‘They have ruined everything’: Devastated couple caught in TUI holiday disaster

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Newlyweds Daniella and Benjamin Bushell from Nottinghamshire have been left devastated after a mistake made by TUI “ruined their honeymoon”. The mix-up meant the couple could not go on their planned honeymoon.

Daniella and Benjamin, both 25, got married on July 10.

They had planned to spend their honeymoon a few days afterward, from July 14, in Rhodes in Greece.

However, when they arrived at East Midlands Airport, they were shocked to be told the flight had been cancelled.

Tui had cancelled the flight on June 28, but had not told Daniella and Benjamin.

The couple had even visited a local TUI branch in Eastwood shortly before their expected departure to pick up their boarding passes and had been met with a “system error”.

They were then asked to pick up their passes at East Midlands Airport, still unaware of the news that awaited them.

This was not the first time the pair had had their holiday plans cancelled.

Daniella and Benjamin originally booked the Greek holiday in August 2019 for June 2020, but moved it forward due to the coronavirus pandemic.

They had even planned their wedding with the holiday in mind, knowing this way that it could act as their honeymoon.

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The couple were initially meant to get married in May, but moved the special day to July specifically because of the holiday.

The newlyweds were therefore understandably upset and angry to hear that their long-awaited trip had been cancelled yet again.

Benjamin Bushell told Nottinghamshire Live: “When we went into the airport it was basically empty – no-one was there.

“So we thought ‘this is weird’.

“We had to speak to another airline as TUI wasn’t there and we explained the situation to us.

“They told us there was no flights going to Greece.

“Then the woman checked the system and told us the flight had already been cancelled.”

Benjamin added that they “didn’t get an email, a call, or anything telling us”.

He said: “We were expecting back in June to get something like a phone call explaining what amber status meant so we could decide what to do.

“We were more than happy to move it.”

Daniella added: “If they’d have cancelled it and let us know last week, we could have planned something else.

“But there is nowhere we can go, everywhere is completely booked.

“We now have 10 days sat at home.”

The couple said that they will not be flying with TUI again, but they don’t blame the staff at the airline’s Eastwood branch at all.

“I don’t want people to think we are angry just because we couldn’t go on holiday, it’s because they didn’t give us any opportunity to make any other plans,” Danielle said.

She added: “They [the company] have ruined everything for us.

“And TUI head office didn’t seem interested in us missing everything.

“We don’t go on holiday every year because we can’t afford it, so this was our treat and now it’s going to be four years since having a holiday.

“We had saved up for it.”

A TUI spokesperson said the airline has apologised to the couple. They added: “We’re very sorry we didn’t advise Mr and Mrs Bushell about the cancellation of their holiday.

“This should not have happened and we understand how upsetting their experience must have been.

“We’re in touch with the couple and hope they will accept our gesture of goodwill along with our sincere apologies.”

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