What happens when you miss your Monarch flight

On 2nd June 2015, we missed our Monarch flight from Gatwick to Tenerife. We've never missed flights anywhere before and, with Monarch, it turns out to be a massively stressful and expensive thing to do. Here is what happened to us and why we were so cross about the situation.

How we missed the flight

OK. So we were late to the airport. Everything that could have gone wrong on the journey there did go wrong. Roadworks on the M3, a breakdown in our feeder lane on the motorway and a nightmare finding a space at the long stay car park.

But we got there in time and we managed to check onto the flight. We were flying with our 8 month old baby so we had quite a lot to check in including his buggy, car seat, his travel cot as well as all of our suitcases. We breathed a sigh of relief when we checked in as we thought, "we've made it". 

We then went through the airport as quickly as you can when carrying a baby. But I obviously couldn't run and we had bottles and food for the baby, all of which had to be checked and tested. We didn't stop to change the baby, we didn't get a drink or any food, we didn't even go to the toilet. We couldn't have gone any quicker than we did. 

Yet, when we got to the gate, we found that they'd closed the flight and taken our luggage off the flight. Our travel cot, car seat, buggy and suitcases were all sat on the Tarmac in the rain.

We were all pretty tired
when we finally caught
our Monarch flight

And, for the next 15 minutes we had to sit there and watch the plane not moving. We had to go back through immigration and then back to check in and only the stewardesses could take us through. It was 15 minutes until the plane even moved so we just had to sit there and look at it. But once your bags are off the flight, that is it apparently. 

To be fair to the stewardesses, they were really nice. And they kept telling us that Monarch are generally really good in situations like ours and let you transfer your ticket over to another flight. Well, that is not what happened. They were not good. We had to buy a new ticket based on the cost of the flight on the day, which was £1,014 single to Tenerife. They were "good" enough to include the cost of our original flight within that, but given we had booked months before, it was a drop in the ocean. 

How Monarch did not help the situation 

Now you could argue the situation was our fault for arriving at the airport late. And, while I take your point, here is what annoyed us:

1. When we checked in, we weren't told that it'd be really tight for us to get to the gate on time. We weren't even told to rush. I asked how far it was to the gate and I was told that "it was pretty far". But we were not told that we had to really hurry and if we didn't, we wouldn't make the plane.
2. Given that we were carrying a child, couldn't run and given how long it takes to get bottles etc through security, it would have been impossible for us to have got to the gate any faster. On that basis, we believe it was impossible for us to have made our flight. The Monarch staff should have known this and should either have not checked us into the flight or offered us some sort of assistance or advice for getting through security more quickly.
3. After we arrived at the gate and were told we would not be allowed to board, it was a good 15 minutes before the plane moved. There would have been plenty of time for them to reload our bags and let us on the plane without delaying the flight. We were told that, once the bags have been been taken off the flight, they could not be reloaded. This seems like a ridiculous rule and one which neither of the air stewardesses could explain the rationale behind.
4. The cost of the replacement flights was ludicrously expensive. We flew to Australia at Christmas for a similar sum. And, the flight wasn't even nearly full so those seats would have been empty on the flight anyway. It felt like the airline was profiting from our desperate situation.
5. Our bags were clearly left on the runway for quite some time as they were utterly drenched when they were returned to us. Our son sleeps in a Sleepyhead Grande sleep pod which cost us £150. It was totally soaking and shrunk as a result and is therefore ruined.

View from our seats when we finally
caught our Monarch flight

Overall, it was an incredibly stressful day and one which was not helped by Monarch. We relayed the story (as you can imagine) to quite a few people over the next few days and no one could believe how uncaring Monarch were, especially as we were travelling with a baby.

We finally arrived at our destination at 9pm and we were all exhausted. An experience we hope never to repeat and I urge anyone reading this not to repeat!

Flying to Australia with a baby - I think we might be mad

In a few weeks time, we are flying to Australia with our 12 week old baby boy. 

I've flown to Oz four times previously. And each time, I have been completely inebriated the whole flight as it's the only way I can cope with the boredom and also knock myself out enough to sleep. One time, I actually fell asleep under the departure signs at Heathrow and nearly missed my flight. And another, I got off at Singapore and could not for the life of me remember where I'd put my passport. 

This time, however, I will be stone, cold sober. Not only will I have a small infant to look after but I will also be breast feeding. Oh and he has colic and reflux which means he throws up significant amounts following a feed and sometimes cries uncontrollably for no apparent reason. 

My husband and I enjoying a few drinks on a previous flight

We are flying with Etihad and they have assured me that we have a bulk head seat with a bassinet for the baby. But we have really limited carry on luggage allowance for him (just 5kg) so we can't bring all of the luxuries that he would usually have at home. This 5kg has to include change of clothes, nappies, cotton wool, baby wipes, dummies, blankets, toys and all the other things a child would usually need in a 24 hour period. 

This is all I can find on the Etihad website about what happens on board with the bassinet http://www.etihad.com/en-gb/experience-etihad/family-travel/prepare/. And this is the only image I can find of a bassinet on an Etihad flight, but this baby is much bigger than mine and I can't see the whole bassinet: http://baloneks.blogspot.co.uk/2008/01/micaiahs-first-airplane.html

Frankly, although I can't wait for my holiday, I am dreading the flight. 

Will I be able to play him his little bedtime tunes on my iPhone? Will I be able to play him my white noise app if he starts screaming? What if he drops his dummy on the floor, how will I sterilise it? Do I need to bring bedding for the bassinet and if so, what size? What if he won't sleep in the bassinet and I have to carry him the whole flight? What if my fellow passengers hate me for having a child that sometimes screams uncontrollably for hours for no apparent reason? 

If anyone has any advice or guidance for me on what they have found useful on long flights with babies I'd really appreciate it. Or if anyone has flown with Etihad and can give me a bit more information about what I'm allowed to do on the flight or how big the bassinets are, it would be a massive help. 

It's HPB darling....

I've just come back from a week's holiday in Lanzarote, staying at the HPB Santa Rosa resort, and I thought I would share with you my experience of travelling HPB style. 

Until a few years ago, I'd never heard of a Holiday Property Bond. I'm not a financial expert, and I am not FSA regulated, but this is how it works as I understand it.

You basically invest in a life assurance bond with HPB and this gives you a financial interest in a portfolio of villas, cottages and apartments across Europe. Your investment gives you a certain number of points a year (depending on how much you invest), meaning you can go on holiday as many times a year as you like, until your points run out.

The next year, you get your points back, and you can start holidaying all over again. Some properties cost more points than others, and certain times of the year cost more points than others. But if you invest a good amount of money in your bond initially, and you are clever with when and where you go, you can enjoy lovely holidays a couple of times a year. And, if you want to take your money out, you can, and if you die, the money is gifted to your relatives (jolly!).

The view from our balcony at Santa Rosa in Lanzarote. The HPB terrace is in the foreground.

So, with HPB, you get an alternative to a fixed timeshare. Instead of going to the same place, year on year, you can go to a range of places with a range of accommodation types. In fact, they apparently have over 1,000 properties! The only costs, after your initial investment, are your flights, a small maintenance charge and of course your drinking money! 

And, although it means that you get a fairly cheap holiday, the accommodation certainly is not cheap. To date, I've only been to two and I've been impressed with both.

Before we went to Lanzarote, we looked at the reviews on Trip Advisor of the Santa Rosa resort. Quite a few of them mentioned that the HPB apartment and pool were much nicer than the non HPB accommodation which is situated on the same site. So much so that the phrase of the holiday became "it's not HPB darling" to describe a second rate experience or person.

One of the beaches in Costa Teguise, Lanzarote, a few minutes walk from the HPB site

Our poolside area could not be accessed by the not "HPB darling" people, which made us feel most superior! On the first day, there was a Paella cookery demonstration and we all had Paella and sangria by the pool whilst sneering at the "other" people over the fence! And every now and then, we would pop over to their side, just because we could!

When I booked the room, I was told how many steps there were to my front door, the size of my balcony and also whether I had twin or a double bed. The self catering apartments had every single utensil you could possibly require - more than in my house! There was even a wine cooler, for my El Grifo Malvasia Colleccion wine that I drank while in Lanzarote. Amazing attention to detail, and very HPB.

Oh, and did I mention about the free wifi?

The HPB St Brides property with its sweeping driveway

I've also been to a property near St Davids in Wales called HPB St Brides. We went for a family Christmas and it was lovely to stay in 99 acres of parkland, by a castle which you reached via a long, sweeping driveway, flanked with spectacular views of the sea.

As you can see, I'm a bit of a fan! I've just booked Turunc in Turkey for October, which also looks lovely so I'll let you know how I get on.

Please note. I do not work for HPB and I am not FSA regulated. Therefore, if you are interested to invest in HPB, I would suggest you visit their website or ring them to talk it all through, as I am sure there are a range of exclusions such as minimum investment etc they would have to go through with you: http://www.hpb.co.uk/howitworks/

I won't be singing in Singapore!

When I started this blog, I promised myself that it wouldn't be just somewhere for me to complain about my bad experiences. There are too many blogs that are too heavily focused on the negative, when travelling should be fun, and sometimes the hic-cups can add to the overall experience.

I've been so disappointed with Singapore Air though, that I felt I needed to write about it, even if it helps other travellers avoid some of the pitfalls.

Elsewhere in this blog, I have discussed how much I love flying. My airline of choice is Virgin Atlantic  but due to costs, I decided to fly to Australia with Singapore Airlines. I spent quite some time on Seat Guru picking my seat, and my plan was to write a blog post about the food, the service and the overall experience.

However, I am due to fly today and since nothing to date has been at all positive, I think it is unlikely I shall feel inclined to write a glowing review of the on board delights.

These have been my issues:

Language barriers: Of course I understand that an airline such this will be multilingual, but every time I have spoken to the "London Office" they staff have struggled to understand me, and I have struggled to understand them. So much so that the booking was incorrect when it was made, with many details relating to my name and email address being wrong due to the staff not understanding what I was saying.

Poor technology: The reason why I have repeatedly had to talk to the team is because of the number of glitches in the system. The website couldn't take my booking at the time. I couldn't amend my details relating to my booking online. When I needed to check the flight times, I kept getting error messages and the site wouldn't work from my Smart Phone.

Dreadful customer service: My flights have been delayed today, which means that I am missing my connecting flight from Singapore Airport to Sydney Airport. Again, I think we all know that sometimes there are delays on flights, but for me, it is about what airlines do when something goes wrong that makes them excellent as well as what they do as part of their standard service.

I was informed that my flight from Heathrow Airport was delayed because I received a text. However, the text did not give me any detail relating to my connecting flight. When I rang them, the operative informed me that I was going to miss the connecting flight and that they were trying to find me an alternative seat on a plane to Sydney, but that I might have to sort it when I got to Singapore Airport.

The view of Sydney Harbour I shall not be seeing as I sit in the Aisle by the loo!

I got quite upset (understandably) and asked whether the delays were due to the cracks in the wings on A380 which have been widely reported in the media. The operative had no idea why the planes were delayed at all. But it was "definitely not" due to the cracks in the wings. As a person travelling alone, huge delays at airports can be particularly tiresome, especially when you have done a huge amount to organise the detail of the trip.
After being put on hold several times, I asked to speak to a supervisor which I was unable to do straight away. However, I was rung back about an hour later by Sarah who had managed to find me a seat on a flight to Sydney. Woo hoo. However, I was unable to get a window seat, so no lovely view of Sydney as we land, and I am also dangerously close to a toilet. And I think we all know what that means on a long flight! 

So, this afternoon, rather than getting a lovely manicure and pedicure followed by a final fat busting trip to the gym, I have been on the phone to Singapore Airlines and getting increasingly frustrated by their dreadful website.

My revenge? I shall attempt to drink the bar dry on the flight. I'll let you know how I get on.

Update!!
So I have now arrived in Australia after a fairly vexingly long journey. There were lots of people on my flight that were in the same position as me, and were going to miss their connecting flight. And most of them had left the UK without any idea when and if they were going to get a seat on a connecting flight. A lot of fairly disatisfied customers!

And was it a good flight? Well I had asparagus for breakfast and an onion and lettuce sandwich for supper. So, not so much.

Do I think the plane was delayed because of the issues with cracks in the wings? Well, interestingly this article was posted on Bloomberg on the day after I flew to say that Singapore Air was starting to check all of the wings of all of their A380 Airbuses. But that this was absolutely not going to affect operations. Hmmm.