Woman's luggage turns up five months after luxury holiday

A woman has told how she was shocked to find her suitcase on her doorstep five months after it went missing on a five-star holiday to Turkey.

Sian Armour, 42, from Fife, was left without her belongings on a two-week trip to the Liberty Fabay resort in Dalaman in July with her family.

She told the BBC she had given up hope of seeing her suitcase again until it arrived earlier this week.

A Jet2.com spokeswoman confirmed Sian was now reunited with her luggage.

The scientist, from Ladybank, said the luxury holiday was her first big trip in three years but it was blighted by the loss of her bag.

She said: “When we realised my luggage was missing the rep put me in a taxi to a very cheap market and told me not to spend more than £100.

“There were no shoes my size so I had to wear flip flops and jelly shoes that were both two sizes too small.

“I ended up buying kids clothes in order to find things that fitted.

“It was so embarrassing going for dinner each night in a five star resort when all the ladies were wearing dresses and heels and I had a vest and flip flops on, it was absolutely terrible.”

The holiday firm has since agreed to pay Sian £1,436 in compensation for all the replacement items she had to buy – but she feels the disappointment and stress she felt during the holiday has not been addressed.

She recalled how she bought a bikini but after three days it snapped while she was at the pool because it was low quality.

She had no make-up or perfume or jewellery to wear to the evening meals.

“I asked the rep every day if my suitcase had turned up but I got the feeling he wasn’t doing anything about it,” she said.

As the days wore on she needed more clothes than the initial emergency ones that were meant to tide her over for a few days until her luggage turned up.

“I spent three days in total in shopping malls and markets buying clothes and sun cream and all the things we needed when I should have been at the pool.

“I was gutted about the situation but I tried not to let it show to my husband and daughter.”

Her husband, Mark, 42, and 10-year-old daughter, Courtney, had their luggage but all the shared items for the family such as sun cream had been in Sian’s bag.

On one occasion they went on a day trip, which they had booked back in the UK, along a gorge to a waterfall.

She said: “They told us we needed water shoes for the trip so I bought some to take. We were advised not to wear flip flops so that’s when I bought jelly shoes out there but they only had a size six and I’m a size eight.

“I was very uncomfortable in them and the soles were so thin I could feel every stone I walked over.”

When they returned home she spent weeks calling Jet2 and even Tweeted the chief executive in a bid to find her luggage.

“I had given up on my luggage so when it appeared on my doorstep on Monday I was in disbelief,” Sian said.

Jet2.com told her the bag had turned up at Edinburgh Airport and that they did not know what had happened although tags show it had gone to Munich via Frankfurt.

A Jet2.com spokeswoman said: “Our teams always do everything they can to look after customers, and we have continued to assist Ms Armour. We can confirm that Ms Armour has now been reunited with her luggage.”

The holiday firm said it had issued a compensation cheque, and it is believed to be in the post.

Sian said: “I hope it turns up because I’ve spent a lot of money rebuying all the electrical goods and dresses I had bought for my holiday.”

She said in future she will take valuables in her hand luggage and mix up the shared items between her husband and daughter’s suitcases.