HOLIDAYS RIP-OFF

Germans & French get same trips CHEAPER

BRITONS are having to fork out hundreds of pounds more than foreign families for the same holiday and travel deals.

The Sunday People can reveal prices on UK travel websites can be far higher than those on equivalent sites in France, Holland and Germany.

In the worst instance we found Eurostar charging a British family of four £288 more for London to Paris return tickets than their French counterparts coming the other way.

The Brits’ bill for the trip on June 3 would be £781, compared with £493 for the French.

Last year it emerged British families paid more for hotels and entry at Disneyland Paris than those in France, prompting an investigation by the European Commission.

But our survey shows the problem is more widespread.

Thomas Cook’s British website, for instance, is charging £742.33 for seven nights B&B at a hotel on Spain’s Costa Blanca from this Friday.

The travel giant’s German website offers the same trip for £557, £185 less.

Those fancying a week’s camping trip in France’s beautiful Dordogne will also notice a difference in price at Eurocamp’s St Avit Loisirs campsite.

Those booking on its British website for a family of four will be charged £257 but those using Eurocamp’s Dutch site will pay £216.

A family of four will also pay less booking a return ferry trip from Harwich to Hook of Holland on Stena Line on a French website and hiring a Fiat 500 car for a week from Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris.

Travel firms say the timing of school holidays in different countries can partly explain the price gap.

But consumer experts have hit out at the uneven pricing.

Frank Brehany, of Holiday Travel Watch, said: “British consumers could be forgiven for thinking they are being ripped off when they compare and experience prices for travel on British and mainland Europe websites.

“We’re told that the single market is supposed to bring a better deal for all consumers. Unfortunately it appears that someone has forgotten to tell UK travel companies.”

Cheaper

Eurocamp said prices were in line with the demand in each of its “source markets” and the different competitive environments in which it operates.

They said there are instances where booking on the UK site is cheaper. The spokesman said: “Fluctuations in exchange rates also play their part creating differences in prices.”

Stena Line said Direct Ferries, as an online travel agent, is responsible for setting the prices of ferry crossings.

Managing director Matt Davies said: “We default to the pound in the UK and the euro in the euro zone but the customer is free to book either.”

A Thomas Cook spokesman said: “Prices can vary from country to country depending on the popularity of the resort and differences in the timing of peak holiday season.”

Eurostar declined to comment.