Michelle, I have tried to get thru to FC customer services and got nowhere. I sent one email yesterday and another this afternoon so far no response. What I have asked them for is when the decision is going to be taken as to whether to cancel or not. Are you going to wait and see what happens? We to are due to go on the 14th June. I think it is really the only option, there will be 4 of us Me and the boss sorry the wife, and 2 kids boy 14 and girl 10. Look forward to meeting you, hopefully?

Hi harlequin, I too have kids 14 and 10 (2 girls), I really dont think we have any option at the moment but to sit and wait and see what happens, I really dont fancy wasting over £500 on deposit or paying out anymore to relocate at this time. I am going to ring first choice every few days now to check on updates. At the mo it looks like they have given 4 weeks notice on the change, so will see what happens come 24th April!!!?!!!

Hi sorry to hear KAB not opening to May 24th? We were going May 25th but cancelled 3weeks ago because of change of flights, we got a FULL refund! So I'm sure you are entlted to one if the opening date has been changed. We managed to rebook going to Paloma Grida in Turkey through Thomas Cook and got a free child May 25th so paid less for 14nights then 11 nights with FC!

Hope you all have a great holiday where ever you go and luck to all of you who are still going to Kos!

hi all, went into holiday hypermarket which is owned by first choice and asked advice as we are going 7th june. she was very helpful and even spoke to someone in head office. the reason they've stopped building corfu abc is to concentrate on finishing kos and kefalonia abc. they will be open on 24th may as this is start of a 2 week school holiday period (more money of customers) and they will do their upmost to have it ready. she also said that there had been problems opening other clubs early last year such as the pegasus palace in turkey and an intense training period proir to 24th may will hopefully avoid any problems encountered in similar circumstances last year, after all they dont want complaints or have to pay refunds/compensation.
she was also very helpful on the aspect of monies paid. she said that you only lose youre deposit if you cancel before they do. she said that if you change your holiday you dont lose any money except a fee for changing which can be anything from £20 per person as stated in your brochures.
so in short she advised that we stay put for now but check in early may to see how kos abc is progressing but you only lose money if you cancel not if you change to another holiday with first choice.
this therefore leaves us in a catch 22 situation, do we wait and if they cancel there will be little time to choose another holiday if they can fit us in anywhere thats is, or do we wait and still go and it only just being opened hardly anything up and running as it should be.its alright complaining afterwards and maybe being recompensed but it still may have spoiled your holiday, or do you change your holiday to somewhere else that is already open and running smoothly.
i myself am favoring changing holiday at present as we have a 3 year old and finding another suitable holiday may be difficult at a later date. this would only cost us around £60 to do for peace of mind and the travel agent also assured us that any money left over would be refunded to us even if we have changed holiday and we can change to anything we like let it be all inclusive, half board or self catering etc. the choice is yours
im not 100 % sure what to do but looking on the fc website there are all inclusive and half board places available all over the place. we fancy tunisia or morocco (and their cheaper) hence spending money left over.
has anyone out there been to either place and what are they like.
ill keep you all informed on my decision and good luck to everyone else.

Just to let you all know i recently decided to cancel my holiday to the kos aqua beach & managed to do so with a FULL REFUND.

I spoke to the customer service team & requested a cancellation as the holiday I originally booked was not being given now due to the down grade to a 3plus & the change to the childrens facilities from a family plus which has been replaced with a childrens club that will be at a set time for only a couple of hours (not that I wanted to put them in for longer however at least with the family plus you have the option of them going as & when they choose throughout the day & evening). First Choice agreed with me that they had changed this & a full refund would be given.

Best of luck if you do wish to cancel, & hope you all have a good hol for those of you who are still going

Jojack,

Is it true about the Family Plus being withdrawn? I just checked on their website and Kos ABC is still on the list.

Was the letter we got saying the Warner Kids Clubs being withdrawn actually meaning that the family plus? Feel a little bit conned now!

the reason they've stopped building corfu abc is to concentrate on finishing kos and kefalonia abc.

That may well be the current cover story, but they didn't even start building Corfu ABC.

The actual reasons surrounding this are legal, due to the fact that the builder did not have adequate planning permission.

For some strange reason the planning permisson was for something like a hundred or so beds, when the actual project is to build accommodation for nearer 500 - 600.

Even looking at the last available photos from the Corfu site, it was obvious that nothing had been done and that there was no hope of completing works in time for a May 2006 opening.

Just have a look at the site photo dated 4th Dec 2005, that clearly shows that nothing had been done on the site.

http://allinclusiveingreece.bravehost.com/

my wife phoned fc today we go on 24th may and because we have only 7 weeks left to go we would have to forfiet 50% of our money if we cancelled

just been to holiday hypermarket theyve been great. what i said this morning still stands.
weve therefore changed our holiday to the sahara beach , tunisia as there are no guarantees that kos will all be open by 24th may. we got a great deal, only had to pay £60 admin costs(removed from our refund so weve not had to pay anything) to change the holiday, which weve done to a family plus all inclusive property with much more facilities for a much more reasonable price with a nice refund of 400 pounds from the kos holiday.at least this one is up and running and has hundreds of good reports on this website.
good luck to everyone else and hope you all have a nice holiday wherever you may go.

to mcfester

I believe that the family plus has been withdrawn as an upto date brocher that i obtained didn't mention family plus & when I spoke to the customer service team they agreed with me that the holiday facilities for the childrens club were not the same as when booked. Hope I'm not giving you wrong info, suggest you call first choice to confirm

what does family plus mean? and if they have withdrawn it what are we now missing out on? havent got a brochure to hand to check.

Copied from FC's website, setails about Family Plus:

Free with Familyplus
Bugs Bunny Club, 7 days a week
Pyjama Club
Wavelength
Regular daytime activities and evening entertainment for the whole family
Little Tikes play equipment
Specially selected family-orientated Reps
Family-fun times where kids and parents can make the most of our kids' clubrooms
HarperCollins sponsored kids' library
24 hour helpline

There is no description for Childrens club

More Family Plus info:

Relax while your kids are entertained and making new friends... Spend quality time together; it's a holiday after all... Fun for everyone and time out when you need it...
9am - 2pm
Breakfast Club
(3-8 years) 9-10am
Wake up and meet your friends and Reps for breakfast.
Tweety Crèche**
(12-35 months) 10am-2pm
With playtime, painting and loads of toys, get ready for fun with friends!
Bugs Bunny Kids' Club
(3-8 years) 10am-2pm
Join in! Playing pirates, building toy boats or with juggling, games and sports.
Wavelength
(9-15 years) 10am-2pm
Chill out teenager style, with sports, music and PlayStation2. 2pm - 5pm
Family Fun Time
(For all ages!)
Have fun! get involved with juggling, plate spinning and treasure hunts. Take part in pirate adventures and see whose homemade flying machine goes furthest!
Family Olympics
Relive your school days by taking part in loads of activities, with pool time, water polo and up to 50 different races including old favourites, the egg and spoon and wheelbarrow race. 6pm - 11pm
Early Evening Supper and Mini Disco
(3-8 years) 6.30-9pm
Boogie with your friends and practise those dance moves.
Pyjama Club
(3-8 years) 9-11pm
Join the club! Enjoy movie nights and chocolate parties.
Tweety Evening Crèche**
(12-35 months) 7.30-10.30pm
Get snug as a bug and ready for bed at storytime.
Wavelength Chillout
(9-15 years) 8-11pm
Hang out with friends at pamper nights and beach barbecues.

Hi All, i think the Family Plus is a type of hotel. The Aqua Beach Club is also a type of hotel. I think the facilities of both are similar. Maybe the intention was always to use the Aqua Beach Club brand name for these types of hotels. I guess its worth asking First Choice to differentiate between the two. Hopefully still going 28th June!

Anyone wanting to complain could do worse than send a letter to the following:
Mr Dermot Blastland
Managing Director Mainstream Holidays
First Choice Holidays PLC
First Choice House
London Road
Crawley
West Sussex
RH10 9GX

You never know you might get somewhere, or at least make your complaint known at a higher level.

cheers firebird apache
Why don't we all write to him? Even if we are happy with any alternative we still did not get our first choice of holiday...
Anyone up for it?

Familyplus hotels & resorts offer a specific range of "family friendly" facilities, including various children's clubs and attractions, details as per:

http://www.firstchoice.co.uk/familyplus/

If anybody does get a reply from Mr Blastland, do please publish it here, as he hasn't replied to questions I sent him in October 2005 as yet.

Hi lockwood...i am one of the (un)lucky??? who knows will let you know on the 25th May somehow.....ones who are going on the 24th May......anyway....We went to the Sahara Beach hotel last year..very nice apart from the "very nice" men who get the all inclusive sun mats out of the shed for you and put them on the sunbeds and expect a fee.....

Hi all,

I have had contact with the dutch travel agency Sunrise. They told me KABC will open on 18th of may.

They were at Kos a week ago. But they couldn't tell me why there was a delay. Little weird though.

Since FC is spreading the word around about of the opening being on 24th of may, the girl from Sunrise was really sure that 18th may is the right date.