Getting a raw deal with a packaged holiday from a travel agent is an inconvenience no one cares to suffer. There’s nothing that feels worse than having spent all of your money after fighting for time off work, to have your entire holiday ruined by your travel agent’s incompetence.
Just like receiving holiday illness compensation, you can also receive compensation if you go through the right channels after your holiday. This article tells you what to do if you’ve been hard done by on your holiday.
What your travel agent will offer
People tend to go for packaged holidays because they don’t want the stress of doing everything themselves. Sometimes you’ll have to travel with a group of people, and usually, your itinerary will be completely planned out by the travel agent.
The quality of the hotels should be good, tested by the travel agents themselves. Your overall travelling prices should work out cheaper, and you should be able to see a lot of the sights in a short space of time.
What you might get
It might sound like a good deal, especially if you don’t like booking everything by yourself. Unfortunately, this is might result in some rather unsavoury situations. For instance, you might find that the itinerary is far too rapid and tight to allow for actual relaxation and enjoyment.
You may have to be woken up every day at dawn to leave to the next location. You may find that the itinerary has a set list of visits to tourist traps, and doesn’t allow for unsupervised visits to some of the real local gems.
The promised ‘free lunch everyday’ might involve a dry packed lunch box instead of some delicious local cuisine. Equally frustrating might be the fact that most of the in-land travelling will be done on an uncomfortable coach.
What to do if you’ve been cheated
If you feel that the travel agent has been dishonest and aren’t receptive to your complaints, there are various avenues that you can take in order to get some kind of compensation for your ruined holiday.
You have a right to complain if you had to pay out-of-pocket expenses, or suffered significant loss of enjoyment. Your first port of call should be the travel agent. Make sure you’ve read its terms and conditions thoroughly before getting in touch. If they aren’t being helpful, consider a trade association that the agent may belong to.
If all else fails, you can always go through a small claims court.
