Has anyone traveled to western Europe this spring and seen any impact of what I've been reading in the news: strikes, protests, etc?
Posted by
US Pacific Northwest
10344 posts
Yes, some travelers reported here their schedules were disrupted by strikes of public transportation workers in Paris. BBC news covers these and they are typically isolated to specific regions and dates. Predictions of future strikes are difficult to make.
Posted by
Eastern Iowa, USA
7560 posts
Strikes have been an infrequent but common concern with European travel forever, I don't think they are much more common now. As for gas prices, in the big picture, unless you will be driving alot, the exchange rate is killing you more.
Posted by
Frankfurt am Main, Germany
2779 posts
German car manufacturers Opel (GM) and BMW now need to fly in Spain-made parts of their cars which actually increases the cost of their cars quite significantly. But otherwise they couldn't deliver the cars on time any more. Now also the French truck drivers block their freeways...
Posted by
Florida, USA
12172 posts
I haven't been affected by a strike yet but I'm sure many people on this site have experienced some inconvenience due to a strike.
The worst case scenario if you travel with a fixed itenerary, with prepaid reservations that can't be adjusted, it could cause expensive and potentially vacation spoiling delays.
If you travel with a general and flexible itenerary, it's easy to work around a strike and it becomes another interesting memory from your trip.
In the Air Force we joked, "Flexibility is the key to airpower, which roughly translates to 'always carry-on your luggage." The point was if a plane was delayed or canceled, you could easily hop on another one. I still travel with that mindset.