This post was going to be about 5 things that are wigging me out about going to Berlin. I was going to tell you I was nervous about the language barrier. Nervous about not knowing how far the hotel was from the starting line. Nervous about being undertrained. My nervous butterflies came to an abrupt halt yesterday when I got a certain email in my in box. An email from Air Berlin talking about a flight cancellation. My flight cancellation. Part of me feared it was spam as I always seem to get spam about erroneous cancelled Amazon orders, Fedex deliveries, you name it. I was so hesitant to open it I forwarded it to the Caveman, who called me the minute he opened it.
It was worse than I anticipated. Not only had my direct flight to Berlin been cancelled, the airline was bankrupt AND had changed their refund policy just two months prior so my $2000.00 was not refundable. I can’t make this stuff up. My butterflies turned to shock and rage and panic.
We spent the night looking for Plan B and C and D. Most alternate flights were exponentially more expensive with just 7 days of lead time. Finally we arrived at an alternate plan. One that would require connections in Copenhagen an overnight in Hamburg and a train to Berlin. We’ll have to leave Chicago a day earlier (Wednesday instead of Thursday) but, fingers crossed, all the connections will work and we’ll make it to Berlin by Friday.
Suddenly the butterflies have calmed down. I’m not sweating the small stuff anymore. The alternate plan is much more complicated than the original but I’m not worried about it because this fiasco reminded me of how lucky I am to be able to go to Berlin at all. I busted my tail and trained around an injury to get there. One way or another, I’ll make it work.
Have you ever had travel/racecation plans go terribly wrong? Ever lost money due to bankruptcy?
I’m linking up with Meranda, Lacey and Rachel for the Friday Five.
I cannot imagine the nightmare this must have been…at least you were able to come up with an alternate plan. UGH. Are you traveling with the Caveman? I hope you’re not gonna be all alone….((hugs))
Wow, that is awful! Im sorry this is such a stressful process. I don’t think Ive had anything that major happen before but Ive dealt with plenty of flight cancellations. Although they have always been able to get me on another flight.
Im sorry this happened, but I’m glad you figured it out! Train from Hamburg is easy! All good. Everyone in Berlin speaks English. You’re going to have an amazing time!
This is just the craziest thing! I’m so glad you were able to find a backup plan. After this, the marathon will be a piece of cake.
I’m so glad you were able to figure this out! I can’t even imagine how stressed out it would have made me. Hope you get some piece of that money back.
I was talking to Alex about this, and we were both mouth open agog about the situation. So so glad that you figured it out!
I’m so glad you got it sorted. I was seriously even ready to drive you there from the Netherlands!!
now that this is sorted, pretty much nothing else matters. you’ll be fine. Berlin is so easy to navigate. Plenty of people speak english. the atmosphere is magic. PHEW. I AM SO GLAD YOU GOT THIS SORTED. Did I mention that???
I thought this was crazy when you posted it yesterday! I would have to think your credit card would refund this. You have worked too hard to get to that start line and I know you will find a way to do so. Sorry you had to go through all of this but it will make that finish line so much better
Oh my gosh I can’t even imagine! I would have been so stressed. Glad you got it all figured out. Hopefully the worse is behind you and you can enjoy your trip with no more stress.
Fingers crossed that everything works out ok for you.
I had a flight cancelled at the last minute and could not re-schedule so I missed a race in Cali that I was running with a friend. I was bummed but at least it was only a 5k.
I also had the same situation on the way back from a work conference and had to miss a 10 mil race that I had paid for. Boo!!
Hope LV flights are ok so I don’t miss the 5k but at least the half is not until Sunday.
I cannot even imagine the shock of reading that email! I’m glad you’ve got an alternative plan figured out – I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed that all of your connections fall into place!
Oh wow, I’m so sorry you’ve had to deal with this! It sounds so stressful. I’m glad you have another plan figured out!
Oh my goodness, what a nightmare you are dealing with! Did the airline provide an explanation for why the flight has been canceled? And they didn’t offer any assistance to rebook you?
Crazy! No one thinks about an airline going bankrupt! I am SO happy you came up with another plan. It is all part of the adventure, right?
I am so sorry!! That is a lot of stress. I hope your travel goes smoothly and you have a great race experience. Enough with the back luck, hopefully that is all out of the way, bring on some good now right!
Yikes! At least you have an alternate plan in place. Thankfully so many European countries have trains. Safe travels!
Oh my god!! That sounds like a nightmare come true!
You are going to rock this marathon! I can’t wait to see the picture of your travels !
While in general we’ve been pretty lucky, we have definitely had travel plans go awry. Pet sitters canceling last minute. 9/11. Stranded in cities on more than one occasion — but never in an airport, knock on wood.
But I’ve never heard of such a thing. I can tell you this: some of my most stressful training cycles resulted in my best races.I’m wishing you an easier trip than you’re anticipating, a great race, vacation, experience overall.
The whole language barrier thing . . . I don’t think you’ll have to worry about it in Germany — definitely not Copenhagen — but I actually experienced just a little bit of that when I did RnR Montreal — almost none of the volunteers at the expo spoke English.
Oh, Marcia. I’m so glad you have a backup plan. I was super worried when I read your post. I’m glad your training isn’t all for naught!
Oh goodness… talk about the stress! I’m glad you got it all sorted out and came up with an alternative.
So happy it worked out for you, Marcia! Looking forward to tracking you in Berlin. ❤❤❤
Tara
I can not believe this happened, so stressful! I’m so glad you were able to make alternate arrangements though. I can’t wait to hear how the marathon goes!!
I knew that Air Berlin was pulling all sorts of nonsense, but the cancellations with no refund is just ridiculous. I am so glad you found alternative travel plans. It is not easy just 7 days before your trip is supposed to happen. We are booked on American and then Lufthansa to Munich after the race so feel very lucky. Hope to see you there!
I couldn’t believe it when I saw your post on Facebook. That is just plain crazy! It sucks that you have to pay AGAIN for your flights again.
That’s so terrible and stressful! Glad you found a backup solution and hope your travel is a smooth process (as smooth as it can be nowadays anyways!).
Wow that is so frustrating!! I’m glad you were able to come up with another plan to get there. Hugs.
I do not do well with unexpected changes, so kudos to you for taking this in stride so well, and yay for coming up with a Plan B.
Yes, I once lost money due to a bankruptcy… Just four days before the 2003 Washington, D.C. Marathon, my husband and I got emails stating that the company putting on the race had gone bankrupt and the race wouldn’t be held. We lost our registration fees, but it was no where near what you lost!
Just so crazy! If you filed a claim with your credit card company, do you think you might be able to get back at least some of the money?!
So happy that you figured out an alternative plan!
Oh my goodness! I am so very sorry that this has happened. Hopefully thought it all ends up being a positive adventure in the end.