The Times - UK (2022-06-11)

the times Saturday June 11 2022

58 Travel

Don’t put

up with this

Caught in a storm

thanks to Ryanair

My family and I were due to fly back

from Helsinki, Finland, on February 18,

the night of Storm Eunice. Our Ryanair

flight was cancelled, leaving about

200 people in the airport with no

assistance, apart from a sheet

explaining the EU261 regulations

about compensation. It now seems

that not only does the airline have no

intention of reimbursing hotel and

new flight costs (we had to return

home via Riga, Latvia), I can’t even get

a refund on the cancelled flight.

Altogether I’m nearly £1,000 out of

pocket. I spent a long time scanning

tickets and filling in every box only for

the EU261 claim form to be refused. Is

there someone at Ryanair I can go to

who will actually do something?

Richard Preston

Your flight was cancelled due to terrible

weather so Ryanair doesn’t have to pay

compensation — but it was obliged to

offer assistance on the night of the

cancellation, as well as the choice of

a refund or an alternative flight.

Ryanair said that affected passengers

were notified via email and advised of

their entitlements and to proceed to

the airport ticket desk should they

require further assistance. But that

assistance seems to have been

completely lacking — and you then

found it impossible to submit a claim.

Ryanair told me that because it hadn’t

yet received that claim form from you,

its customer service department

would be in touch. You have now been

offered a refund for your cancelled

flight, as well as your hotel expenses

and the cost of the new flights.

Q

Do you have any inspired
ideas for a five-day break
with my two daughters in
early August? They are in
their early twenties and will
go off on their own travel adventures
in September. We’d like to visit
somewhere in Europe that isn’t too
overcrowded — a tall order, I know —
with sightseeing, shopping, proximity
to a beach or a lake and a flight no
longer than two and a half hours.
Rachel Harris

A

You might think of Vienna
as a winter destination but
it’s a great city for an August
break. Swap hot chocolate
for an icy cocktail in
Strandbar Herrmann, one of the beach
clubs that line the Danube Canal, or take
a tram out to one of the Viennese wine
villages of Neustift, Nussdorf, Sievering
and Grinzing for a chilled bottle of
gruner veltliner among the vines. In the
city centre the film festival on the
Rathausplatz runs from July 2 to
September 4 and fabulous museums
such as the Leopold (stuffed with the
best of Klimt and Schiele) are an escape
from the heat. Pick a hotel with a
rooftop bar: the circus-themed 25 Hours
Hotel in the hip 7th district, Neubau, has
a terrace with views over the rooftops.
Room-only doubles start at £114
(25hours-hotels.com). Or try the opulent
Hotel Topazz Lamee, split between two
buildings amid the city’s best shopping,
near St Stephen’s Cathedral. The Lamee’s
glamorous decor was inspired by the
1930s screen goddess and inventor
Hedy Lamarr and there’s a rooftop
bar serving organic wine from the
hotel’s vineyard. Doubles from £170
(hoteltopazzlamee.com).

Q On returning to the UK via
Malaga airport my passport wasn’t
stamped. I queried this and was
advised it wasn’t necessary. The
airport was busy and the electronic
gates didn’t appear to be working so
all EU/UK/Others required manual
passport checks. I was under the

Travel doctor Solving your holiday dilemmas

Julia Brookes

Consumer expert

Q In February 2020 I paid a deposit

for a stay in an apartment run by the

French company Pierre et Vacances at

one of its properties in Collioure, just

north of the Spanish border. That was

cancelled because of a French Covid

lockdown and in October 2021 it

offered me a refund or voucher. I

selected a refund and gave my bank

details. The company told me the

refund has been made but my bank has

no trace of receiving it and I’m getting

nowhere. Is there a French equivalent

to the UK Financial Services

Ombudsman that I could contact?

Frank Lee

A Your best chance of making progress

is to take it to the UK International

Consumer Centre, which offers free

advice and assistance to consumers

who are having problems with purchases

made from companies based in another

country. Fortunately in April the body

had its government funding guaranteed

for at least another year. If you supply

all your relevant documents, it will

suggest the best way forward (ukecc.net).

Contact us

If you have a gripe, suggestion or question

relating to your holidays, please email

[email protected]

impression that my passport needed to

be stamped to prove I didn’t break the

rules about not staying more than 90

days in any 180-day period. Has a new

system been introduced that negates

the need for a stamp? I’m keen to avoid

any possible future problems.

James Bowker

A There’s no new system that obviates

the need for a passport stamp, which

is most definitely necessary to add

to everyone’s post-Brexit European

travel checklist. The advice from

the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth

and Development Office (FCDO) is

that border guards will use passport

stamps to check you’re complying

with the 90-day visa-free limit for

short stays in the Schengen area. “If

relevant entry or exit stamps are not in

your passport, border guards will

presume that you have overstayed your

visa-free limit,” the FCDO states. It adds

that if you are missing entry or exit

stamps, you can show evidence of when

and where you entered or exited the

Schengen area and ask the border officer

to add this date and location in your

passport. Examples of evidence include

boarding passes and tickets.

Q My wife will be marking her 50th

birthday in December and after a few

years of missed celebrations I’d like to

take her away for three or four nights

after Christmas, including New Year’s

Eve, somewhere in the UK. A hotel

with real fires, good cocktails, decent

food and nearby walks would be just

the ticket. We’re not looking for

overblown formality but a relaxed feel

and a bit of a boogie on New Year’s

Eve. We are happy on the coast or in

the country and the budget is about

£2,000. Any suggestions?

Gavin Hart

A Pride of Britain Hotels has more than

50 members, many of which are family-

run properties, and is an excellent source

of relaxing breaks in lovely surroundings.

Try Bailiffscourt Hotel & Spa in

Climping, West Sussex, a mock medieval

manor built in 1927, in 30 acres of private

parkland and a short stroll down a

lavender-lined path from Climping

Beach. Some of the 39 bedrooms, which

are spread between houses and thatched

cottages, have four-poster beds, open

fires and roll-top baths, and there’s a

barn-style spa. A four-night break from

December 29 including half-board and a

New Year’s Eve celebration with a

four-course dinner and dancing (plus

the chance of a traditional dip in the sea

if you’re feeling particularly brave) costs

£2,150 (prideofbritainhotels.com).

St Stephen’s Cathedral,

Vienna. Below:

Bailiffscourt Hotel & Spa,

Climping, West Sussex

ALAMY; MARK LANGRIDGE

*