How should I pay the balance of my holiday

karmartello

Hi everyone and Happy New Year!

I am going on a cruise/stay holiday in 9 weeks time to Red Sea area. The final balance is now due and not too sure how to pay it - Debit card or Credit card.

I have the cash and as far as I know Debit card is free. Credit card incurs a 2.5% fee, but you always hear that CC is safer etc.

Holiday balance due is approx £2150 with CC fee of around £52.50.

Tavelling with Thomson.

I would appreciate other peoples thoughts - Thanks!

BillTrac

How did you pay the deposit?

If you paid it by CC, then the balance can be paid by any method and the whole amount is covered by your CC payment

stephb34

As you have the money available i would pay by debit card and save the cc fees. You say its a thomsons cruise they're a pretty large and reputable company so can't see them going bust in the near future, but who did you actually book the trip with a thomsons travel agent or other high street agent or internet,or phone. If its a reputable operator then definitely debit card, if you packaged it together yourself or a small unknown operator then i'd be a little more cautious.

Chrissy1981

I have a feeling Thomsons were going to charge me for using a debit card when I booked online with them last year? I paid the minimum deposit on my credit card (with a charge, grr) then paid the balance by walking into the shop and slapping the cash down on the desk - I ain't paying no charges!

luci

A lot depends on whether you booked direct with Thomsons or via a travel agent. If it was direct then paying by credit card protects against Thomsons going bust. If it was a travel agent, it protects against the travel agent going bust, but not Thomsons as they are a third party.

You only need to pay £10 on your credit card to have protection and you can pay the rest on your debit card.

Alan_Bowen

Look Thomsons is the largest travel business in the UK, if it goes bust, the travel industry is in real problems. In this case save your 2.5% fee, you really have nothing to worry about

dzug1

You need to check if you are covered by other schemes before paying the CC surcharge - it's a waste to be covered twice and can lead to disputes over which 'insurance' pays.

HXDave

luci

A lot depends on whether you booked direct with Thomsons or via a travel agent. If it was direct then paying by credit card protects against Thomsons going bust. If it was a travel agent, it protects against the travel agent going bust, but not Thomsons as they are a third party.

What a load of rubbish!

Irrespective of if you booked directly through Thomson or through a travel agent, should Thomson go bust and it is booked as a complete package, you will be covered by the Thomson ATOL irrespective of whether you paid by cash, cheque, credit or credit card.

As far as the travel agent going bust, then provided they are a bonded travel agent (doesn't even have to be ABTA these days), again your holiday money will be safe. The company i work for is not a member of ABTA, however i consider clients monies piad to us are a lot safer than monies paid to ABTA travel agents!

Alan

Look Thomsons is the largest travel business in the UK, if it goes bust, the travel industry is in real problems. In this case save your 2.5% fee, you really have nothing to worry about

whilst i generally agree with your remarks about Thomson, do you not remember ILG / Intasun in 1989? Then there was the XL group 2/3 years ago. This is not also common knowledge, but at 1 point Airtours was in a very tricky situation, and was touch & go at one point.

One would hope that Thomson would not go bust, but stranger things have happened.

However, back to the OP, and my advice would be to pay cash / debit card if you can, and save yourself the credit card fee, as it gives no extra protection than what you currently have!

Oh, and have a great holiday.

HXDave.