AIBU to think I’m never leaving Manchester airport…

[Minimili]

We were supposed to go to Tenerife on my birthday for my 40th birthday present. I’ve been so excited for months.
we got to airport super early with flight leaving yesterday evening. We went to the tunnel to board and after 40 minutes standing around wondering what was happening we were herded back into the airport like sheep.

I asked airline staff if I had time to go to the shop before the plane took off and was told “yes if you RUN!”
I asked airline staff when we would be taking off and begged a man to be honest, he promised me 20 minutes.

Staff in shops refused to serve us wine suspecting we would take it on board, in the end I got frustrated in duty free saying it was my birthday, I’m terrified of flying and was supposed to take off over an hour ago. She let me have the wine, we took it back to waiting area at the gate to covertly drink it.
No staff were there to be bothered but other passengers however eyed it like it was liquid gold and I felt guilty for not taking orders from the shop! No one wanted to risk missing the flight in case they went to the shop… if only we’d known.

Three hours later the wine drunk, no one knows what going on (staff or passengers) we get an email from TUI saying flight is cancelled. We get put up in different hotels, luckily we got the holiday inn so still technically not left airport but some poor people get farmed out after waiting another few hours for transport.

We had a nice meal and get told flight leaving at 9am the next day. Too scared to sleep in case anything changes so go back to airport after breakfast. The people from other hotels get picked up at 5am, we at least get to go later as close to airport, good job because flight gets changed to 10am.

Get to the airport at 8 and PROMISED flight will be leaving at 10, 9am comes and we get given £20 each to spend in the airport - but nowhere accepts it except WH Smith - and only on snacks and drinks. £40 seemed like a lot but gets you surprisingly little!

We have become a family of exhausted people identifiable by walking round with bags of crisps and sweets, every time an announcement comes over the tannoy we freeze in hope… it’s never our flight.

The latest text from tui says Our apologies for the delay to your flight. Your new departure time will be . In order to operate your flight today we have had to source a new aircraft. Unfortunately this has caused an additional delay.

So yet again we didn’t even get a time! And I’m wondering if they are building the aircraft from scratch.

The flight isn’t showing as existing on any flight tracker apps and I’m convinced that we are just being gaslighted and there isn’t actually a plane for us.

AIBU for thinking that I’m destined to remain in the airport forever

You need to separate these things out!

Flight delay - continue to claim through Tui

Poor hotel - complain through Tui about misleading photos or information. However, branded spirits would be very unusual in most all inclusives, so unless it specified that you have no complaint. Poor food, complain if it is inedible but again, unless it's a premium all inclusive resort, food is basic

Weather - seriously you can't mention this! Never guaranteed, although I hope it gets better for you

Atmosphere - again never guaranteed as people make it and you don't know who will be there

Concentrate your complaint on specific things which are not as advertised and leave anything else out or they will not take it seriously

Did you do any research OP? Read TA reviews? Research the weather? Canaries weather is notoriously changeable. You sound very naive.

TUI are shite. We had similar issues last year when they messed us about with the hotel we'd booked and then mucked up our pre booked and paid for seats on the flight home. The TUI rep in the airport was about as much use as a chocolate fireguard. They'll never be seeing another penny from me.

Yep, people bitch about Ryanair all the time, but they are really efficient where it matters.

They don’t want to waste money processing claims or risk fines by delaying customers compensation, so it’s all automated and streamlined.

I much prefer booking directly with Ryanair than getting a package. I had an awful experience on a package holiday with delayed flights, meaning we missed the car hire collection as landed at midnight, therefore we had no way to get to our destination (hour by car), the reps in the airport just shrugged and left us.

We had no food or water - nothing was open just a vending machine selling fizzy drinks and crisps, we got a taxi to our destination for €€€, and I had to walk 5 miles (having not eaten for almost a day, with only half a bottle of water) in the morning to the nearest town to get supplies whilst we waited for the company to sort things out.

Took almost two days to get the car sorted so we said no, and just hired one ourselves in the town, it was the largest battle to get even the car hire refunded let alone compensation for the, taxi, delay and them to acknowledge they left us stranded with an infant in the middle of the night.

I cannot believe you are planning on including the WEATHER in your claim. That's breathtakingly ridiculous, wow wow wow

The food and accomodation thing is why I never do package holidays or AI. I would rather be in control of that myself.

But it is a bit naive to think accomodation is always going to be the same as the pics - they always choose the best/most recently decorated rooms for the photos.

But do complain if it is absolutely awful or
unusable.

The food and accomodation thing is why I never do package holidays or AI. I would rather be in control of that myself.

Same. Book hotels directly. The only way to be sure you’ll get what you’re paying for.

That said most of our holidays are out and about ones so my bar for accomodation is not massively high - it needs to be safe, clean and comfortable. An old fashioned bathroom, small room or dodgy patterned carpet is not going to put me off.

If I had booked a hotel/resort based holiday (vanishingly rare for me) I would have higher expectations but would probably budget more than usual for accomodation.

I'm sure OP isn't actually planning to add the weather or the demographics of other holidaymakers to her insurance claim. She's just letting off steam about what's proving so far not to be the holiday she'd saved for and looked forward to. The accommodation and catering don't sound at all appealing.

@Minimili keep going through TUI and if you get fobbed off (unlikely), use Resolver (free tool recommended by Money Saving Expert - used when TUI were being awkward about details). Will all be fine though, have also claimed twice direct with TUI!

Thank you.

I’m not planning on mentioning the weather I was just disappointed and having a rant and included it I guess. They actually do a “good weather guarantee” that I paid extra for so it’s not that unreasonable to mention it. I think that just covers rain though.

The things I’m focusing on are :
Misleading pictures of rooms and pool,
The food is all cold - but again not sure if that can be included.

The main thing is the delay and how it impacted us. We’ve lost a good chunk of holiday from travelling then catching up on lost sleep.

I do feel a lot better now I’ve had some sleep so trying to focus on positives!

That’s so reassuring thank you. I have put a claim in through website and I will try insurance too.

I usually book everything myself and put hours of research in. I did less because I trusted a holiday booked through a big company like TUI would match the description on the website, it’s just heartbreaking because the last few years have been so rough and we were so excited about the break.

Well when you pay extra for a “good weather guarantee” it’s not really.

These things exist look it up before commenting - or don’t make unhelpful comments when someone is having a seriously rough time.

Thank you so much, I was a bit stung from that unnecessary comment.

We actually paid extra for “good weather guarantee” but unfortunately it only covers rainfall not cloud.

I think I was being over sensitive from lack of sleep but also we booked this because in 5 years I’ve:
lost both parents,
Partners dad is seriously ill,
I have a disability that’s got so bad I am housebound most of the time,
partner made redundant - and this are just the major events we’ve had so much more happen.

I was always supposed to have had a joint 40th party with my mum but after she died DP booked this so that I could have a break and it would make it a bit easier. We couldn’t really afford it but DP thought it’d improve our mental health with a week away.

I wish people would remember there is a person behind the screen posting.

We were delayed yesterday with jet2. However, their communication was fabulous. We were updated all the time.

Delayed last year with tui and they were absolutely appalling.

I did a huge amount of research and maybe I was naive but it looked great on website with good reviews.

Hotel staff said it’s unusual for the weather to be this bad at this time of year so I guess just unlucky.

DP paid for holiday as my birthday present and after being made redundant we didn’t have a huge budget. It still wasn’t cheap though and advertised as 4 star, I’ve stayed in 3 star hotels
when I was younger that were much better.

I’m so sorry to hear that, it’s so frustrating isn’t it?
Did you get any money refunded?

It was the lack of communication that was the worst thing.

I have absolutely nothing against anyone of any age.

My argument was it was advertised as “lively and buzzy with a varied entertainment programme suitable for all ages”
They have a kids disco then put on a 70’s music mix or have a singer, the bar was empty at 10.30pm.
when I asked about the rest of the weeks entertainment I was told it would be similar.

Somewhere else on the website said the hotel was great for families and couples but if you were looking for a more lively holiday the resort “came alive at night”

Last year we went to Turkey to an adult only hotel advertised as “Great for a younger demographic or people looking for a party holiday”

There are 18-30 holidays.

When you go on holiday you generally look for what the resort has to offer with atmosphere and if you will be around like - minded people.

Would you have thought it was terrible if someone in their 60’s had ended up in the hotel we were in Turkey last year with music and clubs open all night and foam parties and complained they were surrounded by younger people?! Or had gone to Ibiza to an 18-30’s resort?!

We wanted to stay up and have a few drinks and maybe meet some people to chat to like we usually do. I’d probably have had something in common with anyone older last year in Turkey but unfortunately this seems to be a resort for older people who want a quieter holiday. My mum was in her 60’s when she died and she would have hated it! She’d have been still going on 18-30 holidays if she could.

Please don't try and claim on your travel insurance. You are not covered and they will laugh at you. I work in insurance.

Flight compensation is statutory. If your situation falls within the criteria you get it. I spent nine hours delayed at Gatwick last year due to an issue with the plane and the airline needing to source another aircraft. I flew with easyJet. They accepted my claim with a few minutes and paid the compensation a few days later. The delay wasn't enjoyable but the compensation process was smooth.

I was covered but thanks…

please tell me you get training?

I left Tenerife last night.....it was 28 degrees and boiling hot every day for 5 days!.........🤨🧐

I think Ryanair tricked you. You are entitled to compensation not a refund. Depending on the delay & distance it can be a lot more than the cost of the flight

Well I was more than happy to be ‘tricked’ 😂….. we got 30 quid each vouchers to spend at the airport for food/drinks…. and the full cost of our flights refunded in 48 hours ….. shit happens….they dealt with it….didn’t affect my onward journey …..I enjoyed spending my flight money as extra holiday spends …..all good

Maybe OP is in a different part of the island