A retired couple endured 70 hours' of flight delays on a trip where fellow holidaymakers ended up sleeping on the pavement.
John Dawson, 72, and his wife Ann, 65, suffered lengthy delays going to and back from Crete, with the added insult of their suitcases being left behind at Manchester Airport.
Not only where they kicked out of a hotel early, they were unable to get a spirit-raising meal from Wetherspoons and had to wait hours at baggage reclaim, Lancashire Telegraph reports.
Their trip got off to a shaky start on September 2 when their 6.35pm TUI flight from the North West travel hub was cancelled.
The pair were taken to a hotel in Stockport, where they say they were given no information.
The couple were told they would be picked up by coach to travel to Gatwick Airport at 1pm the following day, but the coach did not arrive until 3pm, despite them being "kicked out of the hotel as there was a wedding on", John says.
The Sheffield duo were left waiting outside with everyone else - hungry as they had not eaten since breakfast and without access to a toilet on board the coach.
When a pregnant woman insisted on the driver stopping, they say he brought the coach to a halt on the motorway, allowing her to get on another vehicle following behind.
Ann said: "Traffic was flying past, we thought someone could get hit."
The disgruntled pair claim they were given a £20 voucher each for food and drink when they arrived at Gatwick airport, but that shops were shutting.
They found a Wetherspoons - but it had stopped serving food and they were not allowed to use the vouchers for alcohol - meaning John couldn't even get a well-deserved pint.
Eventually, the weary couple flew out to Crete at 11pm on September 3 - almost 24 hours after they should have been flying, they claim.
But the couple's holiday woes didn't stop there.
As the couple finally arrived in sun-soaked Greece and went to collect their luggage, they were told it had been left behind in Manchester.
John said: "Everybody's luggage was still in Manchester. There were babies with no push chairs.
"We had no clothes and felt a bit scruffy and a bit fed up. We had to fill in forms to say what our luggage looked like."
The pair were taken by coach to their hotel and eventually arrived at 6am.
After contacting a TUI representative in the UK, they were told to buy some clothes and toiletries and claim the money back.
The following day at 5pm their suitcases finally arrived, John said.
After recovering from the the 27-hour flight delays, the pair went on to have a fantastic holiday, with John telling his wife: "At least it can't be as bad on the way back".
Unfortunately it was.
When their holiday was over, the refreshed couple arrived at Heraklion airport to fly back to Manchester at 1.55am on Saturday, September 17, only to see the flight time be repeatedly delayed until it was eventually cancelled.
John said: "We travelled 20 yards on a bus to get the luggage off the plane, then we were kicked out of the baggage area and had to hang around for two to three hours.
"People were sleeping on the pavement outside. As daylight came up we were put on a coach and sent to a hotel nearby for 10am, in time for breakfast."
He said they received a text telling them they would be picked up at 5pm that day to fly at 8pm.
Once they were back at the airport and close to the gate and about about to board, they were told the flight had been cancelled again.
With a dreadful feeling of deja-vu the exhausted pair were taken to another hotel, where they stayed overnight.
John said that, after being given numerous flight times, they eventually managed to get back to the UK at 6am GMT - 43 hours later.
"I understand mistakes in life happen, but there was no correspondence," John said.
"I booked my holiday in a shop and I don't have modern technology and an app."
TUI said that the outbound flight was delayed as a "disruptive passenger" had to be offloaded, taking crew over their maximum legal working hours.
The last-minute delay meant luggage could not be taken off the flight, but was sent to customers the next day.
A TUI spokesperson said: "We fully understand Mr and Mrs Dawson’s frustrations and sincerely apologise for the delays they encountered travelling to and from Heraklion.
"Whilst we do everything we can to get customers on holiday and home again on time, sometimes there are circumstances beyond our control that don’t make this possible.
"And regrettably in the Dawson’s case, a combination of unforeseen circumstances impacted both their outward and return journeys.
"Our teams kept in touch with them throughout their delays and we provided accommodation, transfers meals and details of how to claim the compensation they are entitled to under EU 261 regulations.
"We’d like to thank them for their patience and repeat our apologies for their unfortunate experience.
Commenting on the delayed return flight, TUI said that the company "fully understands customers frustrations" and thanked passengers for their "patience and understanding".
The flight operator also stated that overnight accommodation was sourced for all customers in Heraklion, that customers were provided with food and drink at the airport and a TUI holiday voucher, that customers were advised of their rescheduled departure time via email and text messages, and that customers are entitled to EU 261 compensation.
"We fully understand customers’ frustration due to the delay of flight TOM2571 from Heraklion to Manchester, which was unfortunately delayed due to a technical fault which meant the aircraft needed to remain in Heraklion overnight," the company spokesman said.
