How do we get home??

[ohnoohnowhattodo]

Currently on holiday in Europe. Today is the day we fly home. 4 adults and 2 kids. DD was up all night being sick, presumed she had picked up a bug. We've now got two of the adults also being sick and the other two not feeling great. Other Dc is fine. Not sure if it's food poisoning from eating out last night or just a sickness bug. Now we've got the logistical nightmare of getting to the airport and getting home. It would not have been too bad if just one DC had been poorly as we could have got a buggy for them etc but all of us travelling now seems unrealistic. But we can't afford to stay and we all have work to get back to on Monday! Anyone been in this situation and have any tips??

Oh love going to go against the grain here and say if you can do the flight do it.
Bloody nightmare being stranded in a foreign country especially with a sick little one.
We had a similar issue with ds who vomited once the night before the flight and had a temp, he didn't sick the next day but wasn't very hungry so we dosed him up with calpol and didn't feed him during the flight and luckily we were ok.
I would say if they are throwing up every 5 min then obviously don't do it, but if it's been a while or quite sporadic then I would risk it, medicate and just be vigilant with the sick bags.

Oh no - I guess at least it happened at the end and not just before you left. I guess getting a doctor's note is not easy for DV bug because they won't really want you in a hospital and it will pass quite quickly. Hope DD feels better soon and you can all get home.

@ohnoohnowhattodo I hope you are now safely at home or at least on your way and everyone has recovered. Such a shame to have the holiday end like this

Imodium, sick bags and crack on. You’ll get through it. Good luck!

I’m so sorry. This happened to us in Paris, many years ago. DH woke up and projectile vomited. We were flying at 3. Hotel was very unhelpful and tried to say it was due to wine (it was norovirus). I went to a pharmacy and explained the situational and they called us a doctor. Doctor walked me to a cash machine before he would even look at DH. He gave him an injection to stop the vomiting. No idea how we did it but we got to the airport and got home. I came down with it the next day.

Neither of us had any experience of norovirus before this, and we had no idea it was so contagious, obviously looking back I feel very guilty and hopefully we didn’t infect the whole plane.

Don’t congratulate me too much I would have gotten enough antiemetics from the doctor to dose the family and blamed the youngest on motion sickness. Long car ride to the airport and all that.

Last time we went to Florida a kid was throwing up when he'd boarded the plane. His Mum tried to say it was because he was tired but thankfully they were told they couldn't fly and had to get off. It was a pain waiting for their luggage to be retrieved but rather that than have some sick kid vomiting everywhere.

While infecting a plane load of others.

Bloody selfish, arsehole behaviour.

There is a really severe vomiting bug that has been leaving people bedridden - it's incredibly catching and leaves people wiped out for a week or more after.

To get on a plane while shedding virus is so deeply selfish.

If they are throwing up when boarding I doubt they'd be allowed to board the plane. Virgin went way up in my estimation when they wouldn't let the sick child and his mother fly.

Get a grip! This is a nasty, short-lived stomach bug. It's not the Bubonic Plague!!

I have to agree. You need your own home and beds.

Hope you are safely home now and recovering.

I would try and avoid getting on a plane if I was actively being sick (and the check in staff might not let me anyway) but sometimes you do just have to power on through, sorry. I think we've all become a little too risk-averse since Covid. If people never boarded a plane for fear of 'shedding virus' that would rule out millions of trips a year. And where do you draw the line? Are colds ok but noro bad?

Look, we all know where to get hold of masks and how to wear them now, I do think that suggesting a family stay away from their home until there's 0% chance of passing a bug on is unrealistic for most people.

I would struggle to sit through a flight and use those horrible little toilets with a bug. But I can see why you're desperate to get home. Hope you all got back ok!

Of course its not. Thats why you are getting insured, for unexpected events like this.

By giving her calpol you are upsetting the already upset stomach plus you are bringing the temperature, that is her body making to kill the bug, down.

Hope you are all ok and at home by now.

Have you taken a vomit sample then?

Norovirus kills many people every year in the UK. As does e coli, salmonella etc which you can catch from an infected person. You aren't being clever

Good handwashing in the tiny plane sink?

That's if you even make it to the toilet past the queue, which you probably won't especially not if a child. Then you've got any spray from the vomit (which isn't visible and happens everytime you vomit) again in the tiny toilet. Probably reaching the door which people will then touch. You don't even know its norovirus!

It's completely unethical to board a plane while vomiting. Not to mention thoroughly unpleasant for everyone involved.

Just to do a final update for those asking we are now thankfully home and all much better! As I said originally we are almost certain it was food poisoning due to the 4 of us who were ill eating the same food at a restaurant and the two that didn't get sick ate something different. We have reported the restaurant as I think you are supposed to if numerous people are sick.

Dd was definitely affected the worst by it bless her and she's only 6 so it was quite worrying. She's still in a bit of pain and won't eat much but she's much better than she was.

We waited until none of us had been sick for 24 hours before we flew, which is what the airline recommended. I wouldn't have been able to get on the flight any earlier than that and I didn't have it as bad as Dd so I definitely wouldn't have put her through that. I also wouldn't want to risk getting anybody else ill.

Interestingly I overheard a conversation as we were boarding between two different families, one was telling the other that their son had a really high fever and they thought he was coming down with scarlet fever, however they were still getting on the flight as they wanted to get home! So some people obviously don't care much!

Glad to hear you are home. Hope you can rest and recover

Surprised at the number of people who expected travel insurance to help. They’re not a concierge service and although some do have that service as an additional extra (mine utilises Int SOS) it’s not common so they’re really only there to pick up the bill once you’ve sorted everything yourself.

OP glad you’re back and ok. It’s miserable being sick on hols

You did the right thing OP. I'm glad you're home and feeling better.

I once flew back from Turkey. I felt a bit queasy before the flight but thought it was just down to the heat and tiredness. About an hour into the flight I started to be sick - really properly sick to the extent they moved me out of the main cabin and sat me in the cabin crew area with a bucket. I was shaking and had stomach cramps as well.

When we landed no one was allowed to get off the plane until I'd been seen by paramedics who thankfully didn't hospitalise me though they did consider taking me to hospital for tests in case I'd caught something nasty and contagious but in the end decided against it. They did however kindly have me ushered through security and passport control pretty quickly and I was even allowed to keep hold of the bucket - luckily!! I don't usually queue jump - I've never been so glad to collapse into an airport toilet cubicle. I then booked into an airport hotel overnight rather than risk a 3 hour train journey

Never worked out what was wrong but I promise you planes and stomach bugs do not mix well. It was also extremely embarrassing and quite understandably no one wanted to sit near me I didn't want to sit near me

I could have guessed you were at center parcs. Only time our entire family fell violently ill, all at the same time (as well as the two other households we were with).

I have emetophobia so absolutely avoid center parcs like the plague now :).

None of us usually get stomach bugs, and haven't since (it was a decade ago) so it must have been a pretty bad one!

Also to say I admire you dealing with all this and still remaining calm and sane. I certainly would not have done this well!!

Had this twice... In Cyprus I was soooo ill I could barely get up the plane steps, but plonked in a seat and just got home.

Then in Northern Ireland I had diarrhoea at the airport and I just sat on the toilet until last call at the gates!!!

It's rotten luck, could you hire a car and get back that way?

@CreamTrousers I was definitely not calm during the majority of it. I have bad emetophobia and so having sickness my self whilst looking after Dd was really hard work. The worst bit was the other members of family telling me we should just get on with it and get on the plane. They didn't understand that neither me or DD could stop being sick/runs for more than a few minutes at a time so it was utterly impossible. I'm glad we made the decision to stay even though the motel was terrifying. There was people screaming all night and I people banging on the doors etc. I ended up pilling up the suitcases against the door just in case. But it meant we managed to get Dd well enough to be able to handle a flight

Contact your insurance- you will probably be fine in a couple of days and probably be covered for extra accommodation and plane tickets. Morally none of you should travel and those actively throwing up probably won't be allowed to board the plane even if the others can. Your insurance should be able to pay for the extra nights and new plane fares if needed. If the hotel you are still in has space they will probably allow you to stay as they will need to disinfect your rooms anyway. If not, they can probably advise on alternative accommodation. Get well soon!