Hi Steved1 just a question, we have booked to go to the parasio 10 but have to pick the keys up from the guestaltur office nearby, could you tell me wether we all have to go and collect them or can just one person go .
Thanks for you help
Margaret(madmum)

Hi,
I have a problem with accommodation with holiday we have returned from booked through TR. I wasn't aware till received email booking that they had used Medhotels. Is my contract with TR or Medhotels? I think its TR as its who I paid and I did not knowingly book through Medhotels.
Any advice please?
Thnanks

Your contract is with the accommodation provider (Med Hotels), not the travel agent. It's no different than going into an independent high street agency and asking them to book a hotel for you. Any complaint would have to be taken up with Med Hotels.

Hi Sunaddict,
I hear what you are saying, but I believe TR have ownership of booking as they took my payment.
I did not book medhotels, TR did. I was not made aware prior to payment which company was used, which I believe should have been notified if that is the case in order to make an informed decision as to whether to purchase and enter into a contract. I think there must be some law in favour of the customer in this case?!
In my case Med hotels have offered a small amount of compensation if I rebook through them, no way! I still hold TR responsible for the problems incurred so am going to contact them again.

Thank you.

Sorry sj but Travel Republic's Terms and Conditions, and which you must have ticked to confirm that you had read and accepted them before you could have proceeded with your booking, make it clear that your contract is with the 3rd party supplier and not with Travel Republic. This isn't that different from using a High Street TA to book a holiday with another TO - your contract is with the TO who is supplying the package and you have to take up your complaint with them if there was a problem the holiday.

It's at least 12 months since I used TR for booking a hotel but I've been browsing their site recently with a view to booking a hotel for forthcoming trip to Berlin and even before getting to the booking stage the strap line at the bottom of the page below the list of possible hotels thrown up by my search makes it clear that any booking will not be with TR. And in the past I'm pretty certain that before confirming the booking I've known who the supplier would be.

SM

I've arranged many succesful flights and holidays through TR and always recommend them but I do agree with sj to an extent. I don't recall ever having known the bed booking company TR have booked me with before I had the paperwork through.

I remember a particular instance of having read quite a few complaints about one such company and when my paperwork came through, that was the company they'd used to book my hotel with. I was a bit worried but luckily I experienced no problems with them. I do think you should either have a choice or be told which company TR will be using for your particular booking.

I wonder if Steve can comfirm that it is there in black and white before we book?

I think in order to constantly be able to undercut the likes of Thomas Cook and TUI and yet still provide a relatively high level of service, travel republic probably have to use which ever bed booker is the cheapest at the time that folk are booking.

If people want to save two or three hundred pounds on a holiday then you just have to accept their terms and conditions and deal with what you have signed up to. You cant really have it both ways. You get what you pay for, people want the savings that the likes of travel republic can deal with, so I guess they have to deal with the few downsides as well.

My latest booking with TR is for 11th April and the paperwork says they are acting as agent for Youhotels.com, of whom I've never previously heard and were not mentioned except on the paperwork after booking. I've never had problems in the past and don't anticipate any this time. However, if there were to be problems I would think it only right that the company I had booked through, following research and personal recommendation, should step up to the plate, rather than leaving me to do battle with a company with which I had not personally chosen to book. I accept that to keep prices low it is imperative that companies such as TR are able to use a variety of bed-banks but it seems unfair if they can simply deny all responsibility if things go wrong.

Most travel agents will help if you can't resolve the complaint yourself, but they really can't do a lot. It is no different to booking a hotel in a high street agent. Youhotels, is a new name for part of YouTravel, who used to sell accommodation to tour operators and agents. They are now selling direct to the public as well.
If you want the choice of who your hotel is actually booked through, book it yourself direct with a bed bank. Why use a middle man to do it?

Thanks for all your input.
We booked our holiday to Goa with TR because we especially wanted the hotel which wasn't available as part of a package deal. It was a quality 4* hotel which is hard to find in Goa, and we also booked flights at the same time. It wasn't any cheaper than a package holiday it just mean't we got hotel we wanted. I was not aware of hotel company at the booking stage. Our problem was that when we arrived the hotel had no record of our booking which was for two rooms. All our first day we didn't know what we were doing despite several calls from hotel to uk. It was a Sunday and Medhotels don't work Sundays!!! Eventually in the evening the hotel had some business people checkout and gave us rooms. It took 4 days of our 1 weeks holiday for the hotel to receive confirmation that we had indeed got a booking and paid for the rooms, otherwise we would have had to pay again. I was lucky I had the email confirmation with me. Every day of the 4 days was disrupted due to having to go back and forth to the hotel to make phone calls to the uk due to the time difference. I wrote to TR on our first week back home. MH didn't reply in 28 days, TR served another 14 days and then another 14 days before they got a reply. No wonder we didn't get anything in 4 days! Med hotels have offered 130 euros compensation but I would prefer cash compensation as I am not likely to book with them again. I also read somewhere that if you book a flight at the same time that makes a difference, not sure why though? I have used TR previously before the Ash cloud scare, but since then booked package deals until now. This episode has put me off booking like this ever again. I used TR because I thought they were a reputable company and would take responsibility for accommodation they subcontracted. TR should realise that if this continues they are going to loose customers and given that many are returning to package holidays anyway is surely something they should put right.

Oh dear sounds like a right pain for you. I take it that the 130 Euros compensation is just off another room booking with med hotels and they are not going to give you a cheque as compensation for all the phone calls and uncertainity ?

Maybe you could write back saying that you would prefer it as cash as it is to cover the fact that you were out of pocket calling the UK trying to sort it whilst there & the worry for 4 days of not knowing if your accommodation was going to have to be paid a second time?

It's got to be worth a try as the worse they can do is say no, but if they are worried about repeat bookings and their reputation which they might be in the current climate, they may change their mind and send the cheque instead.

Doe

I've just had a look at my TR documentation for a couple of weeks time. It clearly says that my accommodation will be supplied by med hotels - who have been my supplier on a few previous occasions as well. Fortunately, to date we haven't encountered any problems. The documentation states that if you have any trouble with your accommodation you must first try to resolve this issue with the hotel, in the first instance. Failure to do so could mean no chance of compensation. If this doesn't provide a succesful outcome, then it gives a link for you to contact TR. There is also a link to Med Hotels T's & C's. Good luck and I hope you get a satisfactory result.

TR have used med hotels for our stay in Spain next week. I can't recall having experienced a med hotel booking before so I hope all goes well.

Hi,
It wasn't an issue to resolve with hotel, as they just didn't know of the booking. I think because the hotel was reputable they were prepared to wait for a reply, and lucky I had email as otherwise we could have been out on the street ! Yes the compensation is just a voucher code for money off another holiday with Medhotels. I am not at all happy that 5 of us had such a disrupted holiday. It was the first time for several years we had all been away together as a family. I shall be writing back to TR.
Thanks everyone.

As Steve hadn't replied I would guess that he is on holiday, as he is usually on the ball re these posts. I would just like to reassure you if possible regarding any Med Hotel bookings. I have had numerous bookings with TR that have then progresses to Med Hotel beds etc and never had a problem. Med Hotels is one of the largest internet hotel providers and is now part of the TC Group - also includes Last Minute. they are considered a very reputable company. Have a great holiday xx

Med Hotels are a trading name of Hotels4U, which is part of the TC Group. Last Minute are a totally different company, and nothing to do with TC.

Ooooops, your quite right sunaddict - now tell me why on earth I 'remembered' that? Either a senior moment or something in the past?! xx

Hi there
We have booked our holiday, as flight+hotel+transfer
We would like to prebook our seats. The flights are with Monarch. There are three of us and my son who will be 18 when we go, he also has ASD (aspergers) and likes to sit near to the front, and together not separated in different rows.. Because of his condition he needs to know where he is sitting, and if they are not is preference he can get very upset and stressed which would impact on him and us. It is part of the condition of ASD. How do I choose our seats in advance? We don't want to get this done as soon as we can and not leave it till last minute, or on the day. Hope you can help us.

thank you
Dawnie-Rob

Can you not get in touch with the airline and book medical seats? That would seem to be the answer as these are normally located at/near the front?