out a shuttle bus or something that might take us.

Fast forward to now and the train prices have sky rocketed. I was really silly not to book at the time, but I didn’t expect the markup to be quite so extreme.

I came up with a plan b. Hire a car in madrid to drive us to Alicante on arrival day, and same again on departure day. I’ve booked this all but have now realised we are going to have issues as neither DH or I have a working credit card. Long story short but we moved from the UK to another European country and when I lost my credit card, i tried to cancel it on my husband’s app and accidentally cancelled his card. I tried to resolve this with the bank but they couldn’t deal with me as I wasn’t the main card holder. On top of that, I have a pin block on my credit card as a result of getting the pin wrong 3 times. Again, this has been a nightmare to sort as the bank wouldn’t deal with me and my husband has been rarely home due to his work (military).

Anyway, after booking the hire car a couple of days ago, my husband was able to call the bank. Unfortunately it’ll take 10 working days for his new card and the pin should arrive 3 days later, so this doesn’t help with our hire car. They advised me I could go to an ATM and sort my pin. I tried that today but to no avail, the ATM here didn’t have a “pin services” option. And I’ve been thinking, surely I can’t change my pin anyway since I don’t know the pin to begin with.

We can cancel the hire car and receive a full refund up to 48 hours before the trip. If we do that, it’s going to cost us loads getting the train, plus I haven’t figured out a way to get from Madrid airport to Madrid train station. I can’t change the flights because direct flights will cost us an extra £1000 at least and I can’t afford that. What do I do? I’ve really messed this up badly and know I sound like the most disorganised person. I’ve just massively dropped the ball on this one. 😢

Can't you change the flights? Fly to Alicante or how much further away would you be if you flew to a less popular airport like Murcia?

Why do you need a credit card? Can’t you provide a debit card?

@Nat6999 unfortunately, there are no other flight options that we can afford. I’ve already looked into that thoroughly. 😞

@LairyMcClairy the driver must have a credit card in their name. The hire car company put a hold against the card incase anything happens to the car.

Must be a credit card, a debit card won’t suffice unfortunately.

They all ask for credit cards to put a holding charge on to cover the insurance excess if anything where to happen. Credit card only. Not sure why. We had this panic 2 days before we left as I wasn't going to bring the credit card.

Can you get a taxi op? We are in Spain now but not Madrid. We arrived last night. Quite a few people speak English so I wouldn't panic too much and Google translate is quite accurate.

Could you book a separate flight to fly from Madrid to Alicante? From a quick look at Skyscanner it looks like there are a couple of flights a day for under £100 per person.

Or it looks like there is a bus that takes 5 hours for around £30 per person?

The train is roughly 49euros each on the Tuesday 2nd August what day do you need the train?

I can help with getting from Madrid airport to the train station if you can manage your luggage on a flat walk. Get the airport bus that goes to Plaza de Cibeles then walk along the Paseo del Prado to Atocha, it is completely flat and the bus is easy. If you can’t manage the luggage get a taxi. Don’t use the metro, from the airport there are changes with long walks and stairs that don’t have escalators, it is a nightmare with luggage!
Is the train cheaper if you use a slower service rather than the AVE?

www.omio.com/app/search-frontend/results/E6F0A3714BCD747F2A04D5C5CE04A2937/train?locale=en

We would need the train on the 30th July and again on the 12th august. Our flight lands in Madrid at 14:20 on the 30th and leaves at 14:40 on the 12th.

Price is per person.

www.omio.com/app/search-frontend/results/E54607FA573A24CC5B15239CB3280A73C/train?locale=en

The airport bus actually stops at Atocha 😂

Apply for a new credit card? They're usually pretty quick sending them out for a new account so I reckon you're in with a chance of receiving card and pin in time. Make sure the credit limit is high enough to cover the hire car deposit though, £250 probably isn't going to cut it.

The other trouble with the train is, I can’t find an option for a flexible ticket. Obviously there’s a risk our flight could be delayed and I’m worried we’d lose our money. There is a semi flexible ticket option when booking through train line which allows you to receive a partial refund up to 5 mins before departure, so we’d still lose some, and we’d be left to pay whatever the ticket price is on the day. 🤦🏻‍♀️

@Cantbeliveyoufakeit ive looked into that. I think the hold is normally around £3k and none of the cards I’ve seen will give us that as an initial credit limit.

I applied for a virgin credit card last week to deal with a family emergency. Card took 3 days to arrive. Log the card on the app and you can see the PIN

It’s a virgin credit card we have. I’m hoping that we might be lucky and my husbands might arrive fast @SpiderinaWingMirror but we live abroad so I’m guessing it’ll take longer. And unfortunately, a new credit card won’t give us enough credit limit.

Do you have any family or friends that could loan you a card? But apply for few now.

Could you call the car hire company and explain? Maybe BACS the deposit?

Is there a taxi option here? Or bus?

I’ve hired a car without a credit card. They’ve accepted my debit card as long as I provided details of my return journey.

@CantKeepCalm2

1. Try to - Keep Calm.

2. You will laugh about this in 15 years time.

3. Your DH is away a lot of the time because he works in the Armed Forces.
   He will get time off everyday unless he is on active service. If he has access to a computer whilst away can he not arrange and book your holidays whilst away? If I am being naive, and there is no way someone away with the military can get any online time, then I apologise.

4. Take a deep breath and Keep Calm - You can do this! 💐💐💐💐💐

They advised me I could go to an ATM and sort my pin. I tried that today but to no avail, the ATM here didn’t have a “pin services” option. And I’ve been thinking, surely I can’t change my pin anyway since I don’t know the pin to begin with.

Does your credit card's issuing bank have a presence where you are, or are they telling you to try to sort your pin through another bank's ATM? If it's the latter, it won't work - but if it's the former you may be able to go into a branch and show ID to change the PIN.

Otherwise, try the bus for a cheaper option than the train. ALSA is the company that runs from Madrid to Alicante, and while you may have to change buses at Madrid Sur, you should be able to do it all on one ticket. The buses are perfectly fine, reliable, and comfortable - probably a bit better than National Express.

Your DH is away a lot of the time because he works in the Armed Forces.
He will get time off everyday unless he is on active service. If he has access to a computer whilst away can he not arrange and book your holidays whilst away? If I am being naive, and there is no way someone away with the military can get any online time, then I apologise.
this!! Working away does not absolve you from family life. You’re obviously struggling- look on the bright side, this is your epiphany that your dh can organise the next holiday and half of all holidays from now on. You’ve just been saved days of your life back!! I had a similar epiphany, although I had to have it several times to get it through to my husband he now gets it.

According to Rome2rio.com a train goes from the airport T4 to Madrid Chamartin, and from there to Alicante. According to Renfe's website there's a 3.20pm train from Madrid Chamartin to Alicante (very tight IMO) or an 8pm train for €55 per person. Personally I would risk that the plane wouldn't be delayed by that much. The return journey looks trickier and according to the Renfe website there doesn't look to be a train on 12 August that will get you to the airport on time for your flight. If on a tight budget I would look at a flight from Alicante to Madrid, or a night bus the night before. If you're worried about getting the train from the airport to Chamartin get a taxi.

You're making it so much too hard, just change your flights to fly direct to Alicante. Even now the first flights I checked (jet2) are £237 on your dates. Fly just one day later and it's £168. Much easier than running all over Madrid on an epic 12 hour trip with all the things that can go wrong, and I don't see how it can be much cheaper. Usually £50 to change a flight ticket.