Very timely and much appreciated reminder regarding travel thru London . Cannot comment on Easyjet as I have nothing positive to say . I’m seeing your tongue and cheek remark regarding the flight attendants selling on board product .
I recently retired from 43 years at that position. Lots and lots and lots of international travel . Certainly sold tens of thousands of Euro worth of on board duty free which has paid for my Cascais T5 , yacht in Portimão and assorted Teslas and Italian super cars. For your readers , flight attendants do sell duty free but don’t enjoy the profits . It’s a part of the job we dislike greatly as the constant negative feedback on selection and pricing is just another reminder that flying is not what it used to be . Careful shoppers can find better deals on the ground but not at 30,000 feet going 750 klm an hour . There’s a premium to be paid for goods in the air .
Looking forward to your next dispatch and feel free to hit me up with in flight travel queries but not for that bottle of Chanel 5 or ticketing questions . Obrigado.
In October I plan to fly from Faro to Memmingen Germany with Ryanair. Then rent a car and enjoy the views through Austria, Slovenia, and down the Adriatic coast. Two weeks minimum. Everything involving flying sets off my blood pressure these days; airports, airlines, airline staffs, and even a lot of passengers...
Avoid Charles de Gaulle in Paris as well. It's a circus. I wrote about our experience at CDG. It's a make you laugh, make you cry piece. I thought my title / subtitle quite good. "Let Go: You Can't Take It - With You". As for upcoming US votes, I have no words. Maybe Stephen King got it right? "Misery"
Even if I lived in London for many years any connecting flights through London for me are a no-no because the UK is outside the EU and this means extra red tape, queues, delays and, like in your case, missed flights. At least you still managed to have a nice holiday and your dog was well looked after!
I’ve missed a flight because the president’s wife went shopping in Europe and the plane was not available that week.
I missed a once a week flight because in my rush to get to the airport in time, I accidentally grabbed my wife’s passport.
I missed a flight because I told the travel agent I wanted a Saturday night flight to Frankfurt, but she booked me on a Friday night flight. Sure, I should have checked my itinerary, but when I called to rebook my flight the next morning, the agent apologized that the flight was canceled and gave me an upgrade.
I missed a once every three day flight to London because they decided to depart an hour early.
I missed a connecting flight because the airplane on the original flight broke down on the runway and it took an hour for the tractor to retrieve us.
I attempted to miss a flight because I was assigned the last row, middle seat from Brussels to WDC after being assigned the same seat from WDC to Brussels two weeks earlier. When I asked for a change, I was told the flight was completely full, so I watched from the window until all the baggage was loaded and then told the agent I decided to wait for another flight. “But the flight will be late because we must unload your baggage.” “So we both have a problem. How can we help each other to solve it?” Miracle of miracles, an overlooked exit row aisle seat was discovered .
I’ve missed so many flights for so many bizarre and entertaining reasons that before I decided to never again go to places I can’t drive to, I adopted the Switter’s Truck Mudflap Travel Creed: be flexible and willing to travel.
Just a fun fact. Last year I went to Madeira. Easyjet (the cheapest for the days I needed). Well, our flight back to Lisbon was one hour late (it had left Lisbon 1 hour late, too). Amazingly, the board showed that next the first next morning's flight - sooooo, 6 hours away/the next day was already 1 hour delayed. Wow!
Last week I flew from Hamburg toFaro, we sat on the runway for over an hour waiting for Swedish passengers to connect. We waited and they arrived all except two people who had left the security area and whose luggage had to be removed from the plane - apparently 200,000 pounds of luggage had to be sorted through to find it, then we had to wait for another slot from the air controller as there is a shortage of air controller we were told. They kept very informed. The pilot made up one hour of lost time by putting his foot on the accelerator lol. Eurowings like easy jet and Ryan air is crowded and a high in the air shopping mall. But we got there perhaps they wait if there’s a certain number of people, who knows!
Do not connect EasyJet in Milan Malpensa either. You will land in one terminal and you’ll be obliged to go out and check back in via another terminal 🫠
You do know you can get compensated by filing a claim with EC Regulation 261, right? You will probably get most of your airfare reimbursed for this one.
Oh dear! We've all been in these situations in which our freedom and space is limited, and stress is off the charts - nothing worse. When possible I highly recommend connecting in Amsterdam. There's a great European airline called Transavia if that is ever an option. I try to avoid EasyJet and Ryanair as far as possible, their product, price and customer service is dire. Brexit was deeply unfortunate and I wish it had never happened but it was a protest of globalisation which I have to say is changing the world - not for the better. Thanks for posting another interesting experience on this cold, gloomy day in Cape Town!
Meant to respond to your research questions but things got a bit busy. I know this is probably no help but I just love what you share as is. We're still part of the daily grind and you're living the dream so even the simplest experience of your world is a great motivator for me :)
I flew 4-5 days a week for many years. I saw nearly every state and my friends thought it was glamorous. Though I enjoyed the prrks (always in first class, free tickets and the concierge floor…i wouldn’t call it fun.
Very timely and much appreciated reminder regarding travel thru London . Cannot comment on Easyjet as I have nothing positive to say . I’m seeing your tongue and cheek remark regarding the flight attendants selling on board product .
I recently retired from 43 years at that position. Lots and lots and lots of international travel . Certainly sold tens of thousands of Euro worth of on board duty free which has paid for my Cascais T5 , yacht in Portimão and assorted Teslas and Italian super cars. For your readers , flight attendants do sell duty free but don’t enjoy the profits . It’s a part of the job we dislike greatly as the constant negative feedback on selection and pricing is just another reminder that flying is not what it used to be . Careful shoppers can find better deals on the ground but not at 30,000 feet going 750 klm an hour . There’s a premium to be paid for goods in the air .
Looking forward to your next dispatch and feel free to hit me up with in flight travel queries but not for that bottle of Chanel 5 or ticketing questions . Obrigado.
It's getting to the point where the main travel mistake we make is deciding to fly anywhere!
In October I plan to fly from Faro to Memmingen Germany with Ryanair. Then rent a car and enjoy the views through Austria, Slovenia, and down the Adriatic coast. Two weeks minimum. Everything involving flying sets off my blood pressure these days; airports, airlines, airline staffs, and even a lot of passengers...
Avoid Charles de Gaulle in Paris as well. It's a circus. I wrote about our experience at CDG. It's a make you laugh, make you cry piece. I thought my title / subtitle quite good. "Let Go: You Can't Take It - With You". As for upcoming US votes, I have no words. Maybe Stephen King got it right? "Misery"
Even if I lived in London for many years any connecting flights through London for me are a no-no because the UK is outside the EU and this means extra red tape, queues, delays and, like in your case, missed flights. At least you still managed to have a nice holiday and your dog was well looked after!
Add CDMX (Mexico City international airport) to the list of Horrorports. And Lisbon is now a contender too...
I’ve missed a flight because the president’s wife went shopping in Europe and the plane was not available that week.
I missed a once a week flight because in my rush to get to the airport in time, I accidentally grabbed my wife’s passport.
I missed a flight because I told the travel agent I wanted a Saturday night flight to Frankfurt, but she booked me on a Friday night flight. Sure, I should have checked my itinerary, but when I called to rebook my flight the next morning, the agent apologized that the flight was canceled and gave me an upgrade.
I missed a once every three day flight to London because they decided to depart an hour early.
I missed a connecting flight because the airplane on the original flight broke down on the runway and it took an hour for the tractor to retrieve us.
I attempted to miss a flight because I was assigned the last row, middle seat from Brussels to WDC after being assigned the same seat from WDC to Brussels two weeks earlier. When I asked for a change, I was told the flight was completely full, so I watched from the window until all the baggage was loaded and then told the agent I decided to wait for another flight. “But the flight will be late because we must unload your baggage.” “So we both have a problem. How can we help each other to solve it?” Miracle of miracles, an overlooked exit row aisle seat was discovered .
I’ve missed so many flights for so many bizarre and entertaining reasons that before I decided to never again go to places I can’t drive to, I adopted the Switter’s Truck Mudflap Travel Creed: be flexible and willing to travel.
Just a fun fact. Last year I went to Madeira. Easyjet (the cheapest for the days I needed). Well, our flight back to Lisbon was one hour late (it had left Lisbon 1 hour late, too). Amazingly, the board showed that next the first next morning's flight - sooooo, 6 hours away/the next day was already 1 hour delayed. Wow!
Last week I flew from Hamburg toFaro, we sat on the runway for over an hour waiting for Swedish passengers to connect. We waited and they arrived all except two people who had left the security area and whose luggage had to be removed from the plane - apparently 200,000 pounds of luggage had to be sorted through to find it, then we had to wait for another slot from the air controller as there is a shortage of air controller we were told. They kept very informed. The pilot made up one hour of lost time by putting his foot on the accelerator lol. Eurowings like easy jet and Ryan air is crowded and a high in the air shopping mall. But we got there perhaps they wait if there’s a certain number of people, who knows!
Do not connect EasyJet in Milan Malpensa either. You will land in one terminal and you’ll be obliged to go out and check back in via another terminal 🫠
Welcome home!
So funny, and I can even remember the time when there was no security check.
You checked in at a counter and walked straight to the boarding gate.
That I do not recall. Though I do remember my frequent flier “Welcome aboard Ms Whiteman, should I get you your usual” days
You do know you can get compensated by filing a claim with EC Regulation 261, right? You will probably get most of your airfare reimbursed for this one.
I did not know! Cheers
Oh dear! We've all been in these situations in which our freedom and space is limited, and stress is off the charts - nothing worse. When possible I highly recommend connecting in Amsterdam. There's a great European airline called Transavia if that is ever an option. I try to avoid EasyJet and Ryanair as far as possible, their product, price and customer service is dire. Brexit was deeply unfortunate and I wish it had never happened but it was a protest of globalisation which I have to say is changing the world - not for the better. Thanks for posting another interesting experience on this cold, gloomy day in Cape Town!
Thanks for reading!
Meant to respond to your research questions but things got a bit busy. I know this is probably no help but I just love what you share as is. We're still part of the daily grind and you're living the dream so even the simplest experience of your world is a great motivator for me :)
Wasn't there a time, maybe decades ago, when flying was fun? No destination is worth flying easyJet! Glad you made it back
I flew 4-5 days a week for many years. I saw nearly every state and my friends thought it was glamorous. Though I enjoyed the prrks (always in first class, free tickets and the concierge floor…i wouldn’t call it fun.
Well, you are right that work travel was never that much fun, but when it was for fun.... It was! Way back!
Also, don't connect through Orly in Paris. Hell on earth making connections there -- even with plenty of time!
Thanks for the tip!
We flew into Orly from Faro last March. It went pretty smooth, although we did not connect. Connections are the pits these days, everywhere...
Yes, but we found -- and others have agreed -- that Orly is a special kind of hell for connections. I would only go through there as a last resort.