hi Fiona
we are going to Hua Hin the end of July/beginning of August.
I am a bit more hopeful today there may be a resolution soon as there seems to be some sort of an agreement between the red shirts and the government.
If your insurance are not going to cover you have the travel firm given you the holiday options? Meanwhile I am going to copy your query to Holiday Complaints to see if anyone can help re insurance

Thanks for your response, nice to know we are not the only ones having this dilemma.

ummmm not sure I have the holiday options, as I don't know what they are! I will give them a ring.

RE: Travel Insurance Policy wording. Once the FCO advises against travel to a certain parts of the world, it will state in your policy that you will not be covered if you go while the advise is still in force. It may change. To date the FCO still advise against all travel to the whole of Thailand.

What is the £75 pounds per person for? It may not be an amend fee, just the extra cost for the alternative. I would ask if you can keep the booking and either pay more or less for an suitable alternative, ask them to quote 3 alternative options. One cheaper (get a refund off the outstanding balance) one ore expensive (pay the extra - which this may be) and one for the same value, not charges at all.

Hi Fiona,

It is a steep and unreasonable charge. However, it is also legal. Travel companies cannot guarantee that the advice will be relevant in August.

However I know of at least one company that has been extending final payment deadlines and re-routing on a case by case basis (but not allowing cancellations for those travelling further than 10 days out).

Ultimately the company cannot send you somewhere the FO advises against travel, however they are really hedging their bets that all will be quickly sorted (which it probably will) - however if it doesn't it does open up a lot of problems for them.

Sam

Fiona(d)

the insurance words have to be read carefully.

They won't cover the travellers who go against FCO advice. Correct, and if I was at the FCO I wouldn't help people like that either!

They won't cover the cost of the holiday if it is cancelled. Correct, if it's cancelled by the operator on FCO advice then the operator has to refund you and there is nothing to claim. If you panic and cancel it yourself then neither the insurance or operator is liable, sounds obvious but we had one person who did that during the ash cloud week and lost out.

If you go ahead and pay the outstanding then one of two things will happen, either you go on holiday OR the operator is forced to cancel and give you a full refund (assuming it is a UK based operator and this is a proper package). Suggest to them that instead of paying the amendment charge you will continue as planned - but if they cancel you will take the refund and spend it with someone else! Give them a choice, they can take a chance of making money out of you for this holiday or guarantee it on another.

did you see the copied post on
http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=144752
You have advice there re your insurance and cancelling.
I think things are hopefully getting better- I am certainly more optomistic today Let us know how you get on
Re Hua Hin- where are you booked to stay?

Suggest to them that instead of paying the amendment charge you will continue as planned - but if they cancel you will take the refund and spend it with someone else! Give them a choice, they can take a chance of making money out of you for this holiday or guarantee it on another.

I don't think that giving the TO or TA this sort of ultimatum is going to result in a very productive outcome at the moment. I don't know when this holiday was booked but the civil unrest in Thailand has been rumbling on for some time with the FCO advice changing as well every time it bubbles up and then settles down. The issue of the administrative charge has come up because the OP has requested a delay in paying the final balance for a holiday which is still 3 months away - a request that the TO has declined and which I would think they are within their rights to do so. it would be a dangerous precedent for them to set by agreeing to defer final payments for anybody who was no longer sure that they wanted to go on the holiday they'd booked.

A lot can change in 3 months and hence why their insurer would regard them cancelling now as being on the grounds of a 'disinclination to travel' and why they wouldn't cover them. Is it unreasonable for the TO to do the same? Again, personally, I don't think that it necessarily is and they have given the OP the option of changing their booking if they have definitely already decided that they don;t want to go to Thailand anymore. Whilst a £75 admin charge to change the booking is steep by industry standards, I'm also pretty sure that this is probably what's in their T&Cs.

I do accept that the uncertainty is not going to do much for fionad's peace of mind at the moment but can see no alternative other than to either pay the charge to choose a new holiday now or to wait and see what happens, when as you say their choice will be to either go because the FCO has downgraded the level of risk or accept a full refund from the TO because the FCO has upgraded their risk assessment and re-book for elsewhere. Issuing an ultimatum to the TO at this moment to try and get them to agree to giving the OP more time to pay the final balance or else change their holiday now for nothing stands more chance of making them harden their stance on this than soften it, in my opinion. Fionad, plan to spend any refund with another company by all means but don't threaten your TO with this now - you'll be the one with egg on your face if it turns out that there are few alternatives available at short notice in August and/or those alternatives are more expensive than something they might be able to arrange for you should it become necessary.

SM

hi fionad......

(assuming it is a UK based operator and this is a proper package).

you need to be clear about what type of holiday you have booked with this company....is it a true package.....or a dynamic one they have put together for you.....some people think they have booked a true package then find out when it matters they have not.....it makes a big difference when things go wrong.....eg when the ash cloud stopped people flying....some people found they were only entitled to the flight money back as they were either DIY or had booked a dynamic package thinking they had booked a true package...

Thats set me wondering ....does the rules about not sending people to places where a FCO warning is in force apply to the airlines....if not thats a worry for those doing DIY and people who have booked dynamic packages....as if you went you wouldnt be covered by insurance....and if you didnt you would loose everything........tweetie

Hi

Thank you so much for all your advice and help. I have been keeping up with all the posts and am so impressed at how much information every is prepared to impart. It has been a huge help.

We are booked to stay at the Sofitel and although I know that the chances are of this not being resolved are very slim, with the kids I am not sure I am prepared to take a risk. So we are thinking about the Rasa Rai in Borneo now and are being fairly seduced by the orangutans. Are you continuing as planned?

Fiona

sofitel for us as well
You must do what you think is best for you. I don't have 2 young children to think about. Nice hotel in Borneo though and a few of our members have been. Have a look at the Far East forum.
As I've highlighted this on the Complaints forum I'm now going to combine both threads back to here now.

Thats set me wondering ....does the rules about not sending people to places where a FCO warning is in force apply to the airlines....

Advice is given by FCO. It is what it says - Advice. Some people for various reasons do have to travel to places where the FCO has advised against. Airlines serve these places and it is your own personal choice if you choose to ignore.

fwh

hi fwh....so if you booked anything except a package.... you have choice of going on your holiday and not being covered by your insurance....or not going and loosing everything.....think there will be a lot more people opting for a full package after all the recent problems....any thoughts I ever had of doing DIY have been put to bed....tweetie

I checked my own insurance (Saga) last night and it does cover this IF IT IS booked DIY but not if booked as a package because that would be the Tours Ops problem. In this case the old dynamic package problem could apply in reverse, you'd need it to be clearly not a package instead of having the usual argument that it is! You could get caught in an argument between travel agent and insurance underwriter. As I've said before, proper DIY is when you contact the hotel and airline yourself, that way there is no argument.

Hi all

heard from our travel agent destinology last night that the foreign office has allowed travel to some parts of Thailand, but it dosnt say which parts? only not to go to Bangkok (which we are not)

can any body tell me what denotes a package holiday? My understanding of a package is that it would be able to be cancelled, we booked flights, hotels and transfers and our travel agent stated in an email recently that it was booked as a package. But seemingly not as we could only cancel the Thailand part of it. We are still going to go anayhow after speaking to our hotel in Koh Samui and was assured that there was no trouble there

When the ash cloud came in a few weeks ago anybody who was on a Tour ops package holiday either got the whole money back or was kept in resort and taken home when it cleared, so I am very confused

yours

Bernie

You'll find very detailed advice from the FCO about which parts they are advising against ALL travel to and which parts to only travel to if your journey is essential here

http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/asia-oceania/thailand

I think that the ash cloud situation was very different - people physically couldn't travel to and from the UK at all. Whereas yours will depend on the FCO advice and level of risk as determined by them. It could well be that even though you mightn't be able to go to Thailand, the TO is within their rights to offer you in the first instance an alternative destination for that part of your tour and it would then be for you to decide whether to accept it or to push for a full refund on the grounds that this consitutes a 'major change' to your contract with them. And again this is a special circumstance because it's not that the TO is taking the decision to institute the change for reasons that suit them - the change would be on the grounds of the FCO advice and I don't know whether the regulations controlling your right to a full refund in the event of a 'major change' to your holiday apply to this sort of situation or not.

SM

OK i'm going to stick my neck out at the risk of being slated, and say, carry on with your travel plans to Thailand. Seeing as you are not intending to be in Bangkok, the risk will be miniscule. I have just returned from southern Thailand and it's business as usual with no concern for what is taking place in the capital. Even spoke to people who came down south after the usual 3 nights in BK and apart from the Koh San Rd. and Siam centre being more or less out of bounds, day and nightlife around the Sukhumvit Rd., Suan Lum and Pratunam went on as usual.
The Red Shirts really dont want to damage the tourist industry, so should'nt pose problems for those areas.

Todays story from The Daily Telegraph Sydney- 2 policemen die in Bangkok protests.

** I've deleted the story due to copyright but have provided the link to the same story
Fiona ht mod **

We're due to fly from Muscat next Friday evening to Bangkok and have been told that we are not entitled to any refund by Oman Air - the airline won't even talk to us directly as we booked through an agent. So, either we go to Bangkok when advised not to, or we lose our flights. Personally I think it is disgraceful, but what can we do? Any suggestions from anyone? I've looked on the ATOL and ABTA websites, but can't find anything remotely useful!

Where is the agent? If it's not UK based neither organisation is relevant.