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MSE News: Get 65% off package holidays
Former_MSE_Guy
Posts: 1,650 Forumite
Comments
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Some good deals to be had, but can't help thinking that there should be some sort of advice added to this story regarding protecting oneself given the current climate and recent demise of Sun4u and Goldtrail.
It is ok telling people to buy cheap and haggle down in a competitive market, but the above companies got themselves into trouble selling at negative margins it would seem and I am sure that there are many still doing this to remain competitive.
Would it be possible to add some advise along the lines of checking that packages are bought using ABTA assured sources and booking on a credit card if at all possible to give yourself some form of payment protection? I think it would make a more balanced and prudent article IMHO.0 -
dear oh dear. whilst i used to have great admiration for Martin Lewis, i feel that he should honestly stick to the area's he is good at (financial services), and keep well away from the travel industry. I work in travel, and have done for over 20 years, and have seen things affect travel in those years.
one of the major developements over the last number of years is the advent of the LCC (low cost carriers). great alternative to holiday & costly scheduled flights, allowing much more flexibility with travel plans. with the LCC came what was known as DP (Dynamic Packaging), where companied booked a LCC and then PACKAGED & BONDED it with accommodation to produce a holiday. Then we have MSE who, in the article above, stateOtherwise, it's usually best to book flights and accommodation separately (see the cheap flights and cheap hotels guides).
My eyes watered when i saw that comment, and could not believe what MSE was recommending people to do. Do you not remember the Ash Cloud, where hundreds of thousands of people could not fly to their holiday destinations, however many had already paid for accommodation they could not then use. There were also many thousands who could not fly back at the end of their holiday, and had to pay for additional accommodation, often at increased prices from greedy hoteliers. Now where is the money saving in that.
Recently we have had 2 very high profile company failures in Goldtrail & Sun4U. Whilst goldtrail sold mainly packages and was ATOL bonded, if you had booked just a cheap flight with them, and then booked cheap accommodation seperately, you now have to find a new flight in order to use your accommodation, and i gaurantee you will find it very difficult to find a flight at the prices goldtrail used to sell at. Then with Sun4u, i have already heard horror stories of clients who are now stuck overseas with either no accommodation, or having to pay AGAIN for their accommodation.
We also have the pending possibilities of 2 seperate strikes that will affect travel. Both BA & BAA are in the middle of industrial action, and could have a serious impact on travellers, especially those that have followed MSE advice and booked flights & accommodation seperately. To those who have been / will be affected, i wish you luck!
I would like to point out that whilst the comments above are purely my own thoughts, i know that a lot of 'professional' travel people will echo what i say.[FONT="]I used to be a Travel Agent [/FONT]Used to be a travel agent for 23 Years, but now out of the industry. However I will help with what i can.0 -
Can't see many real bargains this side of September.
Yes, you will find holiday with £200-£300 off per person, but the biggest discounts seem to correspond with markedly poor reviews (see Tripadvisor etc), or have nightmare flight times.
ATOL/ABTA isn't the magic pill: I know people who only got money back in April 2010 after XL collapsed TWO YEARS AGO.
I would avoid booking a holiday leaving from a BAA airport in the next few weeks.
Obviously the strike will cause problems with airlines using other airports beacuse the planes will 'get stuck' at the BAA ones, however some airlines will plan ahead and avoid flying into BAA airports at the start of the strike.
Non-BAA airports will get busy, availability will drop and prices will rise.
I'm booked with Monarch from MAN to TFS on 26/8 and back on 3/9. Hopefully I will miss the strike completely, but at least some of Monarch's MAN-based planes don't get 'shared around' different UK airports during a day, so are less likely to be affected.British Ex-pat in British Columbia!0 -
It's Icesave all over again. Nice one. Hopefully this time the sheep won't get a bailout.0
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Thanks HXDave for your comments.
I have to agree especially seeing Kiss flights failing today.
It seems that booking flights / hotel seperatly rather than a ATOL package should only be done if unavoidable; not be a better option.
Proabaly the commision MSE gets from the referral links is behind the decision making.0
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