I also *^&%&* love Ryanair!
Feb. 4th, 2009 06:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rhialtoNext chapter in the saga of transport troubles.
Monday.
I am about to travel home from London, while there is a few cm of snow in the streets. About 10, as far as I have seen. Not really an insane amount, I would say, but the Britons think it is the worst in 18 years. Therefore the Stansted Express (and all other trainlines) immediately stops operating. Some flights are cancelled in the morning and afternoon, but not mine, which is in the evening at 21:20.
Looking at relevant websites about every 5 minutes, at some point the Stansted Express starts operating again with half the trains. Then a short time later my flight gets cancelled. Of the (at least) 3 different information systems run by Ryanair that know about such things, the rebooking site is the last to know, but eventually I manage to move my flight to tuesday. Fortunately for free, since by now the fare is € 199,99 (+ tax). Fortunately I don't mind staying another day with Isabelle.
Tuesday.
Half the snow has disappeared, and no new snow has fallen, at least where I was.
Since the trains are still running at half capacity, I decide to take an hour more time than I usually do: I leave 3 hours before flight departure time, for a train trip to Stansted Airport that normally takes just a bit over half an hour. The 18:22 train is a few minutes late (no biggie) and then is stuck behind a slow train for a while (no biggie either - I have plenty of time). After about 50 minutes, about 5 minutes before the airport, there is an announcement that there may be a points failure up ahead and there may be some delay. The train stops. And waits.
And waits.
Now and then there is an announcement that engineers are on their way to fix the point, then that they had arrived, then that they were working. I don't know what they would do, but I would expect a gas heater to thaw the ice and a hammer to get the moving rails moving. In any case, no progress.
By then we had been there for more than an hour (2 hours into the journey) and the time of 20:20 (being the last reasonable time to get through security and not miss the boarding call) was approaching... and passing.
New announcements were made, almost inaudibly, about something with a replacement bus service. Very useful.
More announcement. The plan was to drive the train back a bit to some obscure small station (must have been Elsenham), where we would get out, cross a footbridge, enter another train which would bring us to Bisshop's Stortford, where the replacing bus service would operate. Great. But nothing moved yet.
More new announcement. It would be quicker to move the train backwards to Audley End, then go forward again and change tracks, to get to Bisshop's Stortford. The weird thing is, that looking on that map, we were going past the airport towards Cambridge, and then back past it again towards London.
Finally around 20:30 some guy with a rucksack and a jacket with the logo of the previous train operating company passed through the train, and it started moving back. A while later, it went forward. And we got to Bisshop's Stortford. Some people were running towards the few taxis that were there.
By this time I was quite sure I had missed my flight, and I was wondering how to get back to London. I supposed I might as well go to to the airport on the bus, in the hope that there would be better transport for that purpose, and I could rebook my flight again. Or it could be cancelled, I hoped for that, since it would save me a lot of money.
At 21:05 I finally entered the terminal building. I looked at the flight departure boards. There were just a few flights remaining. Mine said "Estimated 22:35". A miracle had happened! Suddenly I had plenty of time.
Security was fairly fast since there was almost nobody to check anymore (of course they closed almost all lanes), although some italian woman in front of me seemed to have her suitcase full of liquids. Dangerous, you know, liquids.
I made my way to gate 54, which is about as far away as you can walk. The other piers are served by a little train to save you some trouble, but the cheap one isn't. I got there at around 21:25.
People were waiting here, obviously for a while. Outside was a parked plane, but it was dark and nothing was happening. We were waiting for an incoming plane, and someone knew (somehow) that it was really the crew of that plane we were waiting for, and that we'd fly with the plane that was already there. Well, it was nice of them to wait for me, but as far as I was concerned we might as well leave now. Of course no such thing happened.
About 22:20. A plane arrived. People got off. The cabin crew went over to the other plane. Boarding started, people walked to the plane, walked up the stairs and got in. Then they started to pile up in front of the stairs, and even got out of the plane again. Of course nobody knew what was going on, but the crew invited people inside the terminal building again since it was cold outside. Time passed. I was at the front of the boarding queue.
Crew went back to the original plane. People went inside original plane. Boarding continued. Departure procedures started. People were counted. People were counted. People were counted. People were counted. People were counted. It was announced that there was one person too many on board, and if the passenger who wanted to go somewhere else than Weeze (NRN) would kindly leave the plane, since it would not otherwise depart. Ground crew came in and checked off all boarding passes on a list. Somehow this resolved the problem, since to my knowledge noone was thrown off the plane.
Finally we left. (Past) 23:30 I think by now. I adjusted my watch to CET: 0:30. This was the time my shuttle bus was leaving. I wondered if it would wait; normally it will wait a bit for the last flight, but a full hour...
It was announced that the visibility at Weeze wasn't very good, and that the other plane didn't have an automatic landing system, while this one had. That was why the pilot (or whoever) preferred this plane.
At about 10 to 1, the captain made an announcement. He had bad news. More bad news? It didn't seem possible. However, Weeze airport didn't want to keep its runway open past 1 o'clock, and since we wouldn't be able to make that, we could not land there. We would divert to the nearest airport that would have us, which would likely be Frankfurt Hahn. That caused quite a panic! The crew was friendly but didn't know anything more than we had just heard. Nearby, a blond girl who had her boyfriend waiting at Weeze already asked what he should do. Nobody knew for sure. There would probably be a bus of some sort.
Frankfurt Hahn is nowhere near Weeze. Nor is it very close to Frankfurt. More or less like Weeze isn't close to Düsseldorf.
Time passed. It was dark outside. Stranded in the air, it felt like.
We landed somewhere. 1:30 or later. It was indeed Frankfurt Hahn. As we clustered in the Arrivals hall, nobody of Ryanair was available, as is their standard tactic. You cannot complain anywhere, not via the website or via email. You can only call (expensive!) call centers or send a fax to somewhere in Ireland. Here we had only one lady behind the airport information desk. She thought there would be a bus to bring us to Weeze. It would be there in about 15 minutes. Of course it took a lot longer. There was nothing to eat or drink. The cash machine didn't want to let my card in.
The crew appeared. They were going somewhere. Some people started to talk (or argue) with them. While this was going on, 2 coaches appeared. Everybody went in, and after a while they left. 2:20.
We started out with a nice tour of the airport. It looked like this was also a former military airport, since they had bomb shelters for aircraft. The area is very nice looking, I'm sure, but we didn't see much of it, since it was dark. I tried to sleep but that isn't very easy sitting up, even if there is plenty of room.
The drive was 3 hours and 10 minutes, and with exactly 6 hours delay we arrived at Weeze Airport at 5:30. Which is not a place where you want to be at such a time, since it is in the middle of nowhere. Fortunately, the girl's boyfriend had slept in his car, was still there, and was prepared to give me and some other guy a lift to Nijmegen central station, where my bike was.
I arrived home around 6:45.
I was so tired I couldn't even sleep for a while, and I woke up too early too.
Monday.
I am about to travel home from London, while there is a few cm of snow in the streets. About 10, as far as I have seen. Not really an insane amount, I would say, but the Britons think it is the worst in 18 years. Therefore the Stansted Express (and all other trainlines) immediately stops operating. Some flights are cancelled in the morning and afternoon, but not mine, which is in the evening at 21:20.
Looking at relevant websites about every 5 minutes, at some point the Stansted Express starts operating again with half the trains. Then a short time later my flight gets cancelled. Of the (at least) 3 different information systems run by Ryanair that know about such things, the rebooking site is the last to know, but eventually I manage to move my flight to tuesday. Fortunately for free, since by now the fare is € 199,99 (+ tax). Fortunately I don't mind staying another day with Isabelle.
Tuesday.
Half the snow has disappeared, and no new snow has fallen, at least where I was.
Since the trains are still running at half capacity, I decide to take an hour more time than I usually do: I leave 3 hours before flight departure time, for a train trip to Stansted Airport that normally takes just a bit over half an hour. The 18:22 train is a few minutes late (no biggie) and then is stuck behind a slow train for a while (no biggie either - I have plenty of time). After about 50 minutes, about 5 minutes before the airport, there is an announcement that there may be a points failure up ahead and there may be some delay. The train stops. And waits.
And waits.
Now and then there is an announcement that engineers are on their way to fix the point, then that they had arrived, then that they were working. I don't know what they would do, but I would expect a gas heater to thaw the ice and a hammer to get the moving rails moving. In any case, no progress.
By then we had been there for more than an hour (2 hours into the journey) and the time of 20:20 (being the last reasonable time to get through security and not miss the boarding call) was approaching... and passing.
New announcements were made, almost inaudibly, about something with a replacement bus service. Very useful.
More announcement. The plan was to drive the train back a bit to some obscure small station (must have been Elsenham), where we would get out, cross a footbridge, enter another train which would bring us to Bisshop's Stortford, where the replacing bus service would operate. Great. But nothing moved yet.
More new announcement. It would be quicker to move the train backwards to Audley End, then go forward again and change tracks, to get to Bisshop's Stortford. The weird thing is, that looking on that map, we were going past the airport towards Cambridge, and then back past it again towards London.
Finally around 20:30 some guy with a rucksack and a jacket with the logo of the previous train operating company passed through the train, and it started moving back. A while later, it went forward. And we got to Bisshop's Stortford. Some people were running towards the few taxis that were there.
By this time I was quite sure I had missed my flight, and I was wondering how to get back to London. I supposed I might as well go to to the airport on the bus, in the hope that there would be better transport for that purpose, and I could rebook my flight again. Or it could be cancelled, I hoped for that, since it would save me a lot of money.
At 21:05 I finally entered the terminal building. I looked at the flight departure boards. There were just a few flights remaining. Mine said "Estimated 22:35". A miracle had happened! Suddenly I had plenty of time.
Security was fairly fast since there was almost nobody to check anymore (of course they closed almost all lanes), although some italian woman in front of me seemed to have her suitcase full of liquids. Dangerous, you know, liquids.
I made my way to gate 54, which is about as far away as you can walk. The other piers are served by a little train to save you some trouble, but the cheap one isn't. I got there at around 21:25.
People were waiting here, obviously for a while. Outside was a parked plane, but it was dark and nothing was happening. We were waiting for an incoming plane, and someone knew (somehow) that it was really the crew of that plane we were waiting for, and that we'd fly with the plane that was already there. Well, it was nice of them to wait for me, but as far as I was concerned we might as well leave now. Of course no such thing happened.
About 22:20. A plane arrived. People got off. The cabin crew went over to the other plane. Boarding started, people walked to the plane, walked up the stairs and got in. Then they started to pile up in front of the stairs, and even got out of the plane again. Of course nobody knew what was going on, but the crew invited people inside the terminal building again since it was cold outside. Time passed. I was at the front of the boarding queue.
Crew went back to the original plane. People went inside original plane. Boarding continued. Departure procedures started. People were counted. People were counted. People were counted. People were counted. People were counted. It was announced that there was one person too many on board, and if the passenger who wanted to go somewhere else than Weeze (NRN) would kindly leave the plane, since it would not otherwise depart. Ground crew came in and checked off all boarding passes on a list. Somehow this resolved the problem, since to my knowledge noone was thrown off the plane.
Finally we left. (Past) 23:30 I think by now. I adjusted my watch to CET: 0:30. This was the time my shuttle bus was leaving. I wondered if it would wait; normally it will wait a bit for the last flight, but a full hour...
It was announced that the visibility at Weeze wasn't very good, and that the other plane didn't have an automatic landing system, while this one had. That was why the pilot (or whoever) preferred this plane.
At about 10 to 1, the captain made an announcement. He had bad news. More bad news? It didn't seem possible. However, Weeze airport didn't want to keep its runway open past 1 o'clock, and since we wouldn't be able to make that, we could not land there. We would divert to the nearest airport that would have us, which would likely be Frankfurt Hahn. That caused quite a panic! The crew was friendly but didn't know anything more than we had just heard. Nearby, a blond girl who had her boyfriend waiting at Weeze already asked what he should do. Nobody knew for sure. There would probably be a bus of some sort.
Frankfurt Hahn is nowhere near Weeze. Nor is it very close to Frankfurt. More or less like Weeze isn't close to Düsseldorf.
Time passed. It was dark outside. Stranded in the air, it felt like.
We landed somewhere. 1:30 or later. It was indeed Frankfurt Hahn. As we clustered in the Arrivals hall, nobody of Ryanair was available, as is their standard tactic. You cannot complain anywhere, not via the website or via email. You can only call (expensive!) call centers or send a fax to somewhere in Ireland. Here we had only one lady behind the airport information desk. She thought there would be a bus to bring us to Weeze. It would be there in about 15 minutes. Of course it took a lot longer. There was nothing to eat or drink. The cash machine didn't want to let my card in.
The crew appeared. They were going somewhere. Some people started to talk (or argue) with them. While this was going on, 2 coaches appeared. Everybody went in, and after a while they left. 2:20.
We started out with a nice tour of the airport. It looked like this was also a former military airport, since they had bomb shelters for aircraft. The area is very nice looking, I'm sure, but we didn't see much of it, since it was dark. I tried to sleep but that isn't very easy sitting up, even if there is plenty of room.
The drive was 3 hours and 10 minutes, and with exactly 6 hours delay we arrived at Weeze Airport at 5:30. Which is not a place where you want to be at such a time, since it is in the middle of nowhere. Fortunately, the girl's boyfriend had slept in his car, was still there, and was prepared to give me and some other guy a lift to Nijmegen central station, where my bike was.
I arrived home around 6:45.
I was so tired I couldn't even sleep for a while, and I woke up too early too.
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(no subject)
Date: 2009-02-05 05:24 am (UTC)hugs for a horrible journey home
kate
Similar experience
Date: 2009-02-05 03:45 pm (UTC)I guess with cheap airlines you sometimes really get what you paid for ;-(