[Closed] Flights to Munich getting cancelled - help please, mum's funeral

Firstly I'm sorry you are having to face such a journey in the current circumstances. I would say the best option is to find the nearest airport where you can get a direct flight from and then find a way to get to that airport that doesn't involve flying. When you find that book the earliest flight in the day from the airline offering the most number of flights that day, if that cancels you have the possibility of other flights later in the day and give time to spend a night stuck at the airport if it comes to it.Connecting flights right now are not something I'd consider as an option.

My condolences.

You could get a train to Newcastle, ferry to Amsterdam, then a train to Munich ? Subject to them still running in these crazy times.

Or train all the way there: Edinburgh - Kings Cross, St Pancras to Paris, Paris to Munich (probably via Zurich).

I believe Lufthansa are ramping back up in next couple of weeks so you might find you can get bookings soon.

Firstly obviously I am very sorry for your loss.

There aren't many commercial flights operating between the UK and Germany at the moment because of the lockdown in both countries. As things open up, you may find more flights operate. I am not in the industry, but because of the EU261 regulations, when you get to within 14 days of your intended travel date, then it becomes far less likely an airline will cancel on you. That is because, with less than 14 days notice of cancelling a flight, the airline has to both offer you a refund/reroute AND provide you with monetary compensation. So you may have to wait until 14 days before to book a flight.

An alternative might be to drive and use the Channel Tunnel. You will need to carry proof of your residence in the UK and proof of your reason to transit France, Belgium and Germany and there may be additional paperwork / permit requirements, who knows at this time.

Also be aware of the German and UK requirements for quarantine / self-isolation. At present the UK doesn't fail the German rules that may require you to isolate for 7 days on arrival - but that could change if we either test more people or have an increase in our infection rate. The UK's 14 day quarantine may or may not last into July.

Good luck.

Can you drive?

On another forum, I'm just reading about a guy going back to a work place in Italy, and riding his motorbike to get there.

Quote:
'Ferry Hull to Rotterdam.
No great interrogation in Rotterdam
Hotels open in Europe.
Using booking.com.
They have a check box where you can say to "only show me accommodation available"... of which there is plenty'.

Sorry for your loss.

I would probably drive via Amsterdam ferry. A friend is doing this route from Spain next month, totally self contained in the car with food and blankets. They are 2 so can take turns in driving.

Flights are still being sold and then cancelled, I am waiting for more certainty before I go.

I know that KLM are still running a daily (if not twice) from Glasgow to Amsterdam and Edinburgh to Amsterdam. I’ll know more tomorrow regarding DLH. Personally I’d book KLM then train.
Edit:I presume these are bookable. It may be they are just cargo, but flight numbers & types remain the same

Sorry for your loss & the additional grief this is causing you.

Just last weekend I travelled back to work in Basel, Switzerland from the UK & decided to drive as I could guarantee I'd get there. I work in Aviation & there are virtually no aircraft leaving, arriving or flying over.
The Eurotunnel is running surprisingly freely, You're basically getting the upgraded ticket, ie next train regardless of how early or late you arrive & they haven't taken advantage by upping their prices.
Roads down through France & Germany are also running very freely.
If there's any way you can drive, or have someone drive you, it will be far less stressful.

Hope it works out for you.

train to London, Eurostar (to Amsterdam?), connection from there to Munich?

I've always found trains and connection in Europe to be as good & hassle-free as you'd imagine

hope you get something worked out

Have done London - Munich and vice versa a few times.

Train from St Pancras to Munich via Brussels is about 9.5h and with one change in Frankfurt (step from one train straight into the waiting train on same platform).
Don't go via Paris, it's a bitch getting from one side to the other.

Trainline has better prices than Eurostar.

Other option, have a look at flights to Memmingen. 50 min bus ride to Munich, basically the same amount of time from Munich Airport to town.

Good luck.

Sorry ti hear about your situation, they theoretically are running daily flights from Manchester to Munich so that might be an option?

The emails tell me to phone Lufthansa, but of course I can’t get through

It took me four hours on hold to get through to lufthansa last week.

Throughout the entire time on hold there was nothing after the initial you're in a queue message, just silence from the other end.

KLM have been flying to Amsterdam from Manchester throughout so that might be an option to get you at least to mainland Europe.

Sorry for your loss, I know it won't be your prime consideration but just to warn you KLM are only offering vouchers for cancelled flights.

Flights are still being sold and then cancelled

This. We're finding that it's just a waste of time booking flights at the moment because they just keep getting cancelled due to the current situation. This has happened to us for three lots of flights up until the end of August from Spain to the UK. We've given up and are just going to wait until everything hopefully starts to settle down, whenever that may be.

Thank you so much everyone for your answers, some very good ideas there that hadn't occurred to me.

I'll definitely look at going from other airports and just thought that maybe I'll be able to check whether any of these flights are 'real' if I look at the live arrivals/departures for a few airports over the next couple of days?

Flight/train combo might work out as well, hadn't investigated that either.

Also, I can drive, and maybe that will end up being the best option - I almost forgot that hotels are reopening/have reopened in lots of places now, so won't even have to do a non-stop type journey.

Thanks for the quarantine risk reminder, konagirl, I'm hopeful the situation here won't get so bad that Germany puts the UK on the quarantine list in July....

It took me four hours on hold to get through to lufthansa last week.

Throughout the entire time on hold there was nothing after the initial you’re in a queue message, just silence from the other end.

!!! I gave up after one hour of that total silence cause I really wasn't sure I was still in the queue!

Sorry, to hear about your Mum.
I got an email from Austrian airlines and just had a look and they are dong flights from London to Munich in July.

As others have said, sorry for the circumstances behind this.

I too would be inclined to look at driving if it's an option.

Bar far the worst bit is the UK stretch - and it gets busier and worse the closer to London you get (if you head for the Tunnel), but once you hit the Dutch/French and then German motorways it's fairly plain sailing.

We did the reverse (Munich to Amsterdam) by motorbike in one hit a few days ago and whilst it was a long day, we had just enough energy left in us to head out for a beer afterwards before the ferry back to Newcastle the next day. It's 500 miles, ish and it's not hugely enjoyable but it's very much do'able.

If the ferries are running reliably (I haven't checked, sorry), then the 2/3 hour drive from Edinburgh down to Newcastle followed by 1 big / 2 easier days on the continent's roads to Munich is probably your least stress-filled option.

The Autobahns were a bit intimidating to begin with but you soon get used to the speed (everyone else in Germany drives impeccably, making it much easier).

Good luck - hope you get something sorted.

Looks like the UK is the sick man of Europe once again... oh the irony.

My old man died in Spain from a stroke about 5 weeks into the covid thing... cremated there with no ceremony, not even his friends allowed to attend. His death certificates just being released last week, so I feel for you.

I need to get to Spain ASAP to sort some things out and have a retrospective service/send off. It absolutely sucks, but our idiotic country with it's highest death rate and completely stupid/insane government are really not helping.

I could potentially get to Spain and be quarantined because of where I'm from, and get quarantined when I come back for where I came.

I don't think there's really much point in planing anything until August or September, last thing I need is cancelled flights and quarantine.

To add to above, sorry about your loss.

I drove up from Spain at the weekend and went through the tunnel. No drama at all, wasn't much different to usual. To enter France as of now, you need to fill out two self-certification forms - one saying you are a EU national passing through France on essential travel (ie for compelling family reasons) and another declaring you have no symptoms. Tbh they didn't look at mine. Keep an eye on this page to see if that changes.
Driving through France I saw a few foreign plated cars pulling caravans and motorbikes so the essential travel seems rather open to interpretation.

I'm going back on Sat AM so will report back here if I get any hassle, but shouldn't do. Good luck!

Just spoke to KLM guys inbound to Glasgow, they are definitely passenger flights. Only issue is KLM have obviously reduced their service to one flight a day from Glasgow/Edinburgh/Aberdeen to Amsterdam (assuming you’re from Edinburgh area). This means remaining passengers have been rebooked onto these flights-the problem being is that people are not turning up yet the flights are fully booked. Still, definitely worth calling.

Alternatively Eurowings fly once a day to Cologne from Edinburgh-but I think it’s a DLH flight anyway, so may not be of help.

Sorry about your loss, and I hope you get it sorted out.

@mattyfez
My daughter made it here to Madrid two weeks ago (quarantine ends today) so it can be done, although she is still officially a resident here and obviously has a place to stay. If you do decide to try I'd stick to a "better" airline - we tried with Ryanair at least twice, and both flights cancelled without any explanation. Iberia, however, got her here.

I'm sorry for your loss. I'd drive. We live just north of Amsterdam and have done Munich to here in a day before. The borders between NL and Germany are open again, and you're basically on the same road the whole way once you're past Utrecht. The only stumbling block is the ferry, as both of them are sitting at Ijmuiden just now.

Thank you all again for your help, sorry, didn't make it onto here yesterday (I know! A day without checking STW 😄!)

eat_more_cheese

Just spoke to KLM guys inbound to Glasgow, they are definitely passenger flights. Only issue is KLM have obviously reduced their service to one flight a day from Glasgow/Edinburgh/Aberdeen to Amsterdam (assuming you’re from Edinburgh area). This means remaining passengers have been rebooked onto these flights-the problem being is that people are not turning up yet the flights are fully booked. Still, definitely worth calling.

That's very interesting, thank you! So people are booked onto the flights and not turning up for them? Aaargh!

Alternatively Eurowings fly once a day to Cologne from Edinburgh-but I think it’s a DLH flight anyway, so may not be of help.

Ooh, what's a DLH flight? And also good to know that the Edinburgh-Cologne flights are 'real' and not just on their system and then they disappear...

Sorry, DLH=Lufthansa. Operated by Eurowings. I presume to get on that one you’ll have to book with Lufthansa, but worth trying Eurowings. I’d definitely check with KLM though. As I said, people/business are not bothering to call KLM to cancel/postpone their flights-so actually the flights are full on paper, in reality they are running at half capacity.

Thank you, eat_more_cheese, that's really helpful advice - hoping to get my travel plans sorted in the next few days with everyone's tips on here 🤞

Sorry for your loss OP and hope you get something sorted x