Free Child Place now available ever since we booked!

Shelleyh

My husband and I booked our family holiday for July 2019 back in May. When we were looking there was a free child place for the holiday we wanted and then when we went to book it had gone so we thought best to book anyway incase the price goes up (as we were told by agent). We were specifically told by the travel agent the free child places had all gone for that year as only a set amount get released each year for the hotels. Ever since we booked in May the free child place has been available! It is a saving of £800 so it is very frustrating that we were lied to by the travel agency. I have tried to get them to give us the free child place by sending emails and phoning them, however we were told “it is like buying a pair of shoes, one day they are full price, then they’re in the sale”. Personally I think it is ridiculous and has put us off booking a holiday again, especially as this is our first holiday as a family abroad.

Has anyone been successful in getting the free child place after booking?

Westin

Have you actually priced up the holidays with the ‘free child’ place?

You often pay an underoccupancy supplement with the free place which is not paid if all in the party are paying towards the accommodation cost.

BTW, the agent is probably not wrong. Free Child promotions can end and new offers start at any future time. The travel agent would likely not know if the Operator was going to add free child places again later on.

richardw

Go in the travel agents on a busy Saturday morning and complain.

daveyjp

Price up the cost of cancelling and rebooking.

Shelleyh

Yes it is £3111 with the free child place and we paid £4100 for the four of us. We must have been very unlucky booking the day we did as since we did book in May the free child place has been available.

We looked into cancelling and would loose £800 which is the free child place.

Alan_Bowen

Free child places normally miraculously reappear immediately after Christmas when most tour operators start their intense sales pitch to get people to buy their summer holidays. As others have said, sometimes they are a good deal, sometimes the basic prices have risen since the holidays went on sale and the saving is negligible but it is not the travel agent who determines when and if a free child place is offered.