First Choice rip off

jintyb

In August 2007, I booked an Island Cruise holiday with the above agency.The price I was quoted at the time was £2924. I paid a deposit of £424.
Yesterday I received an email from Island Cruises promoting their holidays and when I priced it, the exact same holiday worked out to be £2399, a difference of £525.
I went into the shop today to query this and I was told that they were really sorry but they could not adjust the price on my contract.
I am extremely angry that having booked this boliday 17months in advance that I am not being afforded the luxury of the cheaper price. Why should it be the case that those of us who book well in advance and in good faith do not receive the same deals as those who book later? Can anyone explain? Or offer any advice? Id really appreciate it
Thanks!

seftonsun

Some holidsay tour companies will now offer early bookers the lowest brochure price that they advertise a holiday for. However, that is their decision, probably a marketing tool.

Holidays are like anything else. You pays your money and takes your choice. By booking early generally (but not always) you will guarantee the holiday (or in your case cruise) at the time, from the departure point, to the destination and again in your case for the specific cruise you actually want. The later you leave it the less choice you will have and the holiday/cruise that you want may not then be available. But, if it is not selling well it is probable that it will be discounted.

Or alternatively different agents may obtain preferntial rates from the cruise company and be able to sell it cheaper. Or some agents will take a lower commission and pass that saving on by way of lower prices.

Also have you actually checked that the precise cruise that you want is still available. You may have priced it from a brochure or web site but could you actually purchase the replica holiday to your own?

Basically a holiday is like any other commodity. You buy your new car from garage A and then find it could be bought cheaper and with a lot more extras for less at garage B. Or why do Tesco charge 2p more for a tin of beans than Sainsbury but 5p less for a jar of coffee. Yo must take a decison based upon what you want at that precise moment knowing that should you not take it then it may not be available later. If you are lucky the company may backward price match and/or refund any difference but otherwise it's just supply and demand and caveat emptor I'm afraid.

It won't make you feel better, but how often have you been on a plane? You'll be very lucky to find more than 10% of the people that have paid the same price in the same class. Some will have paid a lot more and some a lot less. No difference really, is it?

Just enjoy the cruise and think that some people may actually have paid more than you.

dmg24

Would you be willing to pay more if the price had now gone up? x

Inactive

Indeed, it is all about market forces, supply and demand I'm afraid, some you win, some you lose.;)

bagand96

Agree with the above; its all about market forces. And it is not First Choice travel agent's fault.

Holiday companies change prices all the time and the main reason is bookings. When they will put out a new season of holidays, they will offer early booking discounts, and you probably did receive these. However as time goes on the companies will review their current bookings. If bookings are very strong for a particular holiday they can nudge up the price, or keep it steady. If bookings are low, they will lower the price to tempt more people to book.

On the day you booked you would probably have got that price, there or there abouts wherever you booked. Each travel agent has to use the same system to get onto a particular tour operators holidays, and the price is set by the tour operator, in this case Island Cruises. You may have found a few £s difference in different travel agents, due to individual agent's offers, but generally the price would not vary by a vast amount. Booking direct with Island Cruises may have saved you a few quid as there would be no travel agent comission, but again the difference would not be vast.

In essence, the price you paid was the price the holiday was selling for on that day, this holiday price has obviously gone down since then. Very frustrating I appreciate, but like dmg said, if the price had risen, would you ring up First Choice or Island Cruises and offer to pay the difference?

alanrowell

So what were Island Cruise charging in August 2007 for the trip

If it was £2399 then more fool you for not checking (first rule of booking holidays - always check around before booking) and First Choice are ripping you off.

Otherwise you aren't being ripped off

Inactive

Nobody is ripping anybody off.

An item is offered for sale at a price, a buyer elects to buy at that price or not.

End of.

jintyb

Thanks to all who replied and for the points you raised. X

saveapenny

other option you have is losing the deposit and rebook that way you save £100 or waiting and rebooking at a later date and seeing if it goes down anymore. It all depends on bookign a late if you dont mind any cabin and can be flexiable on date or ship £3000 nearly for an island cruise is expensive when you could have got (depending on date) an NCL 14 day cruise leaving southampton for around £600 each

duchy

It's a gamble-book early and get exactly what you want. Book later and take your choice from what is left. Sometimes what you want is then priced lower but (and this is becoming more common) the holiday companies are definitely moving towards the early prices been lower so they benefit from better cash flow. I worked in travel for years and I still can't predict exactly what holidays will be a better deal booking early/late. If you aren't locked into exact/high demand dates or aren't too specific about exact hotel/ship/room type then it can be worth a gamble-but it really is exactly that.