A family of Romanians who were supposed to spend 7 days and 7 nights on vacation suddenly found that the departure times for Antalya, respectively those of the departure for Bucharest, were changed, and in this way they lost a day of their stay , although he had paid it. However, it is not a singular case.
Antalya attracts tens of thousands of Romanians. PHOTO: Pixabay
An Internet user reported, on a Facebook group dedicated to vacations, how he lost a day of vacation due to the change in the flight schedule, even though he had paid for it in advance. That’s how he found out that such cases are quite common. Most of the time, tourists’ hands are tied because they sign contracts with travel agencies, often without reading them, and through these contracts the agencies take shelter and pass on any responsibility.
“Good evening! I booked a 7 night flight inclusive stay for four people four months ago. Initially, the departure from Bucharest was at 8 in the morning, and from Antalya at 9 in the evening. The first bad news was about a month ago when they sent me an email that the return time was changed, i.e. the departure from Antalya at 12:00. Today, I received the second bad news, the departure from Bucharest will be at 17:50. I thought I was getting 7 nights and 7 days, but the truth is that it will be 7 nights and 6 days. I was informed that the tour operator reserves the right to change the hours, but not by that much and not against me. I didn’t expect that. My guess is that it’s all because of us, because we’re messing around there. For them, the approximately 20 hours they took me compared to the initial offer, multiplied by a million tourists, is hundreds of thousands of euros in savings. Do you have another explanation?“, he wrote in his post.
It happens more frequently than you might think
The post had a special resonance, especially since, in reality, his case is not at all singular. In this way he found out that other Romanians had suffered the same thing. And not a few. And such experiences are more common than one might think, especially since flight schedules are increasingly disrupted by various factors.
“The same thing happened to us”a lady answered, and then others confirmed that they had experienced similar events. “Probably from the beginning they knew about the “new” hours, but in order to sell they retouched them a bit. I’ve seen this happen with overseas ticket sales as well. I do it in such a way that you lose good hours”, someone else confirmed. “I subscribe! And I think I know from the very beginning. The whole story with the flight hours is sewn with white thread”another netizen added.
“And the same with us, we’re leaving tomorrow. We had to return at 22:00, our flight got in at 12:00. When I arrived I had a flight at 7:00, I left at 12:00″, someone else wrote.
“Charter flights are subject to change and do not depend on the travel agency”someone chimed in. “Dit depends on the airline with which the agency has a contract, so if the airline changes the flight times, it does so with the knowledge and consent of the travel agency“, contradicted another.
“Drive and stay 10 nights to feel the vacation. It’s too little time if you take the plane included”someone else recommended. “The airline is interested in its profit, not the hotel’s. I repeat, they are different companies. Flight schedule changes have many possible reasons behind them: maybe the aircraft makes another flight before your flight (a flight that was not planned or contracted when you booked the stay) and for some reason (weather or others) it did not take off on time and couldn’t even make up the time in flight, maybe the pilots are out of their pilot time and another crew has to come in to take over the flight and more. That is why I say that it is better to inform than to throw mud. Let’s not forget that an aircraft makes an average of 6 segments, they fly one after the other and if it is 30 minutes late for one, they all broke down in the chain…“, was another opinion.
“Maybe, maybe, maybe… If tomorrow I book a flight to Austria, Germany, Turkey, England, etc. without accommodation with all inclusive, the flight “may” be delayed or not, but when it comes to all inclusive there is no middle ground” maybe”, but it will surely be delayed to the tourist’s disadvantage. The restorative mafia, what don’t you understand?“, agreed another.
“A day is lost”
“You don’t just have food, you have everything: beach, pool, activities for children and adults. So yes, one day of vacation is lost. Especially since those delays are not actually delays all the time, they are just the false offers of some tour operators to lure you into taking the package thinking that you are leaving in the morning and coming back in the evening. Which is almost impossible because the plane makes the round trip with a break (of 1-2 hours to pay as little as possible for parking at the airport), for disembarking and boarding passengers”another lady wrote.
Others were curious as to what “ruin” the author of the post was referring to and why it would also be the tourists’ fault.
“What do you mean it’s happening because of us? What are we doing? Am I to understand that the Russians are quiet compared to us?”was a question. “That’s right, we’re a water gun next to the Russians“, commented another.
