Five things to remember when booking a holiday

(29/1/2015) Are you fed up of the winter blues? Looking to book a summer holiday? You won’t be alone – huge numbers of Brits book their summer holidays during the winter months as a way to brighten up those dark days of late winter

If you’re one of them, you should remember resolver.co.uk’s top tips to make sure you don’t have to worry about your holiday going wrong. That way, you shouldn’t have to make a complaint. James Walker, founder of Resolver, gives his top 5 nuggets of wisdom for making sure you’re cruising for success and that you book your holiday in safety.

Resolver.co.uk’s top 5 tips to unlock the secret of a good holiday

1. Make sure you know what you’re going to get

A big cause of customer complaints for any issue is when you do not get what you expect – and holidays are no different. Complaints about getaways gone wrong can include anything from hotel rooms not facing the sea to all-inclusive package deals not including premium spirits.

The way to protect yourself from this issue is to read the small print carefully when you book your holiday, and ensure you understand precisely what’s included. If, when you actually go on it, the holiday is ‘not as described’, then you have a case.

You need to manage your expectations, though, because you get what you pay for – the service levels you can expect to receive from a £4,000-per-person holiday will be very different from a £400-per-person holiday. 

2. Check out the reviews 

If you have a bad experience while on holiday, it’s unlikely that you’ll be the first person to have an issue with a hotel or holiday destination.

So do your research before you go – have a look at reviews on independent sites to see how others have rated your proposed destination. Is there something bad waiting for you that others have experienced? Don’t get caught out. 

3. Pay by credit card

If you pay for the holiday on your credit card, your credit card provider is jointly responsible for your issue if something goes wrong.

This is the case as long as you have paid more than £100 and less than £30,000 for the holiday (which we presume covers most peoples’ breaks…). If you cannot do this, then ensure the firm you are booking with is a member of ABTA (the Association of British Travel Agents) or AITO (the Association of Independent Tour Operators).

Both these organisations will expect you to pay towards mediation of your dispute, but your credit card operator can refund you if you are not satisfied and if they do not handle your issue. You can also go to the Financial Ombudsman for free independent assessment.

4. Check your spam or junk mail folders

resolver.co.uk has seen cases where a tour operator or travel agent has sent email reminders for payments to consumers that go unheeded because the message has gone into the customer’s spam folder.

As a result, the hopeful holidaymakers have missed the communications, missed out on their holiday and lost their deposit – and this last part alone can run to thousands of pounds. So check to ensure any important emails are coming through to your inbox and not getting caught out by your spam filter, especially if you’ve bought your holiday online.

5. Check your passports 

Sounds simple, this one, but if you’re going on holiday during school summer break time, you can guarantee that by the time May comes around everyone is trying to get new or renewed passports.

That’s when the response times of the Passport Agency slow to a crawl. So don’t get stressed and end up have to pay for a premium turnaround service – get your passports updated as soon as possible, if they are going to be out of date. Before you head off.

You’ll also need to remember to check how long your passports need to be valid for after your arrival date. The length of this depends on your destination country: some countries want three or six months valid on your passport at the time of your entry to the county.

If you’re heading to more exotic climes, you may need to sort out specific visas, too, and this can sometimes be complicated – so make sure you get these in order well in advance of travelling.

Overall, it’s a case of careful and thorough planning – don’t get caught out, so you can have a relaxing holiday and not start it off with too much stress!