Oh my f-ing days… there’s a delay. The airport we use most at the HOFNAR experience is Geneva and it’s not a massive airport and notoriously expensive (4 Swiss francs/£3.20 for a crap coffee). Frankly being delayed here can be a bit miserable, so here’s our top hacks to get you through to that late plane with your sanity still intact…

1

If you don’t have to go through security, don’t. At least you can then get outside and at least you have access to an over-priced McDonalds and an exceptionally expensive Starbucks… but for cheap(er) coffee head downstairs to arrivals and at the far end in the direction of the car rentals is a shop (next to the Montreux Jazz café) that has a machine. For food, head to the other end of the airport and to the far end of the train station/shopping centre – you’ll find the Migros supermarket.

2

Once you are through security, options slim somewhat. Get a lounge pass. If you haven’t got a good ticket that includes a pass then there are a few open to the public. It’s a game changer in a delay. You can buy them ‘on the door,’ in the Dnata lounge, and I like it mainly because it has windows. If you are delayed for 2 / 3 hours getting into a lounge means you have unlimited access to drinks (including booze!) and food. At £10 a sandwich elsewhere in the airport you can see how the costs add up. The ‘turn up’ price is £35 but you get a comfy chair, less noisy kids and slightly better wifi than the rest of the airport. If you are a regular (budget airline) flyer it might be worth signing up with Priority Pass – kind of like a club; £69 per year plus £20 per lounge visit and at Geneva you’ll also get access to the Swiss Horizon and Air France/KLM lounges

3

If you don’t fancy the lounge and you are already past security, in fact all you want to do is lie down and escape the crowds then go upstairs. Follow the signs to the lounges and inbetween the prayer room and the children’s creche there is an underused part of the airport. Plug in your laptop, watch a film and the hours will fly by. (Before travelling you have to, as a necessity, have a zillion films & podcasts downloaded and ready to roll)

4

Get your voucher! If the plane has been delayed your airline will often dish out vouchers for (probably just one) drink. Listen out for announcements or ask at the info desk.

5

Pray for 3 hours! If your plane is delayed for 2.5hours then an extra half an hour delay is not much extra and is worth 250euros! The EC261 compensation scheme ensures that you are not left out of pocket when it’s the airlines fault you are late. As much as we all whinge about EasyJet, they make it dead easy to claim the money – click here

6

“I’m in Terminal 2 and there’s a delay….” Good luck, it’s been nice knowing you.