I think baggage handlers are key. I ran into their one day strike in Barcelona airport 4 yrs ago and airport had to close down, all flights after ours were diverted. The airport had to be closed.

Yes, good luck everybody!

We fly into Madrid on Thursday Sept. 30. Both our hotel and airport shuttle have confirmed that it should be back to "business" after the Sept. 29 strike. Fingers crossed!

Many thanks again to all who have kept us posted on the latest regarding the strike on September 29. At this point, we feel fairly confident that our flight will be allowed to land, since it leaves the US before the stroke of midnight (European time) on the 28th. In fact, judyumcer, if you're still checking this site, we're thinking that we may be on the same flight: from ATL, DL 114 ???

If anyone has experience/knowledge as to what happens to luggage when there are few baggage handlers, please post. We're wondering if the airline later delivers your checked luggage to your hotel. (We're hoping you're not doomed to waiting in the airport until they return to work!) We're thinking of packing one carry-on to tide us over for a couple of days. Not sure about our transport to the hotel (even though a private company) and/or food services that will be available. Any latest info or ideas would be greatly appreciated. Good luck to all who may be affected by all this.

Hello all.. my friend is getting Married in Nerja and we are all due to fly out Dublin to Malaga 29th Sept .Any updates is so appriciated , Needless to say she is in total panic at present , Regards Irish AL ....

Flying to Madrid on 9/30 arriving 10/1 -- assume all will be back to "normal" by then?

Anyone speculate as to what Renfe will do as far as refunding any train fares for now canceled trains? Do you think we have to ask/apply or will it be automatic? I kept my original reservations just in case this whole thing blew over.

Irishal,
Is the wedding on the 29th? if so it will not go a head as the government workers will be on strike too. Without them there is not registration of the wedding.

Tomarkot, regarding the baggage handlers, one of the problems that there was during the negotiations was the fact that according to some IATA regulation foreign airlines had to have priority over domestic flights. I seem to remember that there has been an agreement not to allow that, which means that more than likely your luggage will be delayed.
As cruiseluv mentions, one of the worst strikes in Barcelona airport was 4 years ago with the baggage handlers. I would pack a small change of clothes in your carry-on, just in case, and check with the FA in your flight if they know what you should do. The problem that I see is that the luggage will be delayed coming out of the plane and that they will send it to your hotel, but with the strike it will probably be the following day.
BTW, your flight should have left before 00:00 spanish time to be able to land. Check that.

Irishal, are you sure your flight on the 29th won´t be affected? There will be only 20% of flights allowed within Europe ( 40% intercontinental flights ), so I would make sure. This year, with the snow and the ash cloud, people were able to rebook for the following days without penalties, even with Ryanair ( I did it for a friend studying in Utrecht ), so maybe you should be checking that. I was assuming that you might be flying Ryanair. They are, very optimistic I have to say, saying that they will only allow carry-on passengers on their flights to Spain that day ... I don´t know if it will work ...

Raider, Renfe is saying that you can try to reschedule for one of the remaining trains or you can cancel free of charge on the phone number 902 320 320 or at the train stations. Will you be in Spain before the 29th? In that case, go to the nearest station and check there.

The worst part will come upon the people who have to rely on public transport to get to work, as myself, specially living in Madrid. I suspect that the idea of the trade unions is to block public transport in the big cities, so that it seems that everybody is agreeing to the strike. I will get to the bus station at 6:00 am and try to get one of the few buses to my place of work, if they are allowed to run. As angry as I can be at the lack of proper government measures to do something with this crisis, I am angrier with the two trade union reps at my work that have informed HHRR that as they are worker reps they cannot lose their day wages because of the strike. I have friend and family who have been or are involved in the trade unions, and most of them are planning to work if allowed, not really the best moment to be losing days ...

Rgds, Cova

Hey All , we fly with aerlingus , the Wedding is Sat thankfully but we all have flights booked for 29th , I have looked into changing to fly out tues but it is costing 350 euro for me/my husband and 2 babies , arrggggggg what to do ......... of 365 days in the year .........

OK, I have been trying to check in the AerLingus site or in their latest newsletter if they mention anything about the strike and I haven´t found anything.

I know that Iberia is allowing for changes to flights for the following days, not before, so maybe you should check with AerLingus if it is possible to fly on the thursday instead.

Rgds, Cova

Hi, first time poster. I have been keeping up to speed with the situation on the General Strike and this forum has been the best for up to date info so I thought I would share my experience.

I had booked flights out of Alicante with Easyjet on the 29th and was obviously worried about cancellation coming late in the day which would entail the usual scramble. Easyjet and BA have both now agreed to free transfers for anyone flying on that date (it would have cost me 300 euros before 5pm GMT yesterday) but seats are at a premium so anyone reading this and flying on that day should check with thier airlines immediately. The fact that Easyjet are offering transfers may give you some leverage with AerLingus etc.

Having said all that there are conflicting views on how much strife the action will cause ranging from hardly at all; http://www.culturespain.com/
to complete carnage
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-sto...5875-22578878/

No-one will know till the day. Hope it works out for everyone - especcially the wedding party!!

iberia has just allowed a JFK-MAD-VLC change for previous day ( 28th) at no charge. I assume other airlines will or have already followed suit. Keep at them.

My wife and I are scheduled on AA departing JFK (New York) on September 29 (7:00PM) and arriving BCN on September 30 (8:45AM local time). AA has not cancelled the flight but has issued a notice that we are able to reschedule, at our option, to a flight departing between 9/27 - 10/1. As I understand it, the strike is just for the 29th. Since we land on the 30th, I'm thinking our flight will land as scheduled (and baggage handled as normal). One concern is that AA may cancel our flight last minute leaving us to scramble. Is that a reasonable concern? I'd love some advice and guidance. Bottom line: Should we re-schedule or not. Thanks!

The 30th arrival should not be a problem.. at least, no one is foreseeing that.

lincasanova - Can you conceive of any reasonable cause for AA to cancel the flight I described?

I am not the best person to address this.. my only thought would be if that flight originated in Spain the 29th a.m. to do a turnaround and leave from the USA the 29th pm..... then maybe it wouldn't have even taken off. Can the airlines tell you if that is a possible scenario with that flight.. as they must know where it originates?

At www.flyertalk.com there are many experts there. take a look.

lincasanova - I contacted the airlines to try to find out where the flight originates. They said that after 9-11, they can't give out that information. That was worth a shot. Thanks. Any other suggestions?

lincasanova - BTW, I looked on AA website. The last flight arriving in JFK from Barcelona [before my flight is scheduled to depart JFK (i.e., 7:00PM)] departs BCN at 11:00AM on 9/29 and arrives in JFK at 1:55PM on 9/29. So that flight will almost certainly be affected/cancelled, etc (although it has not been cancelled yet according to the AA website). The question, which you raised, is: Is that aircraft the one to be used for my flight? Who knows??? Isn't it unlikely that that aircraft would be scheduled to be sitting around from 1:55PM to 7:00PM? That's 5 hours. Would that suggest that the aircraft for my flight has a different point of origination? Given this issue, is it advisable to re-schedule or not?

I would imagine most international flights sit around for re-fueling and mechanic checks that long. I really have no idea what to tell you. I'm not sure anyone can answer this for you. I imagine most people would re-schedule if they can just to avoid anymore "ifs".

lincasanova - Thank you so much for your responses!! I guess I'm just a worrywort.

or worrywart.

Im sooooo onto Aerlingus first thing Monday morning , Such a mare , cant even enjoy a beer while packing now :) ... Last holiday to Nice thought we would not get there due to ash cloud , IM so staying here from now on :) ...

The latest posts are correct. The actual effect is unknown and there will be no sensible update to this. The last Spanish General strike was ineffective - but some views have hardened. The latest news is that 40% of international flights will be unaffected so not all Air traffic controllers will be out. How many baggage handlers etc. are available will be another matter. It appears that the best policy would be to carry on as normal and let the airlines and travel agents sort out any delays or diversions. Also check your travel insurance to ensure that you are covered for general strike action.

lincasanova - My wife called the airline. She was told that the aircraft for our flight does not originate in BCN. So she got more information than I could -- she's much more diplomatic than me. So, that's one "if" we don't have to worry about (if the CSR is to be believed). Thanks.

Irishal, you should get onto them as soon as you can. Maybe they have their Customer Service open today sunday ... As Lin has said, there has been rescheduling in various airlines, and Iberia is allowing changes, and Easyjet is also allowing for free changes within the following 5 days.
It would be bad police on their side not to allow you to reschedule for another day ...

Good luck, and let us know ...

Cova

We had to cancel our trip to spain (leaving yesterday) because of my dad's sudden illness. I was just going to have to write off the nonrefundable Vueling Air intracountry flight from BCN to Seville on 9/29 when just this morning, I received a notice from Vueling offering me either a full refund or an alternate flight. Needless to say I took the refund...it appears that the domestic carriers know something the international ones do not!

Just got back from Andalucia Wednesday and witnessed peaceful rallies for a "Huelga General" on Sept 29th when I was in Seville and Granada the following week. I was on a walking tour in Granada and the tour operator said that it was going to be a big general strike because the Spaniards were upset with their economy and is blaming the government for this. She even said she wasn't sure if the Alhambra will be open for that day.

My SIL was just told by AA that she must re-book between Oct 2 and 8th.

Under European law who is responsible for the extra expanses of staying in Spain?

Thanks.

The latest update is that there will be widespead disruption. The Unions and Government have not agreed levels of public and International transport. They were supposed to have 25% of public transport working with an emphasis on "rush hour" and up to 40% of International air traffic.
However, there appears to be no agreement at this point in time. The Unions are pushing for large rallies in the major cities and it looks as though many businesses will close for the day. If you are in Spain, avoid the major city centres. If you are due to fly, contact your airline. If you need to contact the Spanish Airport Authority (AENA) their number is (+34)902 404 704 or check their website http://www.aena.es/csee/Satellite?pagename=Home (It's in English or Spanish).

Sorry, my last message was wrong. The Unions and Government HAVE agreed that between 20% - 40% of International flights will operate and 25% of train services (rising to 30% during Rush Hour) will run. All other advice remains as stated

Thanks Cova , will do ..

Just off the phone with Aerlingus , there is a big mgmt meeting this afternoon and they may reschedule flights Free Of Charge , heres hopin , ILL keep yis posted ..

I havea question
If your flight lands how would you get to and from the airport?
The answer is with a great deal of difficulty, if at all.
It would be better for you to have the flight rescheduled.

In the recent French strikes, my airline had a flight blocked because the refueling service was on strike. They had to wait 8 hours to get service.

At the moment to resch our flights it is costing 350 euro .... that is not an option for us , hoping Aerlingus will reschedule free of charge ..

Our nonstop on DL to BCN on the 29th is still showing as OK, and we received the same response when we phoned them. Even if our flight does do, we are concerned about packing plans and would appreciate input. For the two of us, we've packed one carry-one and were planning to check one bag. However, now we're wondering if the low %age of baggage handlers and other airport personnel will cause such a back-up and confusion that "delayed" luggage will have good chances of becoming "lost". Our thinking was that we could do without our one piece of luggage for a few days. We didn't want to be saddled with carrying too much around the airport and/or possibly lugging a lot should we have to rely on scant public transportion to our hotel. We do have a private transfer scheduled, but who knows? We're now thinking seriously about more paring down of our stuff and taking another carry-on, eliminating the checked bag. If anyone has any guesses, ideas, about the risks of checking luggage vs. the inconvenience of hauling extra stuff around, we'd appreciate your thoughts.

FedEx your stuff or downsize.

Aerlingus have rescheduled our flight free of ..we fly out tomorrow , Really delighted with this outcome , Advice to all flying out 29th , DEMAND your airline to change your flight ...best of luck , I am bringing extra food supplies etc as believe it will be like no-mans land on Wed.

Thanks to all and best of luck ...

tomarkot, I don't know why Delta is holding firm, what kind of explanation do they give you? I have read about people flying in AA and Iberia, having their flights changed with no charge, and as mentioned on this thread other airlines are doing the same.

In any event I strongly suggest you only bring carry on. When I had the bad experience of the bagagge handlers strike in Barcelona I made the mistake of checking my suitcases and it took a couple of days to get them. And I was lucky, there were people that had their suitcases lost for weeks and some forever!