It is estimated that some 60 million visits abroad are made by Britons each year, with some 20 million package holidays being sold The range of destinations is as wide as it is varied. In the same way the range of complaints are varied, the principle area of concern relates to holiday food poisoning claims. Read More

In September 2008, HolidayTravelWatch was invited to the Department for Business Enterprise & Regulatory Reform (DBERR), along with other Consumer Groupings, to discuss the future of Consumer Protection within Holiday Contracts. Read More

Mrs W booked with a mainstream Tour Operator, which was subsequently taken over by a major Tour Operator.  She purchased a Package Holiday to the Maldives, staying in Herathera.  Mrs W, looking forward to her holiday, travelled without concern to Male.  When she arrived on Male, she was advised by the Travel Representative that they would not be traveling to Herathera.  Why? Because the island she had chosen and paid for was not ready!  She was offered another destination, Kuramathi, some 500 miles further away from where she wanted to be!  Mrs W endeavoured to resolve this difficult situation by requesting travel to another island, one that was closer than what was being offered.  The Travel Representative advised her that this would not be possible.  She was told that there was no availability anywhere else, only on the island that she was being offered.  Mrs W was not deterred, she requested that she be flown back to the UK.  The Representative advised her that that there were no flights available; she had no choice, she had to go to Kuramathi.  Mrs W did not want to take this option, it was not the destination she had chosen, and the resort being offered, did not have the same facilities they had originally booked.  She was advised by the Travel Representative that if they decided to stay, then it would be evidence that they had accepted the changes that were being made.  Mrs W and her family decided that they would not accept the change, and given that they were not being offered a return flight, they decided that they would return to the UK using their own money, and purchased their return flights.  Understandably, Mrs W and her family considered that they had been treated unfairly. They believe that as their chosen resort was not ready, the Tour Operator must have known of these difficulties for some time before they left the UK.  Why were they not informed before they travelled to the Maldives?  Mrs W decided that she would write to the Tour Operator to complain at how they had been treated.  She received 2 acknowledgements followed by a formal letter of response.  The family were offered £100 in compensation, and advised that there would be no further correspondence, the matter was closed!  2 further letters have not been responded to! Read More

We are often asked how travel providers can adjust their prices; where do they get their powers from?  The answer is contained within Regulation 11 of The Package Travel Regulations.  Firstly, no price revision can be made unless the contract specifically allows, and in particular such a revision must not only be upwards but also downwards.  It must also satisfy several conditions.  The contract must set out how the revision must be calculated, secondly the revision must relate solely to transportation and fuel costs.  Revision can be made for dues and taxes for services, such as landing fees or embarkation and disembarkation fees at ports and airports.  However, whatever revisions may be possible, no such revision ‘may be made in a specified period which may not be less than 30 days’ before the departure date.  In addition, ‘no price increase may be made in respect of variations which would produce an increase of less than 2%, or such greater percentage as the contract may specify’.  It is normal practice for ABTA members to seek approval for such price increases from their trade body; the decision to approve the rises are published on their website. Read More

In response to a request from the Financial Services Authority, HolidayTravelWatch has submitted its opinion on the proposed regulations, which will govern the sale of Travel Insurance to Consumers from 1 January 2009. This submission will conclude a lengthy consultation process which began before the Treasury Select Committee, followed by the enquiry of HM The Treasury. Read More

The European Commission has called for stakeholders in the travel debate to make submissions on the future of the Package Travel Directive. HolidayTravelWatch has made its submission, highlighting 160 case study examples of travel problems experienced by travel consumers in the previous 14 weeks.  Many of these cases involve reports of holiday illness/sickness, changes to holidays, flight changes and poor customer service. Read More

The enquiry, commenced by The Treasury Select Committee, into the sale of Travel Insurance and its regulation will benefit holidaymakers, where they suffer with holiday illness or accident, lose personal possessions or need to return to the UK or cancel their holiday unexpectedly.  We consider that a regulatory regime will bring home to holidaymakers the very strong need to insure and make sure that they are fully covered!    Read More