✉ In September I was one of a trio of musicians who set off by rail to attend a chamber music course in Tuscany. I’d booked Eurostar tickets to Paris and used Rail Europe to book onward travel from Paris to Turin, where we planned to stay the night before hiring a car the next morning. But when we arrived at Gare de Lyon for the Turin leg I was told there were no trains to Italy and hadn’t been for some time due to a landslide somewhere along the way. In the end I had to buy new tickets and we travelled via Zurich, but it was a challenging day. On the return journey a week later all trains from Zurich to Paris were sold out on the morning we needed to travel so we ended up having to take an overnight FlixBus from Zurich to Paris. None of us got any sleep and my younger violinist friend has not spoken to me since. I’m £600 poorer (after the refund of the original tickets) and Rail Europe and SNCF keep passing the buck. Why wasn’t I told about the cancellation? Both companies had my contact details. Can you help?
Steffi Cook
A simple email would have saved you from such a miserable experience (and the ire of your violinist friend). Rail Europe has now admitted it was to blame. “Upon careful investigation, we found out that the email that Steffi was supposed to receive to inform her that all trains had been cancelled due to the landslide was inadvertently excluded from our list of impacted customers. We deeply regret any inconvenience or frustration this may have caused,” a spokesperson said. You have now been refunded for all your extra expenses as a “gesture of goodwill”, and the company is taking steps “to prevent such occurrences in the future”.
Gare De Lyon in Paris
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✉ My partner and I, along with a relative, would like to see the less accessible parts of the British Isles by cruise ship — the Isle of Wight, the Channel Isles, the Isle of Man, the Isles of Scilly, Ireland and the Scottish isles would be ideal. Normally these require separate visits of several days to make it worthwhile. We’d like to go in 2024 or 2025. What can you suggest?
Clive Bignell
There isn’t a cruise that includes everywhere you’ve listed, but Ambassador Cruise Line’s 12-night British Isles Discovery trip ticks a lot of your boxes. Departing from Tilbury in September 2025, it calls at Lerwick in the Shetland Islands and then heads round to picture-perfect Tobermory on the Isle of Mull. Belfast, Liverpool, Cobh in southwest Ireland, and St Mary’s in the Isles of Scilly are also on the itinerary, which starts from £2,349pp; there’s currently a buy one get one free offer (ambassadorcruiseline.com).
The harbour at Hugh Town, St Marys, the Isles of Scilly
ALAMY
✉ My husband and I have no reason to be at home for Christmas this year so we’re thinking about going abroad for a week. We’d want Christmas Day celebrations to be included in the holiday but we’re not sure if we want snow (we don’t ski) or sun. My husband has mentioned New York. Any suggestions?
Susanne Crawley
The Belle Epoque Hotel Victoria in Kandersteg, in Switzerland’s Bernese Oberland, is full of old-school charm and perfect for a week of snowy Christmas revelry. Departing on December 21 or 22, seven nights’ half-board starts at £1,965pp, including flights, rail fares, transfers, a torchlit stroll with mulled wine, a return trip on the cable car to Oeschinensee (a pretty lake with walking paths) and a gala dinner, as well as a guest card giving free use of local buses and discounts on the various mountain cableways. The same holiday by rail costs £1,915pp (inntravel.co.uk). Funchal in Madeira is a sunny alternative, and with its lights and decorations is particularly appealing in December. A stay at the five-star Cliff Bay, with its knockout Atlantic views plus a two Michelin-starred restaurant, would be a treat and a week from December 21 starts at £1,772pp B&B, including flights and transfers (tui.co.uk).
New York is also a fabulous place to spend Christmas, whether you want to browse the shop windows on Fifth Avenue, skate in Central Park or see the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall, but don’t expect to find a traditional turkey lunch on the big day. A week room-only at the Park South Hotel in Midtown would cost £1,600pp from December 21, including flights (ba.com).
Ice skating in Central Park, New York City
ALAMY
✉ I’ve promised my son a snorkelling holiday when he finishes his GCSEs next year. Is there a short-haul destination you can recommend? I’d like the snorkelling to be from the hotel beach so he can go on his own, and I am struggling to find a location.
Charlotte Symmons
Try the pretty car-free village of Loutro, only accessible by boat, on Crete’s south coast. Your son can snorkel in the translucent turquoise sea while you watch from the first-floor terrace of the family-friendly Porto Loutro Hotel. A week in late July will cost £1,631pp B&B in two rooms, including flights and transfers (sunvil.co.uk).
The village of Loutro, Crete
ALAMY
✉ I flew from Singapore to Heathrow in March with British Airways and upgraded my ticket from business class to first because I have a slipped disc and needed to ensure I was comfortable on a 14-hour flight. This cost £2,700. The cabin was newly refurbished but the entertainment system for my seat didn’t work and the lights couldn’t be switched off either. One hour into the flight it was time for me to put the seat down so I could sleep. To my horror I discovered the seat was stuck in the upright position and wouldn’t budge and because the flight was full I couldn’t be moved.
Given the failure of BA to offer the service that I had paid for, my expectation at the very least was that the amount I paid for the upgrade would be refunded and I’d be compensated for the inconvenience. But BA has offered a £700 e-voucher or 140,000 Avios, which does neither. Surely a full refund on this faulty service is to be expected. If I went to a shop and bought a box of chocolates only to discover the box was empty, I’d be refunded. How is BA allowed to get away with not compensating a customer for failing to provide what they have paid for?
Henrietta Morrison
You upgraded to first class because you wanted a comfortable flat-bed seat but BA’s argument is that, despite its failure to provide that, you still had access to a package of first-class benefits: fast track, priority boarding, the lounge, meals, pyjamas and so on. Unsurprisingly, you are not impressed by this. BA has offered the airline’s maximum compensation in this situation — 140,000 Avios is the equivalent of a first-class one-way peak ticket from London to Singapore — and this offer will be kept on file for 12 months should you change your mind. If you want to take your case further, the small claims court is your next step (moneyclaim.gov.uk).
Have you got a holiday dilemma? Email traveldoctor@thetimes.co.uk
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