In Actual Fact

By the way: That’s probably the only time I’ll ever answer my phone to an “ID withheld” number at 6:30 in the morning…..

The law is: tough luck.

Obviously most airlines have a sense of PR these days. BA’s website says:

https://ukprepin.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/ukprepin.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=2447
(link from http://www.britishairways.com/travel/home/public/en_gb?countrycode=GB )

Customers who were due to travel on any cancelled service are able to re-book, re-route their ticket (subject to availability) or claim a full refund.

In the first instance customers should log onto Manage My Booking and follow the instructions.

For U.K customers wishing to claim a refund for tickets purchased from British Airways, please send your paper or e-ticket receipt to the address below so that we can calculate any refund due. The refund will be made to the original form of payment.

British Airways
Refunds Department (R46/HDA1)
PO Box 365
Harmondsworth
Middlesex
UB7 0GB

Only customers in the U.K who still wish to travel should call 0800 727 800 to rebook their ticket.

And getting to Germany otherwise? HSS ferry (before the service disappears in January) from Harwich to Hook of Holland (see http://www.dutchflyer.co.uk for ‘rail and sail’ joint ticket, probably 50 quid single from London Liverpool St. to the Dutch-German border) at such short notice; otherwise try Eurostar (”limited places available”). Even ferries from Dover to Calais still run, and then a train…

I’m getting a sort-of Xmas visit. I advised they flew BA as the staff are more competent, friendly, and you get some kind of food (ok, I didn’t mention always being delayed, but at least you don’t get herded around like cattle and be made to feel you’re at a bus station in East Anglia while waiting to get on); wisely, as it turned out, they decided to ignore my advice and book for about 3 quid less with Ryanair. Cattle-truck class it may be, but at least it seems (at present anyway) they’ll get here.

There’s ample information on BA.com re flight disruption. Use the search mask and type “passenger rights”. A paragraph on “EU Legislation on flight disruption” will appear. You have to look for BA’s “Notification of Rights” link. This text clearly states “Ist ein Flug mehr als fünf Stunden verspätet, hat der Käufer des Flugscheins Anspruch auf Rückzahlung des Flugpreises für die nicht geflogene Strecke .” There’s also a paragraph on “Anspruch auf Betreuungsleistungen” (i.e. meals, hotel stay, free telephone calls etc.). The German link is: http://www.britishairways.com/travel/euclaimnor/public/de_de

I assume the problem will be to get compensation/rescheduling while thousands of other passengers are trying to do the same, but on paper your friend’s rights are clear. May your friend reach his destination. Fiat justitia, pereat mundus.

Ok, Mr. Fact, now please repeat after me: Occasionally the EU does something useful.

Happy holidays,
Jcs

There is also a bus, but that takes like 12 hours or so… www.touring.de
I guess that info comes too late now, but it might be useful next time.
Have a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year… “have a good slide”, as we say ))

Nicolette

Were the (now deleted) details/suggestions of any use?

Very strange, just now my first comment had vanished, now it’s back.

only one suggestion (and that too, a bit late)…never fly BA.

merry christmas!

am guessing this one is sorted out by now

tried reaching you on your UK based number - reached voice mail a couple of times.
am back in bombay, same number/email id - touch base when time permits.

how are things with you? and your folks? hope your dad is doing well?

merry x’mas!

Thanks for all the help, It seems to have worked in the end. I have time for a little explanation now…..

Devonboy would have loved some help, just *just* as I was about to leave the (relatively) modern, online world and head for Scotland. So thanks to everyone who left messages here, which he could read, to get him the hell away from Heathrow.

Daggi: They’re getting rid of the HSS from Harwich? Presumably to ferry more drunken stag parties across to Dublin? That’s shocking! How am I going to get the car to Europe? (anyone that points out that there are other routes can bugger off)

JCS: “Just because I don’t like the EU doesn’t mean I’m anti-European. Of course, if we’re talking about the French….”, “Just because I don’t like the EU doesn’t mean…..”

Nicolette: Thank you! I did actually have time to try the bus company and learn that they were fully booked until next year. I hope you had a bountiful Christmas too and expect a good “enrootsch” as they say here. Well, I think that’s what they say (I’ve no idea myself - I think the neighbour was actually German and he’d been drinking a while….)

> expect a good “enrootsch” as they say here

Where is “here”? We Germans say “Einen guten Rutsch ins Neue Jahr”. Don’t ask me WHY though. (Actually, I am now wondering myself and will have a look into Kluges Etymologisches Wörterbuch later… I’ll let you know what I found out)
I am not sure whether you knew that anyway or whether that would be a new entry for the “can’t be asked”-section?

Will you still be in Scotland for Hogmanay? If so, can you post something about it?

And yes, I had a wonderful Christmas time, thank you. I hope you did, too.

hmmm… irgendwie bin ich trotzdem nicht schlauer:

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guten_Rutsch

Nicolette:

Rosh hashanah is Hebrew for “head of the year”. Via Jiddisch/Yiddish (the once dominant and now almost extinct language of Central and Eastern European Jews) the word “rosh” became “Rutsch” (German: slide). So we are not wishing someone a “good slide” (guten Rutsch) but a “good beginning of the new year”.
Interestingly, Yiddish and German are very closely related. Quite a few more words of Hebrew origin made it into standard German/Hochdeutsch such as Chutzpe, dufte, Schlamassel or Pleite. Moreover, many Yiddish-German terms are now part of the English language, especially in the US. So you can kvetch (complain, from the German word “quetschen”) about schlepping something heavy. Or you can enjoy a bagel with a good schmear. And, more importantly, you can call somebody a klutz or a schmuck.

Mazel tov for 2007!

The HSS is being replaced (in about a week’s time, I think) by a normal ferry, it will take around 7 hours. Though after what I’ve read on the safety record of the HSS, it can only be a good thing.

Thank you.

Go on - tell us about dodging the washing up at Christmas!

Thanks everyone!