I should be in Egypt right now.

Xaccers · 12-05-2005, 18:25

As some of you may remember, my gf and I took advantage of the pringles ÃƒÆ’Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£200 off a holiday offer (which actually worked out to be a ÃƒÆ’Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£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 ÃƒÆ’Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£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.

Halcyon · 12-05-2005, 19:52

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.

punky · 12-05-2005, 20:06

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.

Tuftus · 12-05-2005, 20:49

Aw shoot.

I hope it all works out for you both!!!

**Rob** · 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 ÃƒÆ’Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£15.00 sterling not any other currency.

Hope you can enjoy what's left of the holiday.

**Chris** · 12-05-2005, 21:51

Bummer. Well I'll never trust a travel agent's advice based on this story!

Xaccers · 13-05-2005, 09:16

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 ÃƒÆ’Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£100 total, so we'll be getting the full length of holiday, it's just costing us over ÃƒÆ’Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£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.

**Chris** · 13-05-2005, 10:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xaccers

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 ÃƒÆ’Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£100 total, so we'll be getting the full length of holiday, it's just costing us over ÃƒÆ’Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£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 ÃƒÆ’Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£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 ÃƒÆ’Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£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.

Paul · 13-05-2005, 10:29

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.

Xaccers · 13-05-2005, 12:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris T

Glad to hear things are looking up. I think, on your return, you should be forcefully pursuing the idiot whose duff advice cost you ÃƒÆ’Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£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 ÃƒÆ’Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£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.

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

)
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

Hope to have a great time there though!

Thanks everyone

**Rob** · 13-05-2005, 12:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xaccers

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

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

SMHarman · 13-05-2005, 12:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by MovedGoalPosts

...so she could have got a UK passport that way

3-6 years later!