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veletron


Posts: 447
Joined: Feb 2006
Last Visited: 14:46
1st Apr 2021
Avoid CrystalSki and Jet2.com at all costs!!
Date Posted: 11.10hrs on Wed 25 Jan 12
Hi

Just back from Les Deux Alpes. Excellent week, but a nightmare return journey. Bus picked us up 3 hours late, got to airport 45 mins before flight, aircraft still in Dublin! Got on Plane 3 hours late, sat on plane for over an hour, got back to EDI 4 hours behind schedule on Sat night, were then told that they never bothered to load any of the bags onto the aircraft! Now Wednesday, and the bags have only made it the 100 miles from Chambery to Geneva!! ETA for baggage arrival, Xmas 2012 by the looks of it.

Was hoping to ski this weekend, have been refused point blank compensation/expenses claim for hired kit for the weekend. Will have to go through the small claims court. £500 excess on insurance, and it only covers loss, not delay on return journey.

I'll not be using either Crystal or Jet2 ever again - complete and utter shambles.

I can forgive them most of it, but to not have the bags 4 days after flight landed is unforgivable.

Anyone else on that same flight??

Nigel



Edited 1 times. Last edit at 11.56hrs Wed 25 Jan 12 by veletron.
Hipennine


Posts: 1061
Joined: Dec 2005
Re: Avoid CrystalSki and Jet2.com at all costs!!
Date Posted: 12.59hrs on Wed 25 Jan 12
There are minimum compensation levels payable for all International air Travel arising from The "Athens" and "Montreal" conventions. There are specific provisions for costs for delayed baggage. Google them to get the limits in Usd. Then quote them to Jet2.

Edit to add: It's $1131 max per pax "Special drawing rights" in the Montreal convention, but you have to prove your loss (ie keep and use receipts as evidence).

Most airlines are very reticent to tell you your rights. In contrast though, a couple of year's back I had late arriving skis off a BA flight - at the airport was given a paper showing my rights and entitlements and claim form, plus a cash card with £75 on it to use to cover immediate expenses, which would be taken off any claim. Did a deal on ski hire for £60 and had a meal on what was left !



Edited 1 times. Last edit at 13.30hrs Wed 25 Jan 12 by Hipennine.
David Goldsmith


Posts: 1283
Joined: Feb 2003
Last Visited: 08:28
6th Nov 2018
Re: Avoid CrystalSki and Jet2.com at all costs!!
Date Posted: 14.37hrs on Wed 25 Jan 12
I imagine that most tour operators and airlines are guilty of the occasional screw-up like this.

Boycott them all!

veletron


Posts: 447
Joined: Feb 2006
Last Visited: 14:46
1st Apr 2021
Re: Avoid CrystalSki and Jet2.com at all costs!!
Date Posted: 14.49hrs on Wed 25 Jan 12
If I lived on the south coast, I would not bother with any of them. Alps would be a days drive away! Campervan on the resorts' aire, 2 weeks for the price of one!

I turned 40 recently and am becoming increasingly less accommodating of cock-ups!! Victor Meldrew is where I am heading!

Nigel
h11lly


Posts: 2150
Joined: Dec 2002
Last Visited: 18:38
2nd Sep 2019
What's this?What's this?What's this?
Re: Avoid CrystalSki and Jet2.com at all costs!!
Date Posted: 19.47hrs on Wed 25 Jan 12
My daughter and her partner flew out from Edinburgh last Saturday to Chambery- Jet2 and Crystalski with luggage well withing the allowed weight . Both board bags never arrived. Then it transpired that in total 48 bags had never arrived. They were told that it was because the short runway at Chambery limits the plane weight.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Surely a chartered ski plane would give passengers a luggage allowance that would take into account the runway length !

The 48 bags were put on a plane to Geneva that night and delivered to their resort, Tignes, during the following morning so they didn't have to hire kit although an early start was not possible. Nevertheless its not the hassle you want on a holiday.

Big question is will their baggage be on the plane back on Saturday. I can't see Crystal delivering it to Inverness! Watch this space.

Helen
Nelbert


Posts: 281
Joined: Oct 2009
Last Visited: 16:26
23rd Aug 2015
Re: Avoid CrystalSki and Jet2.com at all costs!!
Date Posted: 20.50hrs on Wed 25 Jan 12
h11lly Wrote:
My daughter and her partner flew out from Edinburgh last Saturday to Chambery- Jet2 and Crystalski with luggage well withing the allowed weight . Both board bags never arrived. Then it transpired that in total 48 bags had never arrived. They were told that it was because the short runway at Chambery limits the plane weight.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Surely a chartered ski plane would give passengers a luggage allowance that would take into account the runway length !

The 48 bags were put on a plane to Geneva that night and delivered to their resort, Tignes, during the following morning so they didn't have to hire kit although an early start was not possible. Nevertheless its not the hassle you want on a holiday.

Big question is will their baggage be on the plane back on Saturday. I can't see Crystal delivering it to Inverness! Watch this space.

Helen


That's an absolute shambles. Why would they even fly to Chambery in whatever type of aircraft it was, if it can't land on the runway with a full load?? Was their perhaps snow falling? there was a big dump at the weekend. That would perhaps explain why they needed to lighten the weight and shorten the stopping distance.

When flying to the alps I would avoid Chambery in general, especially if you plan on going on a Saturday. We arrived in late Saturday morning a couple of years ago and there were far more people and planes than the place could handle. 2 small luggage collection belts and a tiny arrivals area for about 4 UK charter flights in at the same time. It was utter chaos, literally not enough space for everybody to get in the arrivals hall, skis everywhere, tempers frayed. Any time saved by the shorter transfer was lost in the wait and scramble to reclaim your gear.

Nelbert


Posts: 281
Joined: Oct 2009
Last Visited: 16:26
23rd Aug 2015
Re: Avoid CrystalSki and Jet2.com at all costs!!
Date Posted: 21.03hrs on Wed 25 Jan 12
also BA lost our luggage on a transfer through Gatwick about 5 years ago. Was left with a light jacket and jeans in minus 12 in a blizzard in Alpe D'huez.

Fortunately you are entitled to spend up to around £900 on "essentials" if they lose your luggage. After much pondering we decided that ski clothing was very much an essential in a ski resort. Hardly dared to believe it, and I didn't have the cash to pay if they rejected it, but in the end took a gamble and bought a full new best of gear outfit. Jacket, tousers, goggles, fleece, base layer - the works. Total came in at about £700. And they paid!

Result. Was well worth the two days without our luggage for that...
Olderalan


Posts: 1510
Joined: Feb 2006
Last Visited: 15:23
7th Apr 2019
What's this?What's this?What's this?
Re: Avoid CrystalSki and Jet2.com at all costs!!
Date Posted: 21.24hrs on Wed 25 Jan 12
Veletron, I can sympathise but here is one that I think tops yours:
We had a week in Val d'Isere over Xmas. Skiing was superb until a big blizard hit on Friday 30 Dec. We were due to fly back from Chambery to Edinburgh on Hogmanay. To cut a long story short, thanks to Crystal incompetence we arrived at Chambery after our flight had left...despite leaving Val almost 6 hours before the scheduled flight time. Our journey to Chambery included 2 and a half hours standing outside on the pavement at Bourg St Maurice bus/train Station as we waited for a connecting bus that was coming from Les Arc.
We then had a 3 hour wait in Chambery airport as Crystal tried to sort out buses and hotels for about 100 stranded customers. We were then bused to Grenoble and got checked into a hotel at 23.30hrs...just in time to greet the New Year.Ha Ha.
Next morning we were told that the plan was to put us on a chartered flight to Gatwick which would leave Grenoble at 6.00pm on New Years day. We were then going to be bused up to Edinburgh overnight...arriving in the small hours of 2nd January.
At that point, we used our Laptop to book ourselves onto an Easyjet flight from Grenoble to Edinburgh. The flight left at 11.05 am and we were back in our own house by 2pm when most of the stranded customers were still at Grenoble airport. We had to cough up 130Euros for the taxi fare from the hotel in Grenoble out to the airport which is miles away. The flights were about £120 each.Not expecting much success in trying to get compensation as the operator can claim that they did get everyone home...eventually. Maybe Hipennine can advise?
To add insult to injury we then received a letter from the tour operator which actually said ''we hope that the delay did not detract from your holiday experience''....no offer of any compensation and no apology. The Easyjet flight had more than 100 empty seats so could have easily handled all stranded Edinburgh bound folk but according to Crystal....'the repatriation arrangements that were made were in the best interests of all passengers''

A complete joke/shambles and we too will not be using Crystal again (we actually booked through Thomson but it's all one big corporate monster).
Can anyone top that horror story.

Maybe we should have a wee competition: worst experience at the hands of incompetent tour operators. Bottle of Malt to the winner...my treat.
Kind regards

Olderalan



Edited 2 times. Last edit at 21.32hrs Wed 25 Jan 12 by Olderalan.
veletron


Posts: 447
Joined: Feb 2006
Last Visited: 14:46
1st Apr 2021
Re: Avoid CrystalSki and Jet2.com at all costs!!
Date Posted: 23.08hrs on Wed 25 Jan 12
Olderalan:

That tops mine by an order of manitude!!

Nelbert/H1lly:

No snow at Chambery this weekend gone so that was not the reason. Our aircraft landed the week before 737-300 full of the same bags we attempted to return home with. Obviously, take-off rather than landings are the issue on short runways due to the aircraft being full of fuel etc. Same 737-300 on the return trip. Your daughter was probably on the same aircraft that we were (only earlier in the day) - maybe there was an issue with the aircraft given her issues with baggage. I can't imagine that when we flew to Chambery the week before, there were 48 less bags from our crowd of crystal holidayers than on your daughters flight.

The lady at EDI baggage handling suggested that their may have been an issue with the cargo bay doors, but that was one of many rumours she had heard! She sounded right cheesed off, commented that it was one of the worse cases of missing baggage they had dealt with. 100+ folks missing bags and 170 bags in total were not loaded.

I have been informed today that the bags are in the UK at Luton. They came here from Geneva on a number of flights through a number of different airports! Tomorrow they will get to both Glasgow and Edinburgh via a number of flights and will go via a courier company to the owners...

H1lly: I dont beleieve that distance matters in getting bags back. So Inverness should not be an issue. They use a courier company. Hopefully, your Daughters kit will make it back just fine!

I made the mistake of posting this on Snowheads, and I am apparentely being unreasonable when I expect my bags to travel on the same aircraft that I am on. Oh well!

The Chambery scrum is something you get used to. I just stand back and wait for others to get their stuff before grabbing mine. Chambery does save time IMHO, but the arrivals hall is about the size of my lounge. BTW, top tip: if there's a queue for the bogs when you arrive, go upstairs, the resturant bogs are always empty (due to poor signposting turn left before the main resturant entrance!).

Nigel



Edited 3 times. Last edit at 00.14hrs Thu 26 Jan 12 by veletron.
WindyMiller


Posts: 654
Joined: Sep 2010
Last Visited: 17:31
1st Sep 2019
Re: Avoid CrystalSki and Jet2.com at all costs!!
Date Posted: 17.03hrs on Thu 26 Jan 12
Sorry to hear about your problems.

I have been using Chambery for some time for business and skiing.

It has always been a marginal airport for landing 737s, it very much depends on the people and fuel on board to how much luggage can be loaded. For a while it was recommended not for 737s to land there and in the days of British European flying in they used the BAe 146 as it had short take off and landing capability. BA started to charter out a an AB319 Glasgow / Edinburgh shuttle aircraft at the week end for ski traffic, it also had issues.The now defunct Gloabspan started an all year round scheduled service. When I used this service on business they used to warn people that their skis may have to come on a different flight if they hit their weight limit, priority given to regular bags. The flight used to land in Geneva before Chambery on the way there so was lighter for landing and the other way round on the way back. Less people used the Geneva/Chambery/Geneva leg than Geneva/Edinburgh/Geneva.

Sounds like jet2 need to inform people before they book what may happen but what they say it true about the weight limit for the landing of 737s and the time you have waited for them to return you bags is ridiculous, they could bus it quicker which may be what they are doing, they some times use a courier service for large quantities of luggage.

WM
naefearjustbeer


Posts: 1043
Joined: Apr 2007
Last Visited: 23:28
22nd Nov 2015
Re: Avoid CrystalSki and Jet2.com at all costs!!
Date Posted: 19.19hrs on Thu 26 Jan 12
You know what if the Scottish resorts had full top to bottom snow making systems installed maybe all your travel woes would disappear winking smiley No need to jet abroad!

telemarker


Posts: 2934
Joined: Oct 2003
Last Visited: 14:59
12th Apr 2021
Re: Avoid CrystalSki and Jet2.com at all costs!!
Date Posted: 19.22hrs on Thu 26 Jan 12
Everytime i read this thread a " crystal" add appears at top of page!
Ironic winking smiley
Nelbert


Posts: 281
Joined: Oct 2009
Last Visited: 16:26
23rd Aug 2015
Re: Avoid CrystalSki and Jet2.com at all costs!!
Date Posted: 21.09hrs on Thu 26 Jan 12
Jet 2's fleet is ancient in aviation terms, their average age is 23.2 years according to Wiki. The 737's are second or third hand. Agewise they are up there with African airlines, although you would hope that their maintenance is better!

It's perhaps no coincidence these problems occur when you are flying old aircraft into an airport that isn't supposed to handle them.

I'll take easyjet's 3 or 4 year old A319's into Geneva if the difference is £30 quid and half an hour on a bus.


Hipennine


Posts: 1061
Joined: Dec 2005
Re: Avoid CrystalSki and Jet2.com at all costs!!
Date Posted: 08.55hrs on Fri 27 Jan 12
Chambery is a very performance limited airfield. The cliffs mean that for most "larger" aircraft, the arrival and departure is one way only, and the runway length is marginal for any 737/A319/A320. The weight restriction going out-over is not because of the runway length, but because if the plane has to "go around" on landing (ie landing is aborted at a very late stage), it has to be able to get above those cliffs. To the cognescenti, it is no surprise that these sorts of issues are arising with ski-flights. Inevitably charter fights have more seats than scheduled aircraft, therefore more weight, plus a very high proportion of full baggage allowances plus gear being taken up.

Unfortunately all airlines seem to foul up on ski-flights. Last season there was an issue with an Easyjet flight from Brum to Geneva, where the fuel loader put too much fuel on board, so they offloaded all the luggage (this was the w/e before xmas IIRC) without telling the pax. 180 very irate skiers/boarders when it arrived at Geneva sometime after tea-time. Whatever the compensation levels, I can imaging arriving in somewhere like Val Thorens at midnight on a Saturday with nothing but the clothes you were wearing at the airport is no way to start a xmas holiday.

Olderalan, your case would seem to be outside of the scope of any of the statutory compensation arrangements for airlines, because it seems to be the tour operator that's fouled-up. That of course opens up the possibility of a small-claims action because you suffered a direct loss as a result of their incompetence - www.moneyclaim.gov.uk
veletron


Posts: 447
Joined: Feb 2006
Last Visited: 14:46
1st Apr 2021
Re: Avoid CrystalSki and Jet2.com at all costs!!
Date Posted: 08.59hrs on Fri 27 Jan 12
Well, I finally got my luggage last night, 6 days late. Hurray!!

Judging my the state of it (everything inside both bags was soaking wet), their storage facility is lake Genava! Not what I call 'due care and attention'.

I am going to write to Crystal, and have a moan in case they wish to hand us a voucher towards another trip(!)

At least they did not loose the bags on the way there...

Nebbert, I have done many ad-hoc ski-trips using Easyjet in the past. Agree that their aircraft are much less aged. This time I could not better the crystal deal going ad-hoc. With Crystal, it worked out at £550ea incl lift passes, insurance, transfers both ends, flight and accom (self catered). It was the two for one lift pass that really made it financially. Additionally, if you go ad-hoc, and can't get to your flight on time (roads closed etc), then tough luck. At least with the travel operator they are legally bound to get you/your luggage home (eventually!).

Ski tuition with the ESS (european ski/snowboard school), was excellent by the way. None of the 'follow me' rubbish I have gotten previously with ESF. Me and the Mrs are at different levels, so doing for ski-school (AM) was a chance to ski with folks at our respective speeds and pick up some tips while we were at it.

Nigel



Edited 1 times. Last edit at 09.02hrs Fri 27 Jan 12 by veletron.
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