V-Flyer

My holiday flight in 2010 was touch and go ,which took all the joys of anticipation away, until the last possible moment. Can't tell you the relief when the email from VS arrived to say "Your flight will go ahead as planned !"

Now I am on the (extended by some folks standards no doubt ) countdown again and here we go again .....

I didn't have a clue what you were talking about as I hadn't seen any news.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-28913165
When is your flight?
Hope it's all sorted for you.
Dick D

Our flight to jersey got cancelled in 2010 and now we are going back in 3 weeks for my father in laws surprise 70th birthday party!! Fun times ahead

Sharon

We're scheduled to fly to Toronto on Wednesday, so we'll have to keep a close eye on this.

Thank you Dick D . As I start my countdown to my holiday very early I do have time on my side - it is just that today's news brought back all the anguish of 2010.

ah, eruptions, that brings back memories <cue ripple effect>

in 2010 i returned by train from warsaw, the jan kiepura to cologne (in a comfy sleeper compartment), then thalys first class (comfy chair, wifi and a nice breakfast) to brussels and finally eurostar for the short leg to london (which cost more than the others put together and according to my booking had no known seat and an unprintable ticket)

so all was easy and a model of efficiency until i met the incompetence of eurostar, which made virgin's systems look state of the art

after much manual intervention to get my ticket, and pleasant couple of hours in the former brussels hilton day room for a shower and change, on boarding the train to london i saw it had loads of empty seats while there were forlorn families left behind in the queue at brussels, grrrr

as a final insult, eurostar took the opportunity to not bother with the meal and drinks service, perhaps due to some unconscious premonition i'd fortunately grabbed a few bottles in the lounge before boarding

not an option for the usa, but an interesting change for travel in europe, just skip eurostar

Made aware of this some time ago on the US news but noticed that the warning is now elevated to "red"!
Hopefully it will not result in the same disruption as a lot was learned following the eruption of Ej (sorry I can't pronounce the name!).
However should there be a problem it will be interesting to see how the airlines operating twin engined ETOPS planes manage. I remember one famous carrier once boasted the Four engines were so much better, you never know perhaps they were right? Their ability to operate over more flexible flight paths could be a big advantage.

When the first cloud went boom we were on an RV trip in California when we heard about the news. We did not know until the day before our flight if we were extending our trip or coming home.....unfortunately we were told we were flying

I have also been watching this news, we have five weeks to go.

On the last eruption we were due on a holiday with Thomson to Northern Egypt it came into the embargo period so it got cancelled. Thomson would not refund said we could re-book, only thing was the next availability was three weeks later at twice the price, as I was still working then, we agreed and it was one of the worst holidays ever.

Think it was trying to tell us something. Linda

oh noooo
we are meant to be flying next weekend.
guess it depends on the prevailing wind?

Well I am flying on the 8th to LAX so hopefully all will be ok by then.

In 2010 I was in Orlando an was clear to come home as planned. Had no idea we were stuck with the volcano until a Disney photographer made a comment leading to a google search and a panic.

I see VS has the distinction of being the first airline to be mentioned on the BBC with regards to a plane needing to divert around Iceland .

hiljil wrote:I see VS has the distinction of being the first airline to be mentioned on the BBC with regards to a plane needing to divert around Iceland .

Yes. VS19 made a slight route change. Shows on Flightradar24 but not on Plane Finder.

Odd route today too as VS7/23/43 all took a much more southerly route over Quebec, Wisconsin, Nebraska etc.

At the time of the last eruption in 2010 we managed to escape to Orlando the day before the disruption began. Completely unaware of the problem until we visited the villa rental company the next day. Our stay was two weeks so our return flight was, unfortunately , ready to transport us home. All over the local news with much footage at MCO showing how quiet things were without the flights from Europe. Three and a half weeks before our next trip to Orlando so fingers crossed

I discovered v flyer during the last volcano disruption so some good came out of it

Our flight went ahead as planned but there were a couple of stressful weeks in the run up.

Not flying this time but I understand all the worries of those who are. Fingers crossed for you.

I remember the 2010 volcanos well. I was due to take my a level art exam but my teacher got stuck because of the ash clouds and had to carry on without her. Won't forget that in a hurry!

I'm looking anxiously as we fly to EWR in four weeks. Fingers crossed - can't alas find a smiley for that.

Bardarbunga sounds like something Silvio Berlusconi gets involved with rather than a volcano in Iceland. But at least it's easier to pronounce than the last one. The Times showed an easy way which has stuck in my mind - it was eye a fella yokel. Just saying.

hiljil wrote:Thank you Dick D . As I start my countdown to my holiday very early I do have time on my side - it is just that today's news brought back all the anguish of 2010.

We started our countdown at 450 days for our next holiday.
I have a spread sheet with all the things that need to be done.
180 days to go now and all I have left to do is book a night at Gatwick and taxi but I've been waiting to see if there is a terminal change for Virgin swapping with BA.

Dick D

The Times leads with this story and mentions that a VA flight had to alter its course yesterday. Nothing else of worth though.

mallin wrote:-

On the last eruption we were due on a holiday with Thomson to Northern Egypt it came into the embargo period so it got cancelled. Thomson would not refund said we could re-book, only thing was the next availability was three weeks later at twice the price, as I was still working then, we agreed and it was one of the worst holidays ever

Linda, I think we were on the same holiday ( Mersa Mertruth )
The flying ban was lifted the day before we were due to fly so we were able to go. The hotel and beach were great ( only 30% full ) but everyone apart from myself came down with the dreaded tummy bug.
Due to fly to Singapore in 3 weeks time so keeping my fingers crossed.

dickydotcom wrote:We started our countdown at 450 days for our next holiday
Dick D

Ah , my 4 weeks doesn't seem so outlandish then, dick d !!!

VS19 course change 23/8/14



Courtesy of Flightradar24.com
http://www.flightradar24.com/

Off to Oz Monday week. I certainly do not want to live through another one of these

http://baering.github.io/

Volcano updates live:-)

Hi Marie, Yes it was Mersa Mutrah (something like that) can,t remember the exact date and yes the food was dreadful, hubby was ok but I came down with the tummy thing,they couldn't cope with the English as the hotel was geared up for Italians (sorry anybody Italian) the rep was fabulous although she couldn't manage the number of complaints. We had to be escorted in by a military patrol, memories. Lin