TUI trip postponed due to Omicron, revised cost +

dudley101

We booked a week's holiday to Gran Canaria online with TUI on 8th November 2021, initially departing on Monday 29th November 2021.

Saturday 27th November, Omicron became an issue and restrictions came in that TUI enabled us to postpone our trip on Sunday 28th November 2021. However, moving the trip to 28th February 2022, a quieter, colder time of year, at that time meant an additional cost of £399.04, that we had no option but to pay or loose the £1027.16 we'd already paid. I certainly questioned at the time why the costs were so much more, but this was actually the lowest additional cost for any date in the February or March. We reluctantly paid and rescheduled.

A couple of weeks ago I checked on the TUI site and was shocked to see the same trip, same hotel, same date, same accommodation at a cost of circa £550-600 pp, when we had paid +£100-£165 pp more than that in late November 2021, even after a web discount.

I rang Mustafa at TUI customer service Friday 21st January 2022, to try to get our trip at the new revised reduced cost. He told me that costs had sky rocketed with increased demand around end of Nov 2021 (caused by rebooking due to imposed Omicron restrictions) and that I could book another accommodation, same travel date and benefit from the now reduction in price.
What TUI won't do is enable us to benefit from the revised reduction in price on our preferred accommodation. We could reschedule 28 days before our trip (before 28th Jan 2022), but not to the accommodation we prefer. Only to another hotel.

This seems ludicrous. Usually if you book early, you get a holiday at the better price. We are being penalised for deferring our holiday due to the Omincon restrictions. I cannot believe that TUI are unavailable . There is no way to contact TUI and raise this as a compliment, excepting, after our trip. Their Customer Services Department when asked for their complaints procedure said to complete a form after our trip

If you now put in the accommodation we booked on TUI, even over the February halftime week, the costs per person, are still at least £100-£165 pp LESS for any date in February or March 2022.

Frustating!

emmajones1976

dudley101 said:

Saturday 27th November, Omicron became an issue and restrictions came in that TUI enabled us to postpone our trip on Sunday 28th November 2021.

deleted - misread

dudley101

As Omicron changed the rules on testing and self isolation at that time - this is a copy of the email TUI sent us at that time

""We would like to inform you of some important information about your upcoming holiday. 

We’re aware the UK Government have announced that all travellers returning to the UK now need to take a PCR test within 2 days of returning home and must self isolate until they receive a negative test result. At this time, we have no further details on when this comes into effect.

We wanted to get in contact to reassure you your holiday is still due to operate as planned, however we understand that the new testing requirements may not be possible for you.

If you do find you are unable to travel as planned, please contact us on 0203 451 2688 to discuss your options, which includes amending your holiday free of charge.""

emmajones1976

Right ignore me, I misread your post, I read it as you changed the date by one day.

Carry on.

TELLIT01

If your original holiday was cancelled you werer entitled to a full refund.  TUI could not force you to accept alternative dates.  However, if you did accept the alternative date, the costings at that time would come into play.  Changes to the price at a later date are irrelevant.  The price could just as easily have increased further rather than dropping.

dudley101

Yes, the cost could've gone up. However, TUI offer a "change to booking" irrespective of any Covid changes, within 28 days of travel. What they fail to tell you is that you cannot rebook your current impending trip and benefit from any reduction.

If we booked (within the 28 days grace period) that is, before 28th January 2022, another hotel, at a lower price, we would get a refund - as advised by their Customer Services.

What we can't do is rebook our accommodation on that same date and benefit from todays rate. That is my frustration

onashoestring

Think this is in the wrong discussion thread ? 

However to address your questions- it seems that you could have gone ahead with the original holiday ( it wasn’t cancelled) .

The change in rules meant on your return you had to take a PCR test & isolate until you got the results . For this reason you were disinclined to travel and you took up TUIs offer to rebook.

The new dates you chose were a higher price which you accepted and paid for . 

Holiday Prices change all the time and you pay what you agree when you book ( or in this case re-book ) . 

As frustrating as it is - think of it this way - if the prices had risen you would not be expected to pay more now . 

Therefore you are not entitled to a reduction just because prices have gone down .

As you have pointed out TUI do offer a "change to booking" . However as you don’t want to change any part of your booking ( same hotel, same flights, same dates ) the change to booking doesn’t apply . So this won’t work as a loophole around paying the price you agreed to at the time of booking.