who has got family stranded by the volcanic ash?

[MrsShu]

me ! easy jet have cancelled return flight

Really feeling for anyone stranded by this. Not sure if this has been posted yet but you may find this information helpful

Apparently, Eurostar have seats available on Lille to London trains this evening if that is of any use to any of you.

Wooo! DH has just rung from Granada and apparently has gone from limp and passive to assertive . I think he got more sleep last night.

Anyway, he and 63 other people wanting to get back to the UK have successfully chartered a coach (and minibus, because they wouldn't all fit ) leaving monday, and have ferry reservations from Le Havre to Portsmouth on tuesday afternoon. He's getting a lift back here tuesday night with another friend.

I am SO glad I don't have to spend any more time working out travel routes and ringing ferries! And he'll be home in a couple of days.

Hurray Reshape, glad he got something sorted out.

Aww what a lovely ending to your story myboots-there really are some lovely people in the world aren't there.

Well update from my DH is that he is currently in Dubai (he was in Kenya) but only had a 7 day visa so managed to get out before it ran out and is much happier in Dubai which he knows very well. He's in the Meridian Hotel near Dubai airport so if anyone else DH is stuck there then tell them to go and say hello to him!

Me on the other hand have spent most of the weekend in tears. We've got a 5 year old DS who hasn't seen daddy for most of his easter holiday and is missing him very much and we're ttc and typically its seriously the wrong week for this to happen. I know that sounds awful but its how I feel at the moment.

Reshape - great news!

iheartttc - I would be disappointed too.

My 8 year old DS is quite happy to be stuck in Dublin as he is missing school in Budapest. Little does he know I have plans to get him to do some work while we are here!!! We are just ging to stay put till we can fly back as other than school we have nothing major to rush back for. Missing DH obviously but he was due to be away a lot this week anyway.

We've just heard that we will definitely be here till Tuesday at the earliest

Only DS is happy to be missing school, the rest of us want to get back, but at least we are in a very nice hotel.

Reshape
Fab news. Must have been my virtual arse kick

Glad to see that others are getting sorted or at least have plans in place to get home.

I do think that this is going to go on the rest of the week and if you have an alternative to waiting it out, go for it.

Pollyanna
As MM said, we are here if you need us. She is closer to Geneva than we are but you are welcome to come here. Do you have transport? I can pick you up when the kids are in school if need be.

I'm not even technically stranded or delayed yet - but have a ticket to get back to NZ on Wednesday. Don't fancy my chances. Luckily I have ds with me and so we can continue our holiday, and luckily can stay with my parents as long as we need to.

I am self employed so missing work will have a financial hit and we both really miss dh!

Do you actually have to have had your flight cancelled to get rebooked? And if by some chance there is a flight on Wednesday who gets to go on - the people who have been waiting a week or the people with a ticket with that date on?

Thanks, MmnLindt! It worked.

iheart - what a bummer. I really feel your pain. I hope he gets back soon.

Buda, crack that whip!

Looks like DH won't be getting home today either. Maybe is should just start swimming.

thirtyfive - I'm fairly sure (but don't sue me!) that if you have the booked seat on Wednesday and the flight goes on Wednesday then you get on it - certainly that is what tends to happen eg if strikes/other reasons for cancellations. That does mean of course that, if the flight on Wednesday is cancelled that you then join a queue of people trying to be rebooked for available seats. BA currently rebooking people on transatlantic flights cancelled for today (ie cancelled yesterday afternoon) on Wednesday (we have American friends stuck here) so I hope the Wednesday flights all go - indeed I hope that everyone can get on a flight as soon as it's safe. Good luck.

My brother has said now that they have been told his dsd won't get a flight before friday at the earliest now.

Obviously we know she is safe as she is with her grandparents in Poland but understandably they are worried now. Ds is going to be really upset as he has been desperate to see her all holidays. We are all missing her as she is such a big part of our family now.

She has only been in the uk since last June so her grandad has been to her old school and they are happy for her to attend next week so at least she won't miss school. They have said the other children will be excited to hear about her new life in England and i'm sure she will love (another!) chance to take centre stage.

BadKitten - No I am heading back to London after spending Easter with my family in Australia. I am a nanny for 4 kids. The parents have no idea of the kids day to day schedule. I run a very tight ship and I can tell that they will be going to school without things, missing classes, brownies etc

Still no movement but we are all being moved oout of the hotel tomorrow as the booked guests are arriving. There is a big convention happening so we have to go.

Lou that's terrible, I mean we all factor in a day or so after a long haul flight to recover etc and in case of delay - but this just can't be predicted. I hope they find somewhere else to move you to - onto a plane hopefully.

oh gosh Lou. a few days of chaos wont harm the kids though. hope you get moved to somwhere decent.

Slightly off-topic, LouIsOnAHighwayToHell but am a bit that your bosses have no idea of their kids' schedules.
Really?

My boys have arrived as I am typing!!!

Well just heard from a VERRY excited ds and dd. They have been 'on the road' with 'GG and John' for 3 hours now and apparantly 'GG has a magic handbag! Everytime she opens it there is a treat inside!! so far its produced sweets, colouring stuff, and 2 magnetic board games'!!. According to GG and John dcs have 'inhaled' a giant baguette and a masive fruit salad for lunch and havent stoped talking since they collected them (poor them). they dont mind a bit though and are realy enjoying the dcs company, said it takes them back to when their dd (my neighbour) was that age and having no GC yet they dont get to do the doting gp bit!! Ive told them that me and dh are making then 'honorary' GPs as what they are doing is truley fantastic woderfull amazing i just cant put into words that are nice enough to describe how we feel about what they are doing for us! Dcs are excited about having 'new Gps' and have decided that they are now to be know as 'granny GG and Grandpa John' and GG and John are delighted about it.
Anyway just thought we'd give an update. Counting down the hours now till they arrive home [verry excited face]!! I just know today is going to drag on and on but at least we know the dcs are safe, happy and ON THEIR WAY!!!!!

at Myboots's post.

How lovely. Granny GG and Grandpa John.

What do you think of this then?

About whether the grounding of the planes has been a massive overreaction.

"The blanket ban under clear blue skies and glorious sunshine is making some wonder whether this ?one-size-fits-all? regulation is appropriate to a situation that the regulations did not foresee.

And there will be many among the 200,000 Britons currently stranded abroad, who would be quite happy to take the risk.

In the final analysis, despite the scares, no one has actually been killed in a volcano incident ? something which cannot be said for the much more hazardous drive to the airport."

Would you have been happy to take the risk, or have your families take the risk? I would not.

No I would not want to take the risk no matter how desperate I was to get home. I wouldn't want my DH or any loved one to either.

What about the pilots and crew if they don't feel comfortable flying either.

DH says he is going to try to fly east today. Maybe go to LA to see if he can get a flight to the middle east and then go to Spain. He could get a ferry from there to England then drive to Wales to get the ferry to Ireland then drive up.

Tell you something, it is good for our geography knowledge. Finding routes for our loved ones to travel - oh, look. There is Casablanca, I always wondered where it was.

I would not take the risk until it had been properly assessed.

v. easy for amateurs on the ground to judge.

Also, even though planes may well come through ok, ash will still degrade the engine, shortening its life in an unpredictable way. It takes a lot of time and specialised equipment to thoroughly check engines over. Aircraft engines generally are designed to have a lifespan of years and are expensive and time consuming to replace.