«It's simply a miracle I flew». A passenger from a Dubai flight sides with Belarusians requesting compensation from the operator
Recently, the story became known of tourists who missed the Dubai — Minsk flight on February 19. A reader of the "Onliner" publication stated that the transfer from the tour operator brought them to the airport too late (a little more than an hour before departure), so he and his friend could not check in for the flight. The men had to buy tickets with their own money and get home independently. After the publication of the material, another passenger from the transfer bus, who did manage to make it to the Minsk flight that day, contacted the "Onliner" editorial office. She presented her version of events.
Illustrative photo. Photo: Nasha Niva
Earlier, the tour operator denied compensation for travel expenses home to the passenger who was late. According to a written response from "Rosting", the bus delivered the tourists an hour and fifteen minutes before departure. The guide warned the tourist about possible lateness, but he went to process Tax Free, the letter says. The man denies this: he did not process any tax refunds. At the same time, he said that at the airport entrance, he spent time wrapping his luggage. He assures that this only took a few minutes.
«The remaining tourists who also took this transfer successfully flew», — states the written response from "Rosting". The tourist was outraged by this wording. According to him, besides him and his friend, there was only one other tourist on this specific transfer bus who was flying to Minsk. All other passengers were heading to Chisinau.
Since the versions of the tour operator and the two tourist friends diverge, it was interesting to hear from a third party — the very same passenger who traveled to the airport via a transfer from the host company Voyage Tours.
Tour operator's response to the client
«We drove to the airport endlessly long»
Alena said that she was picked up from the hotel very early that day (around 13:40, while the plane was departing at 18:15).
«I even asked the travel agent why they were picking us up so early. He said: the airport is big, you need to arrive three hours before the flight. I thought, well, okay, strange: three hours it is then. They picked me up very early, then for about another hour and a half, we probably drove to other hotels. It was all very slow until all the people were gathered. Then we got stuck in traffic. The actual route to the airport was about 10 kilometers. But we drove endlessly long, it definitely took more than two hours to get there. My friend flew on the morning flight, and she got there in 30 minutes by taxi.»
The tourist says she tried not to panic because she trusted the tour operator. She usually travels independently, but this time she decided to relax. Alena confirmed that, apart from her, there were only two other tourists on their bus heading to Minsk. The remaining passengers exited at a different terminal.
«The guide said "Chisinau only", but perhaps these men didn't hear. The guide handed over the suitcases, people went into the airport, and then the guide returned to the bus, saw that I was sitting alone. Probably, his paper indicated that three people should go to the next terminal. He ran after them and brought them back to the bus. We spent another 5-6 minutes on this.
And here I started to worry, because I understood: if I don't make it [to check-in] an hour before departure, they might not accept my luggage. But I know this because I constantly travel independently. People who have never flown on their own are not obligated to know that baggage acceptance usually ends an hour before. Again, when I flew into this airport, I saw how huge it was, and I understood that an hour for it is nothing at all.»
«I believe the men are not to blame for being late»
According to the girl, the transfer brought the tourists to the correct terminal about an hour and twenty minutes before departure. Alena was already "on the starting blocks" and hurried to the counters.
«The guide was walking behind me; he was also flying somewhere in his own direction. These two men were walking behind. I told them: "Aren't you going to hurry? I advise you to hurry, because we have no time at all." They said: "We need to process Tax Free." The guide was running behind me, and he even smiled and said they didn't have time for Tax Free. Then he approached them, but the men remained somewhere behind. I understood that they would 100% not fly.»
Alena says that, on the guide's advice, she ran to the nearest check-in counters for Emirates airline. It turned out that she could also check in there for the Flydubai flight. There was a small queue in front of the girl, but she asked people to let her go ahead, explaining that she was late for her flight. When Alena handed over her passport, there were only a couple of minutes left until check-in closed.
«The counter worker told me directly: if you had been two minutes late, you wouldn't have flown anywhere, at least not with your luggage. That means even if these men hadn't been delayed by wrapping their suitcases, even if they had run right behind me but stood in line after me, they still wouldn't have flown anywhere with their luggage. If I hadn't asked those three people [in line] to let me through, I wouldn't have flown either. It's simply an incredible miracle [that I wasn't late].»
Alena notes that even after successful check-in, she had to run to the gates: the airport is large, and it's difficult to navigate. She didn't manage to buy what she planned at the duty-free shop, nor did she manage to go to the toilet before departure. That day, she experienced very strong stress.
«At the moment, I also wanted to write [a complaint] to the travel agent and tour operator, I wanted to find out who would be to blame if such a situation happened to me next time. But then it all faded, smoothed over, I told everyone about this incident and calmed down. But when people later sent me a link to your article, all those emotions flooded back. I believe there is no fault on the men's part for being late. When you book a tour, you expect to be calm and relaxed, and you don't think you'll have to run at the speed of light through the airport.»
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