Last week, 18 holiday companies, including Bales Worldwide, Solmar, Noble
Caledonia and Discover the World, started contacting customers to tell them
that they’d been caught out by fuel costs and the rising euro – and now
needed more money.
Clients who have booked holidays at brochured prices face a stark choice: pay
the extra or lose their deposit. Package-holiday regulations require tour
operators to absorb just the first 2% of any change in holiday costs.
After that, they are legally entitled to demand up to 10% extra on the
published price without offering the client the chance to request a refund.
Most surcharges currently affect only holidays in the eurozone, although
some operators who pay suppliers in euros in other parts of the world are
also affected.
Bales Worldwide, which has introduced surcharges on some Egyptian itineraries,
defended its decision. “This is the first time we’ve requested permission to
surcharge in 12 years,” it said, “and it applies only to our Nile cruise
programme. Passengers are being asked for between £55 and £70 extra due to
currency fluctuations. Fuel-supplement increases are also payable, but
that’s out of our control.”
The worry now is that others will follow suit. Derek Moore, of the Association
of Independent Tour Operators (Aito), warned that if sterling fell further
against the euro, more operators would be forced to increase their charges.
“For many operators who do not surcharge, the logic suggests they will have to
start thinking about it or operate at a loss,” he said. “The big question is
which operators will start thinking about it, and whether it will open the
floodgates.”
Nick Newbury, of Original Travel, pointed out that holidaymakers should not be
expected to pay more because travel firms haven’t planned ahead. “Over the
past four years, the pound has been strong, and tour operators have done
very well out of it, but I doubt they were calling clients to say they’d got
a better deal and offer some cash back,” he said. “Holiday companies should
be now be prepared to take a hit without calling on their customers to bail
them out.”
The airlines are at it as well. Soaring oil costs have been blamed for another
hike in air fares, with Thomson and First Choice introducing fuel
supplements for the first time. Return fares with the charter carriers have
been increased by £30 for long-haul flights, £10 for mid-haul and £5 for
short-haul as of May 1.
The announcement follows British Airways’ 12th fuel surcharge increase in four
years. From May 2, passengers on long-haul flights of less than nine hours
will pay an extra £20 return, taking the charge to £126. On longer journeys,
the surcharge is up by £30, adding an astonishing £158 to the price of a
return flight. BA has also increased the fuel surcharge on short-haul
flights by £6 to £26 return, and Virgin seems set to follow. “We’re
assessing the implications of BA’s higher charges for passengers,” the
airline said.
Ryanair, which promises it will never apply fuel surcharges, has increased the
cost of checked baggage to £16 and airport check-in to £8 for return
journeys.
