English in Madrid

Image created by Chat GPT October 2024 First Message to BA via their website: My first flight was delayed and I was resigned to missing my connecting flight. However, they made up time and I had a chance to make the next flight.  I ran off the flight to passport control where a BA assistant said I could still make the flight but my boarding pass didn’t let me through. The only BA employee (Ágata) behind a desk there was attending a customer (whose flight was 2 hours later), though was not doing anything other than being on hold on a mobile phone.  I told her that I was going to miss my flight if she didn't  help me but she completely ignored me. After around ten minutes, and thanks to a border force employee, she reluctantly attended to me. She then told me that my name had been taken off the connecting flight (Why did this happen when there was still time for me to make it to the plane before boarding closed 20 minutes before the flight?) Security was partic...

  Brit chess prodigy tells Spanish court he was ' messing around ' when he joked 'I'm Taliban' and told pals ' on my way  to  blow up   the plane' in message that  sparked  fighter jet  escort  during easyJet flight to Menorca    A British  former  child  chess  prodigy has admitted in court he told his friends before  jetting to  Spain: 'On my way to blow up the plane. I'm a member of the Taliban.' But Aditya Verma insisted today as he  went on trial  that he was joking with his pals in a private Snapchat group before he was  hauled off  the flight. The 20-year-old student said he had 'no intention' of mobilising the two Spanish fighter jets sent to escort the  packed  easyJet plane he and 140 other  holidaymakers  were on as it  neared  Menorca along with police and firefighters on the ground.   Indian-born Aditya was 18 when he was  arrested ...

Source: John McArthur on Unsplash * PLANE WRONG Extinction Rebellion protester boards plane at London City Airport and stops it taking off as eco-warriors bid to cause travel chaos AN Extinction Rebellion protester managed to ground a flight from London City Airport today - to the fury of the passengers on board . The Aer Lingus flight to Dublin this morning was on the runway and about to take off when a smartly dressed man stood up and gave a lecture on climate change. Filming himself on his phone, the man said: "I don't wish to travel with you, but I don't wish to get off ". He went on : "I'm extremely sorry for the inconvenience". Furious passengers responded saying: "You're not sorry at all ". As their flight was held up , travellers pleaded with crew to remove the bespectacled man from the plane. Continuing to address those on board, the man said: "We have two generations of human civilisation...

Source: Steven Coffey en Unsplash I'm not very lucky when it comes to flying. Just about everything has happened to me. I have lost my ticket in the airport (remember the days when you needed a ticket at check-in ?), I've left my passport on board planes, I once forgot to take my passport with me, I've missed countless connecting flights (and as a consequence spent sleepless nights at airports or had to fork out for   a hotel), my luggage has gone missing several times and so on and so forth . This time around there were no delays even though Storm Barbara arrived the day I flew to Scotland. It was a bumpy flight . The problem was on my return journey. Unfortunately, you can't choose who you sit beside. I had an aisle   seat  for the first leg . I watched other passengers find their seats and wondered who would be sitting next to me. It turned out to be   a mother and her young daughter. I didn't worry too much. I have sat next to children ...

Source: Call Me Fred en Unsplash I got back to Madrid last week. For the umpteenth  time, I missed a connecting flight through no fault of my own . Here is the e-mail that I wrote to the airline: Dear Sirs, My first flight (0700 **th Aug EZY*** INV-LGW) was delayed for around 6 hours, which meant I missed my connecting flight. That rearranged flight (1710 **th Aug EZY*** LGW-MAD) was delayed by a further 2 hours. All this resulted in a very long and stressful day. I have been informed about my rights to compensation and I would like the matter to be resolved promptly . Over the years, I have missed many connections flying with Easyjet and I have never received any compensation for any of the ordeals . Another upsetting thing occurred when checking in my case at Gatwick. My suitcase was 22kg while I carried lighter, more fragile objects in my hand luggage. At the Bag Drop in Inverness, they attached a "heavy" label to the case. At the Bag Drop in LGW...

Source: Hugh Whyte on Unsplash Avios mix-up sees woman fly to Grenada, not Granada A woman who booked a visit to Spain as part of a "bucket list" said she "just froze" when she realised she was being flown to the Caribbean instead. Lamenda Kingdon, 62, from Plymouth, wanted to go to the Alhambra Palace in the Spanish region of Granada after being diagnosed with cancer. However, she was booked on a flight to Grenada by travel rewards company Avios, an error which she only realised had been made once she was in the air. Avios has since reimbursed Ms Kingdon.  Ms Kingdon was diagnosed with breast cancer in February 2012 and a brain tumour in June.  After she completed her course of treatment, she decided to use her unspent Avios points.  She had planned to travel to Granada to see the Alhambra Palace as part of a * "bucket list", a list of things she wanted to achieve in her life that she made while she was ill.  Ms Kingdon left Gatwick on 1 Sept...

Source:  Miguel Ángel Sanz en Unsplash Delta and KLM sued over 'too fat to fly' Vilma Soltesz The husband of a US woman who was too big to be flown home from Europe - where she later died - is to sue the airlines involved for damages. Vilma Soltesz, who weighed about 30st (193kg), was refused a place on two flights in October. She died of kidney failure before a suitable flight could be found, after refusing treatment from local doctors. Delta Airlines said every effort was made to accommodate her but it had been "physically unable" to get her aboard. But Peter Ronai, the lawyer acting for her husband, Janos, told CBS: "They [the airlines] took on the responsibility to get her to Hungary, it's their responsibility to get her back." Mrs Soltesz needed to return to New York from her holiday home in Hungary to resume medical treatment. She suffered from kidney disease and diabetes and reportedly "did not trust" Hungarian doctors. But t...