All anyone booking since, say April, had to do was spend 15 seconds in Google and it would have brought them to us where they would have seen all the warning signs.

Which is exactly what I was alluding to in my post. Or perhaps the watchdogs do not spend any time looking at things on the net! I am well aware that ALL TOs do get bad reviews but some of the complaints and comments posted here on HT have warned some people off - and that is a good thing.

I take all reviews and complaints with a pinch of salt. We only get one side of the story, but there has been enough information around as Steve has said to cause people to think before they booked. The problems within the travel industry over the last couple of years should have been signalling to the watchdogs that things were not right yet they have done nothing to address the problem. Putting guarantees in place to get you home or give you your money back is not the answer. They need to put a system in place to protect the monies from the first payment and it should be the TOs who are held responsible and not the ATOL/ABTA schemes that kick in when these firms go bust. That is far to late for the majority. Not everyone can rebook and wait for their money to be refunded sometime in the future.

fwh

Ha ha gotta love the title of this thread!

Hi Have booked DIY in the past and probably will in the future when things settle down again. The last two years have booked with Thomson and Thomas Cook. Was very pleased to be booked with a tour operator when the ash cloud struck!no hassle for us at all. However, our DIY has mainly been direct with the airline and direct with the hotel so no third parties to worry about.

I too will be giving DIY a miss in future.
I have previously posted my experiences with Monarch Airlines and Monarch Hotels' websites. Because the Monarch flight was changed I had to pay Monarch Hotels for the privilege of changing the check out date from the hotel - one day earlier than originally booked. I was charged an admin fee - £30 - luckily I didn't lose out because the cost of the one day I lost was more expensive than when I originally booked, so even paying the admin fee the whole thing balanced out.
However, I found the whole experience a pain and will be using the package option in future - TOs don't charge their clients for losing a day's holiday!!

I wasn't aware Monarch owned any hotels. What you have done is use Monarch as an agent so it wasn't DIY. Had you done proper DIY, ie booked direct with the hotel, I'm sure the amendment would have been free.

Steve.....I think some of us are mixing up DIY with middle men bookings, me being one of them, I should have clarified in the title but thought it had an amusing ring to it. ....Caz

Caz,

I don't think a lot are confused. I think they actually believe that the agent (who may be working out of a grotty office over a local parade of shops) actually owns the hotels! And there are definately some who struggle to understand that it is possible to book direct with a foreign hotel, I know this because of the blank looks I get at work when they ask which tour company I'm going with and I say I booked it myself.

cazB - I like the title as well

Although a DIY does not give package regulations cover it is easier to amend and alter than when just booking seperate elements from either one or more different companies. Most hotels don't want payment till you arrive, just a card in which to debit probably one nights cost if you don't turn up or give less than 24 hrs notice of cancellation. As long as you make sure you know the terms and conditions you are booking the flight under as well as the accommodation, it is easy to do.
Sometimes cheaper, sometimes not but you do get access to a wider variety of flights, times etc. as well as accommodation.

Hello Steve

I realise that I wasn't really doing a true DIY - I'm too cowardly!!

When I booked the holiday I was aware that I was booking through Monarch as an agent but the price was much less than booking direct with the hotel (Servigroup hotel in Benidorm).

I didn't lose financially, but I found that getting emails telling me my flight had changed and long winded telephone calls to an 0870 number were a drag that I could have done without just a week before I was due to go on holiday. Mind you last year my package holiday with Thomas Cook was changed by them just three days before I left!! - mind you I was upgraded to full board then, so I felt I had 'won a do'!!

I don't usually do a true d.i.y. for my regular trips to Tunisia as I can book hotels cheaper through a consolidator such as lowcost, alpharooms or quick rooms than by doing it direct with the hotel. My flights are always with either BA from Gatwick into Tunis (excellent luggage allowance and often very reasonably-priced flights) or Thomas Cook from Stansted (my nearest airport) into Monastir, neither of which I anticipate going belly-up in the foreseeable future. The TO's are far too limited for me, rarely offering the combination of flights and hotel that I want at a price I can afford.

We do a mixture.

For Turkey I always go DIY now. Usually flights through Aegean and then book a villa directly.

When we try new places we usually, although not always, go on a package. This is mainly because we don't really know how that country works until we get there and so a package gives me a bit of security that a TO will represent us if something is wrong.

We don't *always* do that though. We were due to go to Morocco in January and I booked flights and a riad seperately as it was way way cheaper. Unfortunately that holiday was cancelled as my father was taken it - but the insurance covered it.

I went DIY to Tenerife Jan 2010, and we had no problems.

We booked Ryanair flights for 75 pounds per person return from Liverpool, and i found a hotel on lowcostholidays which worked out at 35pounds per person for the week.

This worked out at 110pounds per person based on 2 adults and 2 children.

I have to say this was very cheap, as i did look on holiday websites eg thomascook to see if i could get it cheaper, but couldnt find any package holidays for less than 200 pounds to Tenerife.

I have also done Goa DIY, booked flights with thomascook, and hotel via lowcostholidays again.
But it seems now you cannot really find any cheap flights to Goa, so it makes sense getting a package holiday.

I'm going to the Dominican Republic in April easter holidays and i booked a package.