Luckily, we booked with Etihad.
You might think you’re reading a paid ad for this airline but I have to tell you what a wise decision we made to fly with them during our recent trip to Europe! As our London and Paris flights have been cancelled last April 16, 2010, we still managed to enjoy the time we spent “stranded” in the United Arab Emirates.
Etihad booked us, first At Holiday Inn in Abu Dhabi for one night then (for) three nights at the posh Golden Tulip Al Jazira Resort and Marina in Dubai.
We got so exhausted from the lack of sleep and the seemingly endless hours of waiting, first at the chaotic domestic airport in Abu Dhabi, then at the modern International terminal. There was a big contrast in the facilities of the two areas. The first didn’t have many facilities and the toilets and dining options were not so good!
Several times, we had to lug our baggage and hand carries back and forth to the X ray machines at Abu Dhabi. I had to remove my boots, my boys their belts, shoes, watches, etc. So exhausting! There were also a few unscrupulous taxi drivers hoping to make extra bucks from us – wanting to charge 150 AED for a 20-minute trip from Holiday Inn to the airport.
Our very nice hotel receptionist advised us (that) 30 Australian dollars were good enough. I told the driver we didn’t need a bigger car as the night before we had a free ride organised by the airline and it was a smaller car. We put one luggage in the front seat beside the driver and we all sat cramped at the back!
That was on the 18th of April. We came back to the airport on our own as we were promised to be picked up at around 6am. After waiting half an hour and not hearing from Etihad, we organised our own transport. Again, it was in vain as we returned to Abu Dhabi airport, discovering after waiting for four hours that our flight was still cancelled!
I talked with a friendly Filipino reservations staff who accommodated us to a flight to Milan. I requested (for) any flight that would take us to or near our first port (of entry) at Venice but Milan was the only available one. We signed papers of consent regarding the change of flights, and hoped for the best, again!
We didn’t have any food for seven hours since our departure from Holiday Inn in Abu Dhabi. At around 4 pm on April 18, it was apparent our Milan flight was still a “no go,” so we took a bus to a resort in the desert of Dubai. It seemed to be in the middle of nowhere! Our driver got lost many times negotiating the tricky roads going to the isolated but posh resort in AL JAZIRA.
We just knew it was called GOLDEN TULIP AL JAZIRA RESORT AND MARINA as written in the paper given to us. I joked that Etihad (staff) did that so we, together with about 30 foreigners – Irish, Italians, Americans, Filipinos couldn’t easily go back to the airport and harass the staff about when we could go!
Entering Abu Dhabi is not for everyone!
Sadly, several Filipino families on connecting flights from Manila to Milan via Abu Dhabi were unable to enter the United Arab Emirates and they had to stay at the airport lounges. I felt sorry for some families with very young kids who only had the floor lounges to lie on as many of the uncomfortable seats were occupied by thousands of other stranded tourists. (to be continued next issue)