Holiday Booked, Deposit Paid, then Travel Company Cancels Due to Price Increase

mcompton69

Hi, just want to clarify my position with the community.

So I booked a holiday (flights, accommodation, half board) and paid a deposit.

The next day i received a phone call advising that the cost of the flight had increased and the hotel room had changed their classification/wording of the room we booked (superior sea view or something like that) and the next nearest was more expensive.

The offered two options, pay or cancel.

If I were in a shop, they would be obliged to offer the goods or service at the advertised price.

Is this the same for a holiday booked online?

ttoli

Did they offer a Full refund ? . sometimes things happen beyond Travel Agents control /they are unable to absorb the extra cost .

PeacefulWaters

mcompton69 wrote: »

If I were in a shop, they would be obliged to offer the goods or service at the advertised price.

While they could be prosecuted for the incorrect price ticket there is no legal obligation for them to sell at an incorrectly ticketed price.

glentoran99

mcompton69 wrote: »

Hi, just want to clarify my position with the community.

So I booked a holiday (flights, accommodation, half board) and paid a deposit.

The next day i received a phone call advising that the cost of the flight had increased and the hotel room had changed their classification/wording of the room we booked (superior sea view or something like that) and the next nearest was more expensive.

The offered two options, pay or cancel.

If I were in a shop, they would be obliged to offer the goods or service at the advertised price.

Is this the same for a holiday booked online?

No they wouldn't, there is no legal obligation to sell at the ticketed price

bagand96

This is quite common with some online travel agents. The agents that don't sell full package holidays (like Thomson/Thomas Cook), but instead "dynamically package". They will put a flight with an accommodation booking and sometimes transfers to make their own package.

Trouble is, some agents don't keep the airline prices up to date and/or don't book instantly. When you book on their website, you are in effect sending them a request to book all the holiday elements. The agent then goes to the airline to book. And thats where they can find the flights have increased if theyve not done it instantly or their website wasn't up to date.

It's really not much different from you booking a flight with an airline and then finding a hotel, other than with some agents you'll get ATOL protection by doing it through them.

This will all be covered in the T&C's you agreed to when booking. Who was the agent by the way?

leylandsunaddict

Sounds like an OTA selling a flight plus, not a package. Re-read the terms and conditions because it will explain it all in those. Basically you don't book on the website, just make an offer to purchase, should the elements still be available and at that price. If they are they get confirmed, if not the OTA will contact you about the affected parts.

It's the agent that have increased the price, it's their suppliers.

They are right. You can pay the difference or cancel with a refund of any affected elements.