Hi Mcfester, I might be wrong, but in my personal opinion and experiences of tour operators and TA's I wouldn't hold my breath. They don't seem to take anything into consideration and they will probably just demand all monies due on the due dates. Sorry, I know this isn't what you want to hear, but I doubt there'll be any joyful answers for you. For your sake, I hope very much that I'm wrong.

hi mcfester,a couple of years ago,there was 12 in our party going away and 2 couples where short of money for when the balance became due and i rang them up and asked what would happen if there final payment was late by a couple of weeks until they got paid at the end of the month,and they were fine they explained if the balance was notpaid within a week of the 1st letter coming out a second and final demand would then be sent with the threat of the holiday being cancelled,so that just give them that bit extra time to pay(of which they did).i would certainly ring them but only when its due and find a good excuse of why your going to be a bit late and hopefully they will show a bit of sympathy.tip;you could send a cheque for the balance and forget to sign it,lol.also we booked with a major tour operator,im not sure about the smaller ones these days.
good luck
karen

It may be worth you getting a Thomas Cook credit card as they do not charge a fee when paying for a Thomas Cook product.They also give interest free credit for the first 3 months so you can spread your payment over 3 months without paying interest..Just pop into your local TC branch for details.
Another good thing about the card is you get pounds credited, which come off your next TC holiday.

A no interest Credit Card sounds like a good idea. There are a few now doing 0% interest for the first few months.

We are going with FC on one holiday where the top up is £400 due 11th March with the rest of the holiday needing to be paid by 23rd March, so another £540

When are you going on this holiday? If you weren't going to pay until August, it's obviously not until September at earliest. How come they want the full payment so far in advance? Normally, you don't have to pay until at least 10 weeks before you go.

I was going to say the same Shirley. You don't normally have to make the full payment until 10 weeks before. Do you have a credit card that you can just use temporarily? and pay off when the funds become available. You will be very lucky to find any TA that doesn't demand final payment on the due date. As has been suggested you could try not signing the cheque or putting the wrong date etc, but I don't think that will grant you more than a week or two of grace.

I think the OP has paid low deposits when booking and the companies now wants full deposits.
I think this is required 8 weeks after booking.

thanks for the advice peeps.

We go to Bulgaria on the 1st june, my intention was to pay for this holiday first and then start to pay for the other which is the end of september to Turkey.

No luck on the credit card, I was declined! Doh! I think I will try Karens advice.

Cheers

Mmmm.i think if you have had no luck with 0% credit cards. You are just going to have to ring up and appeal to their better natures (if you can find them) hopefully with the credit crunch bookings might be slow and they may think a kind of phased payment from you is better than not selling the holidays at all.

Let us know if you find their better natures ?

Good Luck, Doe

Ive never paid the top up deposit.

The last few packages ive taken have been booked with either portland or thomsons on a low deposit but Ive never paid the top up . lve always just paid the balance 8-10 weeks before departure .

My next holiday is booked through direct holidays . Again a low deposit paid April 2008 . I havnt been asked for anything more and my on line print out states balance due 24th May .

This always seems to differ between T/Os and customers with some people being asked for the money and others not . I wouldnt automatically assume it needs to be paid or visa versa.

Lyn

that is promising lynwestie, thansk, I may just wait for them to get in touch with me!

Ive just made a post in the direct holidays topic mcfester .

Whilst phoning direct this morning about another matter I checked if anything else was due . No not until May 24th

Despite what they put in the terms and conditions I honestly dont believe any tour operator would cancel your holiday because you didnt pay a deposit balance . At the very least they would write and request it first.

Does your confirmation request it . Mine just says balance due 24th May . If it doesnt personally I wouldnt bother unless of course you would prefer to pay it .

The only thing to remember in this instance is that if you were to cancel the full deposit would be due .

I think this is something that varies between the two different companys Lyn.

I have booked with thomson on a low deposit a couple of times and they have never chased me for the 'top up' deposit. I have just paid in full at eight weeks prior to departure.

I am sure if I had cancelled though they would have wanted full deposit.

But last year when I booked Lykia with the then airtours on a low deposit. Thomas Cook who they were taken over with did chase for the balance of the deposit.

So that might be worth bearing in mind.

TBH Chris even though direct told me today it wasnt due, after talking to "cant" on the direct holidays thread I'm still half expecting a letter to drop through the letterbox chasing it even though it's 10 months since I booked .

At least I know my bookings OK and if they chase me for the rest of the deposit now it wont be that far off the due date anyway.

It just seems that there is such inconsistancies between customers experiences with this low deposit thing even between the same T/O's .

lyn

Yes I do agree it seems to be inconsistent even within different brands of the same company. I think you are right though and its probably unlikely they would cancel your booking for non payment of the balance of a deposit without contacting you at least once.

I think if you book and pay the low deposit via a travel agent they will almost certainly chase you for it . Also with the payment due date Ive noticed if you have a booking via an agent it's normally requested 2 weeks earlier to give them time to get the money over to the T/O. For my holiday to egypt last year I had a due date from the agent 14 days before the due date on the T/Os confirmation that was also attached . I phoned the agent and they said as long as the T/O gets it before their due date it wouldnt matter if it was a few days late .

lyn

Last week I booked with Thomas Cook (states on invoice they are acting as agent for Direct Holidays)for March 2010. I paid the £30 each deposit for the three of us, a few days later booked the same holiday for my daughter and family and paid their deposits for the four of them on the understanding it was part of their Christmas presents, strange their deposits worked out at £40 each ! Then noticed in the small print that the full balance of the deposits are due in 8 weeks time, which I have worked out for the seven of us is £590. As we both have holidays coming up soon and the balances of them have to be paid we could of well done without this extra to pay out so soon. However, the printouts I have and also the invoices I received yesterday state the amount and the balance due date as being 23.12.09 no mention of the amounts to be paid in 8 weeks time. Can anyone tell me will they write to me nearer the time to tell me to pay this. I am only worried if I do not work out when the rest of the deposit balance is due (should be end May) and do not send them the £590 they might automatically cancel our holidays.

I can only tell you what has happened in my case chery . I booked with direct holidays on the internet . paid £30 each deposit . I was aware that there was a note on the website somewhere to say that the remainder of full deposit was due 6 or 8 weeks time .Cant remember which .

Like you on my confirmation it said the balance was due on a date in May 8 weeks before our departure and no mention of paying the deposit balance . I have never paid any more and nor have a been asked for it . I have even made a change to my booking over the phone .

At the same time I'm also aware of people booking around the same time as me that have received letters asking for the remainder of the deposit . It seems to be luck of the draw but I feel certain you would get a letter if they wanted any more and highly unlikely that they would cancelyour holiday without a warning letter .

lyn

I think my main worry is we got a free child place with each booking (still had to pay deposit for them though) and so do not wish to risk them automatically cancelling the booking. However £590 is a lot to pay out when I still have this years holiday to pay for and seeing as its my mistake I would feel obliged to pay my daughters deposit balance and wait until December to get it back from her. All I can do really is wait and see, I do not want to phone them and draw their attention to it.

Playing the waiting game is all you can do really chery . You could always make up a query on your booking and phone them a couple of weeks after the 8 weeks has passed and see if they mention anything at that point .