With the latest closure of UK airspace and no sign of the Icelandic volcano abating (last time it erupted for 15 months!) many businesses are suffering inconvenience, not to mention loss of revenue. With the announcement of higher thresholds for flying through the ash hopefully any future problems will be minimised and airspace kept open.
However, further costs of the volcanic ash problem are now coming to light in the form of mobile phone bills. With April's bills for call charges dropping on people's doormats come some nasty surprises for many.
For many of those that were stranded abroad for several days and unable to return to the UK as scheduled have run up sizeable bills. Several of these bills have been £1,000 plus, with the highest we have heard of being over £7,000!
This was due to a traveller stranded in Italy using his dongle to stream live radio on his laptop so he could keep in touch with what was happening. Mobile data roaming overseas is still extortionately expensive, but this traveller was either unaware of just how expensive or was relying upon his mobile network's cap.
This cap had been lifted by the network to help stranded travellers who needed to keep in touch. The sms message informing the traveller of this removal appears not to have been received. The network have reduced the bill to around £2,000 but this is still in dispute.
This story does show the need to be aware of all of the costs when entering into a mobile phone contract. If you are thinking of using data overseas via your mobile, or even calling and texting, you should pre-arrange it with your network and add a bolt-on if available to make it considerably less expensive.
Most of the networks offer packages for those going on holiday which offer reasonable value and can even include utilising your inclusive minutes overseas. Terms and conditions vary according to networks so make sure you read them carefully before using your mobile phone abroad.