View Full Version : I should be in Egypt right now.
As some of you may remember, my gf and I took advantage of the pringles £200 off a holiday offer (which actually worked out to be a £10 saving in the end!)
I pointed out when I booked that she's got a southafrican passport, and they said we'd both need visas, so I said I normally get mine at the airport when we arrive in sharm and they said it was fine.
So imagine our horror when we went to check in this morning and First Choice said we couldn't board because she needed a visa before leaving the country! (the first choice staff were fantastic, contacting their team in egypt to confirm, and then coming to find us to let us know rather than waiting for us to come back to the desk)
Had to rush off to the Egyptian embassy and get her one, but of course that meant missing the flight.
I've had to book tickets now for Saturday costing about £425 so that's most of our "trips" money gone.
Churchill insurance are sending out a claims form so hopefully we'll get it back.
I'm just a bit grrr when we were told that picking up from the airport would be fine for both of us.
poo
allieyoung666
12-05-2005, 18:30
I am so sorry, to hear that, hope you get your holiday.
Chimaera
12-05-2005, 18:41
Sorry to hear that Xaccers - how frustrating!
Mind you, I've obviously been watching too many 'Airport' type programmes lately - this type of thing seems to happen quite often, where the people you book the tickets with tell you one thing, only for you to be told something totally different at the airport!
allieyoung666
12-05-2005, 18:49
I balme Airline! They were famous for doing that, sayingone thing and then turning up and saying another, I hope you get sorted real soon, I am gald I am going away in this country, I can not stand the hastle.
That must really be annoying.
I wish you all the best for the remainder of your holiday and hope that this little downfall means that the rest of your holiday will be alot better and you eventually have a great time.
Sorry to hear about that mate. It is great to know that a tour op has done well and got deservedly praised.
You're lucky that the insurance company is willing to pay out, so big up Churchill for that one. Normally, it is everyone's own responsibilty to check before they go, and they are advised not to take anyone's word for it, but to check for themselves with the the country's embassy direct.
Aw shoot.
I hope it all works out for you both!!!
:(
MovedGoalPosts
12-05-2005, 20:56
Thats not good. I must say I'm surprised you were given the OK to get a visa at the airport. Having done parts of Egypt a number of times all tour operators I've used have made it very clear in their bumpf that non UK passport holders would need a visa from the Embassy, not purchasable at the Egyptian airport. They also make it very clear the airport visa is £15.00 sterling not any other currency.
Hope you can enjoy what's left of the holiday.
Bummer. Well I'll never trust a travel agent's advice based on this story!
Thanks for the sympathy guys, it does help :)
My gf is writting a letter of complaint to the travel agent about it too.
So far we've managed to get a couple of extra nights at the hotel for £100 total, so we'll be getting the full length of holiday, it's just costing us over £500 extra! (not to mention all the added stress and inconvenience. this is her first holiday!)
Touch wood Churchill will pay out or we'll get compensation to cover the loss.
It's just so frustrating as we can't see why the travel agent didn't mention the visa situation over the phone when First Choice were able to tell us within 5 minutes.
It only took a day to get the visa and it's free (why they won't let them do it at the airport I don't know!) so we had plenty of time to have got it had we known.
Thanks for the sympathy guys, it does help :)
My gf is writting a letter of complaint to the travel agent about it too.
So far we've managed to get a couple of extra nights at the hotel for £100 total, so we'll be getting the full length of holiday, it's just costing us over £500 extra! (not to mention all the added stress and inconvenience. this is her first holiday!)
Touch wood Churchill will pay out or we'll get compensation to cover the loss.
It's just so frustrating as we can't see why the travel agent didn't mention the visa situation over the phone when First Choice were able to tell us within 5 minutes.
It only took a day to get the visa and it's free (why they won't let them do it at the airport I don't know!) so we had plenty of time to have got it had we known.
Glad to hear things are looking up. I think, on your return, you should be forcefully pursuing the idiot whose duff advice cost you £500 and be looking for compo from them. These people have to be made to realise they can't just bluff it, the faulty advice they gave you has cost you a small fortune. It's a good thing you had access to £500 in a hurry, some other people would have lost their entire holiday as a result of this cock-up.
Still, don't think about any of that for the next week. Just enjoy the sunshine and the poolside bar. :beer:
A lot of the trouble is that most travel agent staff operate on a commission basis so will sell a holiday at any cost, even if it means giving mis-leading information. Thankfully the vast majority of agents don't do this but as we can see there are a few that would rather give incorrect information rather than check to see what the right answer is just in case it costs them a sale.
Glad to hear things are looking up. I think, on your return, you should be forcefully pursuing the idiot whose duff advice cost you £500 and be looking for compo from them. These people have to be made to realise they can't just bluff it, the faulty advice they gave you has cost you a small fortune. It's a good thing you had access to £500 in a hurry, some other people would have lost their entire holiday as a result of this cock-up.
Still, don't think about any of that for the next week. Just enjoy the sunshine and the poolside bar. :beer:
Well the First Choice duty officer would have tried to get us on a flight out on Sunday using any other company they have agreements with, but there's no guarentee, and we'd have been coming back on Thurs so a shorter holiday than we'd paid for.
I have to say, I would have preferred to have gone direct with First Choice, but the missus insisted we used the vouchers she'd worked so hard to get (by eating pringles :rolleyes: )
We're blaming her mother, as she's an evil cow who decided to have my gf in SA rather than coming over to Britain, or maybe we should blame the fall of the British Empire, if it were still around SA would still be British and we'd not be in this mess :D
Hope to have a great time there though!
Thanks everyone :)
MovedGoalPosts
13-05-2005, 12:30
We're blaming her mother, as she's an evil cow who decided to have my gf in SA rather than coming over to Britain, or maybe we should blame the fall of the British Empire, if it were still around SA would still be British and we'd not be in this mess :D
That's a bit harsh, on the same tack your g/f could blame you for not asking for her hand in marriage so she could have got a UK passport that way :Yikes:
SMHarman
13-05-2005, 12:45
...so she could have got a UK passport that way :Yikes:3-6 years later!
MovedGoalPosts
13-05-2005, 13:18
3-6 years later!
Nothing like planning ahead :erm:
That's a bit harsh, on the same tack your g/f could blame you for not asking for her hand in marriage so she could have got a UK passport that way :Yikes:
She's still married...
When we arrived at the hotel I was expecting to see the First Choice rep there to welcome us at least, or have a note in our room telling when she'd catch up with us, but nothing.
We checked in and the really nice guy behind the desk, Basem, informed us the hotel had upgraded our room from sea view to marina (bigger room, mini bar, closer to beach), we told him about the extra nights we'd booked in a standard room and he upgraded them too so we wouldn't have to move rooms!
The resort was amazing!
We went into town to get some cash on the Monday and when we got back there was a note from our FC rep saying sorry she'd missed us but would catch up with us "later" no date or time.
Wednesday I went diving and Shani was due to come snorkelling, but as soon as she got on the boat she felt nausious so cancelled and went back to the hotel where she bumped into our FC rep, who didn't actually seem that interested. Not good considering how good FC had been in the UK.
We did manage to have a good holiday, even with the mini bus breaking down for 20 mins on the way out to the desert and the camel Shani rode later going for her!
We're trying to contact Travel Design about the visa misinformation, but the woman we need to speak to is off ill, and no-one else there seems to be able to help.
The saga continues.
Glad you had a nice holiday in the end anyway!
Sounds like a nice holiday. Glad it went well for you in the end.
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