Vacation - US Airways

Knowing that the costs of a trip back to The States easily sky rockets, we take advantage of deals where ever we can.  This means you don't always get to fly on your favorite airline but whichever offers the best price.  This round that happened to be US Airways, and I must say the pluses (the ticket price) & minuses were almost equal.  Sure the flight was a reasonable price considering what other airlines were offering but we had to sacrifice personal entertainment.  Wow, this probably sounds spoiled but it's 2014 and the majority of airlines provide personal entertainment systems in which you can select movies, shows, or games to help you get through the 6-8 hrs it takes to get over the Atlantic Ocean.  We had no choice but to deal with it and luckily we brought our own entertainment. 

Another thing we had no choice of, was what they were going to play on the communal monitors.  Now we're adults and can tune it out, but what about our 4 yr old daughter?  She was exposed to 2 PG13 movies (Ender's Game & The Book Thief) + Chicago Fire (bloody EMS scenes) on the trip over and The Hobbit : Desolation of Smaug (a nearly 3hr PG13 movie) on the flight back!  There were many times we had to shield her eyes or tell her not to look at the screen (-insert big frown-).  I was furious and obviously filed a complaint when I returned home.  You know, all US Airways had to say was a meager sorry and they appreciate the feedback for future flights.  Thanks that you'll spare other kids, but what about mine who is already sensitive to intense movies?

Besides this there was the "weather delay" in Orlando which almost caused us to miss our connection in Philly.  (A 1 hour delay without any announcements!)  Sure there were tornado warnings (on the news) & heavy rain, but that had been over for quite a while before they even started boarding passengers.  They rush on to the plane, saying over the speaker we need to hurry so the flight can leave, then once everyone is seated they say we still have to wait because the bags weren't all loaded yet!  Of course everyone with international flights were panicking, if you miss that flight it could be another day until you get home plus an unwanted stay at or near the airport.  At one point we're told they were holding the flight to Amsterdam (there were 10 of us transferring), so of course we ran from one terminal to the next.  We had counted on the lay over so we could feed our daughter, she can't handle the plane food, even the smell makes her sick.  But now we weren't going to be able to feed her!  Despite running with her in our arms, we swung by a Dunkin Donuts (only place without a line) and grabbed a bag full of croissants, at least she'd have some food.  We all arrive at the plane out of breath and out of sorts, just to find out they are now holding it for technical issues!  Thanks US Airways, would have been nice to know before we ran through the airport!!!  Then as we waited for the 20 minute delay I got to watch our luggage being left out in the rain before it was loaded onto the plane.  Luckily I had put many things in baggies, but we did have to rewash a lot of clothes and lay some other belongings out to dry once we arrived home.

In the future I'll try my best to avoid US Airways.  Last year we flew Delta and loved it, and my in-laws flew Aer Lingus and were also quite happy (food for thought).  Any of you have bad US Airways experiences?

Bye! Dag! Adios! Namaste!

:) Danica

We're Back!

We're back in The Netherlands after our adventure to Tennessee, USA!  I am so glad that the trip went by without many issues, travelling so far alone with a toddler was very intimidating.  The night before the double flight to the US I nearly hyper-ventilated, it was a combination of nerves and a cold.  And the morning before the double flight back to Europe I threw up, that was a combination of nerves and taking a vitamin on a fairly empty stomach.  Both road trips between Nashville Airport and my grandma's I felt light-headed & my heart raced, also nerves.  For my toddlers sake I didn't show her any of this, I wanted to make the trip fun (also instructions from my husband, ha-ha!)  She too was sick, she threw up on the big flight over, too much excitement and apple juice.  And she threw up on the big flight back, who knows why because we stuck to water and ate lightly.  So it's official, we're wimps, but wimps that made a huge journey with very little help! 

Our time in TN was great, I'm sure you saw my 4 blog posts, right?  Driving in the mountains wasn't as bad as I thought, and it didn't take me too long to get used to the American rules of the road again (my grandma might disagree, ha-ha).  I accomplished almost everything I set out to do while in TN, and even tagged on a few extra things.  I can say the trip was a success.  And miraculously we are dealing with jet-lag quite well (there & here).  I follow the rules and it works.  If you arrive early in the day in a new country take a short nap (2hrs) then stay up at least until 9PM... if you arrive late in the day don't nap and force yourself to stay up until 9PM, it works like a charm!  It was wonderful getting to see my grandma and getting to see her & my tot enjoy each others company and make memories of their own.  And my Dad was even able to fly up for a weekend, spoiling us because we just saw him around Thanksgiving.  I am so appreciative to my husband for making this trip possible, thanks you're an incredible guy!

And quickly before I close out, we chose to fly Delta this time and I was so happy we went with their airline.  Great service, great planes, great layover times, and great prices!  Fly with Delta if you can!

Leaving On A Jet Plane

♫ 'Cause I'm, leaving on a jet plane, don't know when I'll be back again ♫  (Actually I do know when we'll be back but the John Denver song sounded so nice!)  As I mentioned in a previous post me & my toddler are headed back to The States for a short visit.  You heard it right, me and my toddler, my husband's staying here in The Netherlands due to work and well the outrageous costs of travelling internationally.  In years passed I refused to take the trip alone, I'm not the best traveler... so it seems crazy that I'm doing this with my 3yr old in tow.  But sometimes opportunities arise that you don't want to miss out on, and this one is getting to visit my grandma and see what her life in a little Tennessee town is like.  Plus I want to help her get the house tidy and organized so she can consider selling it and moving into something more manageable.  See years ago she decided to move back home, she used to live in Florida like I did, but she had always dreamed of returning to the town she grew up in, and she followed that dream.  But life happens, and now she's 75yrs old, and that dream is changing.  At her age managing a large house and yard alone is almost impossible.  I always talked about wanting to see her dream but it seemed so far fetched, if we spent the money to go back to The States we always went somewhere central so everyone could visit us in one go.  Then things happened or didn't happen, decisions were made, and then my husband said, "why not, why not do it".  I couldn't help but cry - it means a lot to me... I cried when he suggested it, I cried when I told her.  And believe me, I don't cry easily.  Then after reigning in the emotions, reality started to sink in.  WTF, I'm about to fly internationally, on a connecting flight, then drive a rental car for an hour, with my 3 yr old, whoa!  Needless to say, I've been getting less sleep these days.  The nearing trip has actually taken over most of my thoughts.  I'm a planner you see, so I've been researching every last detail of the trip (maps, airports, you name it).  It took me 2 days to finally settle on a plane ticket, and another entire morning of research before choosing a rental car!  I've been stocking up on things I need to get through the trip from toiletries & luggage, to entertainment & documents.  I've been corresponding with the airline and malls, and anyone else that can give me any more insight on my trip.  Plus there are other things to arrange, like the dog and making sure my husband has food (just so you know, he is capable of taking care of himself).  The trip is consuming my head (I mentioned that right), you've probably even noticed a lot less blog entries the past couple weeks.  But no matter how overwhelmed I sound (and am), I am truly looking forward to the trip.  Mostly the part where I'm in Tennessee with my Grammy and not so much the travelling part.  I don't know if I'll be doing any blogging while there but I'm sure I'll have plenty of stories when I get back.  What people don't always realize is that when you become an expat you never really fit in anywhere anymore.  So I'll feel just as foreign in Tennessee as I do in The Netherlands.  And based on previous short road trips with my toddler, I'll be sure not to say things like, "we're lost" or yell "f*#k" when things don't run smoothly.  All she needs to know is, "we're almost there".  For any of you out there who happen to be pros at travelling internationally with toddlers, feel free to throw some advice my way, thanks!

Despicable RyanAir

RyanAir, I grumble every time I see the advertisements or even hear the words... RyanAir is a horrible despicable airline.  I've never had any pleasure doing business with them and I would never recommend them to anyone.

Now, I'm only going to complain this post so prepare yourself.

My last post about RyanAir was me fighting with them to reimburse a cancelled trip.  I think the tone of my post tells you they did not reimburse our trip.  They basically stole €700 from our family.  A short recap... our toddler was exposed to two cases of chicken pox and was most likely going to contract them.  We contacted RyanAir, were told she would not be allowed to board the plane if she had them, and then they assisted us in cancelling our trip by referring us on to our travel insurance.  We followed all of their steps, filled out all of their paperwork and they still refused to reimburse our cancelled trip.  We then filed a claim with the travel insurance RyanAir recommended and they too refused to reimburse us.  We did what any good parents would do, we saw a high risk of getting stuck in a foreign country with a sick toddler, and it cost us €700!

This was not the only time RyanAir refused to reimburse us.  During one trip they damaged our luggage to the point we could no longer use it for future trips.  And because we didn't fill the paperwork out immediately before exiting the airport they would not even consider helping us.

And on my very first flight with RyanAir they misled us about costs.  We were told it would cost €100 to bring along our golf bag.  Pricey but hey we were going on a golf weekend.  They conveniently didn't mention this price was one way.  So at the airport on the return trip we had to dish out the money again.

RyanAir poses as a cheap airline, but they hit you with costs anywhere they can and they refuse to help you if anything goes wrong.  I'm not the only one unhappy with them, just look up their reputation online, it's absurd!

I refuse to fly RyanAir ever again.  I have even requested that my friends, family, and company also stop using RyanAir.  And if any one of you ever are faced with the choice of RyanAir versus any other airline, go with the other airline, please!!!

(The above pic is thanks to Liz at Young Adventuress)

RyanAir

If you don't want to hear a lot of complaining about an airline ripping us off then avoid this post...

 

I know I'm not the only one out there but I despise RyanAir.  Every time I've ever used them it has ended up costing me extra money and hassle.  Every time I've ever used them I've sworn never to use them again, and yet some how it happened.  Back in August we wanted to fly up to Ireland with some close friends for the christening of their baby.  Then our toddler had a chicken pox scare, we contacted RyanAir and they informed us she would not be allowed to board the plane if she showed signs of chicken pox.  There was no way we were going to be able to go on the trip, we couldn't risk getting stuck in Ireland while she suffered through chicken pox.  We followed all RyanAir procedures just to find out later they were not going to refund the over €700 we spent on the tickets.  See, here in the Netherlands the doctors will not release medical records without proper consent.  Therefore the airline needed to first request our written consent then their medical department needed to contact the doctor directly in order to obtain any medical documents about our toddler.  Do you think the airline is going to bend over backwards to refund our money, no way!  After endless faxes and emails back & forth they finally said there was nothing they could do for us and possibly we should take the issue up with our travel insurance company.  They referred us to a company named One Claims, which emailed us a stack of paperwork to fill out and a list of other requests.  One of which, a "no-show" letter from RyanAir.  I didn't want to contact RyanAir again, I didn't want to give them another cent of our money but I had no choice.  I went on to their website to find out how to get the document, turns out I have to call their 900# at .45₵ a minute in order to request a document that RyanAir is going to charge me €20 to get via email!  I almost flipped out.  Then to top it off while I had RyanAir on the phone I realized I didn't have our credit card, so I had to interrupt my husband at work to get the info.  All the while RyanAir was still charging us money for the call, then the CSR had the nerve to tell me he couldn't hold the line any longer, I almost let him have it.  Luckily we stalled long enough for my husband to get the info!  Now I get to sit around and wait for the document, which I'll have to print out myself (costing me more money)!  Then it will be on to phase two, stacks of paperwork that I have to mail to who knows where, costing who knows what, just to continue this 3 month fight with the airline!

 

I'll be sure to keep you updated on our progress, and in the next post about RyanAir I'll tell you a couple other stories about how they have ripped us off over the years!