My ski holiday money moral dilemma…

Shadyzulu

Is it reasonable to expect my Uncle pay his part of the ski holiday accommodation after he pulled out of our trip?

Over Christmas my uncle asked if he could come skiing with me and a two friends in February.

We talked about and agreed the dates and he said he was happy to share a room to keep the costs down. The conversation turned to booking similar flight times as we would have been travelling from different airports.

So I started looking for accommodation for four (at a higher cost), not three and in good faith I went ahead and booked the accommodation.

We talked for a week about transfers, ski hire shops etc. Then a week after I’d booked the accommodation he messaged me to say he was taking his family skiing instead to a different resort (great, I thought, they’ll love that!).

I contacted the hotel and also the booking agent to see if we could cancel but they wouldn’t allow me to as we’d got a non refundable rate.

I also tried to fill his space but haven’t been able to. 

Is it fair to expect him to pay his part of the accommodation costs? I wouldn’t dream of asking my friends to pay so I feel like I’ll be left with the bill.

Caz3121

Shadyzulu said:

I contacted the hotel and also the booking agent to see if we could cancel but they wouldn’t allow me to as we’d got a non refundable rate.

I also tried to fill his space but haven’t been able to. 

Is it fair to expect him to pay his part of the accommodation costs? I wouldn’t dream of asking my friends to pay so I feel like I’ll be left with the bill.

This is more of a moral question and much will depend on what was discussed at the time....eg was he aware that you were booking a non-refundable rate for him to travel? did you confirm before booking that he was 100% committed to travelling with you?
booking a non-refundable rate was not a good decision in current times. 

TELLIT01

I assume the additional cost is for meals as most hotels have a basic room rate with meals as optional extra.  I certainly think it's reasonable to expect him to pay that element.

sheramber

But  the cost of a room split among three people, instead of four could be more than the cost of a room for three msplit three ways.

onashoestring

You said that you agreed dates with your uncle, did you also agree on the budget -

How much was his share of the accommodation? 

Did you tell him the price before making the booking ? 

Did you tell him it was non- refundable , before you went ahead and booked ?

Did he agree to the pay that price before you booked ? 

If that was all agreed and confirmed before you made the booking then he should pay . 

Pollycat

He went as far as to agree to share a room and discuss flight times.
I think it's reasonable to expect your uncle to pay the difference between 4 pax and 3.
The real question is - will he agree with you?

I think you are right not to expect your 2 friends to share the extra cost.

nyck

Think he's got to pay , He asked you to go and you accommodated him by booking more expensive accommodation

Im in a similar situation , my son (21) broke  his leg the weekend and we are due to go in 5 weeks ( not insured )

We've paid for car hire/airport parking and 1/2 of the accommodation. I'm hoping they agree to split the remainder of the cost 3 ways as he was a late addition and we had already booked the accommodation.But they  are within their rights to refuse