Help! Flight Cancelled.

[jsalt]

Born optimist am I . Have booked a cheap flight to Bordeaux from South Africa on 16 January . Anyone else leaving St Jean Pied de Port to Valcarlos on 18 January?

 

[wayfarer]

Buen Camino Jill, enjoy it all.

 

[VNwalking]

No such luck for me.
Buen camino, Jill!

 

[Robo]

Born optimist am I . Have booked a cheap flight to Bordeaux from South Africa on 16 January . Anyone else leaving St Jean Pied de Port to Valcarlos on 18 January?

Wow, too cold for me!

 

[mspath]

Lucky you!
Looking forward to reading your posts/seeing your pics.
Happy planning and Buen camino.

 

[John Crawford Howell]

Brrrrrrrrrrr!

 

[Myra13]

Wow, nice!

 

[jsalt]

Thank you all for your buen caminos!

I love winter caminos. They are very different from the rest of the year.

My biggest problem may be at the airport in Johannesburg.

I have booked a flight with cabin bag only, so I will have to WEAR all the winter clothes I need to take with me , rather than pack them. Hopefully the aircon will be on high .

I will need to pick up a hiking pole in SJPdP, as I dare not try and put my foldup Black Diamond in my backpack .

 

[brendano]

Born optimist am I . Have booked a cheap flight to Bordeaux from South Africa on 16 January . Anyone else leaving St Jean Pied de Port to Valcarlos on 18 January?

Hi Jsalt, January is a great time to hike the Camino Frances I last walked it in January 2019, starting from SJPP. A good rain suit is what you need . The temperatures where from 4c to 16 c. Coming from Ontario Canada in January (daytime high of -15 and over night -25) that was like a warm Spring! The advantages are not so many people; although I met people from all over the world even a guy from south Africa. One always gets to sleep in a bottom bunk ; cama baja! It's the wonderful feeling of pretty much having the whole trail to oneself. Every one has more time for you. The walk over to Valcarlos is lovely, and the albergue is excelent; beautiful mountain view and well equipped kitchen. The number code to enter the albergue you get from the local restaurant/bar; for me it was always a thrill when I'd have the whole place to myself. Anyway's , buen camino, It'll be January 2022 before I do it again, c-ya from Canada.

 

[jsalt]

This book has some great reviews on amazon, so I am giving it a go:

"A Pilgrim in Winter: My Journey on the Camino de Santiago" Kindle Edition by William M Butler

Anyone else read it?

 

[C clearly]

This book has some great reviews on amazon, so I am giving it a go:

"A Pilgrim in Winter: My Journey on the Camino de Santiago" Kindle Edition by William M Butler

Anyone else read it?

Let us know how it is, in the Books forum. The winter theme would be an interesting change from many of the personal memoirs.

 

[Marbe2]

Thank you all for your buen caminos!

I love winter caminos. They are very different from the rest of the year.

My biggest problem may be at the airport in Johannesburg.

I have booked a flight with cabin bag only, so I will have to WEAR all the winter clothes I need to take with me , rather than pack them. Hopefully the aircon will be on high .

I will need to pick up a hiking pole in SJPdP, as I dare not try and put my foldup Black Diamond in my backpack .

A couple of thoughts… I bought a pair of inexpensive hiking poles (€ 17 each) ..not their cheapest, btw… in Leon, that broke by the time we got to Ponferrada! I know that many others have recommend buying them on the Camino, but I wanted you to know that the external hiking lock on one of the poles would simply not relock after walking less than 100km. I have used Leki poles fot 30 years and they eventually do wear out….but it usually takes years of hiking for this to occur. The reason I mention it, is because you are doing a winter Camino. You may well encounter snow and having very reliable poles maybe important to you. I did not see brands such as black diamond or Leki in the shop I was in Leon? They may be available at other locations but many shops close during the winter.

In mid Feb-March we walked the CF starting in Pamplona. It was a lovely 65ish degrees day and gorgeous. But by two days later we encountered significant snow and ice in Puente la Reina, and Estella. Freezing weather. Blizzard conditions on our way to Rabanal del Camino with 75km head winds… Sheer ice and unwalkable paths going over down the mountain to Ponferrada. Several feet of snow going up to OCebreiro making it a very difficult walk up. All of that winter description is to say, be prepared for such weather if it should occur. Having just a rain system ( as someone suggested) may not be sufficient!

 

[jsalt]

"A Pilgrim in Winter: My Journey on the Camino de Santiago" Kindle Edition by William M Butler.

The winter theme would be an interesting change from many of the personal memoirs.

So far so good. Probably not for everyone, but I am enjoying his narrative. He’s a young guy, a qualified sommelier, and he’s having a lot of fun with the others he’s hooked up with, although it’s tough going in the snow, and with blisters. You can feel he’s “getting it” though . . .

 

[jsalt]

The walk over to Valcarlos is lovely, and the albergue is excelent; beautiful mountain view and well equipped kitchen.

The last time I stayed at Valcarlos, I had just got into bed and was reading, when the family came in from the kitchen, and promptly closed all the windows AND the shutters – it was mid-summer!

I like fresh air at night, but there were only a few of us there, as everyone else had gone over the Napolean route, so I just groaned, turned over and went to sleep.

However, I slept well, so there must be something going for this European custom .

 

[Gumba]

Hey jsalt - I love a winter Camino! We walked Dec 19/Jan 20. We had planned to start from SJPDP however we got held up in the train strike and were 2 days behind schedule so ended up starting from Roncesvalles. We had perfect weather almost the entire time, including 6 perfect days in Galicia. Hardly any wind and sunshine each day - 2-3 days of drizzle. We saw snow for the first time heading to Cruz de Ferro, even then we debated whether it was snow or frost lol. We left each day at 8am to temps around -2c with a high most days of 10c. 18 months earlier, our March/April camino was snow for the first few days, icy cold headwinds and rain, rain rain! But that's the Camino for you!!!! There was always someone else staying at the albergue with us, but others said they had stayed at places on their own. There was always around 10+ others walking each day. As there were 4 of us walking together I would call ahead and book - mostly so we could get a 4 bunk room where possible. Of course, things seem to be different due to the covid restrictions.

Many albergues were closed so we did the Brierley stages for the most part. Finding an open bar for cafe con leche was a wonderful bonus, don't expect much to be open.

An Aussie Peregrina member had a blog which was really helpful. jl is her username

I hope you will post along the way.

Buen Camino

 

[jsalt]

I am gutted.

The UK took South Africa off their Red List.

So now all the flights out of South Africa to Europe have tripled in price, and Swiss Air have cancelled my cheap outward flight in January (but not the return flight in February).

I guess it was to get onto the bandwagon.

Before I do something stupid, what should I do?

I can’t rebook my outward flight for a few days later as the extra cost to pay is exorbitant (literally).

If I ask for a refund, will I get the full cost of the return ticket?

Has anyone any experience of Swiss?

I’ve submitted a query in the meantime, but would be interested in any opinions from previous victims.

 

[henrythedog]

I’m sorry. Same has happened to me twice in the last year - although only UK to Spain, so not life-changing.

First question: is yours a return booking or two separate bookings? If the former, then it’s reasonable to assume - perhaps after some forthright communication - that you’ll get a full refund. If the latter, then you’ll get the cancelled leg back but the non-cancelled is another story altogether.

 

[John Crawford Howell]

I don't mean this flippantly, jsalt, but the Camino will be there and rise up to meet you in the future if the travel gods are presently uncooperative.

 

[jsalt]

First question: is yours a return booking or two separate bookings?

It's a return booking involving 4 flights. Johannesburg to Zurich and Zurich to Bordeaux. Then coming back: Madrid to Zurich and Zurich to Johannesburg. All on the same ticket.

The airline has cancelled the first two flights.

I have three options:
1) Accept the cancellation (of the outward journeys, the return journeys are still valid);
2) Change to later dates (as mentioned, the increase in airfares will more than triple the cost of the whole ticket);
3) Request a refund.

Not sure what to do!!

 

[henrythedog]

Personally, I’d go for the full refund and rethink plans - but everyone’s individual position is unique to them.

How do the exorbitant prices compare with pre-pandemic prices? Fuel costs will have increased costs across the board, but the days of opportunistic cheap tickets seem to be coming to an end. Carriers are not reinstating routes which they struggle to fill, and with a backlog of potential customers I don’t personally see them loss-leading again anytime soon.

In my case the outbounds were cancelled, scuppering the trips, but as I’d booked separate tickets - albeit with the same airline - the returns were non-refundable. A lesson learned.

I’ve just booked flights for three trips in 2022 and the price variability +/- a couple of days is extreme, especially when it is around UK school and public holidays. A flight to a hub and a long distance train is sometimes a better option.

 

[jsalt]

Personally, I’d go for the full refund and rethink plans

Yes, I want to go for the refund.

However, because I bought a cheap ticket (it is long haul, so not that cheap) it was changeable, but not refundable.

They have bumped me off the outward flight (their website shows that the flight is still going, but at a huge increase in price, way more than pre-covid), but my return flight is still valid.

So, I am thinking, that if I request a refund, they will refund me a teeny weeny amount (for the outward flight), but, because I effectively cancel the return flight, myself, they will not refund that portion of it.

Hope that makes sense.

I have not received a reply to my query yet (although acknowledged), and if I try and phone I am put on hold for ever until it cuts off.

I clearly remember in my company law classes that if someone makes an offer (a cheap flight), and the offer is accepted (I pay up), and the supplier agrees to the offer (gives me a ticket), then it’s a done deal.

So, as I see it, by international law, they should refund me in full. I’m just scared right now to try it.

Anyway, yeah, the camino is always there, and I’ll be going again anyway in April (maybe , still got to sort that ticket out ).

 

[henrythedog]

Yes, I want to go for the refund.

However, because I bought a cheap ticket (it is long haul, so not that cheap) it was changeable, but not refundable.

They have bumped me off the outward flight (their website shows that the flight is still going, but at a huge increase in price, way more than pre-covid), but my return flight is still valid.

So, I am thinking, that if I request a refund, they will refund me a teeny weeny amount (for the outward flight), but, because I effectively cancel the return flight, myself, they will not refund that portion of it.

Hope that makes sense.

I have not received a reply to my query yet (although acknowledged), and if I try and phone I am put on hold for ever until it cuts off.

I clearly remember in my company law classes that if someone makes an offer (a cheap flight), and the offer is accepted (I pay up), and the supplier agrees to the offer (gives me a ticket), then it’s a done deal.

So, as I see it, by international law, they should refund me in full. I’m just scared right now to try it.

Anyway, yeah, the camino is always there, and I’ll be going again anyway in April (maybe , still got to sort that ticket out ).

Yes - I’m relying on a first year at law school before I saw the light and became an economist, but …

You made a single booking. It may have comprised four different flights, but it was booked and paid for in one transaction. The airlines failure to honour a component of that single booking should allow you to cancel the whole. BUT the terms and conditions of booking may well say otherwise. They will be impenetrable and almost impossible for the lay-person to interpret.

Nothing lost in asking for a full refund. You may have valid restrictions which only allow you to travel on the day you booked which are none of the airlines concern.

Good luck.

 

[jsalt]

OK, so I held my breath and hit the "Request a Refund" button.

I've received confirmation that they'll refund me in full.

Fingers crossed.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

I had a nightmare experience after my 2020 camino plans were thwarted, canceling flights for myself and three family members, one of which was coming for only a portion of the Camino. I spent hours on the phone listening to poor quality music, but I hung in there and after repeated calls and perseverance I was refunded the entire amounts. I did not want the vouchers they tried to push me into. I had booked through a "third party", further complicating things and also had booked a couple of "in house" Euopean carriers, which was another small nightmare on the end. I didn't care if I lost those cheap flights. I don't even remember if I got a refund on those or not.

 

[J Willhaus]

Hi @jsalt,
Glad you made your decision. Phil had to be rerouted on Lufthansa when his Air France flight from Denver to Madrid via JFK airport had technical problems. He missed a connecting flight in Munich due to a delay and Air France also cancelled his return flight home. No way to rebook without spending hours on the phone as Air France had no way to rebook online on the US site. He was hung up on three times on his Air France call wait. We won't book with them again. He finally went to the Delta Counter in Denver where they took pity on him and helped him rebook his Air France flight since Air France and Delta are partners.

Anyway, one thing I have decided over the past few years going to Spain is that it is sometimes better to bite the bullet and pay for the refundable and changable tickets than try to go for something really cheap. Don't get me wrong, I've flown Iceland Air and Scandanavian Air a few times and everything worked out fine. The older I get though, I just want a flight with the fewest connections and better service. This "cheap" Air France ticket for Phil ended up costing us both time and money and in the end cost about the same as the regular fare.

Best wishes and I hope you get there again soon.
Janet