Every year, for as long as I can remember,
straight after the Christmas period has ended we are bombarded with
wall-to-wall advertising for summer holidays. It’s not surprising really.
People’s thoughts are turned away from celebrating the festive season and all
we have to look forward to is several months of horrible British winter
weather.
So naturally people want to cheer
themselves up with thoughts of a lovely relaxing holiday in a warm foreign
country.
But holiday companies that advertise
time-limited offers might be misleading customers (and even breaking the law) according to new research by the UK consumer group Which?
Many tour operators promote money-off
deals if customers book by a certain date. But the research by Which? found that
half the holidays were the same price (or even cheaper) AFTER the offer had expired.
Which? looked at 30 examples over a
three-week period in July and August 2017. In 16 of those cases, it discovered
that prices were actually lower (or the same) AFTER the offer had ended.
For example, Virgin Holidays
advertised seven nights in a Florida hotel for £792 per person, if it was
booked by 17th August. But the day after the sale had ended, the price dropped to
£677 per person - a saving of £230 for two people sharing.
In another example, during October the
Caribbean resort Sandals advertised an all-inclusive break to Jamaica from
£1,465 per person. Yet the day after the "mega sale" ended, the price
dropped by another £50 a person.
Virgin Holidays said: "We're
always looking to secure the best possible value for our customers - and should
we be able to obtain better offers from our suppliers, these savings will be
passed on to benefit the customer."
As a result of this research, customers are being advised to take their time before booking a holiday. According to
the Travel Editor Rory Boland: "Most of the time-limited deals we looked
at are nothing of the sort. The tight deadlines, emotive language and countdown
clocks are all designed to rush us into making a decision, but it might not be
the right one. Don't be fooled - compare prices with other holiday companies
and travel agents to check savings are genuine."
But the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) claim that most of its members follow its code of conduct, which
stipulates that promotions should not be misleading. According to an ABTA
spokesperson: "The Which? findings relate to a small number of instances,
and we do not believe they are reflective of wider travel industry practice. The
number of complaints we receive each year about holiday pricing is very low -
indicating that the majority of price advertising is trustworthy."
But ABTA are missing a very important
point. Few people bother to check the prices AFTER they have already booked
their holiday. So they wouldn’t actually realise they were being ripped off.
Therefore it is little surprise that there are only a small number of people
complaining about holiday prices, because they wouldn’t even be aware that
other people have booked the same holiday at a cheaper price after the ‘special
offer’ has ended.
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