Mary M.
Watch out for flight bookings while traveling in the Stans!
I traveled to the 5 Stans September 17-October 7. The trip went well, hotels, land transportation, and guides were very good. Our guides really made the trip for us as there were just the two of us traveling. It was nice to have guides that felt like friends. We enjoyed their company very much! The sights and experiences we had were amazing. Each one of the Stans is unique from the other, however, you must have endurance to do all 5 together. We are world travelers, I'm at 128 countries and it was a challenge. But worth it! Unfortunately, we ended with our flight going to Istanbul from Bishkek being cancelled and Turkish air was of no help in rescheduling as they only had the one flight a day. It took us 4 hours of anxiety to get a booking on Aeroflot to Moscow and then onto Paris to make our connection. I don't know what we would have done without the local agent in Uzbekistan, Mansur. Luckily, he had introduced himself in Tashkent so we had his number. He was so great in booking us on a flight to make our connection in Paris. However, we think this could have been avoided in the planning stage by Flo, which was done by the Florida office. We were told at the airport that the flight they had booked us on operated by Turkish Air is frequently canceled...and when we arrived at home and talked with the local office of Flo in Florida, they said they did not send their group tours out that way. We had a special designed private tour for the two of us....we allowed them to design the tour and we just took out things we did not want to do. I would have thought they would plan the trip around what works best for their groups and if they usually don't fly their groups out of Bishkek, why fly us out of there? Therefore, because of our experience, I would not recommend anyone traveling to the 5 Stans to leave from Bishkek to Istanbul, knowing what I now know, Bishkek is lovely to visit so don't miss it....If I had it to do over, I would have recommended they start us in Bishkek, then to Almaty and onward like our itinerary was scheduled which would have put us back at Tashkent in the end and we could have flown easily from there. Even though this caused us 11 hours of hanging around at the Paris airport since everything was closed when we got there, we both agree that we loved the trip! We try not to think about the extra $2000 each that it cost us because Turkish Air cancelled the flight! Hopefully we will get some of that back due to the cancellation by Turkish Airlines. THIS IS AN UPDATE TO MY ORIGINAL POST! i finally heard back from the insurance company. I took out the insurance from Flo Tours AIG (Travelguard) and they classified the cancellation of the plane as a missed connection so paid $250 as a maximum benefit. They did not think it qualified as a trip interruption even though that is really what is was. I did not MISS the connection. So I would also make sure if you are buying a policy through a tour agent to check for insurance outside of what is being offered. I had talked with AIG travelguard prior to purchasing to make sure this was covered as that's why you take out insurance, in case an airline fails to deliver. Turkish air failed to deliver, I was under the impression that was covered. It was NOT a missed connection. BEWARE of AIG "Travelguard" I have traveled a lot and have taken out insurance before with Travelguard. First time I had to use it and they don't cover what they say...My coverage was for Trip Cancellation/Or Interruption which they said would cover up to 150% of Trip cost. They chose to call it a missed connection so that only covered $250. Very disappointing. Their excuse is that is a Common Carrier cause. Well under their contract it says mechanical/equipment failure is a common carrier cause and that is covered under Trip Cancellation/Or Interruption. Since Turkish air did not tell us why they cancelled it...how does Flo or myself know that is was not mechanical reasons. So again...WATCH OUT FOR AIG TRAVELGUARD INSURANCE!
Response from Flo ToursFeb 19, 2019
Thank you for your lovely review Mary. I am so sorry that Turkish Airlines cancelled their flight from Bishkek to Istanbul on that day. We have no control over airline operations and Bishkek flight is usually on time. (Flightstats reports 80% on time). It has been an unfortunate incident, but i am glad that you purchased the travel insurance that covers all these unforeseen events. We love to see you on our tours to other less-traveled destinations. Thank you for travelling with Flo Tours.