Yes, I think they can. Bit sly if you ask me though.

If you cancel now and lose your deposit and rebook you will be paying less though - would you fancy doing that or just leaving it as is (and knowing for the future).

hi sandc

it did cross my mind to cancel our original booking and lose the £260 deposit !

then we would be still saving £150

is it worth it ? i suppose out of principle...yes

probably just stay how we are and know for the future !

still very angry though !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

unless anyone else has any suggestions of how to beat thomson's !

lou x

how to beat thomsons???

book it DIY!!! i've always found thomsons,thomas cook etc very overpriced!

that is very cheeky of thomsons to do that though with separate prices depending on which system you use!

hope you have a good holiday though!!

TOs prices are always going up and down - it's quite possible that your original package has gone down too. There is always the possibility that the difference in price has less to do with one having been booked as 'package' and the other as a package you put together via their website and much more to do with the fact that one was booked 8 weeks earlier.

It always seems to me that a surefire way of causing yourself grief is to keep checking how much a holiday would cost if you booked it now compared with when you did. If the price seemed good to you at the time and it was one you were prepared to pay then leave it at that! For every holiday you find that has gone up in price since you booked there's probably going to be one that has gone down.

If you bought a new coat at full price when they first came into the shops and those they had left on their hands at the end of the season were then reduced in the sale, would you expect the shop to refund you the difference? I wouldn't, mainly because I'd bought it when I wanted it and didn't want to take the chance that it would be so popular that they didn't have any left in my size, in the colour I wanted, by the time they reduced prices in the sales. I'd certainly have shopped around and weighed up what was on offer before making my choice but having bought the coat I wouldn't expect to be able to go back to the shop and re-negotiate the price 2 months later. And I'm sure if I asked they'd look at me with incredulity at the very idea. I don't see that buying a holiday is any different.

SM

i agree it is annoying but before you go cancelling and rebooking , try some of the hotel only sites and flight only and see if you make your own package if you save more as i think thomsons hotels are dear, these few do good hotel only deals

http://www.quickrooms.com/

http://www.findmeaccom.com/scripts/TDBkgEngine.dll/Startup?utm_id=

flights

ttp://ww3.cheapestflights.co.uk/flights/flightreturnsearch.asp

http://www.flightsandnights.com/

http://www.perfectchoiceholidays.com/index.asp

http://www.flydeals.co.uk/flights/charter/default.asp

http://www.skybargains.co.uk/flights/default.asp?e=1

http://www.sunstop.co.uk/howtobook.php

http://www.flightfile.com/flights/search.php

http://www.flythomascook.com/

http://www.travelsupermarket.com/

http://www.travelads.com/travel/print.asp?action=redirect&url=www.holidays-4u.co.uk&ad_id=4264

http://www.a1travel.com/flights.asp?mode=flight

http://www.phileasfoggtravel.co.uk/cheap_flights_Dalaman.php

http://www.xl.com/

Hi Lou,

I posted a topic about this a couple of weeks ago although it is not much help to you but our holiday had a difference of £400, the only thing we were missing out on was the transfer which costs £60.

Just checked the package holiday price again and it has gone up another £100 so now we have saved £500.

Would never use package holidays again, they are a total rip off.

Gail

Just told a big white lie, our build your own holiday is at the moment £1000 cheaper.

It might be an idea to carry this conversation on in the DIY forum now
Sarah

i havent used the build your own,but have booked thomson hotel only and booked ba flights.just priced up build your own £1839 ,i,m paying £1024 including getting taxi to and from hotel.can work out even cheaper if you dont mind sorting out your own flights

hi all

thanks for your replies !

i just think that i will have to live and learn from this BIG mistake !

once bitten twice shy !

lou x

SM
just thought I'd say that your analogy about buying a coat at the beginning of the sales is excellent.

Polly

My sister booked her xmas holiday with manos 6 weeks later the price had reduced, she complained and they apologised and gave her the difference back £60. So its worth having a go

Hi Lou. We have been looking for a holiday in October. Got a price for 6 of us for a package for about £1350 but using "build your own" was far more expensive (think it was about £600 more ). Will check all options in the future. Have you been in touch with Thomsons?
Gx

swings and roundabouts springs to mind
i have booked packages and diy would have worked out cheapeer also done it the other way around
you live and learn i think
could be worth a phone call to thompsons you never know you might just get a sympathetic person
from pat

hi pargaluvva

i phoned up thomsons call centre but no good .... just your standard answer from them to write an email and they will look into it !!!!!!!!!!!!

so i also phoned up my local thomson shop to have a whinge and spoke to the manager.......very nice lady ! she told me to write a letter of complaint to thomsons she said they might send some vouchers out of good will due to us being regular customers of thomsons!! but also said don't hold my breath!...........which i won't !!!!

like i said earlier i have learnt from this mistake !

and before anyone else asks YES we are happy with our holiday we wouldn't have booked it if we wasn't! YES we are also happy with the price we are paying due to us wanting to return to this hotel and resort !

Just won't look in the future !..or buy that coat !!!!!

Thanks again for your replies !

lou

Please do email and complain. we had a result from Panorama part of My Travel, they gave us no hope of getting our deposit back but we just didnt give up, in the end we got the refund . Not the same case as yours but hey what have you got to lose!

Hi Lou
I'm sorry that the holiday you booked was more expensive than if you'd done exactly the same thing in a different way.

I hope I didn't offend you by saying that I thought SM's analogy was great - I didn't mean it that way. It just seemed such logical thinking, that's all.

If you do complain to Thomson I hope you get a result.

Either way, enjoy the holiday.

Polly

About to book a holiday through Thomson Gold for my mum - tried it 'build it yourself style" - came out £550 more expensive!

Worth a try though.

We are in the process of "pricing up" next years holiday, and found that Portland Direct (part of the TUI group) are significantly cheaper than Thomson (part of the TUI group) for the same hotels, flights, transfers IE the same holiday.
This includes superfamily accomadation as well, such as the Son Baulo hotel in C'an Picafort, Majorca.
I will try the build your own later this evening to see if it works out cheaper for us as well