Well, as you've probably noticed, things don't seem to go smoothly for me so when I received my text saying that my passport was on the way back and would be with me by 1pm the following day, I took it with a pinch of salt :s

Sure enough, the envelope finally arrived two days later..... luckily, I know from experience that mail coming to Jersey can sometime take longer, but that doesn't mean that I didn't have a sleepless night!

Anyway, all sorted now. Just got to organise the Yuan and I'm good to go - two months today and counting. See you in Terminal Two!

Mandy

Hi Mike

Many thanks for letting me know - no I haven't received anything yet from JY, either the visa paperwork or the flight changes.

I'm in Jersey so sometimes the post takes longer, but I'm concerned about the flight changes because I have also booked and paid for a hotel (at Gatwick) and specifically picked this date because it was the last trip flying from Gatwick before Air China change to Heathrow for the winter. (There are no direct flights from Jersey to Heathrow so, in addition to my connecting flight costs, it looks like I've also got the additional expense of hiking across to Heathrow.)

Julia - can you advise when the arrangements were changed and when JY are planning to tell me, please? My travel pack for the Rome City break in May also arrived at the last minute so I'm begining to think that everything is sent out second class, which can take a couple of weeks to get to Jersey sometimes. It's a bit worrying because I frequently travel to the UK a few days in advance of the tour departure date and might miss something important( i.e my Visa) if the post is delayed.

Many thanks

Mandy

Hi Mandy,

Just to let you know that my passport was returned today by Royal Mail special delivery with the Chinese visa attached inside.

I got a text message yesterday to say that it had been posted and I signed to accept delivery this afternoon. Hopefully you will receive yours soon if you haven't already.

Looking forward to meeting you on the 8th Oct.

Mike

Yes, you sussed it - when I spoke to our care team earlier they informed me that you will be both departing and arriving from London Heathrow.

I do apologise for the confusion that has been caused.

Kindest regards,

Julia

I too have received 3 invoices (in addition to the original letter advising of the flight change), the last of which dated 10th July shows Heathrow as the UK airport. I thought I had this sussed but can we be absolutely clear on this please?

DEP: LHR 20.25hrs RETURN: LHR 17.45hrs Correct??

I've cancelled my Gatwick hotel for the night before as a result of the original letter and will need to contact JY for a National Express voucher in the coming days for transport to/from Heathrow.

Many thanks Julia

Mike

I am so sorry to hear that you have received various letters and amended invoices with conflicting flight information. I can completely understand your confusion and appreciate that this has given you some cause for concern.

After some investigation, it appears the system was updated with the airport change incorrectly after the letter dated 4th July. This automatically generated an invoice (dated 8th July). The following invoice you received dated 9th July shows the correct airport and times as per the letter from Rebecca.

Once again, please accept my sincere apologies for the confusion and inconvenience this has caused you. If I can be of any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact me.

Kind Regards,

Julia

Aye, Cambodia in Nov 2015. You must have read my post. Peru first tho in September so not long now. Both TS. Maybe jumped the gun a bit re Cambodia as now like the sound of Nepal!!!

Angie

Sorry to keep banging on about this but yesterday I received two more JY letters (sent on different days) quoting different flight and airport details for the trip and I'm getting really confused and more than a bit worried that I'll end up at the wrong airport at the wrong time!

To summarise, so far I've had:

15 March - Confirmation that the flights would depart and arrive back at Gatwick (leaving on 8th Oct at 13.15 and landing on 19th at 5.50am)

2nd July (received 12th July - 2nd class post) - Confirmation that the flights would depart and arrive back at Gatwick (landing on 19th at 5.50am)

4th July (received 12th July - 2nd class post) - Letter from Rebecca Mowday advising that departure and arrival had changed from Gatwick to Heathrow, now landing at 17.45pm on 19th (causing me to miss the last possible connection to Jersey and therefore incurring all the inconveniance and additional costs mentioned in my previous post)

8th July (received 15th July - 2nd class post) - Confirmation that departure would be from Gatwick, at the original time on 8th but that arrival would be to Heathrow 17.45 on 19th.

9th July (received 15th July - 2nd class post) - Confirmation that departure was from Heathrow on 8th at 20.25 and arrival was at Heathrow on 19th at 17.45.

I'm sorry to be a pain but this trip is becoming a confusing and extremely costly planning nightmare. (Although, once again I appreciate that this is Air China's doing not JY's, and because it is simply a transfer between two London airports and the change in arrival time is 15 minutes short of the 12 hours hours required before compensation is payable, I have no recourse) Could you look into it for me and clarify the current airport/flight time situation please? I should be getting excited about the very special trip but instead I'm getting completely stressed.

Thanks as always

Mandy

Wow, this flight change has really messed you about hasn't it!

I lost £16.49 in cancelling my hotel at Gatwick (the rest of my money was refunded), and I'll have to buy a National Express ticket to get to Heathrow, but reading your experience has made me feel rather fortunate.

Because flight details are only confirmed 2 weeks before departure you're really left with little choice but to make any additional travel arrangements based on the information you have at the time. On that basis you just have to hope that any flight changes are minimal and don't affect what plans you've already put in place.

Looking forward to meeting you

Best regards

Mike

Yes, I'm on this tour together with the Yangtze add-on. Many thanks for getting in touch again, it's great to hear from you. I'll post a review unless someone else beats me to it on my return.

I've printed off most of my Jordan pics and put them in an album. They're great to look at and good memories.

Am I right thinking that you're off to Cambodia etc with TS next year?

All the best

Mike

The good news is that both of my envelopes arrived over the weekend (2nd Class post, as I suspected. Call me old fashioned but given that they're charging nearly 3 grand for a holiday, JY could have used a first class stamp given that my address is not in the UK. I am genuinely worried that my passport and visa might be sent the same way)

The bad news is (and thanks again for letting me know about this Mike) that not only has the departure time and airport changed, but also the return flight. Instead of landing at Gatwick at 6am on Sunday morning, we are now landing at Heathrow at 17.45pm that evening, which means I will miss my connecting flight home to Jersey. (As this was a non-changable ticket, I've had to take the loss, cancel and rebook). I've had to pay for new connecting flights to Jersey, an extra hotel night, connections from Gatwick to Heathrow (you can't fly directly to Heathrow from the Channel Islands) and also had to take a day of unpaid leave from work as I was due back on Monday.

All in all, the change (which I completely understand was Air China's doing, not JY's) has cost me just over £400 - and that was only because I was able to use some Avios points, otherwise it would have been closer to £600. But, having checking the T&Cs, I realised that cancelling the trip would have lost me over £800, not to mention the £70 I've already paid to see my doctor for my China jabs (we don't have the NHS in Jersey and have to pay for everything.) So, basically, I was stuck between a rock and a hard place and have been very firmly penalised for not living in Mainland UK.

Anyway, whats done is done. I've just got to suck it up, put the whole thing behind me and try to focus on the excitement of the holiday. I know that I am extremely fortunate to be in a position to afford both the holiday and the cost of all the changes, but I think it will be a while before I do another one.

Looking forward to meeting you, Mike

Best regards

Mandy