Thursday 15 June 2017

Jim Capaldi - Eve

WEDNESDAY CLUB

BARCELONA AIRPORT



 
JIM CAPALDI - Eve

MORROCO Part 1

We were both looking forward to our trip to Marrakech in Morocco. It was our first visit and we would be meeting up in an all exclusive Hotel with Flycasual his wife and their two sons. We had not seen the boys for over a year and we just could not wait to see them.

We had booked a flight with Vueling from Alicante to Barcelona and would have to wait a few hours for our connection, also by Vueling, to Marrakech. That flight departed from Barcelona at 21:20 and we would arrive quite late at 21:55, there was a two hour time difference between Spain and Morocco. Everything was fine and going according to plan when suddenly the  'delay' sign appeared next to our flight.

We were not too worried at first but as time passed, worry turned to deep concern. We just could not get any information and there were no Vueling agents to be seen. Finally a departure time was given. It would be unlikely we would make the connection as it was by now touch and go. I managed at last to speak to an agent and he assured me that if we missed the flight we would be put up in a Hotel and booked on the next available flight to Marrakech. This was confirmed by a steward onboard the flight.

The flight landed in Barcelona and we collected our baggage very quickly and rushed to the check in. As we suspected we were too late for the connection. We then headed for the Vueling desk in the hope of a connection tomorrow and for them to fix us with a hotel. You must be joking they did not want to know. The best they could do was booking us on the next available flight in two days time and this we would have to pay for. This was not our fault the Vueling plane was late but they just did not care. Their attitude was, too bad. We had booked a return flight Alicante to Barcelona and a separate flight but with the same airline Barcelona to Morroco. We were returning from Morocco to Barcelona by a different airline.

Now take note of this when you book travel in the future. If I had booked the flight from Alicante to Morocco, with Barcelona being a transit point, Vueling would have been responsible
for the delay and would have paid for hotel and new flight. It seems odd and unfair but that is the way it is. So beware.

We found out there was a flight by Royal Air Maroc tomorrow and rushed a considerable way to their desk. In the meantime OldMa went to the information desk to find out about Hotels. The flight would cost us an Extra 360 euros. Old Ma also was told there was Ryanaire flight early the next morning but we would have to go to another terminal. By this time it was getting late and the other Terminal was one big hassle with our cases etc. and Barcelona airport is very big and demanded a lot of walking. Old Ma is 74 years old and suffers from stress and this was all beginning to take its toll on her. We eventually got to the other Terminal only to be told that the Ryanaire flight was in two days time. We were continually getting information with people telling us basically what we want to hear. But it was continual lies.

The long treck back to Terminal 1 and Royal Air Maroc. That by this time has closed its desk. We found from the information desk that there was some airport business rooms where we could stay but were quite expensive. By this time Old Ma was finished, totally exhausted as was I. We were completely stressed out. We headed for theses rooms, more walking for my poor Old Ma who by now was near to tears. Theses rooms were full and they had nothing left. We returned to a bar cafe and ordered a welcome beer and to assess the situation we found ourselves in because of a delay by Vueling.

We had to find a hotel and my phone was playing up. Luckily Flycasual who was getting up in a couple of hours to get a flight from Gatwick to meet us in Marrakech managed to find a hotel at a cost of 180 euros for the night. I finished my beer had another and headed for a taxi to take us to the hotel.

PART 2 Next week, can it get any worse?

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