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I'm Irish and horrified at what is happening in Europe. Highly vaccinated countries are imposing restrictions and locking down once again. What on earth is going on? This is never ending. Get your booster shots everyone or Christmas is canceled, oh but you can still go to work. That's fine. How long are people going to take this and who are the fools defending lock-downs at this point?
You have figured out that it is all about endless control and oppression. Congratulatoin on figuring it out.
I declined to go home this Christmas, and I felt bad about it, but I feel like this vindicates me.
The logic in those countries is curious. They tell people en masse to get vaccinated with the promise that they'll be able to return to life, and vast majorities of people do so.
Those people then find out that the decision on whether the country goes into lockdown is unrelated to whether the virus is especially dangerous to that vast majority of people, but whether a bureaucratic apparatus and its political leaders somewhere decide that the health system is at risk of being overwhelmed or not. Of course, there is typically very little transparency on the data that's behind those decisions and how reliable it is. The fact that authorities and the media use *case numbers* as a benchmark at a time when that has essentially become a meaningless statistic only increases the suspicion that these decisions are perhaps ill-considered.
You know what this reminds me of (it's happening on a couple of threads where I mentioned that my round trip tickets over Christmas for Economy Plus were nearly $2500)? It reminds me of people who haven't put up a wooden fence in several years, but they know someone who has. And then they say "Well, I just wouldn't pay those lumber costs - if they're even real." Well, maybe you would if you had to have a fence. And maybe there are certain constraints.
For instance, I am 59 years old and I broke the heck out of my right (dominant) arm last year. I am lucky to have decent range of motion but my arm, which has titanium screws and rods and all that good stuff in it, is weak and painful even now a year later. I simply cannot install french drains by myself in my back yard. I cannot dig. I cannot use a shovel. So all the advice about how to do it cheaply (generally by myself, or driving around looking for parts or whatever) just won't work for me. All the anecdotal stories about knowing someone who paid a lot less than I paid - well, they don't help. Do people think I didn't shop around? I didn't get several quotes? I don't know what people think but I paid what I paid and I had to have it and I'm glad I did it.
Same with the airline ticket. I needed Economy Plus because I'm tall. I needed to go on certain dates because of Christmas and my granddaughter's school schedule and my daughter's schedule and boarding my three dogs, oh and the shuttle to the airport - don't forget that piece of the puzzle. I could only tolerate up to 1 layover and I'd prefer non stop because I have been seriously screwed by layovers in the past - and come to find out, the difference in cost for the days I chose is next to nothing. So why deal with a layover at Christmas time somewhere? Sorry but I don't want to fly Qatar Air or some seriously offbrand something or other - and they're few and far between anyway.
I've done my homework and will keep doing my homework. I appreciate actual advice but I do not appreciate or need anyone saying "Well, for starters you got screwed over because there's no way a ticket should cost $2500 and you probably didn't have to pay that. I know someone who goes to Germany and they only pay $400 round trip!" Yeah, I did that too once - in 1995.
My daughter came home in 2020 for my husband's funeral, from Germany. Her ticket was around $1700. It was at the end of August, not Christmas time. It had at least 3 layovers. She was traveling for 16 hours. She was absolutely beat when she got here. And it was the cheapest flight that could be found. I don't even know what airline it was on.
Anyway, the lockdowns are really interesting and horrible to watch from the US.
Since I was one of the people who pointed out the ticket price issue.........
The last fare I quoted was DFW to FRA Tue 12/14 to Tue 01/11 nonstop on Lufthansa (hardly an off-brand) for $1197. An additional $51 gets you extra legroom.
If a lot of people are commenting on your ticket price.......well maybe......you know.....
Since I was one of the people who pointed out the ticket price issue.........
The last fare I quoted was DFW to FRA Tue 12/14 to Tue 01/11 nonstop on Lufthansa (hardly an off-brand) for $1197. An additional $51 gets you extra legroom.
If a lot of people are commenting on your ticket price.......well maybe......you know.....
A lot of people aren't commenting along the lines you are. Two people commented about the ticket price (stating that they either didn't believe it or whatever - other people were just commiserating). One person told me that they have a friend who has gone to Germany several times this year, one time for $400. Yeah - not helpful. I know nothing about the time of year, number of layovers, who it was with or what airline, whether or not someone was picking them up at the airport, etc.
I don't want to stay three weeks. I have very specific days that I want and need to visit, and want non stop or at the most just one layover, and the fare I found was the best deal for those specific days and terms. But have fun if you go!
Prices on everything have skyrocketed - I don't know why an expensive airline ticket flying into Germany on December 22 and leaving Jan 3 would be particularly unbelievable. But hey, that's just me. And believe me, I've never paid anywhere close to this price before - and doubt I will again (I've lived overseas several times and also traveled overseas numerous times over the years, so maybe this is my last visit, who knows - if I get to go).
You'll be pleased to know that I can cancel up to the day of departure are receive a full credit of $2500 from the airport for future use. Which I will definitely use up since my family is scattered and I fly a lot.
Last edited by KathrynAragon; 11-20-2021 at 02:05 PM..
Go for the refund. There are still much cheaper fares available for 12/14 - 1/11. Lufthansa $1139.
I can only go from December 20 through January 3. Do you have a link for an economy plus flight for that time frame? Non stop or one layover max. Oh and my daughter is picking me up from the airport so the arrival time needs to be within a normal time frame and I need to have a day or two to recuperate before Christmas. Thanks!
Oh and there needs to be two seats available even though I am only paying for one. My granddaughter is 19 and we don't have to sit together.
I'm Irish and horrified at what is happening in Europe. Highly vaccinated countries are imposing restrictions and locking down once again. What on earth is going on? This is never ending. Get your booster shots everyone or Christmas is canceled, oh but you can still go to work. That's fine. How long are people going to take this and who are the fools defending lock-downs at this point?
What's going on is years and years of cutting on the healthcare budget, with now more expensive healthcare, less employees and less IC beds. This combined with a virus that's deadlier than the flu, but not by a lot. So the appropiate thing to have done was focussing all care and/or vaccines on the elderly and other vulnerable people, just like how it's done with the flu shots. Let the healthy population build natural immunity. But since healthcare has gone to ****, this was apparently not possible. However, when we have a really big flu season, the hospitals are overwhelmed as well and the IC beds are not sufficient. But do we have a lockdown in those winters? Nope. Do cancer treatments stop in those winters? Nope. Does the government raise awareness for eating healthy and exercising, as to combat for example obesity, an extremely important risk factor for corona deaths? Nope. On the contrary, prices of veggies and fruit have gone up recently here, and filthy cookies and other bull**** products have gone down in price. You tell me what's going on here.
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