Travel problems and likely changes in mode of travel.
I honestly expected a few posts on here but cannot find anything about the air travel problems in Europe. Nobody seems to know exactly what might happen but if the nearby larger volcano in Iceland explodes the troubles could go on for weeks or months. The cruise industry, in spite of their spin, has been struggling for a while; traditionally repositioning cruises have been an inexpensive way to have a long holiday on a luxury liner, we might find very soon that they are able to charge full price for these trips.
What other methods are there for travel from say Oceania or Asia to Europe? Has anyone tried it by either rail or coach or even riverboat? How long does it take and what are the costs like?
Reply to this Hi Nigel, I've also been surprised that no one has written anything about the volcano seeing it has caused complete chaos in Europe. We were actually due to fly to Iceland on Thursday and are still hoping to reschedule at some stage. My friend is getting married in Norway next week and her family may not be able to make it before the wedding and there are people stuck all over the place unable to return home.
If the ash remains a problem for more than a few weeks I imagine people will start to look for alternatives but I think people are still holding out for everything to return to 'normal'. There is a relatively new bus company that drives from London to Australia but I think it is quite expensive, almost £5000 and takes 92 days....although I'm sure there are plenty of local buses that would get you there for a lot less than that.
Reply to this Hello Nigel 😊
Flying hasnt resumed in Europe yet. Apparently there is too much stuff in the air from the volcano. I dont notice anything different here in Germany. One would think if there were so many particles in the air it would block out the sun or something.
According to the news, flights may start in the Netherlands again tomorrow. I havent been keeping up with all the news about the volcano, so dont know when flights will resume elsewhere.
...if the nearby larger volcano in Iceland explodes the troubles could go on for weeks or months.
Hopefully, it does not choose to explode, when I am due to fly to Thailand at the end of July. 😞
What other methods are there for travel from say Oceania or Asia to Europe? Has anyone tried it by either rail or coach or even riverboat? How long does it take and what are the costs like?
Yeah, that is certainly possible, but it is wise to do plenty or research before travelling overland from Europe to Asia or Oceania, because political situations can cause borders to be closed, or parts of countries to be dangerous. And, then there are the visa regulations.
Train seems like a good way to go. I havent checked recently, but a train from Istanbul to Tehran last I heard can be had for 90 Euros. Then busses and trains in Iran are very inexpensive. You can likely get accross all of Iran for around 20 Euros. Then Pakistan is not so expensive either for transport, then into India where transport is also very inexpensive... I want to go on such a trip in the future when I have more time, but as you see I have not yet fully researched it.
And there is there is the
overland bus from the UK to Australia.
Mel
Reply to this And there is the trans Siberian train from Moscow to Beijing. That can be pretty expensive, but costs can be cosiderably cut if you buy the tickets individually along the way, rather than buying the entire ticket from an agent.
Here is an interesting blog by somebody who did that.
Transsiberian Railway Reply to this I am in the UK due to fly to Canada on Tuesday but I do not think we wil get there on Tesday.
I have RTW tickets so I am guessing they will just put me on the next fligh. I hope if I am here to much longer I can change my other flights for free as well but we will see. I have accomidation here till Monday night. Am looking for more accomidtion now but prices seem to have went up with the volcano. I havel some accomidation booked in Canada as well. It looks my travle insurance will not cover accomidations costs but I will find out.
Reply to this if anyone needs to get somewhere urgently within europe, let le know and i can drive you there.
mike
Reply to this The quote last night on CNN from one of the airlines "we are going to shoe horn them in to every seat we can " They are saying that flights might resume today and that they are expecting a shift in the jet stream to blow more northward opening most of Europe later in the week.
It might take weeks to clear the back log of flyers, all trains are full.
Craigs list and car sharing to get to a airport that is open, make sure you all ready have a airline ticket. any flights that you can catch expect to pay a lot for them in the near term as the airlines will be looking to recoup their loses.
Bangkok and Singapore people are stuck and some local business are actually up becuase people have unexpected free time. Isan House Thai cooking school reported to me that they are haveing a great week as stranded travelers are looking for interesting and inexpensive things to do in Bangkok.
Reply to this After a year in Australia we're due to fly home to the UK on Sunday 25th. Lots of people have been telling us that we've got no hope but we remain positive that we'll at least get to Dubai! Hopefully things will have been sorted but yikes I feel for those stuck at the airports all over the world at the moment.
Reply to this We live in Bangkok, after two weeks school holidays...9 teachers of my son school are still....well....blocked in Europe...some of his school friends....same story.
Here we take it pretty well....a little war is preparing less than 7km from school.....the sun is out there. It does teach you a small thing....what is happening 7km from here....all over the world news have less impact on our children than what is happening 6000 miles away in Europe.
Ironic....for sure...but I still remember the day I was getting on trains from Barcelona to Brussels, or hitch-hiking in Europe. The sad things, it's for farmers in third world countries who are going to lose a lot....because the cargo flights are not making it to Europe with flowers and other vegetables....europeans are getting used to.
Our world today is what is is...a small place...some fight globalization...well....the fact are...globalization is our daily life....for a lot of us...
Reply to this On another note....
Little lexical about your rights and what is going to happen...
You are due to fly let say on 27th April from a to b. Your flight has not been cancelled yet, not been delayed yet...and the airline re-instated full schedule...let say on 26th april.
You may sit on a discount...very discount fare....you will still fly....the airline will fill all empty seat on your fly first with "delay" passengers....than with "cancelled" passengers.
If you want to make some money, and are flexible, this is the time of your life...to "volunteer"...
The news are simple....the first passengers who were "delayed" and are still "delayed" four to five days later are the first one to go on plane...in lane with those who simply have a ticket...for the first day the airline will operate.
For those who have confirmed tickets for the coming days...and are not in a hurry...it i the time of your life to be nicely "bumped" out of a flight. Quite often, this means a 600 euro bonus if you are flying to Europe from Asia...few more days of holidays...
Reply to this I was suppose to fly to Europe March 30 but due to medical I had to postpone, and I was hoping to go at the beging og May so I really hope things are back to normal then cause I really don't want to have to cancel twice it would be very discouranging since this is suppose to be me first trip. I have not bought my plane ticket yet so I can still postpone it a abit longer if need be I just didn't want to be in Europe during high tourist season.
Reply to this Hi,
I am from the UK but currently visiting my parents in Florida. I'm due to fly home to the UK on Thursday the 22nd. On Saturday the 24th i have a party for 100 people planned to say goodbye to our friends and family before my husband and i embark on our trip of a lifetime to Australia on May 14th.
I have been looking at the NATS UK website everyday and yesterday alol seemed positive that this PM UK airspace would reopen but last night the volcano began erupting again ans subsequently UK airspace remains closed. Scottish airspace was open this morning but has now closed again due to the ash cloud.
I am lucky that i am with my parents at their home and not living in the airport just waiting for something to happen but if my flight does not take off on Thursday, i will be at the back of the que for a return flight to the UK.
All we can do is wait.
Reply to this My flight from Heathrow to Toronto was cancelled and I was not able to get hold of the airline for over a day after it was cancelled. Once I got on to then the next flight that they could book me on to is the 6th of March 2 and a half weeks after we were due to leave. This means that I will lose out on my two weeks accommodation that I have booked in Canada. I am hoping that maybe my insurance will cover that. Under the EU the airline has to pay for my food and accommodation wile I am stuck here but when I asked them about that they did not know if or how they were going to do that. So I do not know if I am going to get any of that back or some or how much I can get back so how much I can spend on food and accommodation. I also have had to extend my car hire here for this time and I do not think I will get that money back. I have accommodation tonight but have not booked anything else past that.
The airline did let me change all my ongoing round the world flights for free and not have to pay the change fee so that was a good of them.
I still feel I do not know how much this is going to cost me yet.
Reply to this Good News.....
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8633597.stm
Reply to this We got out of the UK yesterday 2 and a half weeks later then we had booked. The airline BA is still not replying to our phone calls or emails re our accommodation and food cost and our insurance requires a letter from the airline to say the flight was cancelled which BA is still not providing so I am extremely unhappy with BA handing of this. I was in the BA executive club at the airport yesterday and they would not help in any way they just gave me a car with a number on to call great help not! I would expect this from one of the cheap airlines but am surprised that BA are being so unhelpful.
I am not holding my breath on getting any money out of them!
Reply to this Looks like it is not over yet. I heard on the news yesterday that a lot of flights were cancelled from Munich airport, which is where I often fly from.
A plume of volcanic ash snaked its way through southern France, Switzerland and northern Italy Sunday, shutting down airports and disrupting flights across Europe.
Volcanic ash cloud grounds more flights in Europe Reply to this Here is a photo of what caused all the trouble, taken by a TravelBlog blogger.
Reply to this 
