Row after discount offer disappears

A travel agent has hit out at an operator for refusing to give an early booking discount – even though the offer was sent out to the trade.

Norfolk-based Wroxham Travel assistant manager Suzie Nee offered a customer a villa holiday with Open Holidays after remembering an e-mail from the operator offering a 10% early-booking discount.

She said: “I checked the cost of the holiday by phone and was informed the discount was not available through agents. It put me in a very awkward position as the clients were in the office.” The agency was forced to give the customers the discount to retain the sale – by giving up the commission it would have earned from the booking.

After complaining, Open Holidays offered a 5% discount if the customers paid in full straight away, or 2.5% otherwise.

Nee added: “I’m not happy. We haven’t collected the money in full yet but the 2.5% offer is not worth the paper it’s written on.”

The agency is still deciding whether to accept the 2.5%.

Open Holidays was unavailable for comment as Travel Weekly went to press.

Nee also criticised Thomson Holidays after discovering one of its holidays to be £60 more expensive on viewdata than in its brochure. The brochured price for two adults to Melieha Bay Hotel, Malta, was £744, compared to £804 on viewdata.

The customer booked – but phoned Thomson direct and was offered the brochure price. Nee said: “I realise Thomson will offer discounts online and through its shops, but it’s not acceptable to increase the cost through other agents, then show the difference as a discount to clients going direct.”

Thomson said brochure prices were a guide. A spokesman said: “The viewdata price is the same for all agents. The price had been discounted by the distributor.”