Calis Beach and Fethiye Turkey Discussion Forum
Flights, Airlines and Airports => Flights to Dalaman and Turkey, Airlines and Airports => Topic started by: usedbustickets on December 21, 2010, 08:55:46 AM
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Jan and I left Calis at 6am on Sunday and finally arrived home last night at just after 9pm ... a journey time of just over 39 hours!! I knew that travel via Istanbul would take a little longer, but I did not expect it to take quite that long .... is this a record?
I could write a book about how bad things were on the journey, and how unco-operative companies and their staff can be in providing information, indeed in some cases how they lie to your face just to get you away ... and have you ever tried to find a manager when you want one? Not just a Turkey problem, but we Brits excelled as well, as we travelled from the the diverted Stanstead airport in the Essex Wastelands, back to Heathrow, across London, in order to collect our car.
Best of all Turkish Airlines did not tell us until we were in the air that the plane was actually going to Stanstead, and not Heathrow. And when we arrived there was nothing laid on to get us back to Heathrow, we were literally dumped there and left to get on with it!!
Anyway on a serious note if you are travelling in the next week or so, wherever your journey ... be prepared. Make sure you have warm clothing, spare cash, some water and sandwiches wouldn't go amiss, and take a book to while away the hours .. hopefully you will not need any of it, but nothing is lost in being prepared.
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Terrible service but it makes me realise that booking on an EU carrier would at least have given you some rights when things went wrong. I guess you had to pay your own way to Heathrow and if so your holiday insurance should pay out if you have kept receipts.
It's appalling that Turkish Airlines did not inform you that Heathrow was shut or lay on transportation - everybody must have known how bad it was in the UK Saturday and Sunday.
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I just wonder, football matches survive through undersoil heating. Is under runway heating a ridiculous idea? I imagine it would be quite expensive to run but surely it would be cheaper for the country than the loss of working days caused by the likes of Heathrow being closed.
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I believe Oslo Airport has 'under runway' heating !
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The technology is ready:
http://www.icax.co.uk/Solar_Runways.html
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Stansted airport in the Essex wastelands,you should have insisted to be diverted to Mogadishu :P
Badger ( Proud of my local airport campaigner ) ;)
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I remember about 15 years ago flying to Florida via Bangor, Maine airport. We circled the airport while they snow ploughed the runway, then had to snowplough again and de ice the plane before we jetted off to the sun. Outside the terminal building there were 2 foot snow drifts. The airport was fully operational. Our Country's understanding of dealing with the weather is absolutely crap. How can it be acceptable to close a facility like Heathrow because of snow? They should make provision when building these airports etc to accomodate this sort of weather its not like its a supprise that it will snow!
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Well I understand from the news this morning that the Spanish owned company that runs Heathrow spent the vast sum of £600,000 on winter preparations this year compared to about £5mil at Gatwick (not Spanish owned).
..and they wonder why it all went pete tong.
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remember flying into JFK in a blizzard! we circled for about half an hour whilst the runway was cleared enough for us to land. There were several fet of snow piled up as we landed. the freeways enroute for NYC were cleared and traffic flowed freely! As we alighted our taxi in Manhatten my mother in law , fairly short in stature, nearly disappeared in the snow piled up on the edge of the pavement but nothing stopped moving and people still went about their business! Only in the UK does the world stop moving due to bad weather! Anyone would think we were an island in the northern hemisphere!
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I remember someone on TV saying they landed at an American airport late on Christmas Eve with heavy snow as far as the eye could see. The airline arranged for the flight to be met by a Santa on a real sleigh, coming alongside to meet them. Some can only see problems, others see opportunities :)
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We went to Amsterdam last New Year. As we were about to board the plane there was a drop in temperature and we had to wait in the lounge. After half an hour we boarded the plane, we sat on the plane for four hours waiting to leave as the plane and runway was de-iced. There was no snow.
When we arrived in Amsterdam it was snowing and cold. We had a tram stop outside the Hotel which took us into the town centre in 5 minutes. I asked the Manager of the Hotel did the ice and snow affect the trams. He looked at me as if I was mad and said that the trams always ran whatever the weather.
When the holiday was over we travelled to Schipol and it was snowing quite hard. I was so worried about the flight. It did not stop snowing, but the plane took off on time in heavy snow and there were no problems.
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Many many moons ago I used to chase the winter snow across Europe and not once can I remember an airport being closed or train/tram station queues due to delays.
Maybe nowadays we have the wrong type of snow ;)
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The only saving grace for the whole journey is that there was no delay at Dalaman ... so at least we did not have to break the boycott and pay their robbery prices for any refereshment :)
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Supposed from Heathrow on Sunday 19th. I phoned Turkish Air on the Saturday, to be told we have not cancelled any flights, we are still flying!!!! Checked website and showed still flying. paid £80 to get to Heathrow only to find all Turkish Air flights cancelled. Told go home or stay all night at airport, they did@nt really care. No food, no drink , no accommadation, no customer service. Told to phone reservation number. I pointed out that I had checked the website and it showed flying "oh well, not up dated" My flight left from Stansted but only took Saturdays cancelled flight passengers.I finally managed to get back to my daughters, reservation number always engaged - now theres a surprise. Finally manged to get through at 17.00 to be told fully booked. When I queried this and argued, told we are not reservations but we can reserve you a seat on Friday????? Rang off, tried later and this very pleasant lady said they were fully booked, I explained I had been bumped for Saturdays passengers which was fair so surely Monday passengers would be bumped for Sunday passengers. Oh no, fully booked. Could go on the waiting list, long story short, she finally said 1 seat from Birmingham on the Monday. I took it. Supposed to take off 11,30 finally took off 14.30 but hey we were off. Arrived in Istanbul about 20.15 to find only 1 flight a day to Dalaman and it had left at 18.50. But here Turkish air came up trumps, booked into hotel, dinner, breakfast, transfer to and from airport. Finally arrived home 21.30 Tuesday. Never again.
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I am please you finally made it.I was booked for last Friday to Istanbul but didn't make it, being stuck in the frozen wastes of Scotland!There's usually a morning and evening flight to Dalaman? I was booked on the morning flight back up to Istanbul so would have been totally scuppered there if they are cancelled!
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quote:
Only in the UK does the world stop moving due to bad weather!
Err NO
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12073501