Booking Package Risks

This story highlights how package bookings and ATOL aren’t always the safety net you think they are. This lady only found out about the accommodation being cancelled when she emailed asking for her travel documents (which she hadn’t received despite repeatedly asking). At this point they advised the hotel had been cancelled. With 7 days until she was due to fly. When she spoke to the hotel, it turns out the stay was cancelled in October 2021. The agency took final payment from her in April 2022 knowing this, yet communicated nothing. They didn’t find a replacement hotel, and refused to find another when she asked them to. They say they won’t refund the flights or transfers as these were still going ahead. If this had been a DIY booking, you have direct contact with the hotel/airlines. The hotel would have told you about the cancellation in October 2021, you wouldn’t have paid for anything, and you would have found another hotel with still 9 months to go until the planned holiday. If you book your hotel yourself, with free cancellation, you often don’t pay until the day of check in, or in the days or week before. And you don’t have to rely on someone else to give you your money back.