<p>The European airlines are required to help out with acc/food. I think that’s great. My D studied abroad both semesters last year, the 1st in UK, 2nd in Spain. One weekend she went back to the UK to visit friends she had studied with. Cloud part 2 kicked in, and she was stranded in London for three days, all the hotel and food picked up by the airline. Her problem was that she had only brought enough insulin for a short time. Luckily she made it back to Madrid in time. Her voucher from the airline was enough for her Spanish uni to allow her to make up work she had missed.</p>
<p>Ex-pat son is coming from Madrid tomorrow. We believe his flight will land in Chicago before the predicted snow hits tomorrow afternoon.</p>
<p>Again, hoping all eventually make it home safely. I’m really glad that 16yo found someone to stay with.</p>
<p>Looking at weather forecasts, I’m finding contradictions…
One looks good for Monday and Tuesday, Wednesday snow again.
Another forecasts snow all week.</p>
<p>I hate to point this out, but basically UK forecasts are never reliable more than about 24 hours in advance. The climate here is very unpredictable. Look at 5 different weather sites and you will get 5 different forecasts even in normal (non-extreme) times.</p>
<p>Edited to add - if you are stuck at Heathrow, it may be cheaper and quicker if you need to get a hotel to go to nearby Windsor (it’s basically at the end of runway 4. You can see the castle there when landing). You can get a bus or taxi there, and it is nicer than sleeping in the airport.</p>
<p>Just wanted to add to the chorus of stranded Ds. She’s scheduled to depart France and transfer at Heathrow tomorrow. According to the Heathrow website, they expect cancellations and delays tomorrow as well. By then, I imagine, they’ll be pretty slim pickings for rescheduling. But I’d rather she be home safely than quickly. Also, after a semester in France (and everywhere else) at least she’s become a pretty competent traveler, so I think she can handle it. And she certainly won’t be alone. The biggest bummer is she only had a bit over a week at home anyway, so I hate to see that disappear.</p>
<p>Gloworm, thanks for the accommodation/food info. We were wondering about that.</p>
<p>They are enjoying an unexpected holiday in Dublin… I am sure they will turn up at some point. They’ll be fine. There are worse places to be stuck and there is nothing anyone can do.</p>
<p>Holding our breath for D, who is leaving Helsinki tomorrow with hops to Reykjavik, Boston, and Chicago. Weather in the US does not look so good :(</p>
<p>In case people on this thread have not seen this, very important information for stranded travelers with international flights.</p>
<p>Not looking good at Heathrow…D’s flight status has just changed to “Contact airline”…
and Aer Lingus is closed—argh! In all this mess, you can’t have staff working???
Have heard same about BA…</p>
<p>gosmom…ugh, sorry to hear that…a 9am flight tomorrow right?</p>
<p>My D’s flight is Tuesday…but it doesn’t look good because the airline site (AC thru Montreal) is stating that even if weather is good, they need 48 hours to get all the aircraft and schedules on track. Because of the closures at LHR, Paris etc, and canceled flights thereto today, there’s no planes there and if tomorrow is bad again…not enough time.</p>
<p>I told my D to talk to the residence…she may have to stay for who knows how long.</p>
<p>My replacement flight was just cancelled, as were Tuesday night flights. May not be home for christmas. No big deal that my mom’s in hospital and I’ve not seen my family for 4 months.</p>
<p>dreaming…I’m so sorry to hear that.
You know that airlines do have special provisions for family members who need to be home due to emergencies and the like, called Compassion fares, with lower rates.
You might try to look into that, your airline may also be affiliated with another…I know AA, Continental, Delta and others offer them.
You should be put on a priority list for a flight out.
Best of luck.</p>
<p>Looks like my D may not be leaving Tuesday at this point…</p>
<p>I am now hooked on this thread! So sorry for those of you who are stranded or have family members who are. I’m starting to wonder if this will backlog things for several days even if the weather were to improve. </p>
<p>Here’s what my kid has on tap…
Wednesday:
Train from Amiens, France (northern France) to Paris. Switch to another train station, take train to Annemasse, France (suburb of Geneva), spend night.
Thursday:
Plane from Geneva to Zurich. Plane from Zurich to Boston. Three and a half hour car trip to Vermont. </p>
<p>Fingers crossed.
(she has a day trip by car to Paris on Tuesday related to her job too)</p>