Active discussions

Best Amazon Prime Day deals: Mumsnet favourites

Best Amazon Prime Day deals:
Mumsnet favourites

Shop now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Holidays

Use our Travel forum for recommendations on everything from day trips to the best family-friendly holiday destinations.

Original poster

How do I get us all home?!

281 replies

CeciliaMars · 15/04/2026 00:12

I am in Europe on holiday with my husband and 3 primary school age kids. We have a hire car that only he can drive. He has badly injured his hip, he’s been to hospital and is on strong painkillers and has crutches. He can barely walk and is in agony. We are meant to be flying home on Friday. How do we get the hire car to the airport and all of us into the airport? I am going to request assistance once we get to the airport. Also at the other end, how do I get him to our car? We are a shuttle bus away from our car. He literally can’t walk and is in agony. I truly can’t figure out the logistics of this.

OP posts:
Octavia64 · 15/04/2026 08:45

Call the airline and book wheelchair assistance.

i’m disabled and they can lend a wheelchair both ends and someone to push it. There are aisle wheelchairs to get him down inside the plane if he needs it.

RedToothBrush · 15/04/2026 08:49

Skiing destination?

Hire company will have a solution as it happens frequently. Call them

Shedmistress · 15/04/2026 08:49

Where in Europe are you?

1apenny2apenny · 15/04/2026 08:53

You say you can’t drive the hire car - why? Can’t you drive? Because if you can the easiest thing is to just get the hire car co to insure you!

I get it if you can’t actually drive but if you can you’re making this much bigger problem than it is!

Mischance · 15/04/2026 08:55

I too am puzzled as to why you can't drive the car.

Frangle · 15/04/2026 08:58

Dont know about the op, but I can drive in the uk but in Europe on the otherside of the road in a hire car, there's no way. I'd sooner pay the hire company to come and get it.

countrygirl99 · 15/04/2026 08:59

It could be that the OAP is very short and they've booked a big car where she can't reach the pedals safely, especially the clutch. It's an issue for me with some larger cars.

user593 · 15/04/2026 09:02

Just call the hire car company, explain the situation and ask if they can arrange for the car to be picked up for a fee. Then book a car to take you to the airport and contact your airline to arrange airport assistance.

I broke my leg overseas once (I was travelling on my own) and made it back okay even though I couldn’t walk any distance at all.

FoxandDuck · 15/04/2026 09:03

This won’t be what you want to hear, but I am sceptical whether it will be safe for your DH to fly home with you. You are probably envisaging a straightforward 2hr flight home or whatever. What happens if you board the plane and sit there for hours before take off? Or on landing? Or if you get diverted?
It sounds like your insurance company are being useless. You need to be much pushier with them. They will have lots of experience of this sort of thing so, once you start speaking to the right person, they will be really helpful. If you’re skiing, then the local medical centre and the hotel team will probably be quite experienced too.
I think you also need to start making contingency plans for if your DH can’t fly back. What these plans are will partly depend on what your insurance covers and what support you have. Is it better for you to be with your DH or in the UK with the DC? And if you’re in the UK, is there anyone who can come out to be with your DH. A neighbour recently got taken badly ill on holiday and her in-laws ended up flying out to collect the DC whilst her DH stayed with her and then her mum flew out and her DH went back home to be with the DC and they continued with combinations of various family members and friends for about three weeks until she was safe to fly home.
What a complete nightmare for you. Is there a kids club or anything that your DC can go to so you can spend the morning doing admin and supporting your DH? If not, ask the reception team. One of them may know a teen you can pay to keep your DC occupied.
Good luck.

Bjorkdidit · 15/04/2026 09:03

Frangle · 15/04/2026 08:58

Dont know about the op, but I can drive in the uk but in Europe on the otherside of the road in a hire car, there's no way. I'd sooner pay the hire company to come and get it.

It's the other side of the car I can't manage. I've driven a RHD drive car in Europe and I was fine. LHD and my brain mirror images everything and gets confused (same happens when I have eye tests where the image is in a mirror, I still read it as it appears on the actual sign).

I might be able to get used to it if I had enough practice but I'd rather not risk having an accident before I became safe and competent at doing it.

user593 · 15/04/2026 09:05

user593 · 15/04/2026 09:02

Just call the hire car company, explain the situation and ask if they can arrange for the car to be picked up for a fee. Then book a car to take you to the airport and contact your airline to arrange airport assistance.

I broke my leg overseas once (I was travelling on my own) and made it back okay even though I couldn’t walk any distance at all.

Edited

I should add if there is a question as to whether your DH needs to stay in a certain position (I had to stretch the leg out and keep it elevated) your insurance should (hopefully) pay for a new ticket or an upgrade to his existing ticket. I flew back First Class on the insurance company’s dime because I could not have managed in Premium Economy (even more so because it was long haul).

BadSkiingMum · 15/04/2026 09:06

What a stressful situation…

I would speak to the accommodation and extend his stay for at least a week, then focus on getting your children safely home. Take his larger luggage with you if possible.

France has decent public transport so you may be able to get back to the airport with a combination of buses and trains, if cost is an issue. Ski resorts are usually quite good for buses that connect to local towns, if that’s where you are. Or a taxi transfer.

The hire car can be collected, although probably at a cost.

Chewbecca · 15/04/2026 09:07

Why can't you drive the hire car? Get yourself added to the insurance via a phone call. Would be the simplest approach.

Perfect28 · 15/04/2026 09:08

You haven't explained why you can't drive the car. If it's just because you can't drive let this be a wake up call and book some lessons as soon as you get back!

FoxandDuck · 15/04/2026 09:25

I think it’s largely irrelevant why the OP can’t drive.
OP - a couple of other things. I would start a new post saying where you are in the title. Some MNers are bound to live locally or know the area and will have useful ideas. Secondly, when you talk to the insurers, start asking about what accom they will move your DH/you to if he can’t fly home on Friday. Does he need to be in some sort of accessible accommodation? Would it be easier for him if he had a wheelchair? Finally, you might want to see if you can increase your credit card limit. Whilst the insurers should reimburse you, it may take a while and, in the meantime, this is the sort of situation where you can start building up costs quite quickly.
Sorry if I am being really brutal here. We’ve had a couple of situations on holiday which I have initially minimised as I didn’t want to accept that our much anticipated holiday was going to be anything other than a fun filled and relaxing break. I also focussed on what seemed to me at the time to be the biggest issue. Once my brain had caught up and I’d accepted that we had a situation to deal with, I was better able to appreciate the magnitude of things I had to deal with.

BadSkiingMum · 15/04/2026 09:57

I think we need to take the OP’s word for it when she says that she can’t drive the hire car:

She may not have a license
She may have epilepsy or frequent aura migraines
She may have never driven abroad
She may be a new driver
She may have an auto license and this is a manual car.
She may simply not be confident driving on mountain roads or rural roads.

If she doesn’t feel confident in this car or these conditions, now is really not the right time to start.

Original poster
CeciliaMars · 15/04/2026 10:37

Why are people obsessed with me not driving the car? I’ve said I can’t and I’m asking for advice based on that. If it were as simple as getting myself added to the insurance, of course I would. We have been on the phone to the insurance company and the hire car company and are waiting on phone calls back. Just want to be at home now 😞

OP posts:
deserthighway · 15/04/2026 10:42

CeciliaMars · 15/04/2026 00:12

I am in Europe on holiday with my husband and 3 primary school age kids. We have a hire car that only he can drive. He has badly injured his hip, he’s been to hospital and is on strong painkillers and has crutches. He can barely walk and is in agony. We are meant to be flying home on Friday. How do we get the hire car to the airport and all of us into the airport? I am going to request assistance once we get to the airport. Also at the other end, how do I get him to our car? We are a shuttle bus away from our car. He literally can’t walk and is in agony. I truly can’t figure out the logistics of this.

You need to speak to the car hire company and explain that he has hurt himself and is now unable to drive and enquire as to what they would like you to do with the car. Then you get a taxi to the airport.

At the other end you can use the wheelchair assistance to get to the exit. Once at the exit you need to have either arranged another taxi or for someone to come and pick you up.

He can pick up his car when he is able to drive or a friend could pick it up for him. He will need to ring the car park people and explain his predicament otherwise they might charge him extra.

Various insurances (holiday/car insurance/home insurance etc) should cover any additional expense.

dapsnotplimsolls · 15/04/2026 10:46

You need medical confirmation that he is fit to fly.

MaggieFS · 15/04/2026 10:48

I’m sorry you’re in this situation OP, and thanks for clarifying ref. the hire car. It wasn’t clear from your OP. Are you at a hotel or similar? The hire car can probably be collected (with the key left at reception), for a fee and it sounds like you’re able to get a taxi. So that gets you to the airport.

Without delay, you need to confirm if DH is fit to fly, and if he’s on crutches what paperwork your specific airline requires to prove that. You also need to request the airport assistance for both ends asap. It needs to be pre booked.

When you get back, I suggest you take as many of the children as you can on the shuttle to get the car and drive back for DH.

Chewbecca · 15/04/2026 11:00

Why OP can't drive the hire car matters because it might be resolvable?
She can clearly drive because she's planning to drive the car when at home. That's why it is confusing.

Bjorkdidit · 15/04/2026 11:07

Chewbecca · 15/04/2026 11:00

Why OP can't drive the hire car matters because it might be resolvable?
She can clearly drive because she's planning to drive the car when at home. That's why it is confusing.

But she'd be able to work that out for herself it was simply a matter of adding her name onto the insurance.

She hasn't actually said that she can drive. She could have arranged for a friend/relative to come to the UK airport to drive them all home.

WaitingForMojo · 15/04/2026 11:08

Chewbecca · 15/04/2026 11:00

Why OP can't drive the hire car matters because it might be resolvable?
She can clearly drive because she's planning to drive the car when at home. That's why it is confusing.

OP probably doesn’t want the thread derailed by a million posts of ‘woman up and drive the car’. I can drive my own car locally but there is literally no way I could drive a strange car in a foreign country. Wouldn’t be an option.

Could be something like she has an automatic licence and the hire car is manual.

She can’t drive the hire car. It doesn’t matter why!

7238SM · 15/04/2026 11:09

Chewbecca · 15/04/2026 11:00

Why OP can't drive the hire car matters because it might be resolvable?
She can clearly drive because she's planning to drive the car when at home. That's why it is confusing.

This ^
People aren't obsessed about your driving OP, you haven't made it clear!

I hope the insurance can help you, but I'd be very surprised if they'll let him fly this week! My cousin was refused boarding when she arrived at the airport with a strapped up wrist and no 'fit to fly' certificate.

Johnogroats · 15/04/2026 11:14

My DB was in this situation after a skiing accident. Insurance covered the taxi to the airport (€800) which was about 2 hours away. But he had to abandon the hire car. Gave them the keys back at the airport…. And they charged him €1000. That the insurance will not cover.