Expecting anyone from the UK ? - DON'T BE! :-(

So, if you're waiting / expecting friends from the UK be aware that all flights from London Heathrow to Thailand have now been cancelled for the second day running now due to snow and ice, there are 1000's of travellers now trapped in the airport ( and all the regional feeder airports) and the main roads to Heathrow are about to be totally closed off by the police as I type and even if things do improve in the next few days there will be a huge backlog of flights and people that may take days to clear - and to top it all there's more snow on the way apparently ! - Looks like my 3 weeks in the sun(ee) is SCREWED :-(

Now I know that half the Northern Irish like to parade up and down the streets in bowler hats and sashes, and waving their Union Flags and Red Hand of Ulster flags to proclain their "Britishness" (and to antagonise the other half) - but please realise that you can blinker yourself too far - whilst it is undoubtedly the largest, LHR is not the only airport in the UK and many others are operating normally or near normally.

As for LHR - any dimunition in the numbers of Southern English flying into BKK ought to be welcomed rather than lamented IMHO and anybody who chooses to transit LHR when there are other options, needs their head examined. You could easily have gone Belfast - Glasgow and picked up the Emirates flight.


:rolling: :rolling:

What the FUCK are you going on about, you know fuck all about me so don't presume to lump me into a box with your own small bigoted views - and it's rich for you to start talking about anyone when you immediately go on to display your own small minded prejudices against people from Southern England - and for your information yes you're quite right that Heathrow is the largest airport AND also the one that MOST flights to BKK depart from BUT it IS the regional feeder airports that can't fly INTO Heathrow AND the roads are closed which are causing the problem - I know I'm here trying to work my way through it all, you're not ! So, can I suggest rather than having a wee uncalled for ( and totally off topic) politcial rant if you've nothing constructive to say how about just shutting the hell up !

What the FUCK are you going on about, you know fuck all about me so don't presume to lump me into a box with your own small bigoted views - and it's rich for you to start talking about anyone when you immediately go on to display your own small minded prejudices against people from Southern England - and for your information yes you're quite right that Heathrow is the largest airport AND also the one that MOST flights to BKK depart from BUT it IS the regional feeder airports that can't fly INTO Heathrow AND the roads are closed which are causing the problem - I know I'm here trying to work my way through it all, you're not ! So, can I suggest rather than having a wee uncalled for ( and totally off topic) politcial rant if you've nothing constructive to say how about just shutting the hell up !


I was ENTIRELY constructive - I pointed out there was NO NEED to fly via LHR at all.

However, since you are stuck travelling from Ulster trying to make your way to London (home of The Queen) I feel your pain. Keep you chin up! NO SURRENDER!!

:laughing3: :laughing3:

Well if on a blog about travel you consider it "ENTIRELY CONSTRUCTIVE" to make totally uncalled for political statements and then also be so condescending as to suggest to a total stranger that I can "blinker" myself too far ( implying I'm blinkered in the first place ) I think perhaps you have a strange understanding of the word constructive.

And as for your comment about anyone such as myself "obviously needing their head examined" for not flying via Glasgow with Emirates, silly me but I preferred the direct flight option as opposed to being forced to stop over in Dubai and as I AM flying out of Belfast to make the connection and there are ( normally ) FAR more flight options and airlines available for me to make it to London rather than anywhere else. But thank you for your "constructive advice" I'll obviously bear it mind for all future trips I undertake - and I'm sure as you obviously know so much about me and where I live that you'll no doubt be dedecting the strong note of good old Ulster sarcasm there.

[cdnmatt]

Ouch, that sucks to hear. Hopefully you can work something out with your employer, and still be able to take your vacation once everything clears up.

Thanks and yes hopefully something will work itself out, I'm a great believer in positive mental attitude and all that :-) ......just be sure to remind me about that around 10pm tomorrow night when I find myself resigned to sleeping on the floor in Heathrow ! lol Could be worse, ya gotta feel sorry for all the people that need to get home to their partners and children for Christmas....thankfully all I'm missing out on is a few days on the beer ......and as you said I'm sure the boss will be more than accommodating (I'm self employed ! lol)

NIrish, so sorry to hear of your complications in coming to wonderful Thailand!
Do hope that you are able to get out and that things will resolve themselves. If you enjoy going to bars, please stop by our bar just on the fringe of Boyztown and have a nice stiff drink on us as a welcome cocktail for all your troubles.
Hopefully see you soon! :alc:

[lonelywombat]

anybody who chooses to transit LHR when there are other options, needs their head examined. You could easily have gone Belfast - Glasgow and picked up the Emirates flight.
:

Emirates have cancelled ALL flights into the UK .I could not understand his rambling post but is he suggesting Emirates fly direct to BKK from Scotland?????

Thank you @ Unkiebuck, thats a very nice offer - excuse my lack of knowledge as I'm sure this has been mentioned before somewhere but I'm not aware of the name of your bar as I will most certainly call in (not just for a free drink but to say "hi" !) - and hell sure in these testing financial times a bit of free publicity for your bar never hurt anyone too as far as I'm concerned lol.

Although to top it all turns out I've now come down with one hell of a chest infection passed on to me from someone I work with and the doctor has just put me on a 7 ! day course of antibiotics ( meaning no beer of course ! ) to clear it up :-(, somehow I doubt my resolve will last the course !! :-)

And hey so far so good re the flights both my connecting flight and main london to BKK flights are showing as still running !! :-) although that info has changed and the flight status was up and down yesterday like the proverbial lady of the nights knickers ! lol But so far so good and I'm going for it ! See that Postive mental attitude is working already haha

Oh and Wombat, yes there is an indirect flight from Glasgow to Dubai then BKK with a stop over in between and having down the same flight last time via Birmingham it wouldn't be my first choice compared to anything that's "direct" - and also as Emirates totally screwed my over on my last trip charging me an additional ┬г200 at the check in desk to move my business class ticket by one day on arrival at their desk - after their suggestion that I come early whilst in dubai ( long story )and treated my like absolute crap when I tried to speak to anyone about it - and their so called business class customer service department were no better personally I'd see them in hell first before I give them any business again, but that's just my personal opinion of course.

So, bags now packed and I'm heading off for the great unknown that is Heathrow Airport ! :-) My isn't life is just one big adventure ! lol

Its a small bar but in MY opinion, its fun and warm to customers. It is called Happy Place.
See you soon! :hello2:

[Beachlover]

Boy... hope the warm weather clears up your chest infection when you get there, NIrish!

Well with absolutely NO thanks whatsoever to British Airways and after numerous flight cancellations then re schduling again and cancellations again ive actually, after 24 hours solid travelling, made it and am now in Pattaya :-). I was one of the lucky ones and it only my own determination and experience of airline systems that got me here, heathrow is in absolute chaos ! People lying everywhere, rubbish piled up everywhere, flights moved three and four days forwards and in the midst of it all BA appear to have totally given up ! No answering their phones. Automated system hangs up on you ( intentionally ) and their web site crashing and nothing being done about hence TOTALLY wrong flight infobwing given out - according to BA I'm still in heathrow and they tell me I " might " getting flying out tonight !!! So here's to pataya and now that I'm here I'm certainly going to make the best of it !!:-))

[Smiles]

Received this email (part of it anyway) from an English friend who was visiting Hua Hin last week, and left on Sunday: destination? London.
An interesting trip!

" ... The flight to the UK turned out to be 13 hours and 30 mins. This was fine, I watched a movie, slept a little and read. Just as we started our approach to London Heathrow airport, the pilot announced that there was heavy snow in London and that the airport had been closed. We were diverted to Cologne in Germany, which was also quite badly snowbound and had a temperature of -6┬░C. After sitting on the tarmac for 3 hours, we then stood around the airport for a further 3 hours. I finally got a hotel room somewhere in the suburbs at 3 am. On Sunday, I caught a tram to the city centre and looked around the cathedral and Christmas markets. The snow continued to fall quite heavily. Sunday night was spent at the hotel, followed by Monday spent hanging around the airport (after buying some new clothes тАУ all our luggage was still on the plane). We got a new departure time of 6pm, but our aircraft had been parked in the cargo area overnight. When they tried to move it to the terminal at around 1 pm, they discovered that it was frozen on to the ground and it then took another 8 hours for them to unstick the plane. We boarded at 1 am and sat there for another 9 hours while they tried to clear the runway of snow and to remove the ice from our plane. Booking business class turned out to be worth every penny, as at least I had a seat that converted to a bed. I finally reached the UK at lunchtime today (Tuesday). Perhaps I should have stayed on the plane and returned to Thailand ... "