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GeneralRe: How not to spend Mother's Day Pin
Graeme_Grant15-May-23 17:40
mvaGraeme_Grant15-May-23 17:40 
GeneralRe: How not to spend Mother's Day Pin
jmaida15-May-23 17:41
jmaida15-May-23 17:41 
GeneralRe: How not to spend Mother's Day Pin
jmaida15-May-23 17:46
jmaida15-May-23 17:46 
GeneralRe: How not to spend Mother's Day Pin
obermd16-May-23 9:23
obermd16-May-23 9:23 
GeneralRe: How not to spend Mother's Day Pin
RickZeeland15-May-23 22:38
mveRickZeeland15-May-23 22:38 
GeneralRe: How not to spend Mother's Day Pin
englebart16-May-23 2:55
professionalenglebart16-May-23 2:55 
GeneralRe: How not to spend Mother's Day Pin
Graeme_Grant16-May-23 3:13
mvaGraeme_Grant16-May-23 3:13 
GeneralRe: How not to spend Mother's Day Pin
Rich Leyshon16-May-23 5:03
Rich Leyshon16-May-23 5:03 
I suspect we might be related in some way ...

We had a week in Malta recently. As we stood outside the hotel, waiting for the airport pickup, I put the mockers on things by stupidly saying to she who must be obeyed "Everything's gone too well. Great weather, no disasters."

We ring up the travel company to find out where the hell our bus is. In my hand I have their email printed, telling us the pickup time - and we got there 15 mins early. The chap on the phone tells me that our pickup was an hour earlier than shown. SWMBO had used an agent company who subcontracted the job then sent us the wrong pick-up time.

Somewhat angry, I demanded a driver immediately. Some bickering ensued and it soon became clear that they had nobody available.

Back into the hotel, "Can you get us a taxi for the airport asap please?" But at that moment the phone rings and she takes the call. This was a lady, quite possibly on our flight, who went to the airport but "forgot her luggage" OMG | :OMG: She wanted it put in a taxi to the airport. The negotiations took some time ...

Finally, we have a taxi coming covering both us and the woman's luggage. It then takes time to explain to the driver who to look for and get the luggage loaded. I paid (I think) £21 for the privilege. We get underway and the driver asks what time our flight is and when told responds "I don't know if we can make it, today is the Malta Marathon and the roads are closed."

He takes us through every back-street shortcut he knows and puts his foot down. We arrive at the airport and dash into departures. Our check-in closing time was 10:40. It was exactly 10:40. The kindly staff of RyanAir told us to bugger off. I argued, they rang the plane then told us to bugger off again.

So, to the RyanAir desk. How bad can it be, there are 3 weekly flights to Malta from our airport but, it transpires, only one return, in another week. We spend a couple of hours trawling the desks trying to find a sensible flight. The only flight that day would see us land in Liverpool at midnight. Our car is in Bournemouth, 262 miles away. Not ideal.

Eventually we find an EasyJet flight the next morning with 4 spaces. The man at the desk advises it will be cheaper if I book online than have him book it for me. The process is hideous and in order to satisfy our luggage requirements I had to book each ticket separately which took around 1.5 hours in total during which time I was expecting the seats to have sold out. But, we got away with it. Another £241 lighter.

Having now been standing for about 3.5 hours, we headed to Costa for a coffee and a sit down. I rang our hotel only to find that however unlikely it seemed, they are full tonight. So, herself asks a local who directs us to a building on the airport where they have rooms (not in fact the case). However, their business does have a B&B near the airport. The nice chap books us in and gives us a "map" which was a bit like a treasure map drawn by a child. It had the odd blob to indicate something or other, an "X" to mark the spot and nothing as superfluous as roads.

But, he assured us, it was only 5 minutes away, no need for a taxi.

An hour and a half later, after help from a police woman and a local, we found the place with me drenched in sweat from transporting the luggage. Pay up front, another £80.

So, I ask, where can we eat? Nowhere was the reply. You'll have to get the bus to Valetta. She then kindly gave us (incorrect) directions to the bus stop. Chuck in some bus fares and the cost of some generous food and drink but a pleasant evening in Valetta and even managed not to miss the last bus back.

Next morning, the receptionist assures us we cannot get a bus to the airport and "recommends someone" (a close relative no doubt). Having used the bus the night before and checked the routes, we knew it was lies and we got there, this time well ahead of when we needed to be.

Good flight all is well, except for the fact that we now find ourselves in Gatwick, some 116 miles from where the car is. Train ticket time - another £82 lighter. Incidentally, there was an option of much cheaper train tickets, but the only info was that they were via somewhere I had never heard of. Luckily, we asked an employee and discovered that this diversion would have added about 12 hours to the journey. A bullet dodged!

We then had to get a friend to take us from the station (once back home) to the airport to collect the car - Extra £19 parking charges.

You can't beat a nice relaxing holiday. Sigh | :sigh:
GeneralRe: How not to spend Mother's Day Pin
jschell16-May-23 6:59
jschell16-May-23 6:59 
Generalworldle 479 2/6 Pin
jmaida15-May-23 13:27
jmaida15-May-23 13:27 
GeneralWordle 696 Pin
StarNamer@work15-May-23 13:08
professionalStarNamer@work15-May-23 13:08 
GeneralRe: Wordle 696 Pin
Amarnath S15-May-23 17:22
professionalAmarnath S15-May-23 17:22 
GeneralRe: Wordle 696 Pin
Sandeep Mewara15-May-23 17:38
mveSandeep Mewara15-May-23 17:38 
GeneralRe: Wordle 696 Pin
Shane010315-May-23 17:46
Shane010315-May-23 17:46 
GeneralRe: Wordle 696 Pin
Sander Rossel15-May-23 21:01
professionalSander Rossel15-May-23 21:01 
GeneralRe: Wordle 696 - 5 4 me Pin
pkfox15-May-23 21:07
professionalpkfox15-May-23 21:07 
GeneralRe: Wordle 696 Pin
ChandraRam15-May-23 21:15
ChandraRam15-May-23 21:15 
GeneralRe: Wordle 696 3/6 Pin
den2k8815-May-23 21:27
professionalden2k8815-May-23 21:27 
GeneralRe: Wordle 696 Pin
OriginalGriff15-May-23 22:04
mveOriginalGriff15-May-23 22:04 
GeneralRe: Wordle 696 Pin
Cp-Coder16-May-23 2:18
Cp-Coder16-May-23 2:18 
GeneralRe: Wordle 696 (3/6) Pin
musefan16-May-23 4:13
musefan16-May-23 4:13 
GeneralRe: Wordle 696 5/6 Pin
jmaida16-May-23 8:25
jmaida16-May-23 8:25 
GeneralMy doctor said I needed more fiber Pin
honey the codewitch15-May-23 10:17
mvahoney the codewitch15-May-23 10:17 
GeneralRe: My doctor said I needed more fiber Pin
OriginalGriff15-May-23 10:49
mveOriginalGriff15-May-23 10:49 
GeneralRe: My doctor said I needed more fiber Pin
Mike Hankey15-May-23 11:52
mveMike Hankey15-May-23 11:52 

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