A European vacation of a lifetime for a Newmarket family ended up with them spending more time in the air than on the ground as the situation around the emerging global coronavirus pandemic advanced by the hour.
Brenda and Behran Engineer and their son, Brian, had booked a tour of Europe months before COVID-19 first appeared in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The trip was to start in Vienna, Austria, then on to Prague, Czech Republic, over to Berlin, Germany, then off to Naples, Italy to visit the Amalfi Coast.
While the family were in the air on March 11, U.S. President Donald Trump announced the country was suspending travel from 26 European countries, Austria shuttered its schools, and Italy ordered closed everything except for supermarkets and pharmacies as it battled the spread of COVID-19, which had at that time infected more than 12,400 of its citizens.
Also unbeknownst to the local family, the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak to be a pandemic that same day. The Public Health Agency of Canada was only to advise local travellers to avoid all non-essential travel outside the country on March 14.
“The night we flew over to Europe, all hell literally broke loose,” Brenda said. “We flew over March 11 in the evening and by the time we got to Frankfurt, Trump had announced his big thing about closing borders. Then by the time we got to Vienna, our final destination, all hell had broken loose.”
Once in Vienna on March 12, the Engineers thought they could take a train to Prague, but were warned by an employee at the station that a shutdown of the Czech Republic’s border was imminent.
“It was quiet in Vienna, but the square was full of students, the restaurants weren’t closed, but the museums had been closed,” said the retired public health nurse. “It wasn’t as busy as it normally is because there should have been a big radiology conference that was cancelled.”
“At the point we got worried was when we got to the train station and tried to buy a ticket,” Brenda said. “That young boy at the train station saved our bacon or we would have been stuck in Prague because they closed the country down.”
With not even 20 hours on the vacation clock, the Engineers decided to quickly head for Canadian soil and they arrived at their Newmarket home on March 13.
Perhaps the worst of it, Brenda said, was being charged nearly $10,000 by Air Canada for three one-way economy seats back home.
“I don’t mind bearing the cost, I don’t mind paying for tickets, but $10,000 for economy, come on,” she said, adding that the family also lost about $5,000 on their return flight that was supposed to depart March 22 from London, England to Toronto.
And Brian, who lives in Fredericton, NB, was on the hook for an additional $500 for his WestJet flight from Toronto to home, which today is less than $100.
All told, the 20-hour European holiday has so far cost the Engineers about $15,000. Some refunds on pre-booked hotels have been promised, but lodgings in Rome and Berlin are lost.
“It was the most expensive schnitzel dinner you ever saw in your life,” said the Leslie Street and Davis Drive area resident.
“You’ll find a lot of people saying the same thing,” Brenda said. “I know people are stuck for various reasons, but some of it could easily be because they can’t afford it, they don’t have the money to get home.”
The Engineers have filed a complaint with Air Canada, but have not received a response to date.
A request for comment to Air Canada was made by NewmarketToday March 20, but the response indicated it could take up to 24 hours during normal business hours.
“These airlines are going to be bailed out, we know that,” Brenda said. “It’s just not fair to the regular person. It’s ridiculous, especially in a crisis. Everybody should be trying to help each other.”
The Engineers said they felt gouged by the airline. When they scrambled to book a flight home from Vienna, the Air Canada flight had more than 200 empty seats. As fellow travellers caught up to the fast-moving world events related to the coronavirus pandemic, the plane quickly filled up.
“We had to wait an hour-and-a-half in Vienna for the catering company to bring more meals because the day before the plane only had 125 passengers,” said Brenda. “That morning, it increased to full capacity of 300-plus passengers. So, technically, if it weren’t for the crisis, they would have flown that plane with over 200 empty seats.”
Meanwhile, the longtime local couple are in self-isolation until March 27. They say neighbours have been great and have been dropping off food and supplies.
“We’re used to going to the gym, but for now we’re using our home gym to keep active,” said Brenda, adding they feel good.
