Time and time again this happens and people never learn.
Pay alittle more and feel more secure, sorry.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion:)

huge*abba*fan wrote:

Time and time again this happens and people never learn.
Pay alittle more and feel more secure, sorry.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion:)

what's to say that the "big boys" are safe, remember XL travel. In the 70s there was a tour operator equivalent size to Thomsons which collapsed.

This is ITV Wales here. Were searching for people who've been affected by Holidays 4U going into administration. So, if you're from Wales and stuck abroad in Turkey, or have had to cancel your holiday, please get in touch with my colleague Nicola Hendy (nicola [dot] hendy [at] itvwales [dot] com) today.

Also, if any of you have advice on how to avoid booking with a company on the brink of going bust, we'd love to know. Is it possible to avoid?

Thank you!

We have booked our first week hotel in Icmeler through holidays4u who then use a company in Marmaris it was booked and paid for in Jan does anyone think it will still be booked through this Marmaris company?

Huge abba fan problem is big boys are more than a little bit dearer. As long as you book with atol protection your money is safe but you do face problems if you have to rebook when a tour operator goes under. In most forms of retail your buying power allows a company to sell a product/service cheaper this does not happen with the large tour companies why?

I would never book accommodation and flight separate

But these can be booked together as a package along with transfers using companies like alpharooms and you are fully protected by atol and abta bonds, and use well recognised airlines and the same hotels as the large tour companies. It is just the same as booking a hotel here using a booking agent to save money using there buying power. The flight is normally paid direct to the airline at time of booking often your flights are with thomsonfly or thomas cook anyway.

We have booked separate flights for years now always through the operator to get flight times we want which you can never get on package holidays to Turkey. We sometimes book apartments and sometimes hotels and this is the first time anything bad has happened. We still have our flights and our hotel fir the second week, it was only the first week we booked through this company. We used them last year and got a great deal but I suppose it's just one of those things, have to look for anther hotel now!

annemac101 wrote:

We have booked our first week hotel in Icmeler through holidays4u who then use a company in Marmaris it was booked and paid for in Jan does anyone think it will still be booked through this Marmaris company?

Hi annemac101 ...with previous company failures, some members in a similar position to yourself have found that the reservation has been cancelled by the hotel or local agent due to non payment by the collapsed company. Some have found that the reservation is still being held by the hotel or local agent pending payment. Others have found that the reservation and payment are in place but no refund will be given if the passengers can no longer travel due to the flight bookings being cancelled.

I think all you can do is try to make contact with the Marmaris company and hope for the best. If the news is not good, you could then look at what credit card or travel insurance protection you might have. Good luck, do let us know how you get on.

David

Thanks for info David,I have e mailed the company in Marmaris. Even if they could sell me back my room that would be ok but if they've not been paid maybe its gone by now.Surely it also means a lot of hotels in Turkey will now have rooms they thought had ben sold?
It is a chance you take with smaller holiday companies we all know that! Last year we got a really good hotel deal from them which is why we booked again.

what's to say that the "big boys" are safe,

Well quite, given Thomas Cook's continuing debt problems and need to find a new CEO. Yes, if you book a package with them you are ATOL protected but I am too with the 'small boys' that I usually book with are too. Either way you are still faced with the problem of finding a new holiday at short notice and often a very long wait for the refund. The size of the TO won't make you immune from the consequnces if they go bust.

Plus, it is now possible to get insurance to cover you for 'supplier failure', so I personally I am less and less convinced that there are advantages to booking with the big boys over and above the smaller operators.

We were affected by a TOs collapse in the 80s less than a week before we were due to go to Austria as a big family group. Luckily, between us we were all able to afford to re-book quickly and still get away only a day later than planned and to the same hotel and everything - my Mum was really on the ball - and in a position to wait for the bonding system to refund us. But not everybody can afford to do this or feels confident enough about their ongoing financial situation to just put it on the plastic which is what my Mum did, and so securing a good alternative deal before other TOs started to cash in on the situation by pushing their prcies up.

I really feel sorry for the families who booked with Holidays4u who are not now going to be able to go on holiday because they can't afford to do the same. It's not helpful for them to be told here that they should have paid more in the first place when for many the only reason they could afford to consider going on holiday during the school holidays in the first place was because Holidays4u where cheaper and within their budget.

Yes, Hugeabbafan, everybody is entitled to their opinion but criticising already distraught people for past decisions from a position of greater financial security that gives you more freedom of choice is not helpful. What they need now is advice on their rights and what they are and aren't entitled to as well as possible options for salvaging a holiday of some sort - not 'I told you so' type comments. I'm sure that you don't intend to sound smug but that is the way your recent posts are coming over and aren't helpful for those affected by this last collapse.

SM

Well said SM!

We booked our flights by credit card, Aegean flights are ATOL protected, and we have annual travel insurance. Hopefully we are covered one way or another.
I totally agree with SMa - Huge Abba Fan sounds really smug - only word for it really. But counting chickens is a dangerous occupation - is HAF totally, 100% sure that their holiday is safe? Or will Karma strike again? Only time will tell.

Well said SM , perhaps that will stop the posts!

Mods can you please tell huge abba fan to stop with the persistent unhelpful i told you so posts when travel companies collapse? My 4 year old has better manners and empathy. I have looked back through her posts as a member and it is persistent and not needed when genuine people need some guidance.

Back on topic, it looks as though those on holiday are fine but it is those at home that will need to wait for the money. That is the problem. Finding the cash to rebook.

Anyone still wanting to book Onur air, I am not sure of the brooker that supplies them but if you call travel republic, you can buy seats on those flights from there. be quick though, as prices are shooting up! Now there's a surprise!

I totally agree with SMa - Huge Abba Fan sounds really smug - only word for it really.

Normally I would not post in reply to such comments, but with respect to all parties concerned none of them are of any help. Whilst I prefer to book my holidays with Thomson or Thos Cook I am well aware that many people do not. We save our money and book a holiday with whichever company might seem to offer what we want at a price we can afford. If we make a mistake and things go wrong then the last thing any of us needs to hear is the "holier than though" postings that we often get. Several years ago we booked with a company that went down. We arrived back from a holiday to be greeted with the news via a posting here on HT. I simply picked up the telephone and booked the holiday with someone else. I was fortunate - I could afford to do so but I know many who can't.

So to the "holier than though" posters and those who post castigating them may I suggest that unless you have something useful or constructive to say then you say NOW'T

HT is a site that tries to offer help and support. Such posts do neither.

fwh

Thanks for your input FWH.

For anyone in Scotland affected by the collapse, fly thomas cook still have availability for 23rd August. very reasonable flight prices and departing midday!

Also flights from Edinburgh depating 29th August. I know the schools will have just gone back however.

Hello all...

My circumstances: I booked aegean with credit card. So having been through this previously contacted the CC company as knew I was covered under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. However, the CC company asked that I claim from the CAA, although at the time knew this was wrong, but contacted the CAA as they requested only to have confirmed what I thought... Back to the CC company, who on the second call said, ''ok, no problem we will forward the claim form in the mail and if you could print your confirmation from aegean that will be fine''.

There is some useful information on the CAA website and I believe a link is at the beginnig of this thread.

NB: Here here and well put SMa. I for one will always book separate. To book a package for myself and a child in peak season is just a no no...

Depending on your CC you should have your money back within a few weeks. When I did it was back on within 16 days

Note of posted comments taken - Van