To say we are totally devastated is an understatement. This was a once in a life time trip for us. We haven't had a great time of late and needed a break away to help us relax and forget the distresses we have been dealing with. It took an awful lot of organising due to us having 4 children and 3 dogs. Myself and my partner both work full time so used up 3 days of our holiday entitlement, which cannot get replaced.
We do understand that flights get delayed but what we do not appreciate, is being lied too and left with little communication.
On arrival at Luton airport, we were met by a gentleman who informed us the flight was delayed until 830pm. Not handled as I would have expected, as little sympathy given. But we shrugged it off and headed off to the aspire "lounge". The word used loosely. It was a building site. Hot, sweaty and not relaxing in the slightest.
At around 6pm the captain came in to announce that the flight was delayed and it was still in Papillon, as the paper work had not been filled out properly. He did apologise and said as soon as he knows more, he would let us know. He waited in the lounge for a little while, eating the snacks that were available and answering peoples questions.
Around 1 hour later, he returned with "Good news" the plane had left Papillon and he was looking to have us leave at 2345pm. He informed us he had been given authorisation to travel faster, even though it uses double the amount of fuel, but that way, it should help us gain 45 minutes from our travelling time.
I mentioned that it wasn't a very premium service and the captains reply was, "you are not paying £8000 for your ticket, which is what you would normally pay." I said that is not the price on other airlines. He walked off mumbling that he was not there to argue about costs.
He was implying we should all be grateful that we had cheap seats. We all took that as a complete insult.
From around 7pm to 10pm we had no communication at all. We persisted to ask the service air lady to get someone down as we want an update. She did ring numerous times and told us someone was on the way.
No one came. I took the initiative to check on line for the flight. To get some sort of update. To my surprise, the flight hadn't even left Papillon. People in the lounge were getting very angry.
At 1145pm we had another lady come into the lounge to tell us it had been cancelled. I asked had the plane actually ever left, as the captain told us it had. She replied no. The captain did not say that.
She explained we can travel tomorrow evening, but she wasn't sure if it was guaranteed to fly. As we had only booked a 3 night trip, it was not worth us travelling out. She explained we would get a refund and a new flight.
We asked how long will it take for our refund. She didn't know.
It's an absolute disgrace. Unorganised, unprofessional and a complete disregard for anyone's feelings.