Sunday, December 22, 2024

Brits still arriving on holiday without hotels after tour operator goes bust

Must read

HOLIDAYMAKERS are still being told they have no hotels rooms when arriving on holiday – with some having to pay more than £1,000 to get a room.

Earlier this month, tour operator FTI – one of the biggest in Europe – went bust.

Brits are still being left without holidays following the collapse of tour operator FTI
Others are forced to pay for the holidays again, some as much as £1,300Credit: SWNS

This had affected Youtravel, a UK-based bed bank, as well as Meeting Point.

Youtravel.com initially confirmed that all bookings up to June 11 were cancelled. It was later extended this to July 5.

The majority of Brits affected are those who booked with loveholidays, due to them using both Youtravel and Meeting Point.

Annie Cox, 24, arrived at Labranda Targa Club Aqua Parc in Morocco on Tuesday after booking with loveholidays.

However, they were then “kicked our of their room” and forced to pay for it again.

She said: “They let us check in and then they kicked us out our room, cut our wristbands off and left us to rot in reception for seven hours.”

Annie, from Plymouth, said they were told to pay £900 to keep her room.

Other desperate holidaymakers have taken to social media, with many being forced to pay for their hotel again on arrival.

One person said: “Had to pay for another accommodation and I’m £1,300 out of pocket and they are not telling us anything.”

Flight cancelled or delayed? Top tips for handling travel disruptions

Another wrote: “£750 I’ve had to put on an emergency credit card so far so we have a roof over our head,”

A third said: “I had to pay for the accommodation again direct.”

Someone else commented: “Failed to pay accommodation in Ibiza and had to pay again ourselves or no bed.”

Others say they are worrying for their future holidays, with many booking big events such as birthdays and weddings.

Another woman said: “My flight was cancelled now they are trying to rearrange the hotel, because of insolvency It’s a nightmare.

“So stressed as there’s a large party of people as my daughter is getting married in Turkey so all this upheaval is stressing me out.”

One dad said: “I fly next Friday 21st and still waiting to hear. Anxiety is through the roof as we’re due to arrive early hours Saturday morning with 2 kids.”

Loveholidays issued a new statement yesterday on social media.

They said: “We are continuing to work hard to rebook the small percentage of customers who are affected by the insolvency of FTI Group, the parent company of two of our suppliers, Youtravel and Meeting Point.

“We are continuously updating out FAQs with more information and advice.”

Filokipros Rousounides, the general manager of the hoteliers association in Cyprus, said as many as 30,000 hotel booking could be affected.

And across the Canary Island, around 30 resorts are being affected, while holidays in Malta, Morocco and Turkey are also being affected,

How does the collapse of FTI affect Brits?

The Sun’s Head of Travel Lisa Minot has explained what this means for British holidaymakers.

“THE collapse of Germany’s third largest tour operator may not seem at first to be something that would concern British holidaymakers.

“But the group’s many subsidiaries included a UK-based bed bank called youtravel.com – this company would have been used by travel agents in the UK like loveholidays.com to package up holidays.

“Called dynamic packaging, the travel agents would pair accommodation from youtravel.com with flights.

“Any dynamic package would need to have ATOL protection as the travel agent is selling you flights and one other element, in this case, hotels.

“Many UK holidaymakers will also have no idea that their trips are impacted as the travel agents like Loveholidays would have packaged up youtravel.com hotel rooms with flights.

“For all those impacted, the situation could be serious as finding alternative hotel accommodation at this busy time of year is going to be a challenge.

“UK holidaymakers should make sure to have very good travel insurance and check the ATOL certificate that they should get by law when they buy a package holiday with a tour operator or travel agent.

It also affects around 30 resorts across the Canary Islands, local media reports, including 14 in Fuerteventura, 11 in Gran Canaria, three in Tenerife and four in Lanzarote.

With loveholidays ATOL protected, this means even if Brits are forced to pay for their hotels again on arrival, they will be entitled to a full refund.

Latest article