to think that it's not the government's responsibility to rescue stranded holidaymakers?

[wannaBe]

I understand why the government are doing it and I think that it's good that they are trying to help.

But tonight I was listening to a report on people who went to somewhere on the spanish coast to get on a boat, and when the boat was full, there were people being interviewed saying "well the government should be doing more, this is just not good enough" etc etc.

Thing is, this is just unfortunate - it's not the government's fault that there's dust in the atmosphere and that people can't get home.

And while it's inconvenient, sometimes, these things just happen. And nobody died or is dying.

And they'll all get home eventually.

My dh is gradually coming home from Spain to Ireland, from a conference. I know of another person trying to get home from a medical conference in Berlin. So not all travellers are holidaymakers. The people I feel sorriest for are those who are trying to get back home for funerals or to very ill family.

UnseenAcademicalMum Tue 20-Apr-10 20:31:09
QOD, couldn't you have got a direct ferry from Bergen (iirc they go from Bergen to Newcastle) or from Hamburg?"

from where we were to Bergen - 200+ miles

Bergen to Newcastle stopped running in 2008 LOL

We looked into everything - we knew if we go back to mainland Europe we'd get home somehow.

I would like to tap into that Pinot pipeline please! I have only one DS but he is testing me to the very limits of my patience!

In answer to the OP - the knock on effect of the number of people that are stranded being out of the UK is massive. I know several people who've had to take time off because schools aren't able to run after school clubs etc this week and they are stuck for childcare. So it isn't just the people who aren't here who are economically inactive.

It raises again the question of cheap travel though. DH and I have never been away unless we had access to cash to get us home in an emergancy - albeit a credit card to be paid off with savings (or a claim on the insurance).
We have all got very used to the world being very small, to being able to travel anywhere and everywhere at the drop of a hat with very little inconvenience and at relatively low cost. It isn't necessarily a bad thing to be reminded that the world is a very big place, and I say that as someone who has a DH stuck on the wrong side of the Atlantic.

I think the problem is that hotels etc are chocka black and have all ramped up their prices. People are hardly likely to be paying the £200+ surcharges if they have a choice.

I think if the government had been seen to be more active in helping then they could have gotten away with not repatriating if you see what I mean. But as it is there wasn't much they could have done initially, no-one knew how long with was going to last. I think they have done the right thing under the circumstances.

Hopefully DH's flight home will take off this evening, if not he is lucky that the owner of the boat he is racing on is loaded and has shelled out £4.5k for a single flight from Antigua to Paris via New York then a Eurostar ticket from Paris to London. And then who knows what on booking a hotel room in New York and Paris for him. If his flight doesn't go he has that otpion, starting on Friday. However as much as we have credit cards with high limits, I really don't think we could afford to lose £5k at this time in our lives...both retraining, baby on the way etc. It would have been an awful situation...either he waits until 3rd May (next quoted flight from Vrigin, who he is due to fly with this eve) or we have to find £5k out of no-where. £1k, maybe £2k we could wince at and get rid of fairly quickly, £5k would devour the savings we have for my maternity years.

Oh, MrsC. What a dilemma. Does he have something specific that he has to be back for? That is a hell of an amount of money.

not read whole thread so sorry if repeating.

Was going to agree with the OP at first and then I thought... hang on a sec... isn't everything just "unfortunate" if you boil it down.

for example you could say that crime is just unfortunate/not the govt's fault - it's not is it, it's the criminal's fault. however most would think the govt had some sort of duty to stop it/catch them.

and if there was some sort of natural disaster in this country, I'm sure people would think it was the govt's responsibility to help out. So I'm not sure why it makes any difference that it's abroad, if it affects British people.

That said I do agree with the general principle that we shouldn't expect the govt to sort everything out for us all the time - and especially we shouldn't blame them for things they couldn't do anything about.

I AGREE! shit happens

also annoyed by the criticism that travel insurers should be doing more, err why?

does the clause allow for volcanos?
Yes, claim
No, tough shit

Its this bloody blame culture, and the way someone is expected to pick up the tab, annoys me

disclaimer, am more annoyed by the criticism against travel insurers, the govt should do SOMETHING

It is the whole culture of entitlement that makes people whine like this - they need to actually do something about it themselves.

FFS there was a lady stuck in Avignon moaning on BBC 1 the other morning - you can get a bloody train to Paris or to one of the ferry ports and get back that way - stupid bint - something which the lovely Simon Calder soon pointed out to her after he had got a ride on a cargo ship and managed to get to London from Osla via Grimsby.

We're hoping his flight will take off this evening, which it looks like it will. If it didn't, then he has this flight booked which is paid for for him...it will just be wasted if he manages to take off tonight. I don't think he has anything specific bar work and training (he is retraining as a teacher), missing 3 wks would have a serious impact and reduce the money he gets as well, which impacts me!!

Obviously we are lucky as this dilemma won't hit our pockets as this back up flight is paid for, but I can imagine there are plenty of people in the same boat without this back up who are having to make this decision, and I think they do deserve a little sympathy. I don't think (not sure so don't quote me) that insurance companies don't pay up if the original flight provider give a solution, whether that solution is 3 wks away or not. So the choice could well be for many people: Pay up (anyone fancy finding a spare £5k just like that?) or waiting 3 wks and potentially losing income and various other nasties.

I think it is a little harsh to say it is just tough shit, I think people are entitled to worry, moan, complain etc etc as there are some big sums being bandied around. How many of us could seriously find £5k overnight (or multiples of for families, couples etc) without it having a serious impact? I know we all have credit cards, but they still have to be paid off. If people have taken insurance they have done the best they can, how many of you check the small print for volcanoes? I know they have no come-back, but that doesn't mean that it isn't very hard and that they don't deserve a little empathy.

I know equally that there will be some people showing very little lateral thinking or common sense, and are sat waiting for others to find a solution for them. These people will be doing the same thing in all walks of their lives I suspect!

I am sympathetic, really, my family have missed their dream holiday cos of this, no insurance coming their way.... Its just annoys me that way that people always think that someone is to blame and someone will pay. Its in that I infer "shit happens"

I think we all have bags of sympathy for those who have been affected by the volcano and who are going to be seriously out of pocket.

But at the same time, sending war ships to get them back when a commercial ferry already sails that route or when the alternative is a train ride to Paris/Brussels/Calais etc - it is neither cost nor time effective.

One woman I talked to today said that if you don't have a spare £500 - 1000 sitting around to help you out when you are stuck some place then you should not go on holiday. I found that shocking. Some folk are very lucky to even save enough money from a meagre budget to afford a holiday.

I caught a snippet of an interview on gmtv this morning and the guy they were interviewing said that out of all the nations, the British had completely gone to pieces over this compared to everyone else, apparently the Spanish were treating it like an extended siesta

My colleague got a text today from his bank saying something along the lines of "Stuck abroad and nearing your credit limit? Give us a call and we may be able to extend it!"

we were stranded in france for a couple of days when the petrol stikes were on. Keycamp were ver accomodating. it was glorious.

I'm quite surprised that so many seem to think that car hire companies are "jacking" their rates. I have only once in my life left a hire car at a different place to the collection point - and there was a premium. Isn't this just the way car-hire works? That was within one country too - so if you hire a car in Milan is it not logical you'll pay a premium for abandoning it in Calais?

I think companies have been charging £700+ per day for cars...that seems a bit of a hike...

I'm sorry but I can't believe that to be true for regular rental, this must be for alternate drop-off points. After all - if said car is dropped off 3 countries away and 18 hours drive away it's going to take time and money to get it back to its start point.

Skihorse
my DH was charged CHF 1600 - around £900 for a days car hire to go from Geneva to Munich. Sure, they have to bring it back to Geneva, but surely that is a massive price hike?

It's normal ime.

Just to test your theory, Skihorse, I just put in the same details into Europcar. Geneva - Munich. The highest price I was offered was CHF 650 and that was the highest class (Porsche, Mercedes E class, Audi A6)

No WAY is CHF 1600 normal, even for Geneva standards. One friend here asked if DH had hired a Lamborghini.

I think Alibaba is right about 'it raises the question of cheap travel'. Don't get me wrong, I would be upset if I were stuck somewhere with my DCs missing school and the money running out - but imagine say, if we went back twenty years and told everyone that in the future there would be people grumbling about having to make their way from eg Marakesh to Calais (one woman on the news), having spent their Easter - not once a year August but Easter holiday there - and expecting the govt to come and hold their hand and get them....

Another thing - one of the people grumbling loudly at Santandaer yesterday was a 'South African working in London' - again don't get me wrong - I'm married to a darn furriner. Love em all to bits. But if my DH turned up on your radio whining in his Flemish accent about Gordon Brown et al not coming to his aid you might just wonder why he wasn't calling the Belgian Embassy...

I don't think people are particularly resourceful - car hire is not the only transport method. I gather that in Europe people have what we call in the UK trains and/or buses. You have to buy a ticket and possibly sit next to a stranger and you have a driver - quite posh really. Also - I've never been "stranded" in a 400 quid a night hotel... I've spent a few days sitting it out in a hostel... on Miami beach of all places but I've never been forced to pay x amount.

But to answer the original question, no, it's not the government's responsibility to rescue stranded holidaymakers.

Um one of the points of having a passport was that it g'teed assistance by HMG to travelers. Before passports were brought in, you had a Kings Warrant which was a letter from the king saying who you were and asking that if the bearer requires help to assist him.

It is most definitely the Governments function to assist travelers in distress, thats why we originally built Embassies.

What we dont need is the French do there best to STOP people getting home, like the way they PREVENTED a guy with a yatch who sailed over there to bring 20 strangers back from returning with his passengers. Or the way the french have denied access to port facilities to the Royal Navy ships sent there to bring people back.

The government should be giving all the assistance it can to anyone stranded. After all, the government is the only body with the money, resources and clout to get that many people back home.

But in reality, labour did too little, too late, as usual.