Help finding a cheap Holiday !

i tried ice lolly they seemed expensive once they added all the extras.... https://www.otbeach.com excellent prices transfers not included tho...
Thomsons and portland direct (same company) have good deals... mytravel (click last minute) have good prices..

saveapenny wrote: »

Be careful using OTBeach
I always used to price up using them but they havnt got thier own ATOL they only use the airlines ATOL so if anything goes wrong witht the hotel your not cover. The ABTA bonding on DIYing break via compnaies like OTBeach isnt worth a bean.
The package isnt covered

There have also been loads of complaints about them lately from what i have read on various websites.

Hi Sava/Sloppy,

Agreed re: points made re: ATOL.

Some examples.....& these are just picked at random & ARE NOT a criticism of the companies concerned (before I get sued!)....1-Icelolly. I quote from their terms & conditions 'We operate as a travel directory on behalf of third party sellers. The resulting legal contract in respect of any bookings made through this website is between you and that third party seller, and is subject to the terms and conditions of that third party seller, which they will advise you of directly. You should carefully review their terms and conditions applying to the transaction.' Ice lolly have an ABTA licence & are breaking no rules (at present). What the above says is that say, for example you found a deal to Costa Brava using Ryanair & your flights were cancelled....the contract is with RYANAIR not icelolly. So, if the flight was cancelled 2 days prior (or indeed if the inbound flight was cancelled while you were there)... YOU would be responsible for sorting it all out! See Ryanair conditions 'If your flight is cancelled or before the date of travel, is rescheduled so as to depart more than three hours before or after the original departure time then you will be entitled to a travel credit or full refund of all monies paid if the alternative flight/s offered are not suitable to you and you do not travel.
Ryanair does not provide compensation for flights which are delayed or cancelled for reasons beyond Ryanair's control. You may therefore wish to ensure that you have suitable private insurance cover in force to cover such eventualities. Your rights under EU Regulation 261/2004 are unaffected, so in the case of denied boarding, flight cancellation or a delay in excess of two hours you will be provided with a written notice setting out the rules for compensation and assistance in line with such Regulation.'

So....you could be in a situation either prior to travel or in resort where you have NO flights & still have your accommodation booked (which if you cancelled you'd lose most/all of what you'd paid-depending on when it was cancelled in relation to departure date)....so it's up to YOU to re-book flights. So-you are left with accom & having to re-book the flights. And I'll bet you a million $'sss that the flights you re-book are a damn site dearer than you paid for them! If there is a problem on bookings made like this it's a 'lose lose' situation.Also-you'll notice they do not have an admin department-just e-mail.


Now to otbeach. Again I quote ' In order to offer the very best prices for our customers we are searching the best trade sites on the internet for the lowest possible hotel prices on more than 30,000 hotels. This may take up to 30 seconds.

With On The Beach Holidays, you can be sure that:

Your flight booking is ATOL protected.
All details taken on our site are securely processed, and encrypted to 128 Bit SSL standard.
You and we are fully covered by our full membership of ABTA.
We use live prices, chosen from the best value suppliers.'

And from their 'booking conditions' 'TERMS OF BUSINESS
All holidays are booked subject to the following terms and it is your responsibility to ensure that you have read, understood and agree to the following.

When making your booking we will arrange for you to enter into a contract with the principal (tour operator/airline/cruise company or other supplier) named on your receipt. For most bookings we act as agent for the principal but we act as your agent when making a booking with most no frills airlines and some hotels. Details will be given at the time of booking. As agent we accept no responsibility for the acts or omissions of the principal or for the services provided by the principal. The principal’s Terms & Conditions will apply to your booking and in the unlikely event of difficulty, your monies will be protected by that company's ATOL licence. We advise you to read these conditions carefully as they do contain important information about your booking. Please ask us for copies of these if you do not have them. In the event of a difficulty with your booking, we will do all we can to assist you to resolve the matter. Ultimately however the contract will be between yourself and the supplier. Our Terms of Business are governed by English Law and the jurisdiction of the English Courts. You may however, choose the law and jurisdiction of Scotland or Northern Ireland if you wish to do so.'

Same type of thing with beathebrochure, media travel, cheapholidays.com,etc...

Any web site that offers you flights FIRST & you then select the Hotel is effectively taking you out of the WHOLE package being completely covered by that Agents ATOL licence. By clicking on 2 different things-ie flight first then accom 2nd you are, by your own actions buying TWO things-not ONE whole package protected as ONE thing by the Agents ATOL licence.

Some sites will have 'ATOL PROTECTED' BUT when you go through the booking you will see it's the flight that is ATOL protected NOT the whole package!!!

Some of the deals found on this board are very very cheap but you do take a risk if the WHOLE thing is not covered by ATOL, ie 'an ATOL PROTECTED PACKAGE HOLIDAY'

I (& I'm sure some other agents on here) only quote fully ATOL protected packages if I need to say, source ryanair flights & hotel separately. This means that the Travel Agent (in my case I work for Co-Op Travel) takes the full risk on the booking, so if for example the flight was cancelled &/or the Hotel supplier went bust WE have to sort it out & take the associated financial 'hit'.

It obviously costs money-so any ATOL protected package will be slightly dearer-in my case anything from £10-£25pp (approx) dearer to allow for the cost implications of the ATOL bonding.

The previously mentioned companies (& indeed many who operate on teletext) choose not to do the full 'ATOL protected package' bit as it costs a lot of money & is not the 100% rock-bottom price. The web-sites are very very good & slick but in my opinion it's easy to think you have a fully protected package as you see that shiny ABTA & (in some cases) ATOL PROTECTED logo....but this is not the case.

Soon the 'want a quote on something specific' thread will be locked for a 'part 2' thread. I aim on the new thread to put prices on for fully ATOL protected deals...so if for example a deal is put up & I can do same deal for £20 pp with the full ATOL then I'll post this (time allowing). Sure-won't be the cheapest but it will be fully protected!

Did you know that Hotels in Majorca are routinely overbooked 20/7-31/8 by TWENTY %!!!! Who are they going to bump out of the Hotel?? Mrs bloggs who booked directly with her electron card OR a big ATOL Travel Agent that gives them a lot of business-you decide (!!)

Chris