A DUBLIN woman has finally left Glasgow after Storm Isha caused her flight to be delayed and she ended up stranded for more than 30 hours.
Sophie-Ann Chisholm, 24, came to the city on Saturday to see Alan Cumming at the Armadillo, expecting to leave on a Sunday night Ryanair flight.
But, in an experience she called "chaos and a nightmare", she did not manage to get a flight out until Tuesday morning.
As Storm Isha swelled through the early evening of Sunday, she became concerned, telling The National: "At about 5pm I started seeing friends of mine trying to fly back to Dublin unable to do so, so I started getting a bit worried."
"I got to Glasgow airport, no update yet. I didn't want to be stuck with that accommodation for the night since it was such a late flight, so I booked an airport hotel."
"And then, at about seven o'clock I got a notification saying 'your flight has been cancelled'"
She was presented with two options in the Ryanair app, one for a refund and another for a flight change – not confident in her ability to get a refund, she elected to try and change her flight.
But, on trying to select the flight change option, the app told her it was unavailable, leading her to search the airport for a Ryanair staff member without success.
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She came across four Ryanair passengers whose journeys were also disrupted by the storm who had managed to rebook their flights to Tuesday in the company's app – however, even trying to change her flight on their phones, she had no success.
Exasperated, Chisholm decided to book a Ryanair flight on Tuesday, out of pocket, but in hopes she could get it reimbursed by the airline. However, even this was not without difficulty.
"I didn't want seats to go on this [Tuesday] flight and I'd be stuck even longer.
"So I went to book it, it was about €60 at the time, I clicked through again and it bounced me out and said 'flight unavailable'.
"In the meantime, it went up to €80, so I decided, I'll try again. I got to the PayPal screen, it bounced me out again and went up to €87."
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Chisholm eventually managed to book a flight on Tuesday morning for the €87 figure, which forced her to book a second night in a hotel.
She was disturbed by the situation, saying: "It's a bit alarming because I'm traveling on my own, it was only meant to be one night, I'm 24.
"It's a distressing situation to be in."
Chisholm reached Ryanair on the phone on Monday, which told her that she would possibly be able to get a refund for the flight, as well as compensation for her hotels and expenses.
She successfully made her flight home to Dublin on Tuesday morning, and said she was grateful to be back home, though was worried about the impacts Storm Jocelyn may have on other travellers.
A spokesperson for Ryanair said: “Due to Storm Isha, some flights to/from the UK and Ireland yesterday [Sunday, January 21] and today [Monday, January 22] have regrettably been cancelled/delayed.
"We are working hard to re-accommodate affected passengers and advise all passengers due to travel to/from the UK or Ireland today [Monday, January 22] to check their Ryanair app for the latest updates on their flight.
"Ryanair sincerely apologises to all passengers affected by these storm-related disruptions, which are entirely beyond our control and have impacted all airlines operating to/from the UK and Ireland yesterday [Sunday, January 21] / today [Monday, January 22].”
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