lcohen999

Polar routes to Europe..coming in 2010!

Jagboi

I'm supposed to go to LHR on Thursday. Assuming the flights are operating again, would it be wise to OLCI at the T-24 hour mark to ensure I get the seats I selected?

Would there be a need to be at the airport earlier than normal, as I suspect the flights would be full?

maaaaat

Hi everyone,
I'm booked on AC 180 YVR->YYZ for the morning fo the 17th, where I'm scheduled to connect on AC 848 YYZ->LHR. In your experiences, would I be obliged to get on the AC 180 YVR->YYZ flight only to roll the volcano dice on my YYZ->LHR flight?
I'd like to avoid an extended stop at YYZ at all costs as I'm only a prestige member .

emma69

Did you book it as a complete ticket, or as separate ones. If it is as one ticket, I cannot see why they would expect you to take the first leg to then sit in YYZ - you become their problem once you have started travel I think (that might just be Europe tho) - they are allowing customers to rebook so perhaps that would be a better option, as even if they reopen airports, there is going to be one mother of a mess to sort out!

maaaaat

I booked it as a complete ticket. Gonna give AC a call right now. Thanks Emma.

ypqRD

I'd appreciate suggestions for this situation - my mother (in her 70's) is scheduled YYZ-LHR on Thursday. She has no status. What is her smartest plan in terms of checking in early, arriving early, calling the airline, checking web sites etc? I understand we cannot yet know if the flight will even go. But I'm pretty sure that even if flights start again on Saturday, things will still be messy on Thursday. Short of status, how can one try to make things a little smoother?

RCyyz

I wouldn't be sure about that. Airlines have a way of clearing thigs up once airplanes are allowed to move again. In the extreme, post Sept 11 it really didn't take that long to get people back to where they wanted to be. The greatest delay was that the grounding of all aircraft lasted as long as it did.

More recently, in the Great Snowstorm that happened a couple of years ago right at Christmas, I don't recall that it took more than a few days to get things sorted out once the weather cleared a bit. (I could be wrong here though.)

In the case of this volcano delay, I think the main issue will be the length of the grounding. According to the images posted here, you can see that by the evening of 17 April the cloud will have passed some of the UK. I would imagine then (pure supposition on my part) that by 18 / 19 April we might see UK airspace reopen, though continental Europe might still be closed. After that I think we'll see Europe open progressively as the cloud dissipates.

ChrisA330

You could also try the Cancelled Flight Service online as I suspect call centre volumes will be high.

http://www.aircanada.com/en/travelin...ays/index.html

emma69

I think it would be optomistic to think everything will be back to normal on Thursday, after a few days with no flights in Europe, lots of people are going to need to be moved, as are planes, crews, etc.

In terms of the lady in her 70s flying, if she can get checked in online, print her boarding pass etc, before heading to the airport, that could help, as, as I understand it and I am not an expert, they cannot issue more boarding passes (with seats etc) than there actually are. In terms of them bumping people for oversold flights, I am guessing a gate agent would apply some common sense and not hold a lady in her 70s at the airport! But who knows!

I am guessing there is a greater need to be early to LHR (which is where it will be really messy!) than a Canadian airport, where less flights are affected.

maaaaat

Just got off the phone with AC. I was told that AC will determine whether to cancel flights or not by 10am EST. He said that I could re-schedule now if I wanted to but that I wouldn't be able to get flights out until late next week.

tomh009

Right now the volcano is still erupting. While there may be no ash cloud over Scotland, that's only because of the prevailing winds. If the eruption continues, the ash cloud cover (and thus airspace closings) will depend on the wind patterns -- and will be hard to predict with any kind of accuracy more than 24 hours in advance. (How much do you trust the normal weather forecasts?)

will5404

AC has a travel advisory out for the 18th now on their travel alerts

Looking less promising for my flight on the 19th...

Jagboi

Interesting to see that BA is diverting a number of their US -> UK flights to Glasgow and Prestwick and then providing ground transport to London

ac-YUL

All flights to Europe are cancelled for Apr 16.

My advice: If you have travel plans to Europe over the next while (your guess is as good as mine as to what "while" means), assume they will be disrupted and take advantage of any re-booking/cancellation policies in effect.

gtpdiddy

Great post CATGIRL! How did you use NEXUS to clear customs when you arrive from LHR??? I didn't know you can do that from European or international destinations!

Can someone please clarify?