Ever been affected by a strike?

Hi Amy!
We were in Paris this week and learned of the strike on Wednesday--the day before our scheduled return flight on Air France, Thursday, January 29--the day of the strike. The staff at the hotel where we stayed (Grande Jeanne de Arc in the Marais) was very helpful making suggestions for a route to CDG that would be least impacted by the strike. Instead of taking the RER as we'd planned, we left the hotel extra early and took the metro to a stop for the Air France bus.

The day before the strike, a sign was posted in the Paris metro to let passengers know which specific lines would be affected (for example, on some lines one of every three trains would be running.) We went online the day before and found that most long-haul flights would run as scheduled though 30 percent of short haul flights were canceled.) The morning of the strike, traffic on the metro was light so possibly many people stayed home. The airline on our return flight was nearly empty so either people with connecting flights didn't make it or people just aren't traveling.

If we hadn't had advance warning it could have been a totally different experience!

Many travel insurance policies cover labor strikes that were unforeseen when you purchased your tickets...not that it really brings back your vacation. =(

Why would you be humiliated by a strike? You didn't cause it !!! Part of being a good traveler (as opposed to the average tourist) is being able to go with the flow and make the best of the situation. And you might be surprise at what you learn from that. A few years ago we were caught by a Spain train strike and forced to use the buses. Loved it. Spain buses are great!! and cheap !!! Never would have considered using the bus before but earlier this month we use a bus because it fit our schedule better. With the prior experience probably would have stuck with the train.

Don't worry about it -- you cannot predict a strike.

I agree with Frank, go with the flow. It adds something different to your report when you get back home.

I still tend to remember the strike when we were in St. Lucia...food was getting scarce in the grocery stores, and there were electricity shortage etc. We had rented a condo, so were living like islanders. We managed.

I believe there were a few problems in both England and France (rail strikes), but they weren't major to disrupt our holiday. Adds to the excitement :-)

I've been caught in quite a few, Amy, though not in an airport, or anything dramatic like that.
The worst that happened to me was when the baggage handlers had a strike in July 2005, and I had to travel on to my parents house without my suitcase, which hadn't arrived in Munich the same time I had.
I had plenty of stuff, all I needed, in my carry-on, but the presents for my parents for their Golden Wedding Anniversary, were in that suitcase caught up in the strike.
It made for a good story, and a few days later my suitcase was delivered, along wit a huge bouquet of flowers for my parents - the airline (Lufthansa) had caught the drift due to my complaints.
As the previous posters suggested, if it does happen to you: go with the flow, do what the Europeans around you are doing, don't despair, don't sweat it!
Always expect the unexpected, when traveling - it's part of the adventure! :-))
Europeans love to strike and demonstrate, and do it at 'peak times', like July and August, to emphasize their cause.
But there are many, many ways to get around the inconveniences ;-))

There was an Italian rail strike going on when we were travelling from Munich to Venice last year. We got there eventually (what was supposed to be 7 hours took almost 11), had to take 3 different trains instead of one, but we made it.

Plan for the worst and hope for the best.

....Plan for the worst and hope for the best. ,,,, I really don't like that phrase. It is negative and would make you wear a gas mask all the time -- have to prepare for the worst !!! And you do not hope for anything -- plan -- be in control. The probability of your being caught in any strike or other problem is very low. We have traveled 300+ days over the past 15 years or so and have encountered only one strike. Ask the locals. They will be your best source for the better options. They will probably tell you to have another glass of wine -- it will be over tomorrow.

When I was in Milan Italy in November 08' there was a train and bus strike. Lucky my hotel was walking distance to almost everything where I wanted to go. Great to have a downtown hotel just in case of a strike, and this was a nice budget hotel. One thing I did, I walked to the Hop on Hop off bus and went sightseeing to some of the out of the way places too.
It turned out that the strike was over early! In Italy, they often do schedule their strikes, and there are websites to find out when they are. That way you wont be caught off guard. http://www.summerinitaly.com/planning/strike.asp
But this website link is only for people going to Italy.

Lisa makes an important point:
the strikes in Europe are mostly directed against corporations or political entities, not against ones fellow human beings, and therefore mostly carefully organized and publicized well in advance.

We were caught off guard once years ago when we returned our rental car in Rouen after a week in Normandy and then found that a one day rail strike had been called for that day. We absolutely had to return to Paris that day so we hailed a taxi and asked the driver the fare to Paris. "1000 francs" he blithely replied, which at the time was about $300 Cdn, so in we got and about 2 hours later we were at our hotel in the Marais. It didn't in any way "mortify" us ... in fact, we were quite pleased that we rose to the occasion and solved our problem.

When the RS tour I was on a few years ago was returning to Paris for the last few days, we were supposed to see the Louvre the following day. But our guide heard that a strike was to happen the next day and the Metro, buses, and museums would be shut down. So, she was very flexible and had us go to the Louvre as soon as our bus got to Paris - the driver even pulled right up and let us off at the door. As it turned out, the only thing that the strike affected were buses but I was happy that we did not potentially miss the Louvre. Over in Europe you have to be flexible!

A transportation workers' strike, in a country in Europe, can cause a vacation trip in Europe to be less pleasant. When I was at Athens in Greece, all the airline flights from the Athens airport were cancelled one day. That airport was closed that day. There was a clue, reported from radio in Athens the previous day, that that might happen. The day the flights were canceled was the day I planned to fly from Athens to the Greek island Chios. At 9:20 in the morning, the hotel manager informed me that the Athens airport was closed. He told me to go to a nearby travel agent (a friend of his) and ask for a new airline ticket for a flight to Chios the next day. I ran to the travel agency, the travel agent quickly accessed the airline by using his computer, and he did a quick telephone call, and he printed a new airline ticket for me, for a flight the following day. No fee for that ticket change. I appreciated that, but because of the transportation delay, I was at the island Chios only 2 nights. The day I departed from Chios, my flight was at 7 A.M. So I got a short sleep that night, felt miserable when I flew from Chios, for a long day of travel. // When I went to ITALY, I was told that Italy has a transportation workers' strike, at least once every month. I was advised by an experienced traveler : for my return trip from Italy to the U.S.A., I should be at Milan 24 hours before the time I thought I needed to be there, for my flight from Milan to the U.S.A. Because, if trains were not running in that part of Italy the day before my scheduled flight from Milan airport, I would miss my flight to the U.S.A. And, a traveller in that situation could be waiting for several days for an available seat in an airplane flying to the U.S.A. //
And, Travelers going to Europe need to be informed of other kinds of events that cause inconveniences. When I was in ITALY, one Million people participated in a mass demonstration in Rome, expressing their opposition to the war in Iraq.

This thread made me smile, remembering some of our experiences (which were less amusing at the time). On our first trip to Italy, December, 1984, the banks were having unannounced, frequent, short strikes. One happened on Dec.24. We needed cash. Everything would be closed for the next two days. Pre-atm era and few places took credit cards. Just as we were about to give up in despair, the doors opened and it was over. The second time, we were taking a train from Milan to Nice. We carefully inquired at the station about which platform for the train to Nice, boarded, and sat back. We even double-checked when the ticket taker came past. After some time there began to be an announcement in Italian, then French, next German. Finally we heard, in English that due to a French train strike, we would be put off in Ventimiglia, which did happen. Somehow, in the station the information circulated that there was a bus to Nice. We followed the crowd to the bus station. Normally there was just one bus, but it was doing extra runs. It was 10:50, and the 11:00 was sold out. By the time we reached the front of the line, 1:00 was also gone. We bought tickets for 3:00 and went to look for a restaurant for lunch. Passengers had continued to board at every town along the way, most of them, no doubt, thinking they were going to Nice. I did wonder why none of the Italian train personnel saw fit to inform the riders of the problem or to arrange transport for us. After all, we had paid to get to Nice! As they say, c'est

This thread made me smile, remembering some of our experiences (which were less amusing at the time). On our first trip to Italy, December, 1984, the banks were having unannounced, frequent, short strikes. One happened on Dec.24. We needed cash. Everything would be closed for the next two days. Pre-atm era and few places took credit cards. Just as we were about to give up in despair, the doors opened and it was over. The second time, we were taking a train from Milan to Nice. We carefully inquired at the station about which platform for the train to Nice, boarded, and sat back. We even double-checked when the ticket taker came past. After some time there began to be an announcement in Italian, then French, next German. Finally we heard, in English that due to a French train strike, we would be put off in Ventimiglia, which did happen. Somehow, in the station the information circulated that there was a bus to Nice. We followed the crowd to the bus station. Normally there was just one bus, but it was doing extra runs. It was 10:50, and the 11:00 was sold out. By the time we reached the front of the line, 1:00 was also gone. We bought tickets for 3:00 and went to look for a restaurant for lunch. Passengers had continued to board at every town along the way, most of them, no doubt, thinking they were going to Nice. I did wonder why none of the Italian train personnel saw fit to inform the riders of the problem or to arrange transport for us. After all, we had paid to get to Nice! As they say, c'est

This thread made me smile, remembering some of our experiences (which were less amusing at the time). On our first trip to Italy, December, 1984, the banks were having unannounced, frequent, short strikes. One happened on Dec.24. We needed cash. Everything would be closed for the next two days. Pre-atm era and few places took credit cards. Just as we were about to give up in despair, the doors opened and it was over. The second time, we were taking a train from Milan to Nice. We carefully inquired at the station about which platform for the train to Nice, boarded, and sat back. We even double-checked when the ticket taker came past. After some time there began to be an announcement in Italian, then French, next German. Finally we heard, in English that due to a French train strike, we would be put off in Ventimiglia, which did happen. Somehow, in the station the information circulated that there was a bus to Nice. We followed the crowd to the bus station. Normally there was just one bus, but it was doing extra runs. It was 10:50, and the 11:00 was sold out. By the time we reached the front of the line, 1:00 was also gone. We bought tickets for 3:00 and went to look for a restaurant for lunch. Passengers had continued to board at every town along the way, most of them, no doubt, thinking they were going to Nice. I did wonder why none of the Italian train personnel saw fit to inform the riders of the problem or to arrange transport for us. After all, we had paid to get to Nice! As they say, c'est la vie.

We were in Paris when a strike began the evening before our scheduled departure via TGV to Geneva. Good friends told us that some of the TGVs usually run, even during strikes. So, we got up extra early and walked until we found a taxi - which by the way was quite easy, the taxi driver said the strikes HURT their business because everyone just stays put. We arrived at the Gare de Lyon, saw a TGV leaving in 5 minutes for Geneva, hopped on and were on our way. No problem that our reservation was not for that train - it was almost empty. So, we were ahead of schedule and it was a small adventure. You work around these things. Honestly, I find the little things that "go wrong" often make for the most memorable vacation stories.

During one visit to Paris, the museum workers were on strike for the entire visit. Their union covered the main museums, but I found that lots of minor museums were open. It was an opportunity to visit museums I hadn't seen in the past & may not have ever visited. I also visited London during a one day public trans strike. I just walked a little more. I would be concerned if there was a transportation strike the day I had to get to the airport, but I've learned some from the other posters - ask questions & leave early.

Last year when travelling from Switzerland to Italy, I found that due to an Italian strike, I could only buy a ticket to the border town on Chiasso, near my real destination of Como. Fortunately the strike was only for the morning. I ended up spending the morning in Chiasso. There is not much to see there but I did get to do something I would not otherwise have done. The border runs through the town and I ended walking into Italy twice that morning, after I noticed that all the locals were doing it. The first time no one looked at my passport. My passport was only checked on my second crossing back into Switzerland. I even had lunch in Italy because I was running out of Swiss Francs.

During my 1st Euro trip in 2003, I was affected 3 times by strikes in France:

1) The night train from Amsterdam to Paris was cancelled by a strike at the last minute, so I spent the night at the A'dam train station with a bunch of teens and twentysomethings (I was 36) playing card games with vulgar names and doing those fill-in-the-word-blanks-to-make-a-funny-paragraph books. We were able to make it to Paris the next morning on a train.

2) The day I arrived in Paris another strike was in progress. I was wandering around trying to get to Notre Dame along with two women I'd met on the train. We were held up at a street corner by a strike parade, and while we waited a young French woman joined our group. I asked her where Notre Dame was, and she proceeded to take us to her parent's restaurant for free drinks, give us a tour of Notre Dame, and have us over for dinner at the restaurant a couple days later.

3) There were rumors that the strike would continue, and I was afraid that my plan to take a night train to Barcelona would be derailed (My plan was to end my trip in Spain to attend a friend's wedding). So, on my 2nd or 3rd day in Paris, I bought a ticket for the Eurostar, which wasn't affected by the strike, and then used the Web to book an EasyJet flight from London Gatwick to Madrid. As a result, I had an unexpected, but nice, two-day break in London before hitting my friend's nuptials.

In the end, the strikes added to my trip and created a couple of unexpected opportunities. I was traveling alone, and as long as I made it to my friend's wedding, I was OK with changing my plans.

A Rick Steves traveler should not be bothered by a strike any more than a local. Remember, If somethine does not live up to you expectations, then change your expectations. My wife and I were on bus #69 in Paris when it stopped in the middle of the route and everyone had to get off. The bus driver was going on strike for the last half of trip. It was fun to visit a neighborhood that we had not planned on. All we did was use the Metro to get where we wanted to go. Unfortunately, several Americans were unhappy and started to yell at the bus driver. Of course he did not understand english. I stepped in and showed the "ugly Americans" how to get where they were going and then appoligized to the driver. Look upon strikes as a puzzle that needs to be solved. It's great fun.

On my first trip to Europe (and out of the country for that matter) - we started out with 18 inches of snow - in Charlotte, NC. Everything comes to a standstill down here when that happens. We get to Charles De Gaule and our connecting flight to Milan - cancelled. We were naive and had no clue what to do. Luckily AirFrance picked up the flight and got us to Malpensa airport. My second time in Italy -I arrived in Rome to find the Metro on strike. We just walked a lot more and got to enjoy more scenery. This taught me to always have a back up plan - just in case. Vacations are about relaxing and being flexible.

Here is a link to an article from Budget Travel online about how to lesson the effects of a strike:

http://current.newsweek.com/budgettravel/2009/02/strike_how_to_lessen_the_grief.html