Guess where I am.
Thats right, the getaway did not happen 🙁
Long recount so be warned!
On Friday we left here at about 7, and got to the hotel near the airport just before ten. At half 6 the next morning we were up and glad to see there had been no snow overnight, so we got the bus to the airport, dropped off our bags, got our money, went through security (still no snow)- boarded the plane (it just started snowing very lightly at that point), watched the safety video (snow got heavier), the plane got de-iced and we were told that we were going to take off before the “storm”. Then we were told that the runway was closed until 10am (our flight was meant to go at 9.15), but the crew were good until 1.30 that afternoon. Then the runway was shut til 12. and when we were about to get off we were told the runway was shut until 3, which meant the plane would not be going anywhere that day. Then the chaos started. We had to go and collect our bags, but because of the snow they were having trouble, and we ended up waiting in the reclaim area for our bags until about half 1 in the afternoon. Luckily we had some raisin bread with us, and had bought a bottle of water in the airport, as we were given nothing on the plane. After a few hours of waiting a lady came around with a piece of paper that said we would be rebooked on a flight leaving on Sunday, but nothing about hotels or food or anything. The desk for the airline had a massive queue, which turned out to be to use a phone as the desk was only manned until 9am (There was a lady screaming down the phone as she had been told that there was no 11am flight so we did not know what to think). I did try calling the airpine on my mobile, but it told me to go to the website, and when I called back and pressed different options it put me on hold for ages. I won’t go into it, but it was stressful- we were ringing our parents to see if they could book us a hotel, but there were none available nearby and the cheapest was over £200- the airline website said they would pay “reasonable cost” towards a hotel but we had no way of knowing what that meant. Then Andy told me that for my christmas present he had booked us tickets for Discovery cove (the Seaworld park where you can swim with dolphins)- but for Monday. As the new flight was to get to Atlanta on sunday evening, we would have an 8 hour drive to do in order to get there in time, which after spending a night in the airport (only option) we did not think was safe, so then we would have to book another hotel somewhere on the way, and miss the booking we had made on the next hotel too. Complicated I know. We also found out that if we missed the day of collecting our car for hire there were no guarantees that there would be one for us. Anyway, to cut a long story a little shorter, we eventually made the painful decision to come home and get our money back, and hopefully re book for the summer.
Even getting home was awful as half the trains were cancelled, there were signal failures on the underground, but eventually we got home at about 10 last night. It seems silly because I know it was “just” a holiday, but we were both looking forward to it so much- having some winter sunshine, spending time outside, spending time together, seeing all the christmas decorations, the special shows (candlelight processional at Epcot is amazing), and of course the discovery cove. We spent so long weighing up our options, but the insurance people said that anything we missed if we still travelled would not be covered for anything we missed, and we could not really afford to pay out more for new hotels, tickets and another car. We also thought that after a night in the airport, we would take a few days to recover and it would affect the first few days of our holiday. We are still not sure if we made the right decision- that was all I dreamt about last night. I had to be on hold for over an hour last night to cancel the flight and start the process of getting the refund.
So, this is where I am at!
Snow joke.
I am trying to look forward to all the things that I can do at home that I could not do on holiday at christmas- so any ideas would be welcome!
And I am thankful after seeing the news that we did not get stuck on the roads, on the runway, or spent the night at the airport. We got home safe and sound, which is the most important thing.
