The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Travel
Beware the holiday deals that could cost a fortune
Tempted to book a low-deposit offer for a getaway next year? Proceed with caution, says Nick Trend
Thinking of getting ahead of the crowd and booking next year’s holiday now? Tempted by the offer of a low deposit? Be wary. Which? has warned that the small print behind such offers could end up costing you dearly.
It’s an issue I’ve highlighted before (telegraph.co.uk/travel/lists/20-bestjanuary-sales-summer-holidays). You think that you are locking down an early-booking offer and reassure yourself that you can cancel later if you can’t afford to go ahead with it or have to change your plans. It wouldn’t matter much, you think, as you would only lose a few pounds because the deposit was so low.
But in most cases the small print will tell you that when you book, you are actually signing an agreement to pay the rest of the deposit at a later date, and you will be liable for a much bigger amount if you do decide to cancel. So while low deposits can be good if you want to secure your holiday but delay your payments, they can’t normally be used as a low-risk way of booking a good deal.
The Which? report warns about this, and claims that some travel firms offering low-deposit breaks fail to make it sufficiently clear that holidaymakers could be forced to pay “up to thousands of pounds” more if they need to cancel after booking. After a complaint from a reader, Which? researchers tested making an online booking with Tui and found that as well as “low deposit” offers, Tui customers can also select a “no deposit” deal on some holidays. But on the payment page, the small print sets out that customers are liable for a “full” deposit amount should they cancel their “low deposit” trip. And, confusingly, even those with a so-called “no deposit” holiday would also be liable to pay a nonrefundable deposit if they cancelled.
Which? argues that the company should set out the terms more prominently and earlier in the process. Tui responded that it will review “how we communicate our low-deposit offering during the online booking process” but that its customers value low- or no-deposit offers and the option to spread the cost of their holiday via direct debit.
Tui isn’t the only operator to structure its Ts and Cs this way. Which? also highlighted confusing low-deposit schemes offered by other companies. For example, a £3,490 Loveholidays trip to the UAE next summer could be booked online with a deposit for £29pp. But, said Which?, “if selecting the low-deposit option [on the website], Loveholidays outlines a breakdown of future costs, calling them ‘instalments’. It does not clearly indicate that the first two instalments make up the remainder of a larger deposit.” This would mean that a customer “might wrongly assume they’d lose just £58 [for a two-person booking] if they wanted to cancel. In fact, they’d be required to pay a further £1,439 to cancel this trip – the remaining deposit due”.
Loveholidays responded by saying: “We provide customers with clear and accurate information about how all of our market-leading payment options work, with this information readily available on our website and throughout the booking process.” But it added that it would review the bookings journey with a view to improving it.
Not all operators impose terms that work in this way. Jet2holidays said that its £60 deposit scheme operated in a different way and that it would never introduce “top-up payments” on holiday deposits. It said customers “can be assured they are paying the full deposit payable when they book with us”.
Next year’s summer holidays are already on sale and the peak booking season is only a couple of months away. If you are planning to travel in peak season, there are lots of advantages to getting in early and making sure you get the hotel and flights that you want. But it pays to double-check what you are committing to if you spot a tempting deal.