By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com Travel Editor
Calling it “a mess,” a flight attendant who travels frequently to London and other destinations described the scene of traveling to Europe this summer.
Speaking casually and off the record to PubClub.com, she said huge crowds, overwhelmed airport security and lost luggage are the primary reasons for this situation.
“The Euro is even with the dollar so it’s 25% cheaper for Americans to travel to Europe now,” she said. “And they are taking advantage of it. Plus, everyone is traveling now anyway. It’s a mess. There’s a shortage of security staff and a shortage of baggage handlers. Luggage is getting lost and it sometimes takes as much as three weeks to get it back.
“So I say, just take carry-ons. Why deal with it?”
I can confirm the lost luggage situation as a neighbor just returned from a multi-week trip to Europe in July. His luggage got lost on his return to the U.S. It took three days for him to get it.
Add to this strikes at EasyJet and Ryanair are causing those airlines to cancel dozens and delay hundreds of flights a week. On one Saturday in August alone, Ryanair canceled of 15 flights to and from Spain with another 175 delayed. The majority of these cancelations and delays are out of Roissy-Charles de Gaulle in Paris.
The situation is not likely to improve anytime soon, either. The flight attendant recommended Americans to go Europe in September after Labor Day and October rather than now. Otherwise, be prepared for frustration at the airports.
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