Thanks Pat and everyone else who has sent me best wishes. I have posted on the `Tales`´
Many thanks to Steve for the usual prompt service - your a gem even if your not sending anyone here yet! xx

I wonder if Steve could give me any guidance. As mentioned I am due to return to Tunisia on 18th March. At present BA still have flights but have recently updated their info and now say flights up to 24th Feb can be re-booked for a later date. I hope to stick to my original plans but if I have the option to change my flight, and decide to do this, what would be the position regarding my hotel booking with TR if the FO still advises that people should not travel unless necessary?

Hi Steve - many thanks for the excellent service and also your advice and help re. the German (Neckerman) guests. I have said it before and will say it again - your a gem!! All best Jenny x

A question for Steve or anyone else!!

I have been looking on the TR site and fancy the Roc Flamingo Hotel in Torremolinos. One of the board options is 'half board with beverages included' am I right in assuming that is just a drink with breakfast and one with dinner?

Thanks

Hi, Steve got your contact from trip advisor. Hope you can help, its the first time i've booked with travel republic and on my experience so far it will be the last, as i havent even gone on holiday yet and between travel republic and medhotels they have tried to reduce my all inclusive package and then blame the hotel. Basically they said that the hotel has decided to no longer include imported drinks in its all inclusive. Ps, i must point out i am not a heavy drinker it is just the principle. I then told them that at the time of booking it said imported drinks were included, i then receive an email saying that it is no longer included. I have since spoken directly to the hotel as we stayed there last year i had a contact name. I have an email that states there is no change in policy and it is the same this year as it was last year. I then speak to Travel Republic again explaining this, they now say that if i pay the hotel rates i can have imported drinks or if i upgrade at the hotel i can have imported drinks, but it was already included when i booked the same package that i went on last year. Obviously travel republic or medhotels are trying to extract more money out of me yet again. All i request is that they reinstate the imported drinks as was orignally booked and already paid for, so i do not feel i should have to pay again. Hope you can help.
many thanks

Mr Bourke

I have used this company to book many holidays over the years
I noticed when doing a spot of research today that when you go to add your extras to your holiday eg.baggage,shuttle etc ..there is a section for adding airport check in.What is this? it's £28 for the 2 of us so I'm assuming that you have to add it if you have luggage for the hold.....yet another way to hike up your flight costs?????
Can anyone shed any light on this please

A lot of companies have been doing this for a while Tango bunny. I think it's daft and should be included in the basic price as you have to check in for your flight so you have to pay it- regardless of whether you have luggage or not. I've booked my flights for Easter with BMI Baby and I've had to pay it to them. I can't remember whether it was an added extra on the package I've booked for the summer but I don't think so.

I noticed when doing a spot of research today that when you go to add your extras to your holiday eg.baggage,shuttle etc ..there is a section for adding airport check in.What is this? it's £28 for the 2 of us so I'm assuming that you have to add it if you have luggage for the hold.....yet another way to hike up your flight costs?????
Can anyone shed any light on this please

This probably depends on which airline your flights are booked with - some have now started charging for checking-in at the airport as opposed to using on-line check-in with is free and hence why airport check-in is added as an extra rather than being included. If this is the case then whether you have luggage to check-in or not doesn't usually affect you being able to check-in on line. You check-in at home and print off your own boarding pass before arriving at the airport and then just use the bag drop for your luggage.

The way different airlines price up their tickets and what they do or don't charge for as extras means that you do have to play around with the TR site to find the best possible deal because they will list them in order based of basic price. For example, for a regular trip I make, the cheapest fare listed to Tenerife South will usually turn out to be an easyJet flight but they charge extra for hold baggage which we need to take and that bumps up the price. The result is that the last time I booked for TFS with TR, flights with Jet2 actually worked out as the cheapest end price for us because whilst initially looking to be more expensive, they were cheaper in the end because the price quoted by TR included hold baggage. And incidentally, were cheaper than if I'd booked direct with Jet 2 for exactly the same flights because on their own website they were charging extra for booking in hold baggage!

SM

Pretty sure it's a BMI baby flight judging by the times it would fit

I used to use BMIBaby a lot but the last 6 holidays I've either booked package or via travel republic and just added on the extra's ie luggage and transfer shuttle..........I used TR a lot last year but this is the first time I've ever been given the option to add airport check in.....but then I think it's because it's a bmi baby flight as other searches with different carriers don't have this option

Hoping Steve can help me with this -

Going to Madeira in August and plan to hire a car for a few days while there. Travel Republic prices are competitive, but, even though I search for Downtown Funchal, when I go through to confirmation page it gives me pick-up instructions for the airport. We are staying in private rental accomodation in the Lido area, so want to pick up at an office around there. Is this possible?

Thanks

Carol

A plea for help/advice from Steve, or anyone really.

I am booked to go to Luxor in Egypt on 23rd Feb, less than 2 weeks away. Booked with Travel Republic, flight being with Thomas Cook and accomodation arranged through MedHotels. Given the FCO advice I obviously cannot go to Luxor as I will be uninsured due to 'civil unrest'.

I spoke to Travel Republic customer services last night, encouraged by postings on tripadvisor from someone booked for Sharm el Sheik (i.e. not even on the FCO list) who had been allowed to change destination completely to the Canaries. However all I got from Travel Republic was 'You are unlucky because your flight is with Thomas Cook and they say they are flying to Luxor on 23rd as normal so if you cancel you will lose all your money'. Then it got worse when I asked about my accomdation...I told Travel Republic that I had checked the hotel's website and they allowed cancellation up to the day before. The advisor told me my situation was more complex than that because I had booked through them, and they had paid MedHotels.

I looked at Medhotels cancellation policy only to find that if hotel is cancelled at this point I lose 100% of my money. The complete dishonesty of either TR or Medhotels or both is breathtaking. What right have they got to keep my money when I know for sure the actual hotel won't get any of it? Does anyone know if Medhotels is ABTA registered so I can raise a complaint? Or any general advice as to which company to sue, Travel Republic or Medhotels?
I am disgusted that Travel Republic can assist someone to change destination from Sharm but not from Luxor, a place where our own government is warning us not to travel to and where a curfew is in place. I did not want to be told I was 'unlucky', I wanted some customer service, an alien notion to Travel Republic it seems.

I spoke to Travel Republic customer services last night, encouraged by postings on tripadvisor from someone booked for Sharm el Sheik (i.e. not even on the FCO list) who had been allowed to change destination completely to the Canaries. However all I got from Travel Republic was 'You are unlucky because your flight is with Thomas Cook and they say they are flying to Luxor on 23rd as normal so if you cancel you will lose all your money'. Then it got worse when I asked about my accomdation...

In this situation, you have no way of knowing whether your circumstances are comparable to those of whoever posted on TA or not. They could well be booked with a different airline and with a different room supplier covered by quite different T&Cs re cancellations etc. They could even have been booked on a Jet2 flight - I have booked Jet2 flights myself through TR on the past - and TR have then helped process their refund and made a fresh booking for them to the Canaries.

You will have booked a 'dynamic package' with Travel Republic and whether you can change or not will be up to Thomas Cook not TR. I was going to advise you that you're best bet might be to contact Thomas Cook direct with your flight details and ask them if they will be prepared to allow you to postpone your flight or swap it to another destination served by them but I see from your post at

http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=150287&start=140

that you have already done this and been told direct by Thomas Cook that they won't swap your flight or allow you to cancel and get a full refund. I suspect that if the FCO advice stays as it is re Luxor, that TC will then cancel your flight themselves nearer the time and that is when you will be entitled to a refund. If TC's current view is that they and you should 'wait and see', there isn't much that TR can do on your behalf.

I looked at Medhotels cancellation policy only to find that if hotel is cancelled at this point I lose 100% of my money. The complete dishonesty of either TR or Medhotels or both is breathtaking. What right have they got to keep my money when I know for sure the actual hotel won't get any of it?

There is nothing dishonest going on here, I regularly use TR and so know that you will have ticked to accept their T&Cs when you made the booking and that these always make it clear that in making a booking your are agreeing to comply with the supplier's T&Cs. So both TR and Medhotels will argue quite legally that you knew that if you cancel now that you will lose 100% of your money. The contractual arrangements between the hotel and Medhotels are not relevant in these circumstances - your contract is with Medhotels and their website makes their cancellation conditions as you acknowledge. The fact that the hotel would have allowed you to cancel without charge had you booked direct with them has no bearing and you have no way of knowing whether the hotel's contract with Medhotels guarantees that they will still receive this money or not. In these instances there is a good chance that had you booked direct, you'd have been charged more and that the reason why you got a discounted price through a 3rd party is that the hotel will still get paid this regardless of whether you arrive or not.

In these circumstances, I am inclined to agree that you have been unlucky, had you been booked with a different airline and different bed supplier then you might have been able to make the changes that you want. Recent events have made me realise that I really do need to check the terms of my annual travel insurance policy and see if it provides 'independent traveller' cover or not (I suspect that it won't) and if it doesn't, do something to take out such insurance. I do mainly travel DIY or via 'dynamic packages and have done so for years without any problems but I could easily have been caught out just like you have and I should do something about ensuring that I don't in future. As should any of us who book other than standard package holidays in these uncertain times.

SM

Dear SMa,

Thanks for your considered reply...not that it made me feel any better!

I still feel a sense of grievance with Travel Republic simply because they were not even willing to make enquiries on my behalf and left me to do it. Even though I don't know the airline/accomodation details of the other customer who managed to change from Sharm, it was TR who assisted him, not just told him he was unlucky.

And whilst the word 'dishonest' may have been somewhat emotive, and you are right about the legalities of the contract situation I am in, I am left with the feeling that there will be a huge moral bankruptcy perpetrated if Medhotels retain my £421 for themselves for a service that ends up not being provided. I would perhaps feel better if I knew the hotel did get it (ideally I would donate it to the hotel workers laid off through lack of tourists to Luxor!).

As with yourself, I too have used TR over the years and been pleased with the holidays I have enjoyed, but I will certainly learn from this experience and either arm myself with suitable independant traveller insurance or trot along to my local travel agent and book an old-fashioned package. At least that would give me one target to rage against instead of 3, all of whom seem to blame each other.

I await developments from the FCO, as I expect many other people are doing. I am less cross tonight, watching events unfold in Egypt is far more important than me ranting on about the loss of £1000 on a holiday. There are far more important things in life and I will live and learn!

Re: check-in charges. Yes more & more airlines charge separately to ticket price, hold luggage etc., etc., and I think it's worse (as there is no way to fly without checking-in & should SURELY be included) but you don't always get it free on-line you just get it costing less than using desk ! Then some won't let you check-in on line if you have hold luggage. There seems to be a myriad of combinations which makes it more difficult to compare prices especially when they seem to pop up at various points in the booking process.

When oh when will the price you see be the price you pay ?!

I have just made some new bookings with Travel Republic for guests staying with me in Mahdia. Most of the hotels in Tunisia are now open again and the flights restarted. PLEASE try to support this new democracy - the revenue from tourism is vital for this country - my second home - to go forward. I spend half my life here and it has been so sad to see the situation these last few weeks! Thank you xx

I wonder if Steve could confirm something for me. I'm booked with TR to go to the Marhaba Salem in Sousse, Tunisia on 18th March and have just read on another site that this hotel is closed and guests are being put into the Royal Salem. The poster didn't find out until she got there, but it may explain why there was no answer when I tried to telephone the hotel this afternoon to check they had my reservation. I stayed at the Royal in October and would have booked it again but the price was quite a lot higher this time so I am certainly perfectly happy, but it would be nice to know in advance so I can put the right hotel on my luggage labels before I print them off.

Hi Aslemma, will see what we can find out. Steve

Thanks Steve. You are a star.

Hi Steve, I've just phoned TR as I got a bit impatient and a very nice young lady confirmed I will be in the Royal Salem. I got the impression you may have already asked them but not had a response as she muttered something about there being a note then went off to check.