Bulgaria Ski discussion board

Had a call about a week ago from a poor guy who had fallen and fractured his pelvis... Needed a comfortable drive to Sofia airport to get back home... Turns out his insurance would not cough up to repatriate him because a) he had not confirmed an extension (but he still had the receipt and had paid ??) b) he was deemed to be skiing off-piste (though most runs were unpisted ??)
Now all seems bad enough, but read on....
Picked up with over 5 hours to get to airport, roads clear here save for a bit of ice.. Got to the other side of Dupnitsa and it started snowing, eventually turning into more of a blizzard as we approached Sofia.. end of the E79 a lorry had turned over, 40 min delay, eventually moving only a couple of km to be held up again by a jackknifed artic, another 40mins, eventually getting into Sofia, only to get stuck in more traffic in the snow..
We got to the airport about 10mins after the gate had shut, which wasn't really a problem because ????? the flight had been cancelled Not from the heavy snow in Sofia (20cm +) but bloody `Crapwick'.... The poor guy and his girlfriend were then informed it would be at least two days before another flight was available This poor lad was in agony, and in need of injections for pain, had to then consider the medical options of getting a doctor, the thought of further pain in being shipped into Sofia to a hotel, and back again to the airport...
Is there a moral here ??? are all insurance companies thoughtless robbing gits ??? Does Gatwick need to take a leaf out of Sofias book ???
And just to top it all off, my sons flight was cancelled eventually (after he waited nearly 4 hours and had travelled over 200miles) from Gatwick yesterday, i was also waiting with my ten month old daughter at Sofia after driving in through the ice and snow... now he will not be here for Christmas as the next available flight is 27th
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Cheers matey, fingers crossed for the 27th and a late Christmas
As for `From Experience' comment, kinda agree with Cresswell..
As for stopping the budget airlines, Gatwick closed with no flights and all airlines at one of their busiest times have to re-schedual. My argument is with Gatwick, why can they do it here in a former E-Europeon country that is still finding its way, compared to one of the most high tech terminals in the world ????
As for the poor lad being better off with a tour company ??? his insurance was actually from a tour operator ???

A bizarre post? Get a grip? It's not about tour operators being given the monopoly, the simple case is they have to assist. How many package holiday clients were stranded and had their flights canceled? Zero! They are all now enjoying their skiing.

Steve C, if your son had book with a tour operator, he would be with you now as they would just have delayed the flight, they have a legal obligation to assist. The fact he booked a budget airline, they have no obligation to assist because it snowed. They just canceled the flight, as this was the easiest option for them.

As for the insurance, regardless of where the guy got it from, he was obviously in breach of some term of the contract otherwise they would have assisted.

Believe me, i have first hand experience of being screwed by a budget airline in the last few days and have a very expensive credit card bill having had to purchase alternative flights at the full price!

From Experience

From experience.........Your argument doesn't stack up. What about the thousands of people who booked with BA and were shafted by other airlines for flights when BA announced possible strike action ?

It is irrelevant which airline he flew out with and is also irrelevant if he was with a tour operator or not, if he was properly insured the insurance company would have an obligation to provide suitable medical care in Bulgaria or to repatriate him so that he could get care from the NHS.

If he was underinsured or had given false details is another story. A word of warning to everyone to check their insurance to make sure that they are suitably covered.

My point is in regards to the flights rather than the insurance issue.

I assume the disagreement i am facing is from people with other interests such as apartment owners and companies offering transfers, who naturally do not have a good word to say about package holidays, as they are promoting their own interests.

It is simple, if you want proper protection and assistance when things go wrong, book a package, i will be from now on.

On a similar note, if you want to see which airline is odds on to go bust next, check out this link I think a few Bulgarian skiers will be a bit nervous by the top airline!

From Experience