hmm, it's hard to understand how you ended up booking accomodation only when they asked you for flight details. I've just been on tothe Thomson website and clicked on hotel search and it didn't ask anything about flights I'm not sure what happened in your case.

I don't think they can keep the full amount of your accomodation. You would normally only lose the deposit if you cancelled this early.

With Thomson accomodation only holidays you pay the full amount when you book which is why you wouldn't have seen anything about paying a deposit.

I too can't quite understand how you thought you had booked a package holiday - did you not question why it was so cheap or why in the booking process you did not see any flight details?

You do get an option later on in the process to choose flights but you do have to select the airport and the flight options - the costing will then come up on the screen. Looks like you chose the airport but didn't actually select any flights.

I suspect Thomsons are within their rights not to refund. They can't refund a deposit if you didn't pay a deposit.

Pippa

Two ways to resolve this - in my opinion anyway. First you could try to get them to amend the booking so you could get the flight element, or second, you could accept what you have and arrange your own flights. The fact I was asked to pay the full amount would have rung alarm bells with me being so far in front.

fwh

Thomson hotel only bookings are subject to different T&Cs than Thomson package holiday bookings, but I am struggling to make sense of them:
http://www.thomson.co.uk/thomson/page/tandc/tandc.page?accommInvSys=TPH&flightInvSys=TPH&lang=en

Paragraph 8 states that you are required to pay 100% of the accommodation cost before the booking can be confirmed. It also states that deposits are sometimes allowed, but if a deposit amount is not specified then it is considered to be the amount paid at the time of booking, even if that is 100% of the accommodation cost. It then confirms that the booking deposit will not be refunded in the event of cancellation.

This would suggest to me that KPNUT has made full payment which is subject to fees in the event of cancellation, or a 100% deposit which is non refundable in the event of cancellation.

However, if you then look at Paragraph 9, it gives a scale of charges in the event of cancellation. If cancelling 70 days or more in advance, only the deposit is lost. In this case, the deposit would be 100% of the total cost. But if cancelling 56-69 days in advance, only 30% of the total cost is taken as a cancellation fee. If cancelling 36-55 days in advance, 50% of the total cost is taken as a cancellation fee. It's only if cancelling less than 10 days in advance that the full 100% is taken.

This would suggest to me that rather than cancel a year in advance and lose the lot, KPNUT could hang on until 56-69 days in advance and lose just 30%.

Are those 2 paragraphs contradictory, or am I just misunderstanding them ?

I was also wondering if it is possible that the wrong dates have been booked, perhaps 2011 instead of 2012, and that's why Thomson are retaining the full amount. But that still wouldn't explain those confusing paragraphs.

David

I've just read the Ts and Cs through the link probided above and I've read them exactly the same as David. I'm sure they'll try to get out of it somehow but it plainly states that

a) In the event of being asked to pay the full amount of accomodation on booking, this is classed as your deposit and b) if you cancel 70 days or more in advance you lose the deposit (meaning you'll lose the whole lot) but if you leave it until 36-55 days in advance before cancelling, you'll only lose 30% of the deposit (deposit being full amount of accomodation in your case). It doesn't make much sense but it's there in black and white. I wonder what they'll have to say about that?

I also cannot understand how you think you could have booked a package holiday, when you didn't select any flights. To add a flight onto an accommodation booking you have to select airport, then select the flight. On the flight screen there is a button to select continue without flight. Maybe you clicked that one?

I agree the terms and conditions are not straightforward but I read it as meaning -

If you have to pay 100% to confirm this what you will lose, irrespective of when you cancel. This is because the 100% is final payment, and is not a deposit.
The scale charges only apply to bookings where a deposit has been accepted to confirm it.

But it states that unless the deposit amount is specified by them, the deposit is deemed to be the amount the customer is asked to pay, even if it's 100% of the accomodation cost.

Which to me is the same as saying that the full cost is classed as a deposit, so surely the cancelation charges involving deposits are in operation.