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Advice please
Saracen311
Posts: 1 Newbie
Hello, need some advice please.
In January I booked a family holiday to Egypt with First Choice and paid a £200 partial deposit. The remaining £600 of the deposit is due to be paid in March. Due to the current terrorist threat in Egypt and the foreign office warning against most travel within Egypt (although the area we are due to go to isn't currently included in that advice) we decided that we are not happy to go there and contacted First Choice to change the destination
We had found another holiday in Turkey for the price of £3700 which we wanted to switch to. We contacted First Choice and they said we could switch but there would be a £200 fee (which we were expecting and were prepared to pay) they then looked at the holiday in Turkey which we had found on their website and said the price would be £4500!! When we queried the price and said the price on their website was £3700 they said that as this wasn't a new booking the price they were quoting was the "transfer price" and that was what we had to pay to go to Turkey.
Is this right/legal? We now don't know what to do, if we cancel we have to pay the whole £800 deposit. We can't afford to pay £4500 for a holiday ( we were pushing it as it is) but we are worried for our familys safety going to Egypt. Any advice would be very welcome.
In January I booked a family holiday to Egypt with First Choice and paid a £200 partial deposit. The remaining £600 of the deposit is due to be paid in March. Due to the current terrorist threat in Egypt and the foreign office warning against most travel within Egypt (although the area we are due to go to isn't currently included in that advice) we decided that we are not happy to go there and contacted First Choice to change the destination
We had found another holiday in Turkey for the price of £3700 which we wanted to switch to. We contacted First Choice and they said we could switch but there would be a £200 fee (which we were expecting and were prepared to pay) they then looked at the holiday in Turkey which we had found on their website and said the price would be £4500!! When we queried the price and said the price on their website was £3700 they said that as this wasn't a new booking the price they were quoting was the "transfer price" and that was what we had to pay to go to Turkey.
Is this right/legal? We now don't know what to do, if we cancel we have to pay the whole £800 deposit. We can't afford to pay £4500 for a holiday ( we were pushing it as it is) but we are worried for our familys safety going to Egypt. Any advice would be very welcome.
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Comments
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To be fair Turkey could be as big a risk..
Have you read the small print from when you ordered? Since its your decision not to travel it may be something you have to 'swallow'..0 -
To be fair Turkey could be as big a risk..
Have you read the small print from when you ordered? Since its your decision not to travel it may be something you have to 'swallow'..
I don't agree. While there's risk wherever you go I don't think people realise just how far the 'risky' parts of Turkey are from the tourist areas.
My friend is off to Egypt next week. Another came back from Sharm at the weekend. Absolutely no problems. I think they're working hard to preserve their tourist industries. The prices quoted sound like AI or, at least, hotel/resort type holiday. While no one can be 100% safe anywhere I'd risk it in a touristy area.0 -
Until the foreign office advise against travel to the area you are going then there's not much you can do. If the foreign office advice changes, and they advise against travel to the area you are visiting then First Choice will follow that and offer you a full refund or transfer to alternative destination.
Unfortunately First Choice can and will hold you to the T&C's you agreed to when you booked. All this is at the moment is you deciding you don't want to travel and therefore they have no obligation to you. Perhaps you could trust the foreign office advice and go on the holiday and make the most of it?0 -
Stick with your original plans to visit Egypt. It's great at the moment, very quiet & safe, just been to Hurghada and the Nile. DON'T visit Cairo. Whereabouts in Egypt (how close to Cairo?). I explained to friends this way - if there was a riot in London would that stop you visiting Edinburgh?0
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Little has changed in Egypt since January.
Go there.0 -
Just go to Egypt, if the area you are going to isn't affected then it's only as risky as going anywhere else in the world.
Let's face it, you're no 100% safe no matter where you go.0 -
PeacefulWaters wrote: »Little has changed in Egypt since January.
Go there.
You do realise it is only February now....0 -
chancesare wrote: »You do realise it is only February now....
I'm not quite sure what your point is. I'm quite familiar with what month it is.
My point is that naff all has changed since the holiday was booked. People are hopping over to Egypt and having lovely holidays.
Why go to Turkey, bordered by Iraq and Syria?0 -
Saracen311 wrote: »........ Any advice would be very welcome.
go to Egypt, enjoy your holiday. No worries.
In the event the FCO advice changes between now and your departure date, then plan B takes over.The questions that get the best answers are the questions that give most detail....0 -
I explained to friends this way - if there was a riot in London would that stop you visiting Edinburgh?PeacefulWaters wrote: »Why go to Turkey, bordered by Iraq and Syria?
It's about 500 miles from the Bodrum area to the Syrian border. Obviously it's OP's choice but it does help to be properly informed.0
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