A mum has been reunited with her suitcase five months after it was lost by an airline forcing her to wear her 10-year-old daughter's clothes on holiday - but says the experience brought them closer. Mother-of-one Sian Armour, 42, went on holiday with husband Mark, 42, and daughter Courtney in July during baggage chaos at Edinburgh Airport.
The couple worked two jobs and saved up for three years to pay for the £3,400 getaway to Dalaman, Turkey, with Jet2.com Holidays, for a fortnight. But her luggage, containing around £2,000 of items including an Apple Watch and perfume as well as new clothes bought for the trip, was lost and ended up in Germany.
Sian is still waiting for a cheque for £1035.06 to turn up, and said she spent a lot of the holiday traipsing round markets looking for clothes, and on hold to Jet2.com and baggage handlers Swissport. Sian, a scientist who runs a fitness company with her husband, snapped a selfie wearing Courtney's leopard print skirt and some sandals which were two sizes two small.
She said the palaver turned out to be a bonding experience with her daughter. The luggage turned up at her home in Ladybank, Fife, on December 12. Sian said: "It was 40 degrees, the last thing I wanted to do was to be traipsing around markets or going into shops to try and buy underwear.
"I spent a couple of hours a day trying to get hold of Jet2.com and Swissport. The value was around £2,000, the suitcase itself was £200 and there were items like straighteners and a hairdryer.
"I spent about £200 replacing stuff and was told to keep a receipt, I didn't even know what I could claim for. I bought new clothes for the trip but was told I could only be reimbursed for items in the suitcase where I had receipts.
"After 100 days it was deemed to be 'irretrievably lost'. The suitcase was brand new, we decided to buy decent ones.
"If you put a bag in the hold take a picture of the case open in case it gets lost. I had 22kg of stuff in there including trainers which cost £200 and a phone charger.
"The Jet2.com rep checked it in for us but it ended up with a Luthansa luggage tag being sent to Munich, then came back via Frankfurt.
"I can't blame Jet2.com or the baggage handlers, but the response was appalling. I got five emails from them in five months.
"We worked two jobs to save for the holiday over three years, and spent a lot of it on hold, chasing missing luggage. It's so important getting away from it all and switching off.
"I'm the first person to say I don't get to spend enough time with my daughter, but we did bond because I had to borrow some clothes. It probably brought us a bit closer.
"She quite enjoyed me trying on her clothes."
Sian was shocked when she felt the airline were trying to recoup the cheque issued after her luggage turned up. The family had put all their shared items in the lost suitcase.
Sian said she had to go out for dinner wearing items she bought in the market. She said they still enjoyed their trip but she had spent five months living on eggshells waiting to hear the doorbell ring.
The fitness instructor runs affordable group fitness classes for all ages online, The Jungle Body Fife. She said: "I've been like a dog waiting for the postman.
"I tried my best to enjoy it."
A spokesperson for Jet2.com 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.”
