Scammed holidaymakers hoping to get their money back
In a continuing effort to provide the best information and advice for holidaymakers, Holidaywatchdog.com has been tracking the progress of a holiday scam on its forum and can report that the perpetrators of the scam are due to stand trial in Southwark Crown Court on 7th January 2008 which is expected to last eight weeks.
As our January sales post was so popular, we’ve put together a list of the late deals pages from the main tour operators and travel agents online.
We hope you find this helpful as you try and bag a late holiday deal throughout the summer.
If you know of any other websites you think should be included, please add in a comment below.
*Please note any prices quoted below are correct at time of posting and like all offers are subject to availabilty.
Olympic Holidays - Late Deals
Olympic Holidays are by far the cheapest for late deals. As I write this you can head off to Kos for 1 week self catering, including flights for… £53 each!
In a continuing effort to provide the best information and advice for holidaymakers, this year sees the addition of the Holidaywatchdog.com Best UK Holiday Park Award to its award calendar.
The winning Holiday Parks were awarded based on the level of good customer feedback received on the web site, where reviewers can leave a score out of ten along with their review. Read the rest of this entry »
The two remaining holiday companies of the original big four have announced they’ll merge. First Choice PLC will merge with the tourism division of TUI to form TUI Travel PLC and give them a massive share of the UK holiday market.
TUI - Thomson, Portland Direct, Simply Travel, ThomsonFly, Crystal, Skydeals, Headwater, The First Resort, Latedeals.com
First Choice - First Choice, Sovereign, Hayes & Jarvis, Citalia, Meon Villas, Signature, Sunsail, Falcon, 2wentys, Hays Travel, JWT Travel
Two of the UK leading holiday companies have today announced that they are to merge. MyTravel & Thomas Cook are to come together and form the Thomas Cook Group.
Based in the UK the Thomas Cook group will also operate in Scandinavia, Ireland, Western Europe, and Canada.
Thomas Cook - Thomas Cook, Club 18-30, FlyThomasCook, Style Holidays, Latitude, Thomas Cook Signature, Thomas Cook Airlines, Thomas Cook TV.
My Travel Group - My Travel, Airtours, Direct Holidays, Panorama, Manos, Going Places, The Cruise Store, Holidayline, Hotelstogo, LateEscapes, Aspro, Bridge Travel, Cresta Holidays, Escapades, Tradewinds, MyTravelLite.
In a Press Release issued today, the Office of Fair Trading has warned travel and holiday companies to provide clear and honest pricing. The addition of “non-optional extras” on top of advertised prices will no longer be tolerated.
On the back of the recent announcement by ABTA to ensure its members follow their code of conduct regarding these extra charges, the OFT has stated they will monitor the situation.
According to the latest figures released by the Air Transport Users Council (AUC), MyTravel hold the title for the most punctual charter airline. This information is also backed up by user submitted airline reviews on holidayjets.co.uk where MyTravel Airlines also rank as #1 for punctuality. The AUC report notes that this is the third year running that MyTravel have improved their punctuality. No mean feat in times where increased security can normally lead to flight delays.
In the report XL Airways and Monarch are ranked as the two worst performing charter airlines when it comes to time keeping.
The UK charter airline league is as follows. The first figure shows the number of flights delayed by over an hour and the second is the airline’s average delay.
MyTravel Airways UK 5.4% 14.1 minutes
First Choice Airways 8.8% 22.6 minutes
Thomsonfly 8.8% 24 minutes
Thomas Cook Airways 8.9% 21.8 minutes
XL Airways 13.9% 36.4 minutes
Monarch 16.7% 41.3 minutes
According to the report over half of the flight delays in Europe are caused by Air Traffic Control. However, a significant number of the delays lie in the hands of the airlines themselves.
The AUC report also called on airport staff to communicate to passengers better during delays.
That’s right Woolworths are entering the holiday market. If all goes to plan you will be heading to town to pop into Woollies for cut price DVD’s, 3 month early Easter eggs and cheap holidays & flights.
Woollies are currently trialling their travel product online only to begin with. If everything goes well expect to see travel agents desk’s in store. Many associate Woolworths with value for money, which the company are hoping will extend to their travel offerings too.
1. If possible book online, as the brochure prices are often discounted for online bookings. Looking up prices online is also a much easier way to compare the cost of your holiday.
2. Allow yourself a few days to really do your homework. This will enable you to shop around and check out brochures and websites to find the best price.
3. Compare the listings in more than one brochure and on review web sites, as different photos and information can help you to obtain a clearer idea of what your resort or hotel is really like.
Collating the ratings given by users of Holiday Watchdog on their hotel reviews, we’ve put together a list of the top tour operators for 2006.
The top 17 are listed below, with Portland Direct taking top slot, narrowly ahead of its sister company Thomson. With both of these operators being part of parent company TUI, it’s no surprise that TUI is the number one multi-operator, although there is little between the “big four” multi-operators.
