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The Vagaries of Adventure Travel

9/5/2018

2 Comments

 
Adventure travel comes with an acceptance that things will occasionally (or even frequently) not go to plan.
On my recent trip to Costa Rica, all was wonderful and dare I say it efficient on the travel front – until it came to the short hop back from the Frankfurt airport hub to London Heathrow with Lufthansa. In Costa Rica we had navigated washed out mountain roads, diverted along dirt tracks due to a road closure for an accident, been dropped off by boat on remote beaches, and then picked up again when scheduled. We had covered a lot of ground without a serious hitch.
We flew from San Jose to Frankfurt in good time, but we were travel weary: as last days often can be when they involve being awake for a long time. We settled onto the flight from Frankfurt to Heathrow, due to take just over the hour, with thoughts of getting home a little too prematurely on our minds. At 30 minutes into the flight the announcement was made that the aircraft would be turning back to Frankfurt.
On one perspective, the plane developed a fault which Lufthansa decided on safety grounds meant it could not continue, they returned us safely to Frankfurt, put us up in a hotel overnight and flew us home again the next day.
The other perspective is, the flight had gone hallway when they decided to return to the home airport – I’m sort of okay with that, many a time I have decided to return an ailing vehicle home rather than seek a mechanic in a strange place, but it was clearly a commercial decision to do this. We landed back in Frankfurt after our scheduled landing time at Heathrow. The “We’ll sort you out” promises evaporated faster than aviation fuel. They started with the assurance that another plane would be prepared and we would be transferred onto it, which quickly moved to an assurance we would be split onto later flights (and the ground staff had all the details waiting for us) to a total absence any helpful ground staff greeting us or alternative flights home that day once we had landed.
Eventually, we headed back on the airport side of security to the Lufthansa desk who were advising people they would be put up in a hotel and would probably be able to continue on the journey in a couple of days. As my travel companion really needed to get back to work the next day this was a difficult message to receive. Flights on this shuttle route were more frequent than hourly and the wonder of smartphones revealed several companies still selling tickets for the route that day. With hindsight resisting the chosen solution by Lufthansa was futile, but those of us who refused to believe were sent on a wild goose chase in search of standby seats on the remaining Lufthansa flights leaving that day, before returning to the desk in failure and accepting the hotel voucher. We were promised we were on a flight at 18.30 the next day – others fared worse being told they would have to wait several days.
We stayed overnight and returned first thing in the morning to engage once more with a now less hassled and refreshed Lufthansa staff. Turns out we weren’t actually booked on the 18.30 flight but were cheerfully told that was not a problem as there were seats available on earlier flights. We eventually arrived at Heathrow 21 hours after scheduled, and my travel companion recorded the first absence from work of his career.
Seems clear to me to that these events meet the criteria for the compensation scheme so I duly applied for compensation. I received a response from Lufthansa saying they were receiving a lot of complaints so it might take longer than usual for them to respond. An ignored chase up after a week and I am still waiting for them to get back to me.
It’s not always the obvious risks of adventure travel that catch you out - but at least I had a good view of the green roof at Frankfurt Airport.
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2 Comments
superbpaper review link
10/9/2020 10:01:27 am

This pandemic is really one of the worst things to happen to us. A lot of lives got derailed because of it, and we cannot really get them back. I wish that we can just go back to how life used to be. I understand that it is going to be a long time before all of that happens, but believe me, I am fine with it. I hope that it does get back to that at some point, though.

Reply
homework help in biology link
2/1/2021 05:52:16 pm

The best trips are those that do not go to plan. I had planned I will get homework help in biology during my trip but I did not. Instead, I spend all the time sightseeing and enjoying the moments.

Reply



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    I'm John Edwards and this website is started with 60at60: my challenges and activities after turning 60. Time goes on and so does this site! Hope you like it.

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  • Blog
  • About
  • The Ticked List
  • The Original 60 ths
    • 1 Create a Website
    • 2 Stop Being an Employee
    • 3 Climb 60 Summits
    • 4 Climb a 6000m Peak
    • 5 The Great North Swim
    • 6 Raise Money for Charity
    • 7 A Rock Climb
    • 8 My Standard Run in in 60 min
    • 9 60 Beers
    • 10 60 Cakes
    • 11 Cycle the South Downs Way
    • 12 Visit Costa Rica
    • 13 Lyke Wake Walk
    • 14 60at60 Photo Exhibition
    • 15 Build a Firepit
    • 16 Cycle 60 Miles in a Day
    • 17 Kayak the Thames in the Dark
    • 18 Pick up 60 Bags of Litter
    • 19 60 Almond Croissants
    • 20 Climb Y Garn
    • 21 6 Must See Animals
    • 22 A Night at Caer Fran
    • 23 A Night at the Museum
    • 24 Jubilee Greenway walk
    • 25 Sort the Attic
    • 26 Dart River Swim
    • 27 The 60at60 Playlist
    • 28 See 60 Live Acts
    • 29 6 Must See Acts
    • 30 The London Eye
    • 31 Timeout Recommendation
    • 32 Lego Turns 60
    • 33 Messing about on a River
    • 34 Replicate a Photograph
    • 35 Open Uni Free Courses
    • 36 Plant Trees
    • 37 Read 6 Books (Again)
    • 38 The Pier Head
    • 39 The Grim
    • 40 Whittle a Spoon
    • 41 Camp by the Sea
    • 42 Write a Poem
    • 43 Compose a Song
    • 44 Volunteer
    • 45 RGS Young Explorers
    • 46 North Downs Run
    • 47 Swim in the Pacific
    • 48 Whitewater Rafting
    • 49 Make 60 Sandcastles
    • 50 Wellbeing in Nature
    • 51 Photo with A Celebrity
    • 52 Medway's Saxon Shore Way
    • 53 Eridge Park Trail Challenge
    • 54 Grib Goch by Moonlight
    • 55 A Multi Day Canoe Journey
    • 56 Cycle to Work
    • 57 Highest Points in Boroughs I've Worked
    • 58 Paint the Shed
    • 59 One as We Go
    • 60 Something about a New Year
  • Support a Charity
  • Contact