A couple who flew from Edinburgh on a dream trip to Mallorca have told how a luggage delay turned it into a nightmare - leaving them without clothes or toiletries for half the holiday.
Devastated Lorna and Desmond Kelly, both 68, booked a luxury break to Spain, but claimed they spent most of it "in tears every day" without their bags.
The Mirror reports how Lorna says she was forced to wash her underwear in the bathroom sink and spent a total of £600 replacing their belongings over four days - a cost she was unable to afford. She said: "It was a disaster of a holiday. We were left with only the clothes on our backs."
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The couple jetted off from Edinburgh to Mallorca airport with Ryanair last July for what was supposed to be a relaxing and rejuvenating getaway. Lorna, who was a full-time carer for her poorly 95-year-old father at the time, had taken some persuading from her sister Elaine, 62, to fly.
"Elaine told me I needed to book a holiday and she'd take over caring for dad. We felt like we really needed some time off," Lorna, from North Lanarkshire, Scotland, explained.
"We were looking forward to 10 days away, but instead as the days passed we got more and more stressed. I was in a terrible state and in tears every day. The holiday was utterly wasted."
The pair has spent £628 on Ryanair flights, but quickly discovered the suitcases hadn't arrived in Spain with them. The hotel, which cost them £2,600, was out of the ordinary expenditure for the couple, and they were so excited to get away.
"We had not had a holiday in so long and we thought it would be worth it - how wrong we were," Lorna said. When the couple arrived, they went straight to the supermarket to stock up on toiletries, but struggled to find shops selling clothes and underwear.
"We had to wear the same clothing and didn't have chargers for our phones. My husband didn't have any sandals," Lorna said. "I had to keep washing the same pants until I found underwear at the market. We didn't have sunglasses, a sunhat and Ryanair weren't providing us with any information."
By the time Lorna's luggage arrived on 22 July, she says the trip was "already ruined" and they struggled to enjoy it. "Ryanair haven't even apologised. We hadn't flown with them before and will never fly with them again," Lorna said.
"It really has been soul destroying to deal with. I'm still feeling the effects of this holiday months on as we paid for all the replacement belongings on our credit card. Ryanair gave us £60 for a damaged suitcase - which we didn't have - to shut down the case."
A spokesperson for Ryanair said: "Ryanair carried 16.8m passengers in July 2022 and leads the industry with fewest misplaced bags.
"This passenger is one of the very few Ryanair passengers whose luggage was temporarily delayed and while they did submit a claim for out of pocket expenses, their claim was not supported with valid receipts. A member of our Customer Services team is now liaising with this customer directly to assist with their claim."
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