I was about to book a last-minute holiday for four people with Thomson to Greece when I noticed that there was a £20 per person charge for late booking. I happen to book late-notice scheduled flights all the time for work and never have to pay a fee. How much work is involved to justify an £80 charge?
— Ellie, Reading
We are happily living in an age when flights to almost anywhere in the world can be booked in an instant.
So, too, can hotels. But evidently selling short-notice holidays comprising flights and accommodation is a much more difficult business than any of us mere travellers could have imagined.
As you discovered, Britain’s biggest holiday company demands an “administration charge” of £20 per person for departures within 15 days of booking.
Thomson insists “this is a standard charge within the industry”.
Standard it may be but what exactly is it for? A cynic might suggest that it is merely a device for disguising the true cost of a last-minute package. The company insists the £80 per family charge is “to assist with the added workload placed on our employees and systems in order to ensure all of the details are organised before departure”.
Sounds exhausting. You will find that other companies such as easyJet Holidays and Travel Republic manage to organise holidays at a week or two’s notice without such a charge — but they do add their own disproportionately high fees for paying with a debit card.
The Office of Fair Trading is slowly dealing with unfair fees charged by airlines. Let’s hope that one day the OFT gets around to looking at “administration charges”.
Email your queries to s@hols.tv
