Canceled HOTEL - what about my FLIGHT?

AnnoyedHolidayer

Hi Everybody


Back in August I booked a holiday with On The Beach. I paid me and one other passengers holiday (our flights, transfers, hotel) all with a single credit card payment.


The flights depart in 13 days. I've recieved an email yesterday from On The Beach advising me that my hotel has unfortunately been canceled. See below.


We are contacting you as the accommodation provider for your forthcoming holiday have informed us that they have had to make a change to your booked arrangements. Regrettably, your booking cannot be honoured due to contractual issue.
When a hotel provider makes a change to a booking, they must offer alternative accommodation of a similar standard and type to that originally booked and/or cancellation of the accommodation booking without penalty.
We do of course understand how inconvenient these changes can be. We have set out below details of the alternative we've been offered.
If there is another alternative you'd like us to look at, simply let us know and we'll be happy to check the availability and prices for you. Please note if there is a difference in price with a hotel you suggest, we will have to charge you this. You do also have the option to cancel the hotel booking altogether and recieve a refund.
Please note that in accordance with our terms and conditions of booking and those of the relevant suppliers, should you wish to cancel your flight, transfer or other arrangements booked via our website, you will have to pay the cancellation charges applied by the relevant supplier, full details of which can be provided upon request.
We need your decision in writing so please reply to this message, confirming this hotel or advising how you'd like us to continue..






I have responded to them advising I would like the option to cancel the holiday as a whole - with no penalty and recieve a full refund. Does anybody know if this will be a viable option for me legally? Considering how close it is to departure - the hotel they are suggesting as an alternative is very unsuitable (poor reviews, poorer location, was initially cheaper when i ordered but i declined staying there in favour of more expensive "better" hotel) - so now I dont want to pay the higher price for a cheaper hotel!?


My apologies about the rant guys but I responded to On the Beach a day ago and I still await response so I was looking to see if anybody had any wisdom and/or experience on these matters as I'm no holiday expert?


If I am not legally entitled to a refund on the flights - does anybody know my rights in terms of chosing an alternative hotel? I do not want to accept a hotel that I could of booked for £75 cheaper per person in August.


When I do look at hotels that would be a "suitable same star replacement" ie other 3* hotels; they are all showing todays prices are substantially more than I initially paid for my original booking - which would suggest I would have to pay the difference? I cant afford any additional difference.




Regards
Mark

richardw

You haven't booked a holiday.
You've been sold flights, transfers and accommodation.

They won't be able to refund the flights, and their alternative hotel is not appealing, they do offer a refund for this so perhaps worth considering seeing if you can find alternative accommodation and booking that yourself, it's a pain but is a pitfall of booking with people like OTB. Fingers crossed you find something and have a good trip.

AnnoyedHolidayer

Thanks for the reply.


Perhaps I should start studying terms and conditions before trusting these companys - you see "atol protected" and assume confidence.


Whats the difference in being "sold a holiday" and being "sold flights + hotel seperately"? Forgive my ignorance but is it just their wording of the perticular agreement in order to avoid responsibility in occasions of this nature? I assumed a holiday is exactly what I've booked?


Guess I'll either take the loss on the flights or accept the inferior hotel and learn from my mistake.


Heres hoping this post persuades customers to consider paying extra and booking with a company who isnt running such a scheme.

photome

AnnoyedHolidayer wrote: »

Thanks for the reply.


Perhaps I should start studying terms and conditions before trusting these companys - you see "atol protected" and assume confidence.


Whats the difference in being "sold a holiday" and being "sold flights + hotel seperately"? Forgive my ignorance but is it just their wording of the perticular agreement in order to avoid responsibility in occasions of this nature? I assumed a holiday is exactly what I've booked?


Guess I'll either take the loss on the flights or accept the inferior hotel and learn from my mistake.


Heres hoping this post persuades customers to consider paying extra and booking with a company who isnt running such a scheme.

researching beforehand would have told you to avoid Onthebeach.

on their first page it does say

Here at On the Beach we can help you find cheap flights by searching more than 30 million airline seats. We don't sell package holidays, we let you choose the flight and hotel singly to find the best cheap holidays to suit your requirements, and more importantly your budget.

Have you searched all the hotel booking engines or the hotels own websites

regarding your last comment personally I would rather pay less and arrange the flight and hotel myself but directly.

peachyprice

AnnoyedHolidayer wrote: »

Guess I'll either take the loss on the flights or accept the inferior hotel and learn from my mistake.

You don't have to accept their inferior hotel, there's no reason why you can't get a full refund for the hotel portion of your trip and book your own hotel independently.

It's definitely worth checking yourself to see what you can find before taking what they want to give you. You never know, you may even be able to get the original hotel if you go direct to their own website

John259

OP, where are the flights to? Perhaps someone here can recommend another hotel.

lea2012

Have you considered changing resort? This might mean you can get a better hotel?

Or what about looking at different star ratings? Don't get too hung up on the fact that you have booked a 3* and therefore only look at other 3*, you may find a 2* that has amazing reviews and that's miles better than your first hotel, or alternatively find a 4* hotel for the same or similar price.

The other alternative is to ask them to book you the alternative hotel, but explain that at the time of booking you noticed that it was cheaper than what you had paid and would they be willing to give you the price difference or at least some money back for it?

Or as already suggested, look at hotels on other sites (booking.com, alpharooms, hotels4u, travelrepublic, sunshine.co.uk etc) and see if you can find a different hotel for within your budget and then get a refund from on the beach and spend the money elsewhere.

I know you haven't said where you are travelling to but if you are going soon to a 'seasonal' destination such as Greece, Turkey, Majorca, Ibiza or the northern Costas in Spain you will find that a lot of hotels will close early for the winter, and often close at very short notice if they don't have enough customers so you may find that your options are limited and you may need to still be flexible right up until you travel.

jaydeemdm2015

Hi.

The difference between a package holiday compared to booking everything separately is you are fully protection against things like cancellations. That's a main reason fully packaged holidays usually cost more. You can still claim on your travel insurance though as long as you got that in place before being told of the cancellation. I would try to seek alternative accommodation and turn this into an experience though. I always book independently and the pros always outweigh the cons. Just be prepared and enjoy with the right attitude. You can still make it a great holiday.