My parents are travelling to zurich with Emirates. They missed the connecting flight to Zurich at Dubai due to Flight delay ( again Emirates problem)

The waiting time for the next flight is 18 Hours, in such cases isn't the airline responsible for providing accomodation?

Such a pity to make 65 years old people at the airport without any service, they have contacted the desk, I have been on phone with call centers help desk no Customer Service what so ever.

Did they go to the information desk and ask for a voucher ( likely for the Millenium Airport Hotel, meals and phone calls) ??

It will be Emirates responsibility to accommodate them for the missed connection if it's their fault.

Yes they did check at the counter, they got a meal voucher which honestly speaking does not matter in such a chaos,one can buy something to eat but the accomodation can not be provided as it is overbooked

What does being 65 have to do with the situation?

If Emirates had sponsored their visa ( for delays of 8 hours or more ), I would go out and get myself booked into a decent hotel and charge it to them. Or let the info desk book another hotel.

Also if they had travel insurance, notify them and keep all bills and paperwork.

i'm thinking she means respect for the elders kinda thing. i know if it were my folks they would already be tired and uncomfortable traveling all that way but then waiting 18 hrs in a terminal, even worse.

i had to sleep with my son at madrid once due to the same and it wasn't fun or comfy at all. good luck

people with that age generally have more health problems than the "young" this may not be true for everyone..

Respect for elders is one thing but 65 is only just retirement age and working age in some locations. 85 years maybe but trying the we are old line just to get sympathy when you arent even old is a bit much.

The customer service should occur regardless of age and not because of it.

Emirates are not sponsoring their VISA. yes they are trying to find out something on their own, but it's not a comfortable feeling to be on "your own" amidst confusion in a new transit country.
Sadly We missed on the insurance.

absolutely they should be taking care of anyone that is stuck because of their mistake, for sure. but some at 65 are more fragile than others. just saying

It is strange for Emirates not to sponsor the visa considering the long layover.

My mom, 70, missed her connecting flight after a long haul flight from Brisbane. In a way, she enjoyed the incident and took the unplanned long layover as a welcome break. Her visa was sponsored by Emirates.

Yes I know what you mean,The age 65 is not the debate here agreed the health and working age can vary from country to country and service should be provided irespective of the age!

It was mentioned out of respect and love for my parents .. and I can also blame my prego hormones

congratulations!

First of all, people aged 65 are NOT "old" but youngish !

Second, look at these 18 hours. Going to a hotel would have meant
- negotiations and a few coffees = 2 hours
- arrangements etc = 2 hours
- transfer = 1 hour
- hotel-checkin = 2 hours
----
- waking up and preparing for dep = 1 hour
- transfer to the airport = 1 hour
- check-in for the new flight incl security = 3 hours
--
so that you have to deduct 12 hours, which means that the stay in the hotel would have been less than 6 hours

Your parents rather should request a one-day VISA and go over to the "Irish Village" nearby with very nice restaurants, and a splendid Irish Bar/Lounge/Pub

YES, a travel-agency man told me already some 4 years ago that Dubai would get into serious problems with a lack of hotel capacity and that European tour operators were pushing up' alternatives in Ras-al-Khaimah (a very nice place).


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What do you mean "e new transit country" ? Emirates was established in 1985 and to serve as a transit-country for Dubai then also civil aviation wise became a "Raison-d'être". And so, we speak about 27 years.

I think she meant that UAE would be a strange and new country for her folks seeing that it was an unplanned stop.

Alright, but they not only apparently made a connection-stop there on the eastwards-journey, but a connection-stop on the way back cleary WAS planned. What the couple could NOT know and what surprises me clearly is that Dubai so swiftly arrives at the "ceiling" that travel-agency-man had told about 4 years ago. Emirates may have to shift over flights to the new Jebel Ali Airport, from where it is not so far to the new hotel-compounds accross the border to Abu Dhabi. Dubai is right these days establishing a Public Transport System (Railways) which includes a link between the "old" Dubai Airport and the Jebel Ali Airport. So that this in future cannot be the problem. Emirates for example could shift over all fights to "north-of-the-Alps-Continental-Europe" to Jebel Ali. While Sharjah-Airport is filled with Russian tourists, the old airport of Umm-el-Qiwain (an old RAF airfield) should possibly be restarted. As to drive from Umm-el-Qiwain to Ras-al-Khaimah, even when driving a bit faster than the speed limit, takes some 50 minutes.

wow, things take time in your world.

I've had a stopover in Dubai of 18 hours during the after effects of the ashcloud.

- arrangements etc = 2 hours MORE LIKE 5 MINUTES FROM GETTING EMIRATES TO ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY
- transfer = 1 hour ABOUT 30 MINUTES
- hotel-checkin = 2 hours LESS THAN 5 MINUTES
----
- waking up and preparing for dep = 1 hour
- transfer to the airport = 1 hour AGAIN 30 MINUTES
- check-in for the new flight incl security = 3 hours TWO HOURS IS PLENTY

so that's another 6 hours or so that can be spent in the hotel. Well worth pushing Emirates to sort it out.

He is on the Spanish schedule

YOUR times are the normal times when they are co-operating well. MY times are the defacto-timings when things start to go wrong. I back in 2002 was in the Jebel Ali Hotel and for the transfer to the airport including return of the rented car needed less than an hour. But on arrival in Dubai on the same travel, I needed a transfer-taxi of the travel agency, and so discussed with the manager, a Syrian from Damascus, about Damascus and Beirut and Köln for about 40 minutes. Before that I had sat with some folks for coffee for some 30 minutes. The transfer-driver, as a result of some discussions, made some slight detours (free-of-charge) to show me some new buildings of the town, which added roughly half an hour.