Holiday now cheaper than when I booked - any thoughts?

mgriff5

Hi

I know it is a long shot but I just wanted to check something (have done a forum search already)...

I booked a holiday to Jamaica last weekend (8 days ago) with Thomson... we were told there was a special offer on that weekend and a January discount too. We had been tracking the prices for a few months and to be fair it was a good deal (but still a lot of money!). We haggled and negotiated and got some more knocked off and finally booked in a local branch after playing them off with the internet and the callcentre.

We have since seen the holiday advertised less - having checked it on the Thomsons website, the same holiday is now available for £180 less.

We only booked 8 days ago and pais £250 deposit on the American Express. Any thoughts/ideas on whether we can get that £180 knocked off or claimed back from Thomson or Amex??

Thanks for any advice and thoughts,
Mgriff5

wealdroam

Just my thoughts...

Probably a good idea, having booked a holiday, not to check prices again.

Clearly you were happy with the price when you paid it, or you wouldn't have paid it.

If they phone up in a few weeks telling you the price has gone up, will you be paying the extra?

Bongedone

Nope. You only option is to cancel the holiday and rebook. You will lose your deposit. If it was a low deposit now and pay later deal then you will still owe full deposit.

Blitz01

We only booked 8 days ago and pais £250 deposit on the American Express. Any thoughts/ideas on whether we can get that £180 knocked off or claimed back from Thomson or Amex??

You are joking aren't you?
If the price went up, would you have offered more?

FunnySaving

It might be worth asking Thompson's to refund the difference, but there's no reason other than goodwill for them to do so. You don't have any recourse via American Express though, assuming that you mean a section 75 refund or similar.

Hintza

Using an American Express card probably accounts for the difference in price alone!!

Maldives_lover

wealdroam wrote: »

Just my thoughts...

Probably a good idea, having booked a holiday, not to check prices again.

Clearly you were happy with the price when you paid it, or you wouldn't have paid it.

If they phone up in a few weeks telling you the price has gone up, will you be paying the extra?

Actually, I think this is one of the areas where the price can increase and the customer can be asked to pay more.

Edit. Just taken this from the Thomson site

The Price You Pay

All prices we advertise are accurate at the date published, but we reserve the right to change any of those prices from time to time. Prices include a cost for fuel that was estimated at the date of this publication.

We reserve the right to add a fuel supplement to holiday prices should this increase after the date of this publication. Prices can go up or down. We will be able to tell you or your travel agent the up-to-date price of your chosen travel arrangements and of any other services advertised by us before confirming your booking. We reserve the right to increase the price of your holiday after you have booked but no later than 30 days before the departure date stipulated and will forward an Amendment Invoice reflecting any changes made. After a Confirmation Invoice has been sent to you, any increase to your holiday price will be as the result of changes in our costs of supplying your holiday resulting from transportation charges, (fuel, airport charges, scheduled air fares and other transport charges which form part of our contract with the transport provider), currency fluctuations and government action. An administration charge and any relevant travel agent’s commission is included within these amounts.

If the increase would be 2% or less of the holiday price shown on your Confirmation Invoice (excluding insurance premiums and any amendment charges), we will absorb the changes in our costs described above and will only pass on any increase above that level. If any change in our costs would cause a reduction in your holiday price, we will not make refunds of amounts less than 2% of your holiday price (calculated as above), but we will refund in full amounts exceeding such 2%, after deducting an administration charge of £1.

If the increase is more than 10% of the holiday price (calculated as above), then: –
1. You may cancel your holiday booking within 14 days of the Amendment Invoice date and receive a refund of all monies paid to us except any amendment charges; we will only consider an appropriate refund of insurance premium paid if you can show us that you are unable to transfer or re-use your policy; and
2. the increase will be considered a Major Change as described in section 4 below and, unless you choose to cancel under paragraph 1 above, you will be entitled to the alternatives set out in section 4 for those circumstances, but in either case you will receive compensation in accordance with section 4.

The price quoted on the last Amendment Invoice issued is guaranteed, unless you change your holiday booking. Any increases in our costs which occur after the last Amendment Invoice has been sent will be borne by us. Should you instruct your credit/debit card company to “charge back” any payment(s) properly due from you in respect of your booking, we will charge you an administrative fee of £10 per incident and associated costs. We further reserve the right to cancel your booking and/or take legal action against you for all outstanding payment(s).

wealdroam

Maldives_lover wrote: »

Thomson_Holidays wrote:

All prices we advertise are accurate at the date published, but we reserve the right to change any of those prices from time to time. Prices include a cost for fuel that was estimated at the date of this publication.

We reserve the right to add a fuel supplement to holiday prices should this increase after the date of this publication. Prices can go up or down. We will be able to tell you or your travel agent the up-to-date price of your chosen travel arrangements and of any other services advertised by us before confirming your booking. We reserve the right to increase the price of your holiday after you have booked but no later than 30 days before the departure date stipulated and will forward an Amendment Invoice reflecting any changes made. etc, etc...

Thanks ML.

I've highlighted important bits.

It appears that the holiday provider has made provision for price increases to be passes on to the customer in some circumstances.

I note that they also say Prices can go up or down.

They appear to have made no provision for the refund of monies should the price go down.

Does that make this an unfair contract?

DD265

If any change in our costs would cause a reduction in your holiday price, we will not make refunds of amounts less than 2% of your holiday price (calculated as above), but we will refund in full amounts exceeding such 2%, after deducting an administration charge of £1.

I take this to mean that they would refund if the difference is more than 2%?