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Gary Sheppard and Jen O’Rourke, from Glasgow, found themselves at Gatwick Airport with no idea what continent they were going to, let alone what country they’d be spending four days in
A man was thrilled to find out where he was going on holiday – when he touched down at the airport.
Gary Sheppard recently found himself walking through Gatwick Airport with his partner Jen O’Rourke wondering what lay ahead of them. Not only did they not know what the weather would be like, if the hotel would be up to scratch or if they’d meet any likeminded holidaymakers – as most people jetting off on a break – they had no idea where they were going. The couple didn’t even know what continent they’d be on.
Departure boards were complicit in the ruse. After putting their bags through security and reaching the terminal, Gary and Jen read that they were heading for a ‘foreign destination’ on a Wizz Air plane. No other information was given.
The Glaswegian couple trouped onto the plane and buckled up. A little over three hours later, much to their mutual delight, they touched down on a sun-hardened runway and stepped out of the plane into the rays. It was at that point that Gary and Jen were told they were in Turkey. Antalya to be precise.
“When we touched down in Antalya we found out where we were. That’s the once in a life time experience,” Gary, 40, told the Mirror. Over the course of the next four days the couple enjoyed what Gary described as “the holiday of a lifetime”.
“We got off the plane, walked onto a VIP lounge – where your private jet guests would go – and were met with Champagne and classical music. We enjoyed white water rafting, off-road driving, we went to a high end restaurant with shark in the aquarium next to you while you had dinner,” he continued.
The duo were among a lucky selection of people who had won a seat on Wizz Air’s latest Get Lost campaigns, in which the budget Hungarian airline takes a selection few on a mystery tour to one of its destinations. Previously it has jetted passengers out from/to: Vienna – Valencia, London – Bari, Abu Dhabi – Kutais, Venice – Saudi, Abu Dhabi – Kyrgyzstan, and Milan – Rome. This time around Wizz Air organised the trip in conjunction with the Turkish Tourist Board.
Jen had called Gary at work to tell him she’d stuck lucky after entering the competition on Instagram. “She told me to arrange time off. It was unbelievable. We knew nothing at all,” the golf travel industry worker said.
“The adventure part of it was we had no idea. We tried to work out, we thought maybe a city break. But it turned into the best trip ever, it was much better than a city break. I don’t know anyone else who has got on a plane and not known where they’re going.”
Although the next Get Lost trip from the UK has not yet been announced, but people should keep an eye on WIZZ’s social channels for announcements.
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