Saturday, October 5th, 2019
Last Sunday morning, September 29th, we left home about 8:15 am and drove to our son Zack’s house in Gatineau. After a visit with our grandchildren and lunch, Zack drove us to the Ottawa airport where we arrived about 1:30 pm. Check-in and going through security went easily.
We were scheduled to fly to Toronto, departing at 4:00 pm. From there we were to fly directly to Madrid, leaving at 6:10 pm and arriving in Madrid at 7:20 am, Madrid time. We had booked a separate flight with Iberia Airlines from Madrid to Almeria, leaving Madrid at about 12:40 pm. That should have been lots of time to go through customs, pick up our packs and check back in. Theoretically, we would have been in Almeria airport before 2:00 pm. We had arranged a car and driver to take us the last hour and a quarter drive to the apartment we had rented near a small beach town for the next 2 weeks.
Alas, this was not meant to be. Just as we were about to board the plane in Ottawa, there was an announcement of a delay due to mechanical problems. Later, I got an email from Air Canada saying that our flight would leave at 5:40 pm. This would have been too late to make our connection in Toronto so we got in the line-up for the Air Canada service counter. As we were standing there, we saw an Air Canada rep talking to some other people waiting for our flight. Anita approached him and he told her to go back out through security and up to the check-in area to see what could be done. We weren’t sure what to do. Anita went to the check-in area while I waited at the service desk line-up. Eventually, I found out from other passengers who had made calls that our plane was never taking off and we all had to go back to check-in to find alternatives, so I went back upstairs to find Anita.
Once again, we stood in line for a long time. While we were there, an Air Canada rep advised me to go down to baggage and reclaim our packs, which I did. Finally, we got to the counter and were given tickets to depart Ottawa at 9:30 pm to fly to Frankfurt, then later fly to Madrid from there, arriving in late afternoon. There was no other choice.
After we got back through security, we went online to change our Iberia tickets from Madrid to Almeria. Our original total cost for both of us for those return tickets had been 475 euros. To change to an 8:30 pm flight, we paid an additional 532 euros or close to $800 Canadian. Air Canada will be hearing about that although we’re unlikely to receive any compensation from them. However, after reading the fine print in our travel insurance policy, it seems that it will cover our extra costs.
We also emailed our shuttle service and were able to delay our car and driver at Almeria airport until the later arrival time. We notified the property manager at our rented apartment that our arrival would be much later than planned.
After a long wait in Ottawa, an overnight flight, long lineups in Frankfurt going through European Union customs and stringent security, another flight to Madrid, changing terminals and further waiting, we finally got into our expensive seats to Almeria in the last row of the plane, next to the toilet. However, the flight was only 1 1/4 hours so it wasn’t that bad.
Our driver was waiting for us as promised and drove us to our apartment near Garrucha. When we got there about 10:45 pm on Monday night, our driver called the property manager, whom we had previously warned of our late arrival, and he met us within a few minutes.
Finally we were at our destination. We were so disoriented that it took awhile to get to sleep. We had slept uncomfortably for a total of 2 or 3 hours in little bits over the previous 36 hours and 6 time zones. At least we got here. If you’re not prepared to cope with days like this, don’t travel.
We’ve included a few shots of one of our dinners in a nearby restaurant, breakfast on our balcony, an olive tree near our apartment and the beach.
Last Sunday morning, September 29th, we left home about 8:15 am and drove to our son Zack’s house in Gatineau. After a visit with our grandchildren and lunch, Zack drove us to the Ottawa airport where we arrived about 1:30 pm. Check-in and going through security went easily.
We were scheduled to fly to Toronto, departing at 4:00 pm. From there we were to fly directly to Madrid, leaving at 6:10 pm and arriving in Madrid at 7:20 am, Madrid time. We had booked a separate flight with Iberia Airlines from Madrid to Almeria, leaving Madrid at about 12:40 pm. That should have been lots of time to go through customs, pick up our packs and check back in. Theoretically, we would have been in Almeria airport before 2:00 pm. We had arranged a car and driver to take us the last hour and a quarter drive to the apartment we had rented near a small beach town for the next 2 weeks.
Alas, this was not meant to be. Just as we were about to board the plane in Ottawa, there was an announcement of a delay due to mechanical problems. Later, I got an email from Air Canada saying that our flight would leave at 5:40 pm. This would have been too late to make our connection in Toronto so we got in the line-up for the Air Canada service counter. As we were standing there, we saw an Air Canada rep talking to some other people waiting for our flight. Anita approached him and he told her to go back out through security and up to the check-in area to see what could be done. We weren’t sure what to do. Anita went to the check-in area while I waited at the service desk line-up. Eventually, I found out from other passengers who had made calls that our plane was never taking off and we all had to go back to check-in to find alternatives, so I went back upstairs to find Anita.
Once again, we stood in line for a long time. While we were there, an Air Canada rep advised me to go down to baggage and reclaim our packs, which I did. Finally, we got to the counter and were given tickets to depart Ottawa at 9:30 pm to fly to Frankfurt, then later fly to Madrid from there, arriving in late afternoon. There was no other choice.
After we got back through security, we went online to change our Iberia tickets from Madrid to Almeria. Our original total cost for both of us for those return tickets had been 475 euros. To change to an 8:30 pm flight, we paid an additional 532 euros or close to $800 Canadian. Air Canada will be hearing about that although we’re unlikely to receive any compensation from them. However, after reading the fine print in our travel insurance policy, it seems that it will cover our extra costs.
We also emailed our shuttle service and were able to delay our car and driver at Almeria airport until the later arrival time. We notified the property manager at our rented apartment that our arrival would be much later than planned.
After a long wait in Ottawa, an overnight flight, long lineups in Frankfurt going through European Union customs and stringent security, another flight to Madrid, changing terminals and further waiting, we finally got into our expensive seats to Almeria in the last row of the plane, next to the toilet. However, the flight was only 1 1/4 hours so it wasn’t that bad.
Our driver was waiting for us as promised and drove us to our apartment near Garrucha. When we got there about 10:45 pm on Monday night, our driver called the property manager, whom we had previously warned of our late arrival, and he met us within a few minutes.
Finally we were at our destination. We were so disoriented that it took awhile to get to sleep. We had slept uncomfortably for a total of 2 or 3 hours in little bits over the previous 36 hours and 6 time zones. At least we got here. If you’re not prepared to cope with days like this, don’t travel.
We’ve included a few shots of one of our dinners in a nearby restaurant, breakfast on our balcony, an olive tree near our apartment and the beach.
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