I know what you mean, people must be running scared at the moment and the likes of Thomson and Thomas Cook must be licking their lips. Hopefully this won't see an increase in price, it may see a reduction if more people started to book a package deal.
You can still reduce the risk by going DIY by putting a holiday together yourself through Thomson, I did this a few months back and saved almost £300. Same flights, same accommodation and same transfer bus.
We even still got pestered by the reps.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I think some of the smaller firms will suffer though. I still miss Kosmar and Libra.

Robby

I have decided to only book in the future with the likes of Thomson/ Thomas Cook and Monarch.

I think that's fine if you like the sort of holiday that the big TOs have on offer but I think that I will be continuing to take my chances with going DIY because of the sort of holidays I like. If I don't I would probably never go on holiday again - or at least not on the type I really enjoy. Nor would I be able to afford to go away as frequently as I do whic means a lot to me given the stresses of my work.

So I will continue to go down the DIY route but I think that there are precautions you can take to minimise the risks such as:

1) Make sure that if booking flights and/or accommodation through a 3rd party that the agent is properly bonded.

2) Use your credit card for the booking. Yes, you will pay extra for it but I regard is as the equivalent of paying an insurance premium - you hope never to have to claim but it's worth paying it for the peace of mind.

3) Ensure if at all possible that your travel insurance includes cover for if the airline goes bust.

5) And finally accept that nothing in this world is ever certain and be ready to roll with whatever happens.

This isn't a new phenomena - going on for 25 years ago now my Mum organised a holiday for a large extended family group of us and with less than a week to go before we were due to leave the TO went bust. Having confirmed that they were bonded and that everybody would get their money back eventually, she sorted out an alternative for an almost identical holiday leaving a day later. Yes, I know that not everybody has access to the funds to make a new booking in this way or would feel comfortable with adding it to their plastic but if you can then you mightn't get the holiday you planned but it is still possible to get away. And, yes, it is disappointing when you've been looking forward to something but personally, I'll continue to take the risk on DIY rather than settle for what the big boys charge for something that I don't find very attractive.

And again I know that not everybody is in a position to do this because they can't afford the difference between a package and going DIY but a friend has a very novel approach to budgetting for a DIY holiday. She prices up what is the nearest equivalent package and then literally saves what she saves by going DIY - in other words she puts the difference into a savings account which she then treats as a rainy day fund she can draw on if things go wrong. Over the years, this account has sometimes built up to such a surplus that she's then used the savings that have accumulated to pay for an extra holiday! I'm seriously thinking of giving this a go for the future.

SM

Whilst it is unfortunate that another holiday firm has collapsed and I really feel for those caught up in it..I will still continue to do DIY. That said, we only do DIY to Malta/Gozo. We only ever fly with Air Malta and we use the same source for apartments.

As for other holidays..well we do Dive Liveaboards through Blue O2 and Regaldive and if we were to go anywhere else, I tend to use TC..I research on the internet and then go into our local branch. The girls there are brilliant and really help us out. I think it is reassuring to know we are covered in the event of TC going belly up. Hopefully Air Malta is safe too!!

We only go on beach package type holidays and in the past have booked DIY and package, going with the cheapest option and to be honest with the extra charges ie credit card , baggage, transfers etc which are added on to DIY the final costing sometimes worked out dearer than the package. We only go away as a couple and avoid going high season so what we save money wise either way is very small. I love a bargain and would never pay over the odds anyway. .....Caz

We regularly DIY to Lanzarote - flight, villa and car hire because that is what suits us. We could book a package cheaper but wouldn't be able to get the villa we want. I wouldn't go there any other way. I make sure we have schedule airline failure and independent traveller option on our insurance policy.
When we go to the caribbean it is a package only because the cost saving is usually quite significant.
If you do a 'proper' DIY you don't use middlemen, just deal direct with airlines, accomodation owners/hoteliers and car hire providers so lessening the risk. Quite satisfying knowing you have sourced and booked everything yourself

Hi
I have always been someone who books with a big travel operators, have looked at DIY in the past but after all the bits and pieces added on it wasnt much difference in price. Since the Vol Ash episode and a few smaller operators going bust it has made me feel the only safe option is with a big TOs (hopefully safe ).
M

I have decided to only book in the future with the likes of Thomson/ Thomas Cook and Monarch.

thats fine in theory but over the last couple of years the big three have reduced the number of hotels they offer, and some of my favorites are no long available even through UK booking agencies

I do a mixture of both. I don't have the choice of destinations with the cheap airlines as you do in the UK. I had a weeks holiday in Portugal in April and to have booked the holiday DIY would have cost considerably more than it did by booking a package with one of the leading tour companies.
I was caught out a couple of years ago when I did a DIY holiday to Laos. I had flown to Bangkok where I had planned to stay a few days at the end of my trip. The day before I was to fly out of Bangkok the protests started and the airport was closed. I had to stay for extra nights in my hotel, which plus food for the extra days proved quite costly. I was quite lucky as after only a few days Lufthansa came to the rescue and sent a B747 to Phuket to pick up some of the stranded passengers, after a nightmare 12 hour coach journey barrelling it's way through Thailand and a nine hour wait on the airport I eventually boarded a plane home. I was alone on my holiday and for a less experienced traveller it could have been quite a frightening experience.
Other people were stuck in Bangkok for much longer and had to pay out for hotels and food (and no, insurance companies were not interested). But most of those that were on package holidays just had an extended holiday in Thailand all paid for by their travel companies.
I will probably carry on doing a mixture of both in the future but my experience in Thailand has made me very wary of who I will book my travel with.

I'll stick with DIY but realise there is always a risk - I had five flight cancellations due to the ash crisis for example. However we stay in hotels that don't tend to feature in tour ops brochure, and for the money we pay we simply would not get the quality from a tour op. We always have a backup plan in mind so that if a hotel bounces us then a quick five minutes on t'internet means we've rebooked somewhere else.

Having said that if a tour op has some good deals going then i'm not adverse to using them

Using a company like SUN4U is not DIY - that's like getting someone to paint your house and saying it's DIY because you found him in Yellow Pages and did the dialling!!

Surely the title of the thread should be "No more dodgy middle men".

so the $64,000 question is
who are the dodgy middle men?

alpharooms/travel republic/onthe beach/onholiday.................................

they provide a service. i can book my hotels a lot cheaper with one of these firms than by going direct to the hotel.

when i go to the costa brava i can get cheap flights (usually) with ryanair, and book a decent hotel that caters for my wishes. the main operators have reduced their holidays to this area over the past few years and now their offerings are very minimal. they do not provide value for money in this area anymore, so why should i go somewhere else just because they decide to reduce their holidays in that area. the main operators are better if their is a disaster, but not at any price.

fortunately, when i have had any problems -ash cloud/escape withus - i have got my money back straight away. i will continue to look at all options and then use whatever method gives me best value.

it is like anything in life, you use experience and lessons learned from yourself and others, and pray.

like you say, $64,000 question! There are clearly some decent agents and, as we are all too aware on this site, some really iffy ones. If you are going to use an agent you have to research them carefully - and that's after you've researched the hotels! You seem to know what you are doing and use an agent you trust to save money, which is a good reason. But a lot of people use an agent to save thinking and then just pick one on price - that's just trouble waiting to happen!

How about a second alternative title for the thread No more booking holidays without doing decent research.

Surely the title of the thread should be "No more dodgy middle men".

OR

No more booking holidays without doing decent research.

Actually neither in my opinion. Perhaps it should be more "Travel Industry Watchdogs Not Doing their Job" - Looking back on HT at this and other companies - Goldtrail very much in my mind the writing was on the wall well before either these or others decided to take the money and run. With complaints of people actually booking and paying only a few hours before these companies went under I wonder just what ATOL and ABTA are really about.

We are encouraged to book with TOs who display the symbols but each time HT and other forums are filled with tales of woe. People have been parted from their hard earned money and to be told you will get it back "sometime" in the future is no consolation. especially when it is not only the grown ups who are being let down.

Surely the time has come when all monies should be properly protected. Payment by credit card may give some protection but that is just putting the onus on others.

If these companies were required to have proper bonding/insurance in place covering all payments then the cowboys would not be able to get rich to the detriment of others. There are many small companies that do give good value and customer service and they are the ones who will suffer from all this. Tarred with the same brush is the phrase that comes to mind here. And very much undeserved.

fwh

fwh

My thoughts exactly and you can change the title of the thread if you wish .....Caz

I have always wanted to do DIY especially as I hear so many folks making huge savings and it has worked for so many people, but then I hear of the horror stories, and for me travelling alone, I like the comfort of having thomson behind me, 90% of the time I do use Thomson or one of their companies skytours etc and I appreciate there are savings to be made by going DIY, but for me I like to have peace of mind and thomson give me that.

Miss Pink
Sometimes DIY is more expensive but it does give more choice of accommodation and flight times. I think you have to do what is right for you.

Hi Sun Addict you may be right there - I am just a bit nervous of the unknown I guess, and you're right stick to what works for me, although I wouldn't mind if Thomson gave me 20% off for being a solo traveller - some hope there

Hi Miss Pink

Stick with what makes you feel the most comfortable ( though the single room supplement can be a killer).
A friend recently booked a trip to Singapore, Thailand and Cambodia (her first DIY holiday) and has spent the last few weeks worrying if things will go wrong. Will she miss the flights, will the hotels have her booking etc? I think by the time she gets there she will be a nervous wreck.

Judith

I think it boils down to you pay your money and you tek your chance these days (sorry if i lapse into Yorkshire slang, its late). There is nowt to stop you booking with respectable people who we have all heard of..and you think they will never go under and it will never happen to you...but sadly, these days, it does. My SIL has lost out twice this year with firms going under...lost out in Feb (the scots one)..re booked for next month with a different firm..lost out again...