This all sounds very fishy...... Surely it's too early to say that the holidays for next year aren't selling very well, we are only in Aug 08, for goodness sake! I know last year the FC allocation for the Larespark (and several other Lara beach hotels) were completely booked up for the whole of 08 season! - Such is the popularity of these hotels.
The holidays were available, just last week with Eclipse Direct (same company as FC/Thomson) but are only available to book until April 09, (due to the merger, Eclipse will be no more after this date.) Try a dummy booking with them and see what happens!
This will be classed as a major change, and I can't see why you won't get your money refunded in full. Thomas Cook do all these Lara hotels so you should have no problem rebooking with them.
We were at the Larespark in May, it was an excellent holiday, had a great time, and were hoping to go back to Lara beach in May 09, so please keep us posted with what is happening.
Hope this is some help.
Denny

Thanks Denny. I also think its fishy, but when I popped into my local TA, they said they don't sell Turkey in the winter as everything is closed.
I have been told its warm and there are indoor options if it does rain. What's your view?
Larespark has disappeared from the website, but 5 other hotels are still on there, but a lot more expensive than what I paid.

It is, in fact, true. I called again and, as you suggested, told them I considered it to be a major change. They agreed and said I was entitled to a full refund. They advised me the remaining hotels will be removed from the First Choice website. I'm gutted, as most of the good deals have now gone. Any advice on other recommended hotels more than welcome.....and also whether this is a good time to go to Turkey, as this is my first holiday there.

Hi Chris,
The closest we have been to going to Turkey in the winter, was the other year when we went in the middle of Nov. It was lovely and hot during the day, (got great tans) but it was very cold at night. Like you say all the entertainment is all indoors at night ,so no problem there at all. I would imagine the end of March would be warm (only in the Antalya region though). We have been 1st week in April before - again, very warm during the day, but chilly at night. Beware though that not all the outdoor bars will be open, and also the pools if open will be FREEZING, but they all have indoor pools. Thomas Cook fly to Antalya in the winter season, so have a look on there website, also Travel Republic are very reasonable -don't book their transfer though, as Lara beach is only 15 mins transfer and cheaper by taxi.
Hope you get fixed up. Keep me posted.
Sorry mods if - should be on tour ops thread?
Denny

Thanks Denny - that's really helpful. I realise this may have gone off topic a bit, but wanted your feedback. If I have any other questions, I'll post it in the other thread.
Thanks a lot.

Does anyone know why First Choice are pulling out of some longhaul destinations. Wanted to look at Costa Rica and the pacific coast of Mexico, both of which are finishing in October. Is this something to do with the merger and will they come out again but under a different brand?

Thanks

Pam

keepupwith,

Some destinations are summer season only. Have a look at this post regarding Pacific coast of Mexico.

Darren

Thanks darren- I was looking for August 2009, so I guess with the credit crunch, some destinations are disappearing with tour ops cut backs. It's a shame Costa Rica sounded brilliant.

Pam

chrisdavies, glad you got a full refund, hope you manage to rebook and have a great holiday

laura

Chrisdavies, doesn't really matter now you have your refund, but we have just returned from the Larespark and the rep told us that First Choice were in negotiations about pulling out for next year, due to the amount of problems with them. Outside of the peak season things seem to have been fine, but without exception all the FC guests we came across had arrived in the early hours, only to find their rooms not ready, us amongst them. We were lucky to have a temporary room even if we did have a cot for our 9 year old, but some had to bed down on the sofas in reception- not good. No glass of bubbly to greet us either unlike the Russian and German guests. It will be interesting to see if the other hotels do indeed disappear or if this is confined to the Larespark.

Pam

First Choice already had a capacity cut policy and TUI have adopted that, destinations such as Puerto Vallarta (LGW and MAN), Costa Rica, Margharita (MAN only) Bahamas are all going as is Varadero from LGW, so is a lot of spanish capacity. Long haul or short haul company, umm im not so sure anymore.

What a shame- first 3 were on my list for next year!! Will need to have a rethink, as I'd be loathe to do a diy going that distance. Thanks for the info!

Pam

We were booked on a one week Lost World Tour in Venezuela followed by a week in Margarita flying ex Gatwick on Tuesday 9 September. They rang me yesterday to say the Tour was cancelled owing to lack of sales. We're devastated.

That's three days' notice. We've spent a lot on Yellow Fever jabs, anti-malarials, mozzie sprays, boots, etc.

OK, they offered a free amendment or full refund with £25pp compo, but...

The tour is operated by http://www.crocodiletours.com/tours/lostworld.htm where they say "Operation subject to minimum numbers, reviewed 8 weeks ahead of departure."

Any advice, please?

It may be worth also posting this in our Holiday Complaints forum for some advice.

luci

I booked a holiday with first choice in march and paid a deposit on line of £150, i then had an email and letter posted to me a few weeks later to say that my holiday had been paid for and that i had 0 balance and my tickets will be posted to me 3 weeks before departure. I left it a couple of weeks as i thought it was a mix up and i then had another letter saying that they has made a mistake and the holiday still needed to be paid for so i gladly called them and paid over the phone. The transaction went through and 2 weeks ago i recieved my tickets then last saturday 6th 10 days before i departure i recieved a letter saying that my holiday has been cancelled and that they are keeping over £700 of the balance and i will recieve only 10% back. I have tried all weekend to call fc to sort this out and no one has helped me or been able to tell me why its been cancelled and by who! has anyone else had a problem like this. all i can assume is that its a technical fault as i have defently not cancelled my holiday.But i will be calling them 1st thing tomorow morning.

oh no lauriejade, that sounds terriable, ive never had this problem and touch wood never will, defo call them up today and ask for someone senior, and makesure you get all the names of the people you speak to, im keeping my fingers crossed you get this sorted let us know the outcome

laura

Don't forget Ros can give advice if you are not getting anywhere.
If you can't find a proper number watch out for the 0871 call lengths- make a note of all calls and durations and inform them that you will be seeking a refund for the costs.

hello,

i'm wondering if anyone has heard anything about sickness on a first choice nile cruise that was so bad Health & Safety were brought on board and people had to cut their holiday short and fly home.

Have been into my local first choice shop, they phoned head office & they are not aware of anything like this happening.

The person who said this said majority of boat fell ill on last morning aboard. Between them waking up unwell and departing for airport around 2pm, First Choice had brought in Health & Safety people to go over the boat and came back with results that it was all o.k. and they also said that people who were due to extend their holiday for another week cut it short and flew home.

Of course when i first read it i went right into panic mode, then after reading it again - i started to ask a few questions, how come Health & Safety got on board so quick, tested the boat and got the results back - all within a few hours. If people were that unwell that they wanted to cut their holiday short due to severe sickness and diahorrea would they not be deemed unfit to fly and have to stay in resort till doctor gave them all clear?

I'm due to go in three weeks and when you hear reports like this it is a bit of a worry, it's the only negative review i have read regarding the food and cleanlieness on board - many about first choice - nothing to bad about the boat. I'm not in any way saying this person is lying but somewhere along the lines something is not adding up as First Choice have said they are aware of all Health & Safety hygiene issues within their hotels and have not had to bring anyone home early from Luxor due to sickness.

If anyone has heard anything i'd love to hear.

Suzie

Hi Suzie

As you have already surmised if you are unwell an airline will not take you, and if there are groups of people unwell they definitely will not be allowed to fly until tests confirm what is wrong with them and they have all been declared fit to travel.
An airline will not allow you to travel in a plane when there is the risk of spreading an unknown or communicable illness on to others.

I don't think I would read too much in to it, remembering that you will always have some people that are ill for one reason or another.

We did the FC Nile cruise (going again in Jan) and there was a small group of friends who were ill and were very vocal that it was the ships fault, however it later came to light that the first 2 of the group to become unwell were a husband and wife, and hubby had been cleaning a blocked sewer pipe a couple of days before departure, and in fact they had both been unwell (sickness & dihoreia) on the day they departed from Gatwick.