Looks like I will have to cancel - further to my last post in July headed Air Berlin our much anticipated trip looks like it is in ruins. Air Berlin have just sent an email announcing that our flight on December 27th has been changed from 8am in the morning to 4pm in the afternoon. As our trip was only for 3 days this effectively robs us of the first day in Vienna and makes the cost of the hotel for 3 nights very expensive. I imagine we will be able to get a full refund on our flights but this is not the point I just cant believe it when we have organised this trip so far in advance. We only want to fly from Stansted anybody got any suggestions for alternative trips?
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Oh that is wretched! I hope they give you a refund - I cancelled an Air Berlin flight quite a way in advance and got most of my money back.
Have you considered the Ryanair flight to Bratislava and then connecting to Wien from there? But again it may take up so much time that it wastes too much of your short holiday.
As an alternative, how about Salzburg? That%26#39;s easily reached from Stansted and the flights are good - the early flight gets you there at 9.30 in the morning and then the journey to town is very quick so you get your maximum length for your first day. There is a late flight back to Stansted too, leaving after 9pm, which means you get maximum time on your last day. I took those flights when I spent 3 nights there in July and it meant I got 4 full days in Salzburg which was good.
I%26#39;d feel more confident of booking Ryanair far in advance too. When I booked Air Berlin to Wien they altered the schedules too - that time the arrival was only an hour later but it disrupted my onward-travel plans. It%26#39;s not much good for holidaymakers if you can%26#39;t count on arriving at the specified time!
r
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Hi Roley thanks so much for your post have just phoned Air berlin and they have agreed to cancell in full so can start again.The suggestion re Saltzburg is very helpful the times sound perfect and I must admit I did consider it at the time of booking Vienna but wondered if there would be enough to do for 3 days in Winter. Spent that amount of time in Prague last year and kept busy how big a place is it say in comparison to Oxford or Cambridge or is that a silly comparison?
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Not a silly comparison at all - I%26#39;d say the centre of Salzburg was about the size of the centre of Cambridge (not including the Grafton Centre!) so it%26#39;s easy to get round on foot. But of course Cambridge lacks the enormous fortress towering over the town (a great improvement on the colleges!) I think you would find plenty to do there in 3 days if it%26#39;s your first visit. The fortress is great fun and you can do an indoor tour through that as well as clambering round the outside admiring the views. The town is interesting to explore (good shops and great food on both sides of the river) and there are a couple of galleries which I think are quite good but Art Is Not My Thing so I can%26#39;t say for sure! Then you can also go a little further afield and visit Hellbrunn which is a palace-and-gardens complex like mini-Schoenbrunn (complete with zoo) There is the Landestheater in Salzburg which has plays and operetta and stuff on so you might catching something there during your stay (at that time of year, I%26#39;m guessing Fledermaus) And there will be other concerts and probably church music as well. If the weather was decent you could do one of the guided tours such as the Salzkammgergut or whatever took your fancy.
There%26#39;s unquestionably more indoor stuff to do in Wien at that time of year, it%26#39;s true, but Salzburg is charming and I think you%26#39;d have a good time. Also Wien is a bit boring apres Christmas i think - and the hotels cost a bomb because of the Silvester thing. And I wasn%26#39;t impressed with the concerts on offer this coming Christmas in Wien either - I was thinking about going for Silvester and ended up going the week before Christmas instead because there was a livelier range of music.
The only thing that might daunt me a bit about Salzburg is what if it tosses down snow? If that alarms you maybe you should head for warmer climes. I was there during a snowstorm and the airport was fully operational but oooh, I had chillblains fore and aft, it was fierce! (that was in late November, so who knows what weather you%26#39;d strike) But one tip - if you do decide to go to Salzburg, I%26#39;d opt for a very centrally placed hotel - that way if it does belt down snow, you don%26#39;t have to walk for miles to get home. I%26#39;m going again in November this year for the markets but I am staying at Hotel Elefant so it%26#39;s only a short totter to the central heating in the event of blizzard conditions!
Hope that helps!
r
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Hi Roley helps a lot thanks. It snowed continuously when we were in Prague last time so not daunted dy that it was just a good excuse to take brandy with my coffee several times a day. Saltzburg is sounding favourite at the moment but I wont ask any more questions yet as my partner has just thrown Edinburgh into the equation and must admit I am a bit drawn to visiting Loch Lomond on a hopefully gloomy day and of course a nice malt whisky with my coffee purely to keep warm again you understand
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In reading your post re: Air Berlin, it frightens me a bit as I have a flight from Vienna to Paris on Air Berlin in Sept. Are they notorius for cancelling and changing flights? Is there an alternative for us to return to Paris on the 23rd of Sept. as we have a flight home from Paris to the US on the 24th at 1:30.pm. Just need some assurance here......or suggestions.
thanks.
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I wouldn%26#39;t worry too much about it Debbie - in both Bunnyjack%26#39;s %26amp; my cases, the flights were booked enormously far in advance - six months plus - and the schedules probably weren%26#39;t finalized with airport landing slots or what have you at that time. I%26#39;ve heard good things about Air Berlin generally and don%26#39;t think they%26#39;re in the habit of changing schedules at the last minute, as it were. Plus there will be other airlines flying that route out of Vienna so even if there were a problem with the Air Berlin flight they can jolly well put you onto another flight with another carrier if need be. I once had that experience out of Vienna - my Austrian Airlines flight to London was overbooked so they just put the extra people onto a British Airways flight leaving about an hour later and didn%26#39;t charge them for it - in fact, gave them 80 euros compensation for the delay. So I%26#39;m sure you%26#39;ll be fine.
r
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Thanks for the response regarding Air Berlin. I too made these reservations months ago, so I think I will worry just a LITTLE. I will e/mail them with my concerns to make sure. They are usually pretty quick with a return e/mail. Thanks again. Debbie
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We just took a flight on AB from Zurich to Vienna and it was the best flight of the trip and the least expensive.
ps. I reserved back in March and the times/dates never changed
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We just returned from our trip to France, Switzerland and Austria. I asked the Concierge in our Hotel to confirm the flight for me and everything was in order. The only problem at the Vienna Airport was returning the car and having to walk, with all our luggage from Hertz to the check in counters. Other than that, and the fact that we had to be bussed to the plane.....it was fine, on time, cheap, and with no problems. I guess sometimes there are glitches, as with anything. But I consider ourselves lucky with respect to Air Berlin.
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