Episode 6 Rip Off Britain


Episode 6

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We asked you - who's left you feeling ripped off

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when it comes to your holidays?

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And you came back with a catalogue of travel disasters.

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Letting us come all this way

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to be told we're going home on the next day, just furious.

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It has tainted the whole experience

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of booking holidays and trusting companies.

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Whether it's a deliberate rip-off, a simple mistake,

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or a catch in the small print,

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we'll find out why you're out of pocket

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and what you can do about it.

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Your stories, your money, this is Rip-Off Britain.

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Hello and welcome to Rip-Off Britain, where, for this series,

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we're in Tenerife and the Canary Islands,

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so that as well as tips and advice

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on all your holiday and travel problems, we can bring a bit

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of much-needed sunshine into your homes.

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And today's show is all about those heart-stopping moments

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that I imagine most of us have experienced when going away.

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Will the taxi to the airport turn up on time?

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Have I got all the right documents?

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And, of course, that old chestnut -

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am I ever going to see my suitcase again?

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Oh, I've been through a few of those scenarios in my time.

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And although all the people whose stories we'll be hearing about

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wish that their experiences had never happened,

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at least they now know how to avoid the same situations again.

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And what's more - and this is really good -

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that's advice that they're willing to share with the rest of us as well.

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Coming up...

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How you could find yourself barred from boarding your flight

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thanks to something only the airline sees as a problem.

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I ended up in tears, just wanting to be with my family,

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especially after everything that we'd been through.

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And with this woman's bag,

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one of the millions that go missing each year...

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..and I panicked. I said, "Oh, God, my case, I haven't got my case."

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Is the problem of lost luggage about to be solved once and for all?

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I'm sure we all label all sorts of things as being holiday essentials,

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but the truth is that there are only a couple of things

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that you really cannot manage without on a trip abroad,

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and one of them is this, your passport.

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You really won't get very far without one.

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And, of course, you obviously DO need to make sure that it's kept

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up to date. But having the right documentation is not always

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quite as straightforward as you might assume.

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It certainly wasn't for the couple that we're about to meet.

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Now, they had no reason at all

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to believe that THEIR paperwork was not in order,

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but when they got to the airport,

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I'm afraid the airline staff saw things rather differently,

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and the implications of that were disastrous.

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So to ensure that you don't get caught up in a similar situation,

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we're going to be cutting through the confusion around this kind of thing,

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so that you, and indeed the airlines,

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know what IS valid and what ISN'T.

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Whether it's a mistake on the visa or an invalid passport,

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being told you've got the wrong paperwork

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can bring a swift end to your holiday plans.

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And as we've reported before, that can be devastating.

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I was like, "Dad has to go, like, he has to," and I was like,

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I just didn't believe that it was happening, and I just, like, started crying.

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And if it's only at the airport that the error comes to light,

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it's likely to be too late to do much about it.

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Arriving at the airport, all the stress at the airport,

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having to rebook flights.

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It had been incredibly stressful.

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I think we both aged about five years!

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Being turned away at check-in could mean you're waving goodbye to part,

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if not ALL of your holiday,

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which is especially upsetting if, according to the official advice,

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there's no reason why you shouldn't fly.

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As was the case for personal trainer Erica Cordock from Cheshire.

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In April 2017, she and her husband John

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were desperate for a holiday following a recent health scare

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that had shaken the whole family.

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Our son Ryan was admitted to hospital

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with a suspected brain tumour,

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or MS, we weren't sure what it was at the time.

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Quite a traumatising time,

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so he had to go through multiple painful tests as well.

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That was what led us to say we really needed a family break.

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Thankfully, Ryan's tests came back clear

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and he's now made a full recovery.

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But the stress of the previous few months meant that a break in the sun

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was long overdue.

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We wanted somewhere to be sunny, somewhere peaceful,

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and somewhere that we hadn't been before.

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We found some flights to Cape Verde, thought we'd give that a go,

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and my husband booked the flights online.

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Erica found a last-minute deal to the African island with Thomas Cook,

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leaving the following week.

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We went online to do our bookings, put the dates in,

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put our information in, names and everything that was required,

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your passport number,

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but it also asked for the expiry date on your passport.

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So we put the expiry dates in on all our passports

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and thought nothing of it, they were all in date.

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Mine still had almost five months on the passport.

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-Penalty!

-No issue or problem came up when that information was entered

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online, but it was a different story when the family arrived at check-in.

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We arrived at the airport, all happy, smiling,

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all ready to go on a holiday, have our little break.

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We got to the desk, Thomas Cook desk, handed our passports in...

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Even the lady behind the desk,

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she was all smiley and happy too, as our bags were going on.

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And suddenly, her face changed,

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and we knew that there was something wrong then.

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Erica was told that while Ryan and his dad's passports were fine,

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because hers only had five months until it expired, rather than six,

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she wouldn't be able to fly.

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Why would I need six months on it?

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There was nearly five months on my passport,

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and I was only going for ten days.

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But they just replied to me that I couldn't get on

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without having the minimum of six months on the passport.

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Erica was flabbergasted,

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but Thomas Cook staff insisted that because she was flying to a country

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outside of the EU, the company required her

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to have AT LEAST six months left on her passport,

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or she simply couldn't board the plane.

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Her reply to us then was an apology, she said,

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"I'm sorry, but it is in our terms and conditions

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"that your documents must be valid."

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At this point, we thought our documents were valid.

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Cos if someone asks me to check my passport is in date,

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and it has nearly five months on it, that, for me, is a valid document.

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Desperate, Erica contacted the Cape Verde consulate and was told

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that her passport WAS entirely valid

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for entry into the country when she arrived.

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But Thomas Cook was having none of it

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and poor Erica had no choice but to admit defeat.

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Ryan was in tears, not knowing what was going on.

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I ended up in tears, um,

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just wanting to be with my family,

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especially after everything that we'd been through,

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it was horrible, it was absolutely horrible.

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It was decided that Ryan and his dad would go on ahead,

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whilst Erica stayed behind to sort out a replacement passport.

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But as it was the Saturday of a bank holiday,

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it wasn't until the following Tuesday that she was able

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to get one from the passport office.

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And by the time she'd bought another flight to Cape Verde later that day,

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she'd already missed three days of the trip.

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When I got there and saw my little boy running towards me,

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as exhausted as I was through the flight,

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it was just so nice to see his face

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and he finally got a smile on his face

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that his mum could join him on holiday.

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This was an experience Ryan will never forget.

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I was really sad about Mum having to stay at home

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and miss out all the fun.

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It was really upsetting.

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Since the holiday, Thomas Cook has refused Erica's request for a refund

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or compensation for the missed flights and lost days.

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In its terms and conditions, it says,

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"All passports should have more than six months left on them

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"if travelling outside the EU."

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But Erica can't understand why,

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if the airline considered her passport to be a problem,

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that hadn't been flagged when she'd entered the expiry date

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when she booked.

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And she's baffled as to how Thomas Cook can have a policy

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that contradicts the entry requirements for the country

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to which she was travelling.

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So, I'm just on the gov.uk website,

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looking specifically at the passport validity,

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and it clearly states here,

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"Your passport should be valid for the full duration of your stay

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"in Cape Verde."

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There's nowhere stating that it has to have six months on there.

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And while the website does also suggest checking

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if any travel company you are using has its own requirements,

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Simon Calder agrees that the information out there can be confusing.

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It's so tricky.

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I've heard of so many sad stories where people get to an airport,

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they've got maybe two hours before the flight goes, somebody says,

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"Oh, you're not getting on this plane with that paperwork,"

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and they've got a limited and diminishing amount of time

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to prove that they are entitled to get there.

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Well, when we contacted Thomas Cook,

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it told us that while sorry to hear of Erica's problems,

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like many other airlines,

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it takes its information from a website

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run by the International Air Transport Association, which is...

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The company accepts, however, that in the case of Cape Verde,

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there is some inconsistency between the website's information

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and the official government advice.

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It says it's raised this with the association to ensure that...

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The confusion that left Erica out of pocket is bad enough,

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but the situation Roland and Carol Lind from Worthing ended up in

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proved even more expensive. They wrote to us

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about a once-in-a-lifetime trip they'd planned to Japan.

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We were looking forward to see Tokyo,

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and the trip would be around the Japanese Alps,

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and Kyoto and Hiroshima.

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I was looking forward to seeing all the lovely cherry blossom

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and just seeing the whole culture, really.

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We were really looking forward to it.

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A once-in-a-lifetime trip.

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The couple paid out over £8,000 for the two-week holiday.

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Temples, shrines, museums, gardens...

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Yeah, I was looking forward to that.

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But before that trip,

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the couple had time to fit in another short break to Germany,

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where Roland is from.

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We decided to go to the Christmas market in Aachen, in Germany,

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having a lovely time, enjoying that,

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but unfortunately, we lost our passport,

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and that was a big problem because we had to drive from Aachen

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to Dusseldorf to get emergency passports.

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Once back in the UK,

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Carol had a replacement British passport within two weeks,

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but it wasn't so simple for Roland.

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As a German national,

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getting HIS new passport was likely to take over three months,

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too long for his planned trip to Japan.

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However, he still had the emergency German passport,

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which had a full eight months left until it expired.

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We phoned the Japanese embassy to actually ask

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whether the 12-month temporary German passport would be OK,

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and they said it would be absolutely fine,

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there'd be no problem at all.

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So, you can see why they headed off to the airport,

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confident that all would be fine.

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But once again, their airline - in this case, Etihad -

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had other ideas.

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When we arrived at the airport, we checked in our luggage.

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We then handed over our passports.

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Carol's was first.

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And when I handed over my green passport,

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I could see by the check-in guy's face

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that something was going to be wrong with my passport.

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Check-in staff informed Roland that

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it couldn't accept his emergency German passport

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because their Tokyo flight

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involved a change of planes en route.

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We were told by the supervisors in London airport that it was

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the Abu Dhabi stopover that was the problem,

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and we were a little bit shocked and a bit upset that that was the case.

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According to Etihad's checks,

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Abu Dhabi would not allow Roland entry without a full passport

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and it made no difference when Roland explained

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they weren't even leaving the airport in Abu Dhabi.

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They were just connecting to Tokyo.

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I had explained to the Etihad check-in staff

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that I've actually checked

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with the Japanese embassy, prior to leaving,

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that my passport, my green passport,

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is perfectly all right to travel to Japan.

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The couple's £8,000 trip was over before it had even begun.

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We just didn't know what to say or what to think.

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We were both really shocked and very, very upset,

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and on the way home from Heathrow to Worthing,

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we just looked out of the window and couldn't speak.

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-No.

-We were so horrified and shocked.

-And numb.

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What's more, Etihad was not prepared

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to offer any compensation to the couple,

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pointing out that the responsibility

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for ensuring they were carrying

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all the correct documentation was THEIRS,

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which is clearly listed in their terms and conditions.

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They said it was our responsibility to check our travel documents

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and everything else. We thought we had done everything right,

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checked all the documents, as much as you can do, as a normal punter,

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and we were really, really upset about it.

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And it's hard not to sympathise,

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especially as when we double-checked with the embassies in Japan

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and Abu Dhabi, both confirmed that Roland should have been allowed

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to board and travel, and that as far as they were concerned,

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his emergency German passport was valid.

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So, with Roland and Carol out of pocket to the tune of £8,000,

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and with their travel insurance not covering problems arising from visas

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and paperwork, we asked Etihad about their case.

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The airline said it's sorry

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that Roland and Carol's plans were disrupted,

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but that it is obliged by regulation to ensure that all passengers have

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the right documentation before they travel,

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and to do that it too relies on the passport and visa information

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provided by the International Air Transport Association system,

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which, in this case, indicated that Roland's temporary passport

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was not valid for Japan and that German nationals require a visa

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to enter the country. Well, when we contacted

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the International Air Transport Association to find out

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what had gone wrong, it said this incident is regrettable

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and it's sorry Roland and Carol

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weren't able to enjoy their trip to Japan.

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But it says while its systems are...

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..it can only be totally up to date

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if governments pass on any changes to visa regulations in advance,

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which, in this case, didn't happen.

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But none of this really washes with Simon Calder,

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who says regardless of whether they think they're using the right information,

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it shouldn't be airlines that have the final say

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on a country's entry requirements.

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The only thing that counts is -

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what is the rule of the country you are going to

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about the documentation that you need?

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And the airline should be, first of all, aware of that and, secondly,

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it shouldn't impose anything different.

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And back home in Worthing,

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Roland and Carol remain frustrated that despite

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doing all the right checks to ensure that their documents WERE correct,

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their dream holiday was ruined.

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We'd lost an awful lot of money and...

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hugely disappointed because it was a once-in-a-lifetime holiday

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to Japan, which we were really looking forward to.

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Now, anyone who's ever checked their bag in on a flight

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will be very familiar with that feeling of utter relief

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when you see it appear on the baggage carousel at the other end,

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because it still is very much the case

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that bags do go missing, and if it's yours that can't be found,

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the inconvenience and hassle of trying to sort everything out,

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not to mention suddenly having to shop for all those essentials

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that you packed, really can put a dampener on the entire holiday.

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But I'm very glad to bring you the good news.

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It seems a solution is in sight

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and it could even be that lost baggage

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is on its way to becoming a thing of the past.

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May bank holiday 2017, and as much of the UK

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was enjoying one of the hottest days of the year...

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Hello there, it's another scorcher across the country today.

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Lots of sunshine.

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..thousands of holiday-makers found temperatures rising

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for an entirely different reason.

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At Heathrow and Gatwick airports, 75,000 passengers were stranded

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after British Airways' computer systems failed

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and hundreds of flights were cancelled.

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Now, British Airways says that it hopes to restore some normality to its services today

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after yesterday's catastrophic computer failure

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left thousands of passengers around the world stranded.

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Booking systems, check-in desks and baggage handling systems all crashed

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and thousands of pieces of luggage

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that had already been checked onto planes were now stuck in the system.

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One of the passengers caught up in the chaos was 19-year-old

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football fanatic John Pritchard, from Bangor in Northern Ireland.

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The best way for me to describe Heathrow on the 27th of May

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was just like a concert.

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Literally, like, people wall to wall.

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John was passing through Heathrow on his way to spend the summer

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teaching football at a soccer school in the States.

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I travelled to America to coach football in the Midwest.

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Yeah, I went out there for ten weeks coaching summer camps.

0:18:120:18:16

But with all British Airways flights from Heathrow cancelled,

0:18:160:18:20

John was going nowhere.

0:18:200:18:22

He headed to London to find a hotel for the night without, of course,

0:18:220:18:25

the luggage he'd checked in at Belfast,

0:18:250:18:27

which was somewhere in the BA systems.

0:18:270:18:30

So, without spare clothes, or indeed enough money to pay for the hotel,

0:18:300:18:34

he called his mum Paula, back in Northern Ireland, for some help.

0:18:340:18:37

He phoned me and he said,

0:18:370:18:39

"I've found a hotel, but I don't know how I'm going to pay for it."

0:18:390:18:42

I told him not to worry, that we would pay for the hotel.

0:18:420:18:47

British Airways didn't try to help at all.

0:18:470:18:51

I mean, even whenever we were watching it on the TV,

0:18:510:18:53

there was hundreds and hundreds of people sleeping in the airport.

0:18:530:18:57

John was actually one of the lucky ones to get a room.

0:18:570:18:59

The next day, another flight was organised for John,

0:18:590:19:03

this time via Atlanta,

0:19:030:19:04

where BA staff assured him that his luggage would be waiting.

0:19:040:19:07

But when he arrived at the airport ten hours later,

0:19:070:19:11

the case was nowhere to be seen.

0:19:110:19:13

At that point in time I was just looking at all the other bags,

0:19:130:19:16

and every bag was getting taken off and we were just sitting there.

0:19:160:19:19

Couldn't believe it. Yeah, I was very, very nervous

0:19:190:19:21

whenever I got there and realised I had no clothes.

0:19:210:19:24

So, with no clue as to where his suitcase was,

0:19:240:19:27

it was a very bad start to John's stay in America.

0:19:270:19:30

But back home, his mum Paula was none too impressed either.

0:19:300:19:33

I felt very let down by British Airways.

0:19:330:19:36

Very angry.

0:19:360:19:37

All he had was the clothes he was standing up in

0:19:370:19:40

and his football boots in his backpack.

0:19:400:19:44

That was all he had with him.

0:19:440:19:46

Everything else was in his bag.

0:19:460:19:48

I was furious, absolutely furious.

0:19:480:19:51

And despite Paula's efforts to track down the missing case,

0:19:510:19:55

eight months on, it's still missing.

0:19:550:19:58

And to make matters worse,

0:19:580:19:59

Paula says she's run up a huge phone bill

0:19:590:20:02

trying to find out where it's gone to.

0:20:020:20:04

She'd like the airline to compensate her for that

0:20:040:20:07

and for the missing items.

0:20:070:20:09

£220 I've spent on phone bills

0:20:090:20:14

trying to get through to British Airways.

0:20:140:20:17

I'm not asking them for anything other than

0:20:170:20:20

what we are owed cost-wise

0:20:200:20:22

and for John's lost bag.

0:20:220:20:25

Ideally, I would like the bag back, but that seems to be long gone.

0:20:250:20:30

Well, since filming, there's been some good news for Paula and John.

0:20:320:20:36

British Airways has agreed to refund the cost of John's hotel stay

0:20:360:20:40

and his transport costs, as well as paying Paula all of her phone bills.

0:20:400:20:45

It also told us that after finally being able to pin down with John

0:20:450:20:49

the details of his bag and contents,

0:20:490:20:51

it's been able to refund the cost of those as well,

0:20:510:20:54

and it's also paid him £539 that was owed to him

0:20:540:20:58

under EU regulations following the cancelled flight.

0:20:580:21:01

But John's missing case is just one of the 21 million

0:21:030:21:07

that across all the airlines disappear,

0:21:070:21:09

and whilst the majority of them are returned within 48 hours,

0:21:090:21:13

some just vanish without a trace.

0:21:130:21:15

And while that sounds a lot,

0:21:150:21:16

it's in fact only around 3% of the total number of cases

0:21:160:21:20

they collectively shuffle around the globe every year.

0:21:200:21:22

Although, let's be honest,

0:21:220:21:24

those figures are no consolation if it's YOUR bag that's disappeared,

0:21:240:21:28

as indeed happened to Karen Hines from Warrington

0:21:280:21:30

when she was flying back from a holiday in Turkey with Jet2.

0:21:300:21:33

In my case was obviously all my clothes...

0:21:330:21:37

and me ironing board and me iron, cos I do take everything.

0:21:370:21:42

I seem to take the kitchen sink when I go on holiday,

0:21:420:21:44

but I do like to have everything there.

0:21:440:21:47

Unfortunately, none of it was there

0:21:470:21:49

when Karen was waiting for her case to appear on the baggage carousel.

0:21:490:21:53

So, we waited and waited and everybody seemed to be going,

0:21:530:21:56

and I was getting a little bit worried.

0:21:560:21:58

And then all of a sudden the carousel stopped.

0:21:580:22:01

And I panicked. I said, "Oh, God, my case, I haven't got my case."

0:22:010:22:04

Karen reported it missing to Jet2 staff.

0:22:050:22:08

They just asked for a description of my case.

0:22:080:22:11

I gave them a good description.

0:22:110:22:13

They asked me items that was in the case,

0:22:130:22:15

and obviously the things that stood out.

0:22:150:22:18

I thought, "They'll know it's mine, there's an ironing board in there."

0:22:180:22:21

So, they said, "Leave it with us."

0:22:210:22:22

Well, after four weeks and no sign of her case or her ironing board,

0:22:220:22:26

Karen asked Jet2 for some compensation for her lost belongings.

0:22:260:22:30

But despite claiming for around £2,000 worth of clothes

0:22:300:22:33

and other items, the company offered only £175.

0:22:330:22:38

Because I didn't have a receipt for every item that was in my case,

0:22:380:22:42

they went through the list of the clothing that I'd actually sent to them

0:22:420:22:46

and some clothing, if it was 100, I get £10, and if it was £10,

0:22:460:22:52

I get £1, and that is how they've worked it out.

0:22:520:22:55

Now, although Karen WAS able to claim the value of

0:22:570:23:00

the rest of the lost items on her travel insurance,

0:23:000:23:02

she still feels that she was short-changed by Jet2.

0:23:020:23:06

But under the Montreal Convention,

0:23:060:23:07

which regulates international airlines,

0:23:070:23:10

companies are well within their rights

0:23:100:23:12

to offer just 10% of the estimated value of goods in a loss case

0:23:120:23:17

if you don't have the original receipts for those items,

0:23:170:23:20

which means that passengers like Karen

0:23:200:23:23

could end up hundreds of pounds out of pocket.

0:23:230:23:26

When we spoke to Jet2 about what had happened,

0:23:260:23:28

the airline apologised to Karen

0:23:280:23:30

for what it described as an isolated incident.

0:23:300:23:32

Jet2 went on to say that as Karen has accepted an offer from her

0:23:320:23:36

insurance company, it's unable to process this claim any further.

0:23:360:23:41

But Karen, like dozens of you who got in touch with us about bags that

0:23:410:23:45

have been lost on your travels,

0:23:450:23:46

has been left wondering whether she can be confident

0:23:460:23:49

that her luggage will arrive safely the next time she flies.

0:23:490:23:53

So, it's changed everything about the way I feel of holidays,

0:23:530:23:57

the excitement of getting your things packed and...

0:23:570:24:00

It's changed everything.

0:24:000:24:02

I will be sat in that airport, thinking,

0:24:020:24:04

"Am I going to get my case at the other end?"

0:24:040:24:08

Well, now, that's been a concern

0:24:080:24:10

for the International Air Transport Association, or Iata,

0:24:100:24:13

for quite a few years,

0:24:130:24:15

and now it seems that they've come up with a solution.

0:24:150:24:17

By June this year, the organisation wants all airlines and airports

0:24:170:24:22

to have signed up to a new baggage tracking system,

0:24:220:24:26

one that should mean that lost luggage is a thing of the past.

0:24:260:24:30

David Steer runs a company which specialises in tracking bags

0:24:300:24:33

and preventing them from going missing.

0:24:330:24:35

There are a number of reasons why bags go missing in the system.

0:24:350:24:38

They can be mishandled, simply inadvertently put onto the wrong trolley in an airport,

0:24:380:24:42

or onto the wrong conveyor belt, that can happen.

0:24:420:24:45

There can be situations where the bag has no identification

0:24:450:24:48

because the tag has torn,

0:24:480:24:50

the tag has become caught on something accidentally

0:24:500:24:52

and has pulled off. These are all, you know,

0:24:520:24:55

accidents that happen, much like anything else.

0:24:550:24:57

Where there's human intervention

0:24:570:24:59

or mechanics involved, things can go wrong.

0:24:590:25:01

In fact, there are so many stages involved in tracking luggage -

0:25:010:25:05

seven, by the way, in total -

0:25:050:25:07

that David isn't surprised that somewhere along the line

0:25:070:25:10

some slip through the gaps and go missing.

0:25:100:25:12

But the new system, which has already been rolled out

0:25:120:25:15

in some UK airports, should put an end to all of that.

0:25:150:25:18

The industry's doing an enormous amount of work over the last few years,

0:25:180:25:23

and they've just introduced a lot of changes designed to address a new

0:25:230:25:27

programme being introduced next year, called Resolution 753,

0:25:270:25:31

which is designed to track bags all the way through the process at each

0:25:310:25:35

airline and at each airport to make sure that baggage loss is minimised.

0:25:350:25:39

They hope to halve, or even reduce by three-quarters,

0:25:390:25:42

the amount of mislaid bags.

0:25:420:25:44

Now, essentially, the new system -

0:25:440:25:46

which has already been successfully trialled here at Gatwick -

0:25:460:25:49

will eventually mean that every case

0:25:490:25:51

will be tagged with either a barcode,

0:25:510:25:53

or at some airports, a microchip.

0:25:530:25:55

Scanners put in place along its journey will then track its progress when loaded onto the plane

0:25:550:26:00

and then again if it's transferred,

0:26:000:26:02

and finally when it arrives at your destination.

0:26:020:26:04

That means at all of these stages, unlike at present,

0:26:040:26:08

the airline should be able to tell exactly where your case is,

0:26:080:26:12

and a mobile phone app can help passengers stay updated as well.

0:26:120:26:15

It's expected that the system,

0:26:150:26:17

which will be rolled out extensively in the summer,

0:26:170:26:19

will dramatically lessen the risk of bags going missing.

0:26:190:26:23

By having increased traceability, it means that the chances

0:26:230:26:26

of a bag disappearing during the process are reduced,

0:26:260:26:29

and that will obviously bring down

0:26:290:26:30

the number of bags that get misplaced.

0:26:300:26:32

And if the worst happens and a bag does still go astray,

0:26:320:26:36

the system will hold details of the passenger it belongs to

0:26:360:26:39

and allow it to be traced using GPS,

0:26:390:26:41

which should mean it can be found more or less anywhere in the world.

0:26:410:26:46

Now, for John and Karen,

0:26:460:26:47

these changes are long overdue and they've had to get used to the fact

0:26:470:26:51

that their missing bags are probably now lost for good.

0:26:510:26:54

I don't believe I'll see my bag ever again.

0:26:540:26:56

If I was going to ever get it, I would have had it by now.

0:26:560:26:59

Unless it's flying around the world and then it comes back to me.

0:26:590:27:01

I mean, don't get me wrong, I'd be made up if I get my case back,

0:27:010:27:04

but deep down, I don't think I'm ever going to see that case again.

0:27:040:27:08

Still to come on Rip-Off Britain...

0:27:140:27:16

The airport transfer business

0:27:160:27:18

that promises reliable, stress-free trips.

0:27:180:27:21

So, why were these passengers left waiting for cars that never arrived?

0:27:210:27:24

We were all really anxious.

0:27:250:27:27

We didn't know when they were going to come and get us.

0:27:270:27:29

We were stood outside in 35 degrees heat with four children.

0:27:290:27:33

Our travel expert Simon Calder

0:27:360:27:38

is full of the secrets of saving money on your travels.

0:27:380:27:41

He's full of tips on everything from how to avoid the crowds,

0:27:410:27:45

to the best way to steer clear of those tourist traps.

0:27:450:27:48

This time, increasingly affordable Shanghai.

0:27:480:27:52

It's a gateway to the People's Republic

0:27:530:27:55

and a great introduction to the world's most populated country.

0:27:550:27:59

What's more, with return flights from the UK to the city

0:27:590:28:02

from just over £300,

0:28:020:28:04

Shanghai is a city not to be missed -

0:28:040:28:06

that is, once you've navigated the complicated visa system.

0:28:060:28:09

This is a Chinese visa

0:28:090:28:12

and it's annoyingly difficult and expensive to obtain.

0:28:120:28:16

But the chances are

0:28:160:28:18

if you're going to Shanghai for less than a week, you may not need one.

0:28:180:28:22

Instead, you can apply for a transit permit,

0:28:230:28:26

as long as you're staying for a maximum of six days.

0:28:260:28:29

It's much easier to get hold of and will save you the price

0:28:290:28:33

of a full entry visa, which can set you back £180.

0:28:330:28:37

Sounds complicated? Yeah, it is a bit, but it's still a heck of a lot easier than getting one of these.

0:28:370:28:42

From the UK, it's likely you'll fly into Shanghai's Pudong Airport,

0:28:430:28:48

home to one of the world's fastest shuttle trains.

0:28:480:28:51

The magnetic levitation railway,

0:28:510:28:53

which runs from Shanghai's Pudong Airport into the city.

0:28:530:28:58

It travels at an astonishing 267mph -

0:28:580:29:02

that's half the speed of a jumbo jet!

0:29:020:29:04

But there are only eight trains each way in the morning

0:29:040:29:08

that travel at that speed and another eight in the afternoon.

0:29:080:29:12

The rest of the time it only reaches a pathetic 186mph.

0:29:120:29:17

That's barely three miles a minute.

0:29:170:29:19

The normal fare is 50 yuan - about £6 -

0:29:220:29:26

but you save one-fifth if you can show you're arriving

0:29:260:29:28

or departing on a flight, which you probably will be.

0:29:280:29:31

As for somewhere to rest your head, Shanghai, like most cities,

0:29:330:29:37

has everything from cheap and cheerful to five-star accommodation.

0:29:370:29:41

But for a place resonating with character,

0:29:410:29:43

Simon suggests booking into the iconic Peace Hotel

0:29:430:29:47

with its very own museum on the first floor.

0:29:470:29:50

But I'm afraid you'll have to go much higher

0:29:500:29:52

if you want to get a bird's-eye view of this spectacular city -

0:29:520:29:55

to the top floor of the Hyatt hotel.

0:29:550:29:58

Now, admission will cost you around £11 or £12, but that does include

0:29:590:30:04

a standard drink and, of course, magnificent scenes like this.

0:30:040:30:08

It's a good job that, in most cases,

0:30:110:30:14

going on holiday is worth it when you arrive,

0:30:140:30:16

cos all the last-minute preparations and the rush to get away

0:30:160:30:20

can sometimes be so stressful

0:30:200:30:22

that we swear we'll never go anywhere again.

0:30:220:30:24

For some people, and I know the feeling,

0:30:240:30:27

it's only the moment when you're in the car on the way to the airport

0:30:270:30:30

that you can start to relax, provided, that is,

0:30:300:30:33

that you're going to make it on time.

0:30:330:30:35

Well, for dozens of people who booked an airport transfer

0:30:350:30:38

with one particular company, that was the whole problem.

0:30:380:30:41

It seemed to offer bargain fares,

0:30:410:30:44

but the money saved paled into insignificance

0:30:440:30:46

when the drivers they were relying on to get them to their flights

0:30:460:30:50

were either delayed or simply didn't turn up at all.

0:30:500:30:53

Part of the appeal of a package holiday is that everything,

0:30:560:30:59

including the transfers to and from your accommodation,

0:30:590:31:02

is sorted out for you.

0:31:020:31:04

But booking each part of your trip separately can work out cheaper,

0:31:040:31:08

which is why there's been a 19% increase

0:31:080:31:10

in holiday-makers doing it this way over the last three years.

0:31:100:31:14

That's led to a surge in the number of companies

0:31:150:31:18

offering to organise each individual bit of your holiday,

0:31:180:31:22

including those transfers.

0:31:220:31:24

So, when Lindsey Burton booked a private villa in Tenerife

0:31:260:31:29

for no less than eight members of her family and friends,

0:31:290:31:32

making sure they all got there hassle-free

0:31:320:31:35

felt especially important.

0:31:350:31:37

It's a lot of money that you spend on a holiday,

0:31:370:31:39

you want it to run smoothly, so, yeah,

0:31:390:31:42

the idea of booking a transfer company

0:31:420:31:44

was to make sure that we got from A to B

0:31:440:31:46

in a country that we didn't know.

0:31:460:31:48

Lindsey was confident that she'd found the perfect company -

0:31:500:31:53

hoppa - which, through its website,

0:31:530:31:55

organises airport transfers in countries right across the world.

0:31:550:31:59

She paid £41.78 for the return journey

0:32:000:32:03

between the accommodation and Tenerife's South Airport,

0:32:030:32:07

and just as promised, when they landed in Tenerife,

0:32:070:32:10

a driver from the company was waiting for them at the agreed spot,

0:32:100:32:14

ready to whisk them off to their villa.

0:32:140:32:16

We'd saw the road that we needed to go up to get to our villa

0:32:160:32:20

and we all just started to relax then

0:32:200:32:21

and just looked forward to the rest of the week there.

0:32:210:32:24

Seven days later at the end of their trip,

0:32:250:32:28

Lindsey and her family once again

0:32:280:32:30

waited at the agreed meeting time and place

0:32:300:32:33

for the driver, booked via hoppa, to arrive.

0:32:330:32:36

But this time, things didn't run as smoothly.

0:32:360:32:39

We waited until four o'clock,

0:32:390:32:41

which was the time we were told that the bus would come and get us,

0:32:410:32:44

and it didn't arrive.

0:32:440:32:46

So, we gave it ten minutes

0:32:460:32:48

and we phoned the number that we'd got on the e-mail, um,

0:32:480:32:51

for them to tell us that the driver would be coming for us

0:32:510:32:54

and we should just give him a few minutes.

0:32:540:32:56

After a further 30 minutes, with now just two and a half hours

0:32:570:33:01

before they needed to be at the airport,

0:33:010:33:03

Lindsey rang the company again

0:33:030:33:05

and the advice she was now given was very different

0:33:050:33:08

and not at all what you'd expect.

0:33:080:33:11

They told me that we would have to

0:33:110:33:13

make our own way to the airport using taxis.

0:33:130:33:15

We were all really anxious.

0:33:150:33:17

We didn't know when they were going to come and get us.

0:33:170:33:19

We were stood outside in 35 degrees heat with four children,

0:33:190:33:23

not knowing that we would get to the airport on time.

0:33:230:33:26

In desperation, Lindsey rang hoppa's UK office

0:33:270:33:30

to see if it could sort things out.

0:33:300:33:32

We explained the situation, that there was eight of us -

0:33:320:33:35

four children, four adults - nobody was helping us,

0:33:350:33:39

and again, they just told us to make our own way,

0:33:390:33:42

finding our own taxis for eight people.

0:33:420:33:44

I did get angry with him on the phone, because, obviously,

0:33:440:33:47

we were all quite stressed out, we were all very anxious

0:33:470:33:50

and he just gave us the same answer of make your own way to the airport.

0:33:500:33:55

Outraged at the way hoppa was leaving them to fend for themselves,

0:33:560:34:00

Lindsey finally found someone local willing to help.

0:34:000:34:03

The manager, or the receptionist,

0:34:030:34:05

in the hotel where we were being picked up from,

0:34:050:34:08

he offered to help us and he got on the phone

0:34:080:34:11

to a local taxi company which they use.

0:34:110:34:14

Within ten minutes there was two taxis that had arrived to

0:34:140:34:17

pick us up and take us to the airport,

0:34:170:34:19

and they tried their hardest to get us there.

0:34:190:34:22

We finally pulled up at the airport

0:34:220:34:24

with ten minutes to go before the gate closed.

0:34:240:34:27

Well, once back in the UK, Lindsey phoned hoppa

0:34:280:34:31

and was told she WOULD get a refund

0:34:310:34:33

for the transfer that didn't show up,

0:34:330:34:35

provided she had the taxi receipts.

0:34:350:34:37

But in the rush to make their flights,

0:34:370:34:39

Lindsey had only managed to get a receipt from one of the two taxis.

0:34:390:34:43

So without the other,

0:34:430:34:44

hoppa said it would only be able to refund part of the costs.

0:34:440:34:48

I can't believe that they would leave

0:34:480:34:52

a family of eight people, with four children,

0:34:520:34:55

and not want to compensate or apologise.

0:34:550:34:57

We didn't once have an apology from them

0:34:570:34:59

throughout all of the phone calls.

0:34:590:35:01

It was just, "We can't do anything, you've got to sort yourselves out."

0:35:010:35:05

And that's what Lindsey is annoyed about the most,

0:35:060:35:09

because despite promises on the company's website

0:35:090:35:12

to be there 24/7, 365 days a year to help,

0:35:120:35:17

she certainly didn't get the stress-free journey she'd paid for.

0:35:170:35:21

We'd paid a lot of money for the transfers

0:35:210:35:24

to give us that security of getting home.

0:35:240:35:27

Now, no company gets things right all the time,

0:35:280:35:31

even one that calls itself the world's number one specialist

0:35:310:35:35

in smooth, reliable transfers.

0:35:350:35:37

But we've heard from plenty of other people who say they had problems

0:35:370:35:40

after booking with hoppa,

0:35:400:35:42

or one of the several similar businesses it operates.

0:35:420:35:45

Among them are John Amey from Essex and his wife Elizabeth.

0:35:470:35:50

He got in touch after his holiday to Slovenia in July 2016.

0:35:510:35:56

He'd arranged a car to take his family

0:35:560:35:58

between Ljubljana Airport and his hotel

0:35:580:36:01

booked through A2B Transfers,

0:36:010:36:03

which is part of the same company as hoppa.

0:36:030:36:06

So, we needed the assurance that there was a vehicle guaranteed to be

0:36:060:36:11

there to take us that was big enough for us and our luggage.

0:36:110:36:14

John paid the £120 fee online

0:36:150:36:18

and was happy that the transfer was sorted.

0:36:180:36:20

But on the day they flew, a technical problem with the plane

0:36:210:36:24

meant that they were delayed by six hours.

0:36:240:36:27

So instead of arriving just after 6pm,

0:36:270:36:29

it was midnight when they finally picked up their luggage

0:36:290:36:33

and were ready to meet their taxi to go to their hotel.

0:36:330:36:36

The airport was pretty much closing, so we were looking around

0:36:360:36:39

for someone that might be holding up a family name,

0:36:390:36:42

or have a company name so we knew that, "Oh, yeah,

0:36:420:36:45

"that's who we should speak to about getting a transfer."

0:36:450:36:48

But there was no taxi waiting for them and no-one around to ask.

0:36:480:36:53

So, John called A2B Transfers's 24-hour hotline

0:36:530:36:56

and was told that the driver who was supposed to be collecting him

0:36:560:37:00

had arrived but had given up waiting

0:37:000:37:02

and it was now too late for them to come back.

0:37:020:37:05

Because it had gone midnight,

0:37:050:37:06

the taxi company weren't going to come and collect us

0:37:060:37:09

to take us to our hotel.

0:37:090:37:12

I was very surprised by this.

0:37:120:37:13

They are a transfer company.

0:37:130:37:15

Airports normally run early to late nights.

0:37:150:37:19

It seemed strange for a taxi company not to be available to take us

0:37:190:37:24

on a pre-booked contract.

0:37:240:37:27

Now, John understands that hoppa's terms and conditions make clear that

0:37:270:37:31

customers must try and inform them of any delays where possible,

0:37:310:37:35

but you might have assumed

0:37:350:37:36

the taxi firm would be monitoring the flight arrival times.

0:37:360:37:39

As far as John's concerned, there's very little point

0:37:390:37:42

in having a 24-hour helpline

0:37:420:37:44

if on calling it you can't get a 24-hour service.

0:37:440:37:48

Eventually, John managed to find

0:37:480:37:50

another taxi to make the 90-minute journey to their hotel,

0:37:500:37:53

but at a cost of 100 euros.

0:37:530:37:56

And sharing very similar frustrations is George Waddington from Clitheroe.

0:37:560:38:01

He'd booked a return transfer with hoppa from Faro Airport in Portugal.

0:38:010:38:05

We was going to Albufeira in Portugal for a Christmas break.

0:38:050:38:12

The reason being, we'd both had quite bad years

0:38:120:38:14

and that we just wanted to make it

0:38:140:38:15

so that we had a stress-free period over Christmas.

0:38:150:38:18

But when George arrived at Faro Airport,

0:38:190:38:21

he discovered customs staff were on strike.

0:38:210:38:24

As a result, by the time he got to the hoppa desk,

0:38:240:38:27

where he'd been told to meet his vehicle,

0:38:270:38:30

an hour had passed and his driver was nowhere to be seen.

0:38:300:38:34

And, according to George,

0:38:340:38:35

he wasn't the only one to find himself in this predicament.

0:38:350:38:38

I'd seen so many people argue with the guy at the counter

0:38:380:38:41

before we actually got there,

0:38:410:38:43

um, it was obviously futile arguing with them,

0:38:430:38:48

so we decided immediately to just pay the transfer again

0:38:480:38:52

in order to get to the destination.

0:38:520:38:55

George ended up paying nearly 30 euros for another taxi -

0:38:550:38:59

not the relaxing start to his holiday he'd hoped for.

0:38:590:39:02

Yeah, we were looking for a stress-free break and, of course,

0:39:020:39:05

that didn't happen because we were upset immediately

0:39:050:39:08

with the transfer situation.

0:39:080:39:10

Well, when we put all three of these cases to hoppa,

0:39:100:39:14

the company told us it was disappointed to hear them

0:39:140:39:17

and that the vast majority of

0:39:170:39:19

the three million passengers it carries each year

0:39:190:39:21

have a positive experience with the company.

0:39:210:39:24

But it said while it's...

0:39:240:39:27

..it's clear that on these occasions it did not deliver,

0:39:290:39:32

for which it's apologised.

0:39:320:39:34

It went on to say that having investigated,

0:39:340:39:37

it's now changed its local supplier in both Tenerife and Portugal.

0:39:370:39:41

hoppa reiterated that it does clearly stipulate

0:39:410:39:45

that customers will need to provide a receipt

0:39:450:39:48

if they've had to use alternative transfers

0:39:480:39:50

so that the company can verify the costs.

0:39:500:39:53

But as a gesture of goodwill,

0:39:530:39:55

all three people we spoke to have now had their taxi costs refunded.

0:39:550:40:00

And while that's great news for THEM,

0:40:020:40:04

if YOU'RE wondering how best to arrange the journey

0:40:040:40:06

from the airport and back again on your next trip,

0:40:060:40:09

Simon Calder questions whether transfers are necessarily

0:40:090:40:13

the best way to do it.

0:40:130:40:14

There's a really good form of airport transfer

0:40:140:40:17

which you don't need to book in advance and that's called a taxi.

0:40:170:40:20

You get into one at the airport.

0:40:200:40:21

Now, it depends where you are.

0:40:210:40:23

I find that if you're in Portugal, um, Greece,

0:40:230:40:26

that's generally pretty good value.

0:40:260:40:27

If you're in Italy, you're going to be paying

0:40:270:40:30

an arm and a leg for the privilege.

0:40:300:40:32

And if your budget won't stretch to a cab,

0:40:320:40:34

Simon's advice is to rely on the very reliable public transport

0:40:340:40:38

that serves so many holiday destinations.

0:40:380:40:42

Palma in Majorca, for example,

0:40:420:40:44

has a new Aerotib network of buses

0:40:440:40:47

which go direct from the airport to all the big resort areas.

0:40:470:40:52

In Faro, there's a marvellous bus.

0:40:520:40:55

Number 17 takes you into the city centre and drops you

0:40:550:40:58

right by the bus station,

0:40:580:41:00

where you can get a bus anywhere you want along the Algarve.

0:41:000:41:03

Or my favourite airport of all time in terms of transfers is Nice,

0:41:030:41:08

partly because the airport is so close to the city that you can,

0:41:080:41:12

and I have, walked into town.

0:41:120:41:14

There's loads of buses, very high frequency,

0:41:140:41:18

both into Nice itself and along the coast to other destinations.

0:41:180:41:22

As for Lindsey in Nottingham, for whom public transport

0:41:220:41:26

and a large family is too much of a headache,

0:41:260:41:28

though she's glad she's no longer out of pocket,

0:41:280:41:31

the whole experience is not one she'd like to repeat.

0:41:310:41:34

I mean, we paid money for a service. The service wasn't delivered.

0:41:350:41:39

We weren't offered, I think,

0:41:390:41:41

a fair amount of money back for the stress and the emotional stress

0:41:410:41:45

that they caused us.

0:41:450:41:47

The truth is that Rip-Off Britain

0:41:540:41:55

wouldn't be here without your stories

0:41:550:41:57

and we've got plenty of ways you can get in touch.

0:41:570:42:00

You can send us an e-mail to...

0:42:000:42:02

Or you can write to us at...

0:42:060:42:08

But please do not send original copies of any documents.

0:42:150:42:18

And even if you haven't got a story that you'd like us to investigate,

0:42:210:42:24

you can always join in the conversation on our Facebook page.

0:42:240:42:27

Just search "BBC Rip-Off Britain".

0:42:270:42:31

Well, I'm afraid we've reached the end of the programme already,

0:42:320:42:35

but how frustrating were some of the situations we've heard about today?

0:42:350:42:39

Especially being stopped from boarding your flight

0:42:390:42:41

at the very last moment and losing all that money...awful.

0:42:410:42:44

That really is a terrible experience, isn't it?

0:42:440:42:46

But on a more positive note,

0:42:460:42:48

I was delighted to hear about the technology that's being introduced

0:42:480:42:51

to keep a closer eye on our suitcases when they board the plane.

0:42:510:42:54

Who knows? Now, this is me being positive...

0:42:540:42:56

Maybe by the time we're back here next year,

0:42:560:42:59

lost luggage will be a thing of the past. What d'you reckon, Gloria?

0:42:590:43:02

I reckon that would be brilliant.

0:43:020:43:04

Actually, my suitcase might end up at the same destination as me.

0:43:040:43:07

Who knows? Now, in the meantime, if you're off on your holiday,

0:43:070:43:10

then have the most wonderful time.

0:43:100:43:12

And although we hope, of course, that it all goes smoothly,

0:43:120:43:14

if it doesn't, you know exactly where we are and, indeed,

0:43:140:43:17

how to find the three of us.

0:43:170:43:18

And we'd really, really love to hear from you.

0:43:180:43:21

We'll be back, though, with more of your stories very soon.

0:43:210:43:23

-So, until then, from all of us on the team, bye-bye.

-Goodbye.

-Goodbye.

0:43:230:43:27

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