due to the current situation in the Middle East I am stuck in Abu Dhabi after my sit. I am extremely lucky and grateful, that I am allowed to stay in my host’s apartment until I manage to get away from here and they are both overseas not managing to come back right now. The cats are not here anymore at the moment - they were picked up by host’s request. So my “only problem” is to get out of here, which so far has not worked out. 3 of my flights with different airlines have been already cancelled. One more is further away as a refundable backup, but I have my doubts about it either and also hope to leave a bit earlier.
So is anyone here in a similar situation directly in Abu Dhabi, we could cooperate and try to escape together via Oman by a shared taxi. I don’t feel comfortable to do it alone and it’s also quite pricey.
Thanks very much for responding to my DM asking for more information. Sorry to hear about the situation you’re in - it must be difficult at the moment.
While I look into things, our lovely Forum members might be able to offer some moral support.
I can’t help you but wish you all the best for your ‘escape’. Is there anything on Facebook? Is there an ex pats group (don’t know where you’re from) who might help. Have you been in touch with your country’s Embassy?
Airports - I know they are operating. It’s still unsafe to go to Dubai for me and Etihad is operating at about 10% of their usual capacity (plus some airlines are or have been rebooking until recently to them) and I also have one ticket with them far ahead as a last backup, but from what I hear, they cancel A LOT too. Additionally they are not making much of an effort to rebook. Anyways this was not my question. I know this option.
Thank you! Yes, I am checking facebook groups all the time. As soon as one asks for a taxi to Oman, 10 taxi services (or just private people, I don’t know) jump up, offering themelves and suggest to connect to them via WhatsApp, - this doesn’t sound safe to me. I continue looking of course.
And of course I registered with my country embassy. There is no real help from them so far.
So sorry for your situation. Bus transfers from Sharjah to Muscat were being arranged by Oman-based airlines Salam Air and Oman Air for stranded travellers in the UAE. I don’t know if this is still happening you have to have a booked ticket and it would still mean getting to Sharjah. At the moment you have a place to stay so it might be a risk but BA have today cut a lot of flights to Abu Dhabi and the rest of the middle east until the end of the month. So others might do the same .
I don’t feel safe to travel to Dubai or Sharjah at the moment. So ideally I would take a flight directly from Abu Dhabi or go over land to Oman - right from Abu Dhabi via Al Ain. I know - there are more options from Dubai, but this ride is long and complicated enough, so I would not like to go to Dubai or Sharjah first, which would make it even longer and more dangerous since the drones (sometimes missiles) are coming mostly towards the shore.
Yes, I am safe here, so I’ve been pretty relaxed here, but it’s kinda not getting better - only longer. And I have responsibilities at home…
I have a friend who has been stuck in Quatar now going on 18 days. She keeps putting her name on the list for any available flights back to Canada or the U.S. but still waiting. Best of luck to you!
It might be easier if you propose a tentative plan with date and time and then post it where travelers in Abu Dhabi might see it. That’s because people often respond to a plan, rather than vagueness. If you say for instance that it would cost X amount and you’d be willing to split two or three ways and leave on X date, you might get bites. And people can always propose alternative dates that you can consider.
I’m really sorry to hear of your plight. I expect it will take a lot of resourcefulness on your part to wiggle out of there. There’s not much most of us can do to help EXCEPT the THS community can make the financial concern a non issue. If you agree clearing financial obstacles would make things easier for you, DM me your details and I’ll set up a GoFundMe campaign, let this forum know about it and off we go. Your call.
Just wondering if you had a flight out of Abu Dhabi to coincide with the end of your sit and what the airline is telling you? Surely they should be assisting?
Emirate, Etihad and Qatar airlines are up to their keisters in alligators. They’ve probably forgotten they’re there to drain the swamp.
I have a booking on Qatar into Doha for the 28th of February. I haven’t received anything at all from about the flight other than a last minute cancelation notice. Since then, we’ve heard bupkis from the airline or the US government. The latter is no surprise but the airline? Very surprising and disappointing. Then again, when a problem pops up for a specific flight or individual booking, expecting help from an airline is probably reasonable. When the hits the Iike on 2/28, you’re on your own in a dog eat dog world. Expecting timely help from airlines is not very realistic.
It is safer to wait probably (and it’s what I thought first and stayed), but for how long? Nobody knows and potentially it can get worse. In the last 24h we had 4 alerts, two of which - during the night. Each alert means you are running to a safe (safer) place and wait till the “all clear” alert comes.
Not saying that it got worse de facto, but it feels this way for me - may be I am running out of resilience.
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Iike on 2/28, you’re on your own in a dog eat dog world. Expecting timely help from airlines is not very realistic.