Journey with JoinUp or rest in standby mode

We started planning summer holidays right after the New Year celebration, despite the fact that our youngest son was only 2 months old at that time. Having decided on the hotel, the date of rest - from May 27 to June 3, having chosen the most convenient flight option for us with 2 small children, at the end of January we paid for vouchers for 6 people and began to slowly prepare for departure. We didn’t worry about anything at all, since we have been traveling around the world with our travel agent for more than a year now. But, as it turned out, it was necessary to worry, because we flew from the JoinUp tour operator.

A month before departure, we received information that the airport in Zaporozhye, from which we were supposed to start our journey, was being closed for reconstruction, and all flights were transferred to Kharkov. After some thought, we decided not to use the transfer services provided by the tour operator, but to go by our own minibus. After all, the transfer from the Dnieper to Kharkov is not so close, but we didn’t know how the children would behave on the road and how many stops we would have to make before we arrived at the airport.

In mid-May, our departure time was moved from 19:00 to 23:50, which, of course, made us very upset. Remembering with the warmest words the Champions League match that was taking place at that moment in Kyiv (after all, according to the tour operator, it is because of this event that all flights are delayed), we packed our bags and bought everything we needed. A little later, a travel agent on our behalf sent a letter to JoinUp asking about the possibility of monetary compensation for the period of time that we will not live in the room. We did not insist on this concession.

On June 25, 2 days before departure, our travel agent reports that the JoinUp tour operator received an amount as monetary compensation, of a rather incomprehensible amount, and certainly not for a day of living in two rooms. There was no time to sort out and clarify especially then, so we thought that this was a kind of compliment for a late settlement. We also received from the travel agent that day our insurance, information about round-trip flights and a voucher for checking into a hotel. In the bustle of the preparations, we carefully checked the names and surnames of all family members and a series of international passports, but we didn’t think to look at the date at all, but in vain! But more on that a little further.

It seemed very strange to us and our travel agent that the transfer to the airport was scheduled for 19:30, because then it turned out that tourists had less than 3.5 hours to cover 250 km by bus, check in for a flight and board the plane. Either the bus drivers knew a very short way to Kharkov, or the tour operator had some information that he did not deign to share with people.

At the beginning of the trip to the airport, our travel agent suggested that the flight would be rescheduled for 1:00, but we could not find confirmation anywhere, even on the airport website. Needless to say, we were not at all surprised by the changes in the departure time indicated on the scoreboard, as soon as we entered the terminal. Frustrated, we went to look for a place to more or less comfortably wait for the start of registration. There were not so many of these places: at most 25 seats + 2 cafes - and this is at least a hundred people waiting. Sorry for the slang, but we marinated with 2 small children (suddenly you forgot) on suitcases at the airport until 4:30! She fed the youngest and changed his diaper there, because the mother-child room was closed. Everyone covered themselves with their son's diapers, because it was quite chilly, and somehow they didn’t think of bringing blankets and warm sweaters for an overnight stay in the terminal. With all this, during our stay at the airport, another plane flew to Turkey without a single minute of delay.

Having met the dawn in the sky, we landed in Antalya around 7:00 am. Approaching the bus that was supposed to take us to the hotel, we were so tired that we did not pay attention to one detail, which then turned out to be obvious. Our guide, a “nice” girl named Ilona, ​​did not look exhausted at all, as if she had not slept all night on the bus, hugging the driver, waiting for her tourists. Does this mean that the transfer was originally scheduled for 8 am on June 28, and the tour operator knew perfectly well that we would not land in Turkey before this time?

Further, this wonderful guide, instead of warm welcome words and some interesting information about the country, throws the phrase “you are not the first” and, with some claim in his voice, talks about the intricacies of the charter flight agreement we signed. Then he talks about annoying tourists, threatens to get us off our flight on our way back if we don't meet our hotel guide, and spices everything up with crude advertisements for a leather and fur trip. Ignoring most of her unfriendly words, we waited with all the fibers of our souls for the bus to stop near the Papillon Belvil Hotel, because everything should have been fine there.

After filling out the necessary documents at the reception, the girl kindly invited us to go for breakfast while our rooms were being cleaned. After my question: “How do they clean it? We were supposed to settle in the evening of June 27, ”she pointed us to OUR voucher, in which the date of settlement was indicated in black and white on 06/28/2018!

And then the puzzle came together… Strange flight postponements, mysterious transfer times for tourists, the bus guide’s sleepy appearance and her unfriendly monologue (the best defense is attack), a strange monetary compensation 2 days before the start of the trip and a mysterious change in the date of check-in in the voucher. Why do everything humanly and warn people in advance about a decent flight delay, if you can act like a pig and steal a day of rest from tourists by throwing alms in the face in the form of compensation from the master's shoulder ?!

For another 3 hours we sat in the lobby of the hotel, changed the diaper of the youngest child right there and fed him before we were settled in our rooms. The girls at the front desk were sincerely sympathetic to us and wanted to help, for which we are very grateful to them.

The first day at the hotel we slept and recovered after the flight, the second day I wrote a complaint in writing to the main office of the JoinUp tour operator we loved so much. The hotel guide Shamil vowed to take the complaint “to the right place” (I hope not to the trash can, to be sure, she still photographed my long-suffering manuscript in order to distribute it on the forums), and also skillfully imitated violent activity. Oh yes, I also got drunk on excursions, one of which we bought into. Instead of a 30-minute drive to Discovery Park, a huge area with realistic dinosaurs, and returning to the hotel for lunch (which was important for us!), My husband and 2-year-old daughter got a 3-hour round-trip, a small, spiraling, stuffy area with decrepit, crumbling reptiles before our eyes. And if not for their wild desire to still get to the hotel for dinner, they would have returned like everyone else by the 3rd day.

But now, the day of departure was approaching ... On June 1, the departure time moved from 13:30 to 22:40 (are you tired yet?). This information came to us from our travel agent, but JoinUp masterfully kept the intrigue until midnight on June 2. On the issue of extending the room, so as not to sit on the suitcases for several hours again, the hotel guide Shamil again could not help us, they say, "figure it out yourself." Again, thanks to the girls at the reception, we easily extended the room until 18:00, thank you very much (but not you, JoinUp).

Safely getting from the hotel to the airport, we checked in for the flight. Next to us there was also registration for Kharkov, only their departure was at 23:50 (you will understand why I am talking about all this). Having passed passport control, we immediately rested our eyes on the information board, on which (you already understood, right?), Our flight time was moved to 00:30. While we were in the mother-and-child room, then we fed our eldest daughter in a cafe, there were no empty seats in the waiting room. For another 2.5 hours, we were in the waiting mode, when the boarding of the aircraft would begin. Remember the flight to Kharkiv at 23:50? So, he flew right on schedule, and the time of our departure froze on the scoreboard with the magical 00:30, although the clock next to it stubbornly showed the time already 01:00. We left around 01:30.

After this vacation, it took us a week to recover. It felt like we were flying to Sri Lanka or China.

Only the warmest and most pleasant memories of the hotel. And we, and grandmothers, and the eldest child were very pleased with the service, and the territory, and food, and entertainment. There is a great desire to return to Papillon Belvil again. But not with Join Up!

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