I was supposed to be going to a well deserved relaxing all-inclusive holiday to Fuerteventura last Friday however the Volcanoes in Iceland appear to have different ideas. I thought it would be funny to document just what went down as I’m sure in the months to come i will be able to look back at the last 36 hours and laugh… just not right now.
Thursday – approximately lunch time
Had a joke with the girls in the office that I didnt know if my passport had expired.
Thursday – 5pm
Listened to Radio 4 heard about Volcanic eruptions in Iceland causing havoc with flights. Told to check with airline to see if we’re still flying.
Thursday – 6pm
Last minute dashing around trying to buy a beach towel which was needed after reading a review on tripadvisor.com that stated there wasn’t enough sunbeds at the hotel and that you needed to get up early and stake a claim to enjoy your spot in the sun.
Thursday – 7pm
My gf showed up and laughed at my checklist of items being packed in my luggage and turned house upside down looking for my NHS card which is needed to get treatment overseas.
Thursday – 8pm
Checked with manchesterairport.co.uk to see if the flight was cancelled…nope says its still flying.
Thursday – 11pm
Checked again with manchesterairport.co.uk, it appears they stopped updating the site at 10pm WTF!
Friday -4am
Alarm rings I rush over to the computer to check flight details. BBC News and other sources state that everything has been grounded, i check with manchesterairport.co.uk and it says it’s sill flying.
Friday – 4.15am
Try to call the specific Manchester Airport on the phone number suggested on their website… not open until 9am (helpful!). Try to call airline… not open until 9am (helpful!). Scoured Internet for any additional numbers.
Friday – 4.30am
Located a non-descript number for Manchester Airport and got through to a woman who said the flight had been cancelled.
Friday – 9am
Tried to call airline… engaged.
Friday – 9.05am
Tried to call airline… automated answer, told to call different number… rung off WTF!
Friday – 9.10am
Called travel agent, told they’ll take our details and get back to us with any news.
Friday – 9.20am until 11.30am in 5 minutely intervals
Calling airline… get engaged tone.
Friday 11.30am
Went to get some supplies for breakfast. Ate bacon butties.
Friday 11.50am
Get back , my GF has called the travel agents again and been told that the flight has been cancelled and that we’ll know more at 6pm.
Friday – 12.00
Calling airline… get engaged tone. Call airport parking company and told we can move our booking by 30 days free of charge.
Friday – 2pm
Visit brothers to fix his email, set up his new phone and move his contact across. He’s supposed to be flying BMI today and is experiencing the same difficulty in getting information.
Friday – Approximately 4pm
manchesterairport.co.uk stops updating the online flight timetable.
Friday -Approximately 4.30pm
thomascook.com updates their alert page telling people that the deadline has been moved back to 1am.
Friday – Approximately 5.30pm
thomascook.com adds a statement telling us we can either opt for a refund or reschedule our holiday within the next 30 days.
Friday – 7.30pm
Go to local restaurant to have a slap up holiday style tea… Yum Seabass.
Saturday – 8.30am
Wake up, shower, get dressed, head off to Bury to visit travel agents before the rest of Fridays passengers do to try and arrange new holiday.
Saturday – 9.30am
In travel agents. All Thomas Cook resorts are fully booked so can’t move flight. Find a new destination and upgrade for £5.45 (bargain) to a 4 star hotel with apartments on all-inclusive nice)…searching tripadvisor.com on my phone while the agent is recommending hotels to make sure we don’t get stuck in a $#1!hole, looking at pictures of the resort on Google Images and finding the location using online maps. Told to disappear while the travel agent tries to contact Thomas Cook to arrange refund.
Saturday – 10.30am
Call back at travel agents, no luck they can’t get through either. We leave the £5.45 in good faith and go shopping in Manchester.
Saturday – 5.30pm
Call from travel agents to confirm booking we just need to go in tomorrow to sign the paper work.
Saturday – 7pm until 11pm
Order curry from takeaway, get plastered on Jack and Coke.
I remember things slightly differently :) lol