Booking the most needed holiday of your life in Crete after working yourself almost into the ground for two months: £620
Adding on transfers so you can take it easy between the airport and the resort: £50
Travel insurance (which has some significant exclusions): £20
Finding out, in the middle of packing your bags, 5 hours before the flight that the tour operator has gone into administration and your holiday is cancelled with no hope of reprieve: Speechless.
Mate – gutted for you. Not sure if you paid by credit card, but if you did you might be able to get something back.
Not that it replaces a much-needed getaway…
Oh fuck, really sorry to hear that, Clive.
Not that it helps to say it, but there has to be a better way for companies to conduct themselves in cases like this. Sure, it’ll take a major shake-up and mean that politicians have to get off their arses and do something for a change but that’s what we pay the bastards for.
Really sorry to hear all this, Clive.
Well, the news turns out to be not all bad. As we didn’t book directly with XL, but through an agent who booked us with an XL company, Kosmar Holidays, we’re covered by the ATOL scheme and will get our money back via the Civil Aviation Authority – though gawd knows when we’ll actually get it.
We’ve managed to scrape together just enough cash for 10 days in Majorca, leaving tomorrow. We’ll probably have to drink tap water and eat crackers, but we’ll get some sun either way. And we’re going with Easyjet this time, so if they could remain in business until the 27th or so, that would be grand, kthxbye.