Planning complicated trip from toronto and vancouver need advice

[Andrea J.]

yes randi good point!!
i am certain a lawyer can advise way better than us.

there are many instances where a plane has to make a diversion.
we flew from bos to philly to aua once and had to divert to miami for medical reasons.
another time flew from halifax ns to boston and had to divert to bangor due to a passenger being unruly. (drunk and disorderly..........my then 5 yr old enjoyed watching the police take this guy down right there in the aisle of the plane...quite exciting for a kid ......pre 9/11 days)


none of these were of real concern to us, but if we were in the same situation as amarg's husband we certainly would have been concerned.

[amarg]

Hi there, we finally booked my sister's flight from Gatwick today on Thomson Air. She is joining us for the last week of our vacation.
I'm a little miffed at the way they operate I must say.

First off, they charge 40 pounds to check one piece of luggage. Also, I was told that to use a credit card incurs a charge of 2.5% but a UK debit card has no additional expense. So I got my sister to book the trip herself online using her UK debit card (it's supposed to be on us but I will just pay her back) but she was still charged 3 pounds. It said either 2.5% for using a Visa or other CC or 3 pounds for using the debit card. Of course, you don't see this until the very end of your booking when you are ready to pay.

The best part, if you need to call and speak to a representative about anything to do with your trip, you are charged by the minute for each call.
We still have some questions that we can't find answers to online so before we start calling and wasting more money (I've already called a few times to book the tickets) I wonder if one of our UK residents can answer a few questions for me.

Is there any food on the flight? Is there a meal or snacks or both? Can you purchase anything and cost?

Are there any beverages provided at all? If not, can you purchase any?

Should she take food and drink in her carryon?

What about tv or movies on the flight?

Is there anything else she should know about the flight? She is fairly small at 5 ft even and 90lb so the seat room isn't an issue.

She needs to purchase travel insurance but this will be her first time as a UK resident. Who is the best one to go through with the least amount of hassle, best rates, best coverage and lowest deductible (excess fees) or no deductible in case of claim? She is a UK resident as she's lived there for a year now but isn't a permanent resident. She is on a work visa so I am not sure how that works. Any advice or suggestions? I've been googling but it's overwhelming and much different than here. The 800 numbers aren't accessible for me so it's all very painstaking.

In case you are wondering why I am doing so much for my sister and why she just doesn't do it herself? Well she's my little sister for one and 2- for personal reasons I need to help her. Thanks.

[Andrea J.]

maybe "damnyankeeuk" can answer some of these questions.

some answers by me.....yes to food in her carry on. yes to drink, provided it is purchased on the secured side of secure area.
unsure if there are movies, my flight orlando to aua on saturday had bare basics....no movie, ran out of liquor in 1st class, no real food in 1st class, only soft drinks and few bags of mixed salty stuff or cookies.

unsure if www.insuremytrip.com will be of use for UK residents. check it out.

why did i think you sister was flying from pacific northwest?

[Arubalisa]

Finally made it!!!

Flight with Thomson air was a nightmare. 9 and a half hours, with no drinks unless you paid for them, my daughter had to have a tea with her meal...they ran out of ice after 2 hours in the air, and that was after being delayed for 2 hours before takeoff.
Greg

near as I could tell, the service on the flight was the norm. !

[Chadd]

Hi there, we finally booked my sister's flight from Gatwick today on Thomson Air. She is joining us for the last week of our vacation.
I'm a little miffed at the way they operate I must say.

First off, they charge 40 pounds to check one piece of luggage. Also, I was told that to use a credit card incurs a charge of 2.5% but a UK debit card has no additional expense. So I got my sister to book the trip herself online using her UK debit card (it's supposed to be on us but I will just pay her back) but she was still charged 3 pounds. It said either 2.5% for using a Visa or other CC or 3 pounds for using the debit card. Of course, you don't see this until the very end of your booking when you are ready to pay.

The best part, if you need to call and speak to a representative about anything to do with your trip, you are charged by the minute for each call.
We still have some questions that we can't find answers to online so before we start calling and wasting more money (I've already called a few times to book the tickets) I wonder if one of our UK residents can answer a few questions for me.

Is there any food on the flight? Is there a meal or snacks or both? Can you purchase anything and cost?

Are there any beverages provided at all? If not, can you purchase any?

Should she take food and drink in her carryon?

What about tv or movies on the flight?

The charges are common for European low cost carriers. Check out Ryanair some time and see their list of add on fees.

As for meal/snacks:
http://www.thomson.co.uk/editorial/e...l-options.html

Insurance:
Thomson does offer it as well:
http://www.thomson.co.uk/editorial/legal/insurance.html

Their website is actually pretty well laid out. Checking it out may save some time and stress.

[amarg]

Thank you. I wasn't sure if anyone else beside Damnyankeeus had flown with Thomson air and it just sounded very awful. She will just bring her ipod to entertain herself and buy some drinks and food to be safe.

Yes Andrea, I have 2 sisters coming, one (Tiffany) is flying from Vancouver to Toronto and then to Aruba with us. The other sister (Jesse), is flying straight in from UK to Aruba. There is another sister (Paris) who is the youngest at only 18 and lives at home with Mom and Dad. We are still trying to convince our parental units that it's ok for her to miss 2 weeks of school to come to Aruba. I don't think they're buying it.

She would have to fly in from Vancouver as well with Tiffany and fly home so it would be well over 2 weeks of missed Grade 12. I don't think letting her fly home alone is wise and nor would she. She is very shy and quiet and hasn't traveled very much at all. I think it's because the 3 of us are so talkative and overwhelming, as well as overprotective of our baby sister, that she kind of gets lost in the noise sometimes.

Jesse needs to do some investigating about the travel insurance because most of the companies only insure permanent UK residents and she's there on a work permit. I'm not sure how it works for people in her situation. Anyone out there have a similar situation where you lived somewhere else to work and then traveled from there? Thanks.

[amarg]

My baby is a very very picky and difficult eater. She was born very premature at 27 weeks and feeding has always been an issue and one of my main stresses daily and while on vacation especially.
I am worried about feeding her in Aruba and know that Aruba has jarred foods in the grocery stores but Maya is not a fan of jars to say the least. In fact, she doesn't like much but she will occasionally eat certain flavors of an organic frozen babyfood that we have up here called Sweet Pea and there's also Mother Hen. I can sometimes mix these purees (they come in cubes like icecubes) with other foods and get her to eat them or mix them into her yogurt or cereal.
I don't think Aruba carries anything like this. I don't know if anyone has seen any kind of baby food at Ling and Sons besides jars. There is also an American Brand called Plum Organics that she will sometimes eat but we don't have it up here, I have to get it from Buffalo.
So my questions are:

Has anyone seen any frozen baby food in Aruba? Does anyone know if they carry Plum Organics?

If I was to take some frozen food with me, how would I take it on the flight safely and so it doesn't melt. Do I check it or can I carry it on since it's baby food? I was thinking of packing a small cooler and carrying it on but don't know if I can.

If I'm going to carry on a cooler, I may as well take other food in it so maybe I should make my carryon the cooler and just put all my stuff into the bags of the others flying with me?

Any advice?

I know Aruba has great food, great restaurants as well as grocery stores. That's not the point, it's just my daughter doesn't eat well and it's a medical concern, not just mine and I need to make proper plans in advance.

[Andrea J.]

we bring frozen food in checked luggage in a soft sided collapsable cooler.
this particular trip we brought, frozen sliced turkey breast, pasta sauce w/ meatballs and sausage, frozen chicken/rice and brocolli casserole, butter.

all stayed hard/frozen.

i have only seen jarred baby foods and boxes of the cereal/oatmeal kind of stuff at the grocery stores.

[amarg]

Do you put the soft cooler inside your suitcase? I guess I can line it with icepacks? Our flight is 3.5 hours and I'm thinking with having to arrive early at the airport, travel, arrival and then to CDM, we are looking at 7 hours. I hope the food will stay frozen for that long.
Can you recommend a good brand of cooler? I have to go buy one.

[Andrea J.]

our soft sided collapsable cooler was bought at walgreens.
if you freeze all that stuff good and solid........put it in the cooler along with some ice packs and wrap clothes around that soft sided cooler to insulate.....it should stay frozen.

we loaded our cooler full of frozen stuff into out suitcase at 8 am on the 7th, got onto the flight at 11:30, arrived in aua at 3, unpacked it at about 4:30! still frozen.