I want to go home
Foreword.
Those who did not plan trips organized by the tour operator do not go to the first morning meeting with the guide. And those who came, after an hour and a half advertising lecture performed by Sunday Adelaja, raise a cry. What for? Take your child and go sunbathing. Simply, if you really want to personally communicate with “your guide”, come back in an hour or two. Fill out the form for him. Its' his job. Just to avoid surprises, cross out the section of possible trips. And the guide has nothing to cover, and there is no conflict.
Let's go home from Sharm
In 2019, and perhaps in 2018, a new highlight appeared, namely: DEPARTURE from Egypt, which spoils the whole holiday (at the end of 2017, this did not happen yet). Just something for everything - in the port of Sharm El Sheikh appeared tricks with the schedule of departures. If regular flights are distributed over time, then charter flights for some reason form 5 or 6 flights per hour, which is ± 1500 people per hour (later there will be a pause or an empty control point altogether).
In the meantime, these 1.500 people are being passed through two control posts, that is, 750 people through each. If you spend 10 seconds per passenger, you get 2 hours, and this is true in reality. If someone is more sneaky, then he seeps through the queue for an hour and a half. Most of the people in the queue are talking, and the baby will slip by so imperceptibly, then mom will follow him, and then the suitcase with dad. The Italians were especially interesting, who after 2 hours suddenly understood the scheme and saw that 50 people had passed ahead for a nice conversation. Just imagine: you and your family, tired of rest, stand for 120 MINUTES in a long queue-snake. At first everything is calm, but as the time of your departure approaches, you begin to realize your powerlessness. By the way, many passengers are sure that since you were brought to the port, the plane will not fly without you. There are not many international flights on my account, 50-60 times. So I saw such naive three times.
The plane is in the sky, and they are in complete bewilderment to the empty exit. But we understand that we may not get on the flight, because we have not yet overcome the first barrier on the way to the plane. At this time, messages are heard from the speakers that they are looking for someone and that the landing is ending. You see people who are not really on time, because they are behind you, and their departure time is earlier than yours. These unfortunate people are easily spotted in line by their panicky behavior. They are quickly taken under white arms, given an escort and led through VIP posts at a price of 20 bucks from the nose. By the way, there are two such VIP posts at the entrance to Sharm airport and they are always free. Here you have enlightenment that all this porridge is brewed precisely for twenty-dollar entrepreneurship. Okay, you got lucky and you passed. But this is only the beginning of your adventures on the way home. After registration, which is carried out in the usual way by representatives of the carrier company,
You get to the border control zone and there are again long queues in each cell! Time is running out. The border guards are in no hurry. Slowly, nervously, but we pass. The next hall is the coolest - again two control posts. Again two long queues. Only now the women to the left, the men to the right, taking off their shoes and searching for the unlawful in hand luggage. The funny thing is that they find the forbidden. And this means that while the unlawful is confiscated from the bags, there is a queue. The departure zone is just a stone's throw away, your ship is about to leave, and there is a queue! From the outside, this place resembles the flight of the White Guards on steamboats in the film "Running". Someone fell from the ship's ladder, someone climbs the mooring rope. Eyes are burning, in the hands of things and shoes, in the teeth of a passport and a boarding pass. The conveyor belt is littered with clothes, bags, belts, shoes and smartphones. Working with your elbows, you squeeze to the frame, you pass. You feel, gently touching the intimate areas.
Come on. Did you succeed or not? Back the road is closed, so forward! Departure zone, board with departures. By the way, in such a hustle and bustle, I won’t even say if there are such boards near each checkpoint. Therefore, only now it becomes clear why the airport workers had so much fun throughout the course of your journey. I even wonder why they don't shoot this Run on their phones? Probably already used to it. Now it's clear - they understand the announcements from the speakers! They know that your flight is delayed for technical reasons! A little later, already calmly, I watched this frontier of frank humiliation of passengers. Who needs it? Obviously not tourists. Please note that Charm is empty even on New Year's Eve. For example, between Regency Plaza and Rixos Premium Seagate there are 4 five-star hotels. Of these, one has been closed for several years, and in the rest there were less than 10 tourists on the seashore. So there are many more people in Sharm and everyone flies away. And we flew away much calmer.
I went to the second floor in the departure area, and there, through the transparent wall, you can see the same primary entry control point. So what? It's been almost three hours since we got there. All. Empty.
I don't know who is responsible for such manipulations with the schedule. Carrier or airport? At least the port staff gets the entertainment to the fullest. The tour operator remained without our attention. Most likely - these are his reforms. Or, for example, the tour operator allows options such as an extra charge for early / late departure, which creates conflicts in hotels. You are usually settled after 14, and evicted before 12. But, you paid, as it were, for something else. They explained to you that this way your rest will be longer. Who was paid? The carrier (read the tour operator), but not the hotel, believe me. The hotel keeps score by night, not by day. There is another marketing ploy of the tour operator, but rather it is at the mercy of the agencies - this is a "surcharge for the New Year's party. " The hotel does not receive with such a surcharge,
it's just that its price for this period is slightly higher and it is indicated on advertising sites. The hotel mobilizes personnel and material resources for this period. The price, taking into account the current moment, is indicated on the tour search website. The agency announces the additional payment to you and then they can make you a "discount". We sat at the New Year's party at the same table and shared who paid extra. The difference was from 50 to 125 dollars per person. The cheapest were from Zaporozhye. Hotel managers were surprised by the tour operator's trick when they heard. And there was this operator "Anex Tour".
We draw conclusions: 1. Decide on a travel agent - a contract for the provision of services will not be superfluous, otherwise you will run after them. 2. We checked the tour operator - we recall the latest adventures of tourists in airports. 3. Deal with surcharges. Any surcharges are marketing tricks and no guarantees. 4. Analyze the return flight schedule, although I don’t know yet
Kazakhs Sharm came out one and a half times more expensive than Ukrainians. China, Thailand, India, Sri Lanka, Vietnam are closer to them. And they are in Egypt. The scouts are real.
4. The Raseans wept over the route through Israel. Any little thing can slow down or prohibit the advance to Egypt. They still take risks. Sometimes it takes almost a day to arrive. How not to break away upon arrival? Nonsense that vodka is twenty degrees. The main thing is to start early.
5. Didn't get a boombox? So it is not necessary. Half of the rasians in the whole hotel twist Cords for their small children on their boomboxes.
