LOVE HOLIDAYS OCTOBER '23

Maltatravel

In September ’23, I  booked a 7 day holiday with Love Holidays for my daughter and myself to Malta.  We were both very much looking forward to this holiday, especially as I do care for my husband who has Parkinsons Dementia and I was very much in need of some time away to re energise myself. 

We were due to fly from London Gatwick Airport on Monday 4th October, however,  due to a family emergency that I needed to deal with on Sunday 3rd October, it became clear that we would be unable to fly on this day. 

The following day , on Monday 4th October (the day we due to fly to Malta) ,  I rang Love Holidays early morning to advise them that I was dealing with an emergency and would need to postpone flying out to Malta for a couple of days,  and that I was very much hoping to book a flight , at our own expense, on Wednesday 6th October. 

We would make our own transport arrangements from the airport  to the hotel.  We would return on the scheduled flights on Monday 16th October. No charges for this would be incurred by Love Holidays. 

Much to my utter dismay , I was advised that as we hadn’t flown out on Monday 4th October on the scheduled package flight, we would be unable to fly on Wednesday 6th October and stay at the hotel , even though I stressed numerous times,  that this outward flight would be at our own expense. 

Also, I was advised that no part refund would be given and on this occasion,  I should make a claim on my travel insurance which unfortunately I did not have  (I was going to take out travel insurance on the Sunday evening before our flight ).

The total cost of the holiday was £ 1458.00.

After registering my complaint with Love Holidays, I was eventually offered a £100.00 voucher which of course, I won’t be using as I do not intend to book with this company again.

I paid by credit card and although they are investigating this, the outcome probably won't be good as in their Terms and Conditions, it states refunds are not available. However, this does contradict their website where Love Holidays claim to be a flexible company, 

I have left a couple of reviews advising others to avoid using this company at all cost.

I would appreciate any suggestions on what I am able to do from here. 
Thank you for reading.

TELLIT01

The big mistake you made was not taking out insurance immediately after booking the holiday, as that would probably have provided the cover you needed.  MSE has stressed the need to do this many times.  I'm sorry for your situation but, other than sticking rigidly to their T&C, I don't see anything Love Holidays has actually done wrong in this instance.

mr_stripey

The time to book travel insurance is when you book the holiday - straight away. This would then cover a number of eventualities leading to you not being able to travel from the time of booking right up until departure, as well as covering you against emergencies whilst on holiday.

That said....
I wonder what would have happened if you did not inform them at all and just "turned up" at the hotel a couple of days late?
 

visidigi

Its well known if the outbound flight is not taken the return is not valid. As others have said the time for insurance is when you buy the holiday and not just before (it doesn't cost any more to do it this way).

It sounds like you have an opinion on how this should work and because that isn't right you think reviews etc are justified. I am afraid they aren't, Loveholidays haven't done anything wrong here, despite your opinion to the contrary.

Sure that's not what you want to hear, but they will defend themselves if you inaccurately criticize them.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

visidigi said:

Its well known if the outbound flight is not taken the return is not valid. 

That wouldn't explain why OP couldn't have stayed in the hotel though.

visidigi

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

visidigi said:

Its well known if the outbound flight is not taken the return is not valid. 

That wouldn't explain why OP couldn't have stayed in the hotel though.

It does if it's a package holiday. you buy a package that begins and ends on definitive dates. If the OP got an ATOL certificate as part of the booking this indicates its a package deal that needs to meet certain criteria.

If the OP wanted the flexibility to have the flights and the hotel operate independently then this is when you book them independently. There is a case of cake and eat it here, the provider was used for the package they offered, at a price the OP was willing to pay, its not unreasonable to say this situation far exceeded the reasonable notification period of changes (calling up on the day of departure isn't going to yield much flexibility from the vendor.

Ayr_Rage

It doesn't matter that it was Love Holidays, it would have been the same outcome with any other package operator.

They may have been flexible if you had given more notice and not cancelled on the day you were due to fly.

Next time purchase insurance as soon as you abook as advised by the MSE himself although not all family emergencies would be covered, you need to read the Ts and Cs carefully especially regarding pre-existing conditions and who they actually consider as close family.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

visidigi said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

visidigi said:

Its well known if the outbound flight is not taken the return is not valid. 

That wouldn't explain why OP couldn't have stayed in the hotel though.

It does if it's a package holiday. you buy a package that begins and ends on definitive dates. If the OP got an ATOL certificate as part of the booking this indicates its a package deal that needs to meet certain criteria.

If the OP wanted the flexibility to have the flights and the hotel operate independently then this is when you book them independently. There is a case of cake and eat it here, the provider was used for the package they offered, at a price the OP was willing to pay, its not unreasonable to say this situation far exceeded the reasonable notification period of changes (calling up on the day of departure isn't going to yield much flexibility from the vendor.

I can't disagree with you because I don't have enough knowledge but if I book a package holiday to the Lake District which includes a coach to the hotel and back but I miss my coach I forfeit the hotel stay rather than simply driving there and checking in?

Their website also states:

Please note that the Packages, which can be organised on our website, are not the same as traditional pre-packaged holidays where the Travel Services are usually pre-selected by a tour operator or travel company and are sold to you under a single contract. Through our booking platform, you will be able to select each Travel Service yourself and subsequently enter into a contract with each Service Provider. Together, your combined booking will form a Package if the criteria set out above is satisfied. You will know this is the case if you receive an ATOL Certificate stating that it is for a Multi-Contract Package.  

If OP booked flights and a hotel with two different providers creating a "Multi-Contract Package" resulting in the hotel being a separate contract what would stop them booking their own flights there and back? 

Lastly there is the issue of unfair terms, where the consumer breaches the contract the ordinary position in the UK is the trader may retain loss of profits or costs but not both. 

The OP may have contracts with companies outside the UK (as Love Holidays are an agent) however the EU has the same law as us regarding unfair terms. Although different countries may have different interpretations of the law and I do wonder with things like flights and hotels where the line between costs and profit is drawn as I would assume most costs are fixed regardless of whether the person attends but it does raise a question of fairness. 

Of course all of that is a lot of agro for OP, it just seems odd to me that, even if a single contract, OP can't enjoy one benefit under the contract because they missed another benefit and if that were to be incorrect they would have missed out on enjoying the hotel aspect due to incorrect information being given. 

visidigi

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

visidigi said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

visidigi said:

Its well known if the outbound flight is not taken the return is not valid. 

That wouldn't explain why OP couldn't have stayed in the hotel though.

It does if it's a package holiday. you buy a package that begins and ends on definitive dates. If the OP got an ATOL certificate as part of the booking this indicates its a package deal that needs to meet certain criteria.

If the OP wanted the flexibility to have the flights and the hotel operate independently then this is when you book them independently. There is a case of cake and eat it here, the provider was used for the package they offered, at a price the OP was willing to pay, its not unreasonable to say this situation far exceeded the reasonable notification period of changes (calling up on the day of departure isn't going to yield much flexibility from the vendor.

I can't disagree with you because I don't have enough knowledge but if I book a package holiday to the Lake District which includes a coach to the hotel and back but I miss my coach I forfeit the hotel stay rather than simply driving there and checking in?

Their website also states:

Please note that the Packages, which can be organised on our website, are not the same as traditional pre-packaged holidays where the Travel Services are usually pre-selected by a tour operator or travel company and are sold to you under a single contract. Through our booking platform, you will be able to select each Travel Service yourself and subsequently enter into a contract with each Service Provider. Together, your combined booking will form a Package if the criteria set out above is satisfied. You will know this is the case if you receive an ATOL Certificate stating that it is for a Multi-Contract Package.  

If OP booked flights and a hotel with two different providers creating a "Multi-Contract Package" resulting in the hotel being a separate contract what would stop them booking their own flights there and back? 

Lastly there is the issue of unfair terms, where the consumer breaches the contract the ordinary position in the UK is the trader may retain loss of profits or costs but not both. 

The OP may have contracts with companies outside the UK (as Love Holidays are an agent) however the EU has the same law as us regarding unfair terms. Although different countries may have different interpretations of the law and I do wonder with things like flights and hotels where the line between costs and profit is drawn as I would assume most costs are fixed regardless of whether the person attends but it does raise a question of fairness. 

Of course all of that is a lot of agro for OP, it just seems odd to me that, even if a single contract, OP can't enjoy one benefit under the contract because they missed another benefit and if that were to be incorrect they would have missed out on enjoying the hotel aspect due to incorrect information being given. 

The issue of the ATOL certificate is key - if the OP was given one, its a package holiday and if not it was not (there are separate terms to those you quote if the holiday is a package or not).

In any case, the hotel wouldn't be valid because the OP didn't turn up on the agreed start date, Loveholidays would have had to move the start date to align with the OP's new intended flight schedule, but the OP didn't want to do this via Loveholidays.

TBH, the whole topic is far too late in the day (calling up on travel day) to reasonably expect any provider to do anything about it.

Maltatravel

Thank you all for your comments. A harsh lesson here for me to learn is that although I had every intention of taking out travel insurance, I need to do this at the time of booking the holiday and not leave this until the day before. In future, I think it is safer to book hotel and flights independently to avoid any disappointment or expensive mistakes. 
We are all entitled to have an opinion and I feel absolutely justified in leaving a bad review.  I do still feel that it is very unfair of Love Holiday to permit me from using the hotel room for the remaining days. As mentioned above, if I had booked a coach package holiday to a UK destination, and at the last minute was unable to travel on the scheduled day, then I feel sure that I could have made my own travel arrangements and made use of the hotel. 
I was unaware that a package company literally means that you are buying the 'whole' package and that if you fail to turn up for the first part, then you automatically lose your right to enjoy the rest of it .
 FYI we were due to fly out with Easy Jet, returning with Air Malta. 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

visidigi said:

In any case, the hotel wouldn't be valid because the OP didn't turn up on the agreed start date, Loveholidays would have had to move the start date to align with the OP's new intended flight schedule

I understand the principle I just find it hard to believe that if you book 7 days or whatever in a hotel and miss the first day that you forfeit the rest of the stay.

Always happy to be corrected, just wondering what it's based on? 

I can understand a return flight not being valid (if you miss the outward) as presumably this is down to regulations covering international travel?