trying to sell an all inclusive holiday to egypt

bargainlover2006

We were supposed to go in holiday from 17th december 2010 to Sharm el sheikh for 7 nights to a 5* resort but unfortunately we cannot go.

I put up the listing on ebay yesterday but received an email today from the ebay team saying that holiday packages with flights are not permitted on ebay also

"There are two limited exceptions to this rule:

- Airline ticketing agents (ticket providers). These are businesses that immediately issue a valid scheduled airline ticket in exchange for any payment. This exception will normally apply only to International Air Transport Association (I.A.T.A) licensed travel agents selling published fares.
- Agents authorised to act on behalf of ATOL holders, provided that they state their agency capacity and furnish buyers specified documents under law showing that they have accepted money on behalf of a particular ATOL holder. "

The holiday was bought from first choice and after speaking with them on the phone, they said I could transfer the holiday to someone else and they will send out new names printed on the tickets. Because they are ATOL proctected, does it not help me in any way. I dont know where else I can sell these. Can anyone help? :(:(

soolin

You could try the small ads or even Gumtree, but be warned on Gumtree as you'll get lots of scammers trying it on.

Pembroke

Will your travel insurance cover you for a cancellation ?

patman99

Try Ebid. Ebay seem to be changing the rules day-by-day.

soolin

patman99 wrote: »

Try Ebid. Ebay seem to be changing the rules day-by-day.

I doubt he would even get a single page view on ebid as there is less than a month to go until the holiday anyway.

Crowqueen

- Airline ticketing agents (ticket providers). These are businesses that immediately issue a valid scheduled airline ticket in exchange for any payment. This exception will normally apply only to International Air Transport Association (I.A.T.A) licensed travel agents selling published fares.
- Agents authorised to act on behalf of ATOL holders, provided that they state their agency capacity and furnish buyers specified documents under law showing that they have accepted money on behalf of a particular ATOL holder. "

EDIT: That sounds like normal regulatory rules to me, which mean that although the holiday company might be OK with you transferring the tickets to someone else, selling them is a different matter and is a legal minefield, given the large amount of things that can go wrong and the liability you as a travel "agent" would face.

I have bolded the key words under that last paragraph (for posterity's sake if nothing else). Authorisation is hard to get for ordinary eBay sellers for things like this. It's not just a phone-call to the company away - it's a big deal, as you can see with the necessity for actual paperwork coming from the original company designating you as their agent. I suspect they would be reluctant to furnish an ordinary customer with that. What they mean is probably a bucket-shop or a website such as Expedia. Having been messed about to the tune of £500 by bucket-shop websites in the past, when I buy a flight, I go directly through the airline now and seldom through a third party. Even if you could find a buyer through eBay they would not be properly insured or whatever and I really am glad that this at least is properly policed.

The chaos that happens if an airline or travel company goes bust is legendary - travellers rarely at the best of times get sorted out satisfactorily and this means that the regulation is necessarily very tight when selling holiday packages. The consumer has rights over and above what I suspect a private seller on eBay is able to extend to them. Even Expedia fouled up. Luckily I got my money back with a letter threatening legal action, but it's made me wary of dealing with any travel agent now, particularly when it is so easy to get flights at least through the airline website.

I would bet that these rules have been on eBay from day 1 to protect their buyers. I wouldn't buy a holiday from eBid if you paid me to - that's "out of the frying pan and into the fire" given their lack of buyer protection.

catch_me_if_you_can

feel your pain, OP. We had to cancel a trip to Cuba (should be there NOW) and travel company wouldn't accept any change of name etc unless it was 12 weeks ago...

Hope you resolve this. It's gutting xx

Needananswer_2

Your problem is that you cannot fly. Your terms and conditions of the operator apply and the closer you get to date the bigger the amount you will lose in cancellation charges. 35 - 22 days is sitting around 70% after that you are in 90% charges. You only have another day to decide.
They will do a name change for you but this will also have an admin charge and at this moment it sounds as tho you do not have anyone to take your place.
ATOL is for your protection but only when the company goes into liquidation unfortunately, this protects your money for refund or to get you home.
Your best bet is travel Insurance cover and if you have an Insurable reason ie. illness (that did not exist prior to your booking), redundancy is also covered on some policies, again with small print applying.
To be honest 30% refund is better than nothing if you cancel now. To sell something online with this little time is a huge risk and a minefield. The logistics of you getting your money when the person has to wait for tickets in their name to come through is something not a lot of people will wish to risk.Strictly speaking the operator can ask for new booking forms etc and you are in affect acting as a travel agent without any of the bonding required!! sorry