A family-of-four said they have had to fork out more than £250 on clothes and toiletries after their luggage failed to arrive on their flight from Manchester to Croatia.
Claire Flanagan, from Sale, flew from Manchester Airport on Saturday morning with her husband and their two children, aged 6 and 9. The day before the flight, Claire had dropped off their luggage via the ‘day-before baggage’ service in an attempt to avoid the queues.
But she said she feels that her attempt to do the right thing has ‘backfired’ on her after she discovered that her luggage, amongst those of others who used the same service, never made it onto the TUI flight to Puta Airport.
READ MORE: Tui issues apology to customers for flight cancellations amid half-term chaos
“I was quite pleased with myself after I’d done the ‘day-before’ service as I could see the queues going out the door for check-in and I was able to drop my bags off within ten minutes,” Claire told the M.E.N.
“On Saturday morning, as we arrived at the airport for our flight, the queues were still horrendous everywhere so it was quite a relief to know our bags had already been checked-in. But when we landed, we found out our luggage hadn’t even been loaded on to the flight.
“We saw the same luggage go round and round on the carousel, and we started to ask staff if that was all of the luggage or if we were still waiting. Through speaking to other people on the flight, it appeared to be that those who used the day-before service were the ones missing their bags. There were lots of us queuing around the airport waiting for information as the staff in Croatia weren’t able to give us much information.
“We were then told that all the luggage from the flight had come out and ours wasn’t there. They think the bags never left Manchester and therefore it has to be tracked down. The next direct flight from Manchester to Pula is on Tuesday so we’re hoping to get it back then but we’ve been told it can’t be guaranteed.
“It just feels like we’ve tried to be organised and do what we’re supposed to do, but it’s just backfired completely on us.”
Having been told they won’t get their luggage until at least Tuesday, Claire said TUI provided her with a ‘token of goodwill’ of £25 per day - up to a total of £75. But the mum-of-two said she already had to spend more than £250 within hours of arriving at the hotel.
“£25 a day doesn’t really go very far when you’ve got toiletries, sun lotion and clothes to buy for a family of four. We’ve got absolutely nothing on us, all we had is what we were wearing on the flight along with sunglasses and money.
“Instead of having a look around and starting off our holiday on a positive, we’ve had to go to all the local shops and spend more than £250 on stuff that we need. We’ve had to buy all sorts of clothes and essentials just to get by.
“It was such a shame - there were people in the crowd with young babies, so I don’t know what they’re going to do for nappies and milk. It’s really upsetting when people have been waiting for so long for a holiday. We booked this holiday in 2020 and this is the fourth attempt at coming on holiday.
“We’re going to try and not let it put a damper on our holiday, as we’ve been looking forward to this for so long but it’s definitely not an ideal situation at all. It’s not a great way to start the holiday but we’re just going to try and enjoy it as best as we can. On a positive note, my husband said earlier that the hotel room looked spotless because there was nothing in it!”
Baggage handler Swissport said it was working with TUI to resolve the situation. A spokesperson said: “We understand this is a really frustrating situation and we’re working closely with our airline partner to reunite the passenger with their luggage as soon as possible.”
Meanwhile, TUI apologised to passengers affected by baggage delays. A TUI spokesperson said: "We’re aware that some customers have been impacted by baggage delays at Manchester Airport. We’d like to thank customers for their patience and understanding at this exceptionally busy time.
"We’re working closely with airport staff, baggage handlers and our teams in resort to ensure customers receive their luggage as soon as possible. We’ll be in direct contact with customers once we have more information to share."
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