no- you would "only" have to lose the deposit. Sorry to hear you might have to cancel. Have you thought about altering the duration to a week, or changing to a more modest hotel?? If you stick with Thomson you would have to pay to change details but this should not amount to your deposit.

Hi

Thanks for the quick reply Glad it would be just the deposit. I thought about having another look to see if I could find something a little less exp, thing is we like AI as it gives us a break from the kids asking for food and drink all the time So if I just changed the holiday, would they take the adjustment charges from the deposit and what (if anything) was left would just towards the other holiday?

Other concern is our eldest is 16 and this could be the last holiday abroad we get to have together before her work committments etc... set in.

It really is a tricky one Maybe we could all starve for a few months.

Just read on another thread that prices are more than likely to rise so now I'm thinking should we just go for it, Im dreadful at making decisions, spent months sorting out the holiday I've booked
Maybe its best not to do anything at the moment and just think about it for a while. I'd hate to cancel and regret it. Never been away in the main school holidays before but kids are at GCSE stage now.

A change would be £50 per person but you would be better contacting them directly to see what they would allow as a change. Perhaps you should do this even if you don't think you want to take any action right now, as you will just end up worrying about it. That way you will be clear about what you can and can't do.

Ok, i'll give them a call next week and see what they say. Thanks for your help

Hmm it is tricky especially if you are thinking of going to an EU country with the €. The AI works out roughly £750pp for 2 weeks bed, food and drinks etc. Why not price up with Thomson's a S/C holiday and see what you have left over to provide your meals and drinks - may give you a rough idea if it's worth the move taking into account the amendment fee.

I really feel for you Marie . It's a tough decision and yes there will be plenty of us who feel the same

I agree with fiona and it would be wise to ring thomson and at least ask what your options would be if you were to cancel. You will loose your deposit whether you cancel now or in May so it wouldnt make any difference if you delay your decision . At least you will have time to make the right choice nearer the time .

I have friends that cancelled a holiday with Thomsons. In this case it was due to them having 2nd thoughts about their choice of destination (cape verde) . They decided to go to florida instead and wanted to book with virgin . thomson allowed them to put their deposit towards a city break in order that the money they had paid wasnt totally lost and maximising the use of that deposit towards something at the cheaper end of what they could book with thomsons.

Im not saying they will allow you to do the same but if you phone and specifically ask if you have the option of transferring this deposit you may be pleasantly surprised by your options should it be necessary . As Fiona says this may take some of the worry from your shoulders.

Have you looked on the thomson website to see if there is something cheaper that you could maybe change to . I made a change of airport with portland a couple of years ago and because that then triggers the current price of the complete holiday at the date of change and the actual cost had come down since I booked, the holiday ended up costing me less.

The very best of luck
lyn

Marie,It may be worth looking on the Portland website and pricing your holiday.Its a Thomson company and they sometimes sell the same hotels but Portland are quite a bit cheaper.
Even if they dont let you transfer your deposit,it may work out cheaper to cancel with Thomson and rebook with Portland.

Hi Marie, I would give them a ring and see what they can do for you. You might find they are quite accommodating as they are probably down on bookings anyway. I cant imagine you are the only person who is having second thoughts about spending such a large amount of money on something that is in effect a luxtury item.

I understand what you are going through in a way, as I have promised mine to go to Florida, but it is so expensive I am having trouble commiting to booking. I keep thinking say my Hubby loses his job (apparently half his office is sitting about doing nothing )or I lose mine. It seems irresponsible to spend 6K on a holiday.

But I am balancing this with the fact that my DD is sixteen and it may be a last family holiday and we work bloody hard all year to afford this, and you never know what is around the corner. Everywhere I go though people seem to be losing their jobs. Chap who checked my shopping in supermarket this morning told me his girlfriend had just been made redundant and they dont know how they will pay their rent next month. Sort of puts it into perspective.

Thank you for all your comments

Just had a quick look on the websites and it makes what we've already got booked look like quite good value. There are a few cheaper ones around on either s/c or h/b but I think as there are 6 of us we'd end up spending a small fortune on food and drinks. It's been playing on my mind over the weekend, but as someone mentioned, I have a few months before I have to really decide if i do need to cancel .

I could get it a lot cheaper if I took the kids out of school, something I don't really want to do this year.

We paid £50 pp deposit so have paid £300 so far, which if we have to pay £50 adjustment charges each on another holiday I suppose we may as well just cancel.

But I shall keep looking, might find a bargain if I look hard enough! Although I am considering doing a week at Center Parcs instead

Marie, could you tell us when/where you're currently booked to go and from which airport so that we might be able to find a cheaper alternative for you? How old are the children too? I'm assuming for 4.5K you're going for two weeks

Yes of course, we're due to fly from B'ham 4th Aug with Thomson staying at the Condesa de la Bahia, Alcudia, Majorca, 14 nights AI. We travel as 4 adults and 2 children (older children are 15 and 16) and the younger two are both 10. We've booked two rooms and just requested they are next to each other but obviously this isn't a guarantee.

Would love to hear of anything cheaper someone might come up with This place looked ideal cause we like to be on the beach which always narrows it down a bit.

Thanks for that Marie, will have a look for you. Would you consider somewhere other than Majorca?

.... and is there any flexibility with the dates??

Hmmm ... well my initial search with Thomson to check out the hotel and its' facilities to give us an idea what you are looking for brings up a total price of over £6300 for your dates from Birmingham, with 2 adults and two 10 year olds o in one room and 2 'adults' in the other room. Scarily it seems your price of £4500 is a bargain compared to what it would cost to book now

I'll go back to the drawing board!

This has been a very scary exercise so far! I checked out Thomson as with them Marie is more likely to be able to transfer her deposit but self-cater and half board were coming out around the original price Marie booked for AI. I checked alternative destinations that are likely to be cheaper but Turkey and Bulgaria were both coming out around the £5-7K mark which is no help

I also looked at Travelrepublic and found flights on the same dates from Birmingham for £115 each (a bargain I feel). Despite this low cost flight the accommodation with TR still took AI up to the £5K mark.

Marie, would you consider taking low cost flights and renting a villa such as this one?

http://www.holidaylettings.co.uk/rentals/pollenca-pollensa/77038

The total cost for flights and villa rental would be in the region of £2400. Obviously you would need to factor in food, drink and possibly car hire but this was the first villa I came across. It might be that there are cheaper alternatives and it may also be worth checking out flight/villa costs for other destinations. Turkey is a good bet for 2009 as they are not in the Eurozone which makes our sterling go a lot further at the moment. Thomson also do villa holidays/villa rentals which may help with the deposit situation.

Cazz

I know what you mean cazz. Family summer prices are very scary at the moment. I guess it's because the TO's have cut back on availability due to the current economic climate.

To travel two days earlier on 2nd August (night flight coming home) on http://www.portlanddirect.co.uk I could get two rooms at the same hotel for 5180, but these were the partial-sea view rooms, the better rooms were 5516, On Maries date of 4th I think the price was similar to what you found Cazz.

It looks like a lovely hotel for a family holiday. Really looks like you have the best deal out there at the moment for this hotel Marie.

Hi, wow sounds like you are working really hard for me we are flexible on the dates, anytime from the end of the first week of the school holidays and would prefer to be home a few days before they go back to school. Reason we went for Majorca is the kids don't like being on the plane too long and we find 2 1/2 hrs is ideal (did Rhodes and it was too long ) Have been to Ibiza a couple of times and loved it too!

I do like the idea of a villa, if we could get one at a good price that would be an option. The attraction to the hotel is the entertainment for the kids, although not having to get up at silly o clock to reserve sun beds sounds ideal!

Forgot to mention I had paid for limited sea view, can't remember how much it was per room, but didn't go for the superior room as this added £168 per room on top!

It is scary that £4500 actually sounds like a good price isn't it! We did s/c first time we went abroad with the kids and were shocked just how much money we got through on food and drink.

Turkey would be a lovely place for you to go. It's about a 4 hour flight, but not a problem with "kids" of the ages of yours. You can get reasonable flights from many operators, straight into Bodrum. The Bodrum Peninsula is beautiful and the furthest point is only about an hour from the airport.You can rent some lovely villas there a lot cheaper than in Spain for a similar size etc. There are plenty of supermarkets so you needn't eat out all the time, but can have barbecues etc instead. When you do eat out it won't break the bank. The northern side of the Peninsula is quieter and less commercialised eg Yalikavak, Gundogan. But there's still plenty of life there and it's safe for your teenagers to go off on their own.

Well i haven't done anything yet about the holiday apart from worry about it. Today I phoned Thomson, only I didn't realise I would have to pay more deposit. I had paid £50 pp and then need to pay the whole amount in June. Didn't realise the small print about that was a low desposit as when I've booked previous years if you pay a lower deposit then you have to pay more within 10 weeks, shows how out of touch I am! So my options are I either pay 6 x £80 being the remainder of the deposit, or I find another holiday with them and pay £35pp amendment charge and use the money already paid towards that holiday.

Can't see anything I want to book yet though as I just feel sick over this booking, no ones fault but my own

Forgot to ask on the phone if I would be able to carry the holiday forward to next year, not sure when the come on sale though, also who knows how much they will be for next year!