The Jet2 Experience During My Holiday To Fethiye, Turkey
Published On Tuesday 1 Nov 2016 by Sticky Beak
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I know I usually write about food, but this year’s holiday to Turkey was so great that I branched out into writing about the Hotel itself, and felt that I also needed to write about our tour operator, Jet2 Holidays.
We booked the Holiday online, which was easy peasy and also filled out the visa online too. The next few weeks were spent eagerly crossing off the days until we were jetting off and also checking the weather forecasts with feverish hope that we weren’t going to have the freak storms of last year repeated!
The big day arrived and our taxi (Pinxton & Normo Taxis) arrived promptly, and before we knew it we were in front of the departures doors at East Midlands Airport.
We headed over to the check in desk, having been guided there by a lovely young jet2 lady whose smile was dazzling, and got rid of our suitcases. The check in ladies were so lovely, the nicest check in staff I’ve ever dealt with; along with the serious security questions we were chatting about life in general and our lady’s daughter had just informed her that she had passed her driving test. We passed on our congratulations and headed off in search of food and duty free, in that order.
Sometimes the best laid plans go awry, and so it was on this occasion; we had left plenty of time to sit and have a relaxed hot lunch and a drink, and planned to buy a sandwich at the airport to have on the aeroplane.
Unfortunately there was a power outage at the airport affecting the restaurants abilities to cook, which was only passed on to us by the restaurant staff as no other notices were about. Undeterred, we purchased some sandwiches to eat and went upstairs to have a drink with them, and they were pretty tasty for pre-packed items I must admit. The bar staff members were very nice and did an incredible job keeping the area clean when everyone started coming in as they realised no food was available downstairs in the restaurants.
I don’t normally moan on my blog, but I am going to break the habit on this occasion. The lack of communication about the power outage was inexcusable; there should have been either notices on the floor, tannoy announcements or messages on the screens, but there was nothing.
To add insult to injury, there was a problem with the lavatories too, with only the two disabled toilets upstairs in operation. I haven’t travelled via East Midlands Airport for years, preferring to go to Manchester instead, and this just reminded me why. It isn’t the fact that there was a problem; you can experience those wherever you go, but the woeful lack of information was totally unprofessional. All around you could see families getting more and more frustrated, and kids getting fractious too.
Anyhow enough negativity, let’s get back to more familiar territory and carry on our journey through to duty free (my fave place in the airport!). There was a fantastic selection of products to choose from, no MAC counter though (boo hoo), and we all smelt more fragrant than a rose garden as we headed towards our departure gate. It’s a flock tradition that we don’t pack toiletries, preferring to treat ourselves to new perfumes, aftershaves and cosmetics as part of the holiday experience.
In no time at all our flight was being called to board and the Jet2 Holidays staff made it a very pleasant, hassle free procedure. We walked along the tarmac to our plane and climbed up the staircase where we were greeted by the friendliest cabin crew you could wish to meet.
Their demeanour and professionalism made the flight whizz by and we were touching down at Dalaman airport in next to no time. Once we were reunited with our cases on the carousel it was out to find our representatives and find the coach we were on.
Again, the Jet2 staff members were brilliant; efficiently guiding us to our coach with a friendly smile and wishing us a great holiday, as well as giving us the information for our welcome meeting at our hotel with our local representative.
Mustafa was our rep for the holiday, and what a total legend he was; honestly if there was a world’s best smile contest he’d win it no problem! His personality was equalled by his professionalism and in no time we had booked the excursions we wanted, got maps of Fethiye and its market and been given the low-down on #Letoonialife. A lovely young man called Ahmed was accompanying Mustafa, also a Jet2 rep, but not for our hotel and he was very chatty too. There is a separate blog about the excursions we did, and the companies used, here
All too soon it was time to head back to Dalaman airport and begin the homeward leg of our journey. At the moment (October 2016) Dalaman airport is undergoing a large expansion programme for another terminal, but the disruption is being kept to a minimum and the cleaning team are doing a great job of maintaining it.
We were efficiently checked in by the Turkish Jet2 ladies with smiles and pleasantries exchanged during the process, and it wasn’t long before we headed off into Duty free paradise.
Although there weren’t any discernible restaurants as such, there was every familiar fast food outlet you could want, and we settled for a sandwich at Subway, which was just the ticket. Chickadee had managed to save her holiday pennies and got a rather snazzy Fiorelli bag to bring home.
It was lovely to see one of our outward bound flight attendants greeting us on our homeward flight and she was just as welcoming as she had been previously. The flight went smoothly, as before, and we touched down on the hallowed ground of England on time. We got our luggage and headed out of the arrivals doors and were met by our fab taxi driver once again.
Having never used Jet2 Holidays before, and I will admit to perceiving them as somehow “less” than Thomas Cook and Thomson, I can say that I am a total convert to their company. I’m sure they’re not perfect, but I can imagine that if there is a problem that they would move heaven and earth to try to fix it.
Last year we used one of the other companies and there was no rep service in resort, just a number to contact if needed, even though there were still two weeks of the season left.
This year it was the same circumstance but Jet2 were still offering a full rep service, so for a package holiday I will definitely use them in the future.
Read All Articles Relating To This Holiday
Holiday At Letoonia Club & Hotel, Fethiye, Turkey.
Kebab A-La-Carte At The Letoonia Hotel, Dolphin Restaurant
Sushi A-La-Carte At The Letoonia Hotel, Dolphin Restaurant
Turkish Night At The Letoonia Hotel, Likya Restaurant
The Jet2 Experience During My Holiday To Fethiye, Turkey
Holiday Excursions In And Around Fethiye, Turkey
| #NC500 Day 15 - Our Final Day Was Spent In Northumberland Normally I moan like heck about GB's ruddy bed; honest to goodness, it's impossibly soft and I've never managed to get a solid nights' sleep in it ever....until now!! Read The Article | |
| #NC500 Day 14 - Edinburgh to Northumberland Via Holy Island Ooooooh, my poor tootsies had been sore from all the walking in Edinburgh - thank the lord for Palmer's Cocoa Butter Foot Relief and a superbly comfy bed that had afforded Read The Article | |
| #NC500 Day 13 - Blair Atholl to Edinburgh And The Kelpies His Nibs and I both awoke refreshed and ready to get going for another days activity, thanks to the comfy bed at Ptarmigan House. Gordon (Lin's husband) was already sorting Read The Article | |
| #NC500 Day 12 - From Inverness to Blair Atholl Via The Highland Folk Museum Aaaaah, that was better! Shame the traffic started in earnest about 6am though; wouldn't have been so bad if we hadn't got the windows open to help cool the room down. Mind you Read The Article | |
| NC500 Day 11 - From Kinlochewe to Inverness With A Visit To Culloden Oooh, the bed at The Kinlochewe Hotel is a fibber! You sit on it and it tells you that you'll get a nice nights sleep in it, but you don't; instead it suddenly becomes very Read The Article | |
| #NC500 Day 10 - From Gairloch to Kinlochewe (Via Bealach Na Ba - The Applecross Pass) Both of us had had a superb slumber at the Gairloch Hotel, and I'd had a relaxing soak in the large bathtub before bedtime as well, so I was definitely Read The Article | |
| #NC500 Day 9 - From Lochinver To Gairloch Kirsteen (our host at Bonnie Haven) was up bright and early to ensure that we had a selection of cheeses, crackers and Ham on our table when we came down, and directed us Read The Article | |
| #NC500 Day 8 - From Tongue to Lochinver With Caves, Bridges & A Zipwire Blimey, that was the best nights kip so far! If I could take the bed at Tigh-Nan-Ubhal back to the shire with me, I would. For once, when the alarm Read The Article | |
| #NC500 Day 7 - From Scrabster to Tongue With A Detour Back To John O Groats What should've been a straight-forward onward journey to Tongue, actually had a bit of Deja-vu to it! Thanks to us not realising the Castle of Mey and Gardens is Read The Article | |
| #NC500 Day 6 - Helmsdale To Scrabster Via John O Groats Warm Croissants, Blueberry Muffins, a Full Fry-Up (Him), and Avocado, Cherry Tomato, Poached Egg and Mushroom on Toast (me) got The Man Bird and I off to a flying start on what was Read The Article | |