Can they cancel my booking?

gemmacots

Hello, I am in the process of booking a villa in spain. It says on the contract that if they have to cancel the booking at any point due to unforseen circumstances, they will refund me in full but will not be held liable for any other losses incurred to me. Is this right? What happens with my flight expenses etc if I cannot re-book. Or if I cannot secure another villa in time? I mean they may not cancel, but I would like to know my rights before I go ahead with the booking. Thankyou

HXDave

if they say in the terms & conditions that they can cancel the villa at any time, then that is the conditions you accept. if booking flights & villa's seperately, then that is indeed the risk you run.

yes, you may get another villa, but this may be more expensive (either slightly more expensive or - depending on time of travel and how far in advance - massively more expensive.

delwynshd

Your better off sticking to a large tour operator if this gives you cause for concern

How much is the villa and where etc etc

Del

dzug1

delwynsholidaydeals wrote: »

Your better off sticking to a large tour operator if this gives you cause for concern


Del

Who will probably have a similar T&C - but might be better placed to find you an alternative if the worst happens

gemmacots

Thankyou all, I will have to think about this one. My friend booked this way last year with no problems, will have a word with hubby see what he thinks, but thankyou for the feedback at least I know where I would stand if the worst case scenario happened.

HXDave

Who will probably have a similar T&C - but might be better placed to find you an alternative if the worst happens

However if booked as a package, the company will normally offer you one of the following options:

1. an alternative accommodation unit, usually at no additional cost (if more expensive), or with a reduction in cost if the new accommodation is cheaper.

2. a full refund of the entire holiday, including the flights!

Gemmacots, dont forget the other situation too - the villa owner / company might not cancel the accommodatio, however the airline might cancel the flight, pull the route, be unable to fly that particular day etc etc etc..............

you would be in exactly the same situation again as per your original post, only the other way round - accommodation but no way of getting there!

gemmacots

Yes, I can see what you mean, but I do love the villas location etc. I think I will just get a good insurance cover so I am covered in both instances, thankyou
ps I don't know if those replying are travel agents, but if you are, I can understand you would obviously suggest a travel company is the best route to take.

gemmacots

HXDave wrote: »

if they say in the terms & conditions that they can cancel the villa at any time, then that is the conditions you accept. if booking flights & villa's seperately, then that is indeed the risk you run.

yes, you may get another villa, but this may be more expensive (either slightly more expensive or - depending on time of travel and how far in advance - massively more expensive.

Would insurance not cover me for this? thankyou

HXDave

gemmacots,

yes, i am a travel agent and delwynsholidays is too.

speak to a lot of travel agents who sell 'traditional packages', and yes, they will say this is the 'safest' way to book.

speak to people who have lost out decause of tour operators failures, and most of these will agree too.

speak to people who have lost out because of airlines going bust, and most of these will agree too.

speak to people (and there are many on here) who have lost out due to the icelandic volcanish ash, and most of these will agree too.

Now speak to those who have always used these internet companies who sell flights seperate from accommodation, so effectively have 2 seperate contracts where if something happens on one element, it has no bearing on the other part. virtually all of these people who have had holidays where nothing has gone wrong will say that doing this is the best thing since sliced bread, and that it is also the cheapest way of doing things. I must admit, i do tend to agree. however it is only when something goes wrong, or something changes (and just looking on MSE forums, you will see that it has happened many times), that all of a sudden the grass is not as green at it seemed. Take my mother for example. She has booked 3 of them through OTB holidays, via the net, as it was cheaper than what i could get. OTB has booked flights & accommodation, however it is stated that these are seperate bookings, therefore not a package, thus no ATOL protection. she originally booked 1 suitcase for the 3 of them (2 ad, 1 ch), but then decided she wanted another suitcase booking, and asked me to 'sdd this on' to the Easyjet booking. due to the way it has been booked, we are not able to access the booking to amend this, only OTB can do this. OTB are happy to book an additional suitcase on for her at £18.00 extra (easyjet charge), however they would charge £30 themselves just for doing this.

I also mentioned to her about putting passport details into the booking, as Easyjet needed this before check-in. She never knew anything about this passport information, and her reply was 'well last year we didn't have to do it!'.

No, perhaps last year she didn't, but things change and had i not made her aware of the fact, once at check in could have been refused travel for not pre-registering passport details.

Yes, us agents are dearer in many occassions, however look at the reasons why. we are trained to do this job. we know the job. we know the procedures. we have contacts who can help if things go wrong. the majority of what we sell is financially protected. oh, we also have wages, bills, rents to pay too.

juat take a look through many of the oversea's travel posts on here, and you will see quite a few posts from both delwynsholidays & myself. We do like to be helpful, we like to be useful. we never want to see anybody's holiday's go pear shaped, however a lot often do, basically down to not understanding the situation, and just looking at the 1 thinh most people look at these days - the cheapest price.

hope this gives a little bit of insite, and will leave you to book in whatever way you decide.

and finally, in response to your last question about being covered by insurance, this is not generally something that is covered, unless specifically mentioned in the policy wording. after all, it is not a case that you are 'unable' to travel, its that you 'cant' travel.

dzug1

The purpose of the clause is to limit the owner's liability in the event that a previous tenant trashes the place or it gets burnt down and he can't let it to you

That's not to say it can't be misused if someone else offers him a higher rent say or he wants it for his own use.

So I wouldn't be too concerned about the clause as such - more about whether you are prepared to take the 'two separate bookings' risk. As HxDave says, few if any insurance companies will cover that type of risk. For flight cancellation leading to holiday cancellation yes - but not accommodation.

HXDave

dzug1,

For flight cancellation leading to holiday cancellation yes - but not accommodation.

.

not quite right there dzug1. Travel insurance normally covers you being unable to travel due to medical or personal circumstances, not because the airline has cancelled the flight or the accommodation owner has cancelled the contract.

look at it this way. if you booked accommodation months in advance, and you were waiting for some cheap 'last minute flights'. if no flights came available cheap enough at last minute, would you expect the insurance to cover you?

(ok, you might expect them to cover you, but you would be in for a big shock!).

like i previously said, booking seperately is all fine & well when everything in the garden is rosy, but once the greenfly appear..........

BTW Gemmacots, have you or anyone you know used the booking company that the villa is to be booked through? one of the latest scams is villa's being booked and paid for. when you then get to the address of the villa to meet the owner to get the keys - NOTHING. Villa is not there. it's either an empty field, someone else's house, maybe even the address given is a shop or restaurant.

Like i say, just be very very careful.

Regards

HXDave