Originally Posted by
maastrichtmouse
Hi,
I have a Ryanair booking from Belgium to the UK next Thursday on the day of the strike.
I'm waiting for the email in my inbox, but I would like to think through the options. If I get to Charleroi and the flight is cancelled due to strike action what will they give you? A rebooking onto the next available flight? A hotel voucher (I'm on the late evening flight, next flight is early next AM) ? Food and drink? Or is it better just eating the ticket and calling it the unlucky tax and booking out of Schiphol?
Hi... a few things to consider.
1. Pilots who are members of its Irish trade union will go on strike for the first time on Thursday, July 12,; Cabin crew in Belgium, Italy and Portugal will stage 48-hour strikes on 25 and 26 July, while their colleagues in Italy will stop work for 24 hours on 25 July. (Telegraph, BBC news and others).
2. Assuming your travel date is July 12, do we know what pilots are members of the Irish union? My gut feel is that it's not the crews in CRL; CRL is a major base for Ryanair so my assumption (unvalidated) is that the pilots will be Belgian and part of a different union.
In terms of what FR will give you, I would set your expectations VERY low: FR will (just about) comply with the law. The protections under EU261 in case of industrial action do include hotels, food and drink, and rebooking or refund, but it's Ryanair - so you will fight tooth and nail for all of these.
I would indeed pay your unlucky tax and make alternative arrangements. As
malmostoso says there is a strike but it generally doesn't affect Thalys high-speed services so provided you can get to Brussels Midi (you don't say where your journey is starting from) then you'll be able to get to AMS. You might also want to consider Eurostar.