Travel agent using my personal account with the airline to book a flight as part of the package holi

Zhuzhi

Hi everyone, thanks for your helpful comments. I've received the paperwork and surprise, surprise, in a very small print I read that the package is not AOL protected. The invoice was also higher that the price we had agreed. So, I got in touch with them and complained about being misled about AOL protection and about the increased price. The response was very quick and efficient. I received an AOL certificate for a single package holiday but it doesn't list the flights, only the accommodation (which I expected), and the extra charge was explained as a fee for doing a check in with the airline on my behalf (which they wouldn't because the instructions regarding a check in were included in the original documents)... £20.00 a person. However, they refunded the fee immediately after I told them that I can do check in myself! 
Overall, even though making the booking was stressful and time consuming, the resolution department dealt with my complaints immediately and to my satisfaction. 
It was a lesson learned ....... I won't be dealing with small travel agencies again. On a positive note, we got a deal which I couldn't find anywhere else online, and we can start looking forward to our holiday. 
I've found the offer on Travelzoo. My friend has used their offers many times without any problems. 

CKhalvashi

Zhuzhi said:

Hi everyone, thanks for your helpful comments. I've received the paperwork and surprise, surprise, in a very small print I read that the package is not AOL protected. The invoice was also higher that the price we had agreed. So, I got in touch with them and complained about being misled about AOL protection and about the increased price. The response was very quick and efficient. I received an AOL certificate for a single package holiday but it doesn't list the flights, only the accommodation (which I expected), and the extra charge was explained as a fee for doing a check in with the airline on my behalf (which they wouldn't because the instructions regarding a check in were included in the original documents)... £20.00 a person. However, they refunded the fee immediately after I told them that I can do check in myself! 
Overall, even though making the booking was stressful and time consuming, the resolution department dealt with my complaints immediately and to my satisfaction. 
It was a lesson learned ....... I won't be dealing with small travel agencies again. On a positive note, we got a deal which I couldn't find anywhere else online, and we can start looking forward to our holiday. 
I've found the offer on Travelzoo. My friend has used their offers many times without any problems. 

Just to point out here that many small, local agents are far better than the bigger ones in terms of service.

Travelzoo is a search engine, not a travel agency, and also US-based, so you'll need to be careful exactly what you get protection-wise.

There are many very large problem agencies, the worst probably being a Czech one. I'm in a professional argument with another Czech company at the moment over policies which aren't in line with EU law which is applicable in the case of that contract and the Czech authorities unwillingness to assist are also probably a large problem in that case.