Travel Agent VS DIY

hylandz

We are anticipating our April holiday to the Maldives will be cancelled soon, lastminute.com (currently booked with) have said they have no availability at the moment for 2022. So we have looked at Booking with others. 
TUI want £6,000 more than booking direct with the hotel and airline.

So what is the pros and cons?? Apart from the Atoll protection? The hotel is payable on arrival and the airline carrier is Qatar, I couldn't see a national carrier going bump.
Also Qatar have a flexible cancellation policy (3 hours before departure and unlimited changes) and the hotel is free cancellation (apart from the transfer 48 hours prior)
For me booking direct seems to have better protection than as package. I couldn't find insurance cover which would cover you for track and trace. Imagine being notified the day before that you had to isolate and losing that amount of money. 
Am I missing anything, or is booking direct really a better option. 

tacpot12

I think the main risk is that the hotel cancel on you for some reason that your insurance doesn't cover, so that you have a flight, but nowhere to stay. Particularly in the Maldives this could leave you stuck at the airport which might ruin your holiday. The same basic risk occurs if you book a package, but it's the package operator's problem and they would have to refund you the full amount. Have you checked about booking a package direct with Hayes & Jarvis and Kuoni? They are the main package operators to the Maldives.

I tend to agree Qatar Airways are not likely to go bust, but they might have operational problems that means they need to rebook your flight. If your booking with the hotel can be rebooked at no cost, there seems to be less risk there. 

bagand96

You've got a pretty good understanding of the difference.  Booking a package will generally get you the following:

1) ATOL Protection.  This protects you against the travel agent/tour operator/airline going bust.  Your money is protected and you would get a refund.  If you are already abroad, you will be provided a replacement flight back to the UK (if the airline is involved) and in most circumstances would be able to finish your holiday before repatriation.

2) Rights under the Package and Linked Travel Regulations 2018.   This law includes a raft of protections which govern what your holiday provider can and can't do, such as changing your holiday, cancellations, refunds etc.  Crucially when you have a package, if one element significantly changes, you'd be entitled to cancel the holiday for a refund.  More on the PTRs Package Travel Regulations 2018 (which.co.uk)


It doesn't mean you shouldn't DIY though.  Plenty do it, and it works better for some.  As long as you understand the difference (which it looks like you do.)  As @tacpot12 said, the separate elements are not linked, so if the hotel cancels on you, the airline don't owe you a refund.  Likewise, if the airline cancel, you may still have a hotel booking.  You can mitigate the risks in a number of ways:

1) Book flights and hotels on a credit card.  This protects your cash if the airline/hotel goes bust

2) Flexible accommodation bookings.  Always a good idea, but I'd say essential in the current times.  You say you're looking at a flexible pay on arrival which is ideal.

3) Insurance.  You need this anyway, but make sure you buy a decent policy that suits all your needs, look at cancellation terms etc.

A final thought on packages and Covid:  There's been so many changes to border entry requirements, quarantine, Covid tests etc and these can change very quickly.  In those situations most of the reputable package holiday companies have done the decent thing and cancelled holidays for refunds.  If you're DIY you may not always be as lucky, might be a case of hoping your insurance covers you.

Sandtree

Sometimes DIY is cheaper, sometimes packages are cheaper, sometimes whats available with one route isnt available via the other... I know when looking at the Maldives some of the hotels don't offer AI on direct bookings but package holidays do offer AI to the same hotel.

As long as you are sure you are comparing the same thing and are happy with knowing that its down to you to rearrange everything if any part fails then be happy with the cost savings.  

When we went we managed to do an odd blend because we bought flights with Avios but were able to book the hotel alone via a tour operator which was much cheaper than direct plus got things like seaplane transfer thrown in etc.

Neil49

Whatever you decide to do, don't use Lastminute.com 

They have one of the worst reputations in the travel industry. 

hylandz

Neil49 said:

Whatever you decide to do, don't use Lastminute.com 

They have one of the worst reputations in the travel industry. 

Thanks for your replies all.

@N@Neil49 , unfortunately we are at the minute with lastminute.com I have requested to change the date, they have said we are unable due to the booking date and request date being more than 12 months apart. I have asked what would be the policy if in theory the holiday was within the next week or two. Worryingly I was told if they flights are still  going then I wouldn't be allowed to cancel, even with current travel restrictions.

We did book the holiday as a package and have an ATOL certificate (does say package (single-contract)) so I am confident we would be able to get a refund back eventually, but our outstanding balance of £6000 is due in the next 3 weeks and it is making me quite nervous with their current attitude. Not pay, walk away and lose our deposit of £5k, or pay the £6k balance due and risk losing £11k! 

hylandz

Also we do have covid insurance, but doesn't cover restrictions due to Government restricted travel, we didn't think this would of been needed and was quite happy not to be covered by this, as the Agent would surely issue a refund in the event we were not allowed to travel by law.

Neil49

At the moment you have little choice but to pay the balance and await a full refund from Lastminute.com. I just wanted to ensure that you were aware that it could take some time and effort to get a full refund. Hopefully you paid by credit card as that will give you extra protection.

You may want to try Trailfinders for a quote as they have a very good reputation. 

hylandz

Yeah we paid the deposit via credit card and paid it back in full the following month for that extra protection. Will do the same on the 
 outstanding balance. 

NoodleDoodleMan

Neil49 said:

Whatever you decide to do, don't use Lastminute.com 

They have one of the worst reputations in the travel industry. 

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/feb/07/travel-website-lastminutecom-failed-over-its-refund-pledge

On The Beach has had bad publicity recently.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/money/13548050/on-the-beach-nds-covid-refunds/

maxsteam

is booking direct really a better option. 

A few clicks on websites like AirBnB, Booking.com, HotelsCombined.com, etc. will give you an indication of what's available if you book direct on any particular dates (there's plenty of availability for 2022 but some sites won't let you book so far in advance). Different properties have different cancellation policies but, if this is a priority, you should be able to find somewhere that will let you cancel the day before you arrive without penalty or pay when you arrive. If you've not used sites like these before, it's worth reading property reviews and giving them a try for a UK trip before relying on them for an expensive overseas holiday.
If it was me, I would budget £700 per person for the flights plus £1500 total for a property in the Maldives for April. I might book one apartment for the first week then, once I was there, make decisions about where to stay for the rest of the month. I am unsure where the £11k comes from unless you have a very large family but it's many years since I looked at package holidays. Personally I am waiting until the Foreign Office's advice against all but essential overseas travel changes before doing anything other than surfing from home.