I've recently returned from a package holiday to Cyprus. We don't usually do this kind of holiday, and will never again! Anyway, we stayed in a studio apartment which was priced for 3 persons sharing. That meant that we both had to pay £150 under-occupancy each. When we got there we found that the apartment was only designed for 2 people and the owners sell it to the tour company on the basis of 2 sharing - they would not recommend that 3 share. When we got back, we fired off a letter to the tour company (Airtours) demanding to know what the extra £300 was for exactly. Airtours have not even bothered to reply after more than 28 days. Am I being too sensitive here or should I stand my ground? I've passed the matter on to ABTA (Association of British Travel Agencies).

Hi AR,

Unless you paid with a CC, you've done about all you can.

Honestly, I'm a little confused.
Putting aside the incorrect/deceptive information on the apartment size for a moment, if it had been billed as an apartment for TWO for 300 pounds, would you have not taken it?

Is it that you were disappointed in the size of the apartment and/or you feel the apartment was not worth the price?
That's a judgment that you may never get Airtours to agree with, I fear.

It would be pretty unusual to have a studio spacious enough for three
(maybe a double bed plus a sofa bed?) so I wonder if they actually switched apartments on you when they heard you were only going to be two people.

If you did pay with a credit card as mentioned above, you can ask the cc company to investigate the charges if you were deceived.

Hi Elaine. Sorry, I may not have made myself clear. We paid £659 each for the studio apartment (and flight) and then had to each pay another £150 on TOP because we under occupied by one person according to Airtours - even though the complex itself stated that it should have been sold as an apartment for 2 people. Therefore we actually paid £809 each for the room.
I've looked at other tour companies brochures and they all advertise the property as being for 2 only. It's easy to be wise after the event but my anger is that we had to pay this supplement which seems little short of a scam for Airtours. It wasn't the actual size of the apartment that was the problem, indeed it could have been a lot smaller, but it was onlt ever intended to be for 2 people, so why did we have to pay an ADDITIONAL £300? My CC says that even though it may be a con, it was still written clearly in the brochure what the charges were - it's not as if they added an ambiguous charge. They actually advised that it's more of a trading standards issue as value for money was not satisfied as there was no justification for the extra charge, which could not have been known until after we had actually been to the room. ABTA wrote back this morning saying that they would force an answer out of Airtours within the next 14 days, so who knows? Perhaps I am being over-sensitive but I don't like being ripped off.

AR: I interpret what you are saying is that you paid 150 pounds each in addition to the cost of the package because there were only two of you for a 3-person room that turned out to be suitable for only two. Is that correct?

I would continue to write to both the tour company and ABTA. Squeaky wheels usually get greased. It's frustrating to be ignored, but keep up the good fight.

I'd let them know too, that you are active on travel message boards and that your dissatisfaction will be made public if they don't make restitution or explain this to your satisfaction.

I think Travel and Leisure magazine has an Ombudsman columnist who may try to help. Ditto, my favorite travel magazine International Travel News, who often publishes reasonable letters of complaint.

Thanks to all for reasuring me that I'm not hypersensitive here and that I have a case! The Sunday Times in the UK has a section called "readers rants" and I'll be in touch. One valuable lesson learned is that it pays to book direct and never to use a non-independent travel agent again.

Sorry Giovanna, I didn't answer your question. Yes your interpretation is correct. We paid a supplement for a room advertised for 3 and yet there were 2 wine glasses, 2 patio chairs, 2 dining chairs inside, 2 glass tumblers etc.

You might also send a letter off to the Ombudsman at Conde Nast's Traveller Magazine. When you write to each of these entities, you should include the advertisement for the company that you dealt with and also the competitors that advertise the same apartment.

I don't recall from your message if you actually spoke to the property manager/owner of the studio apartment that you stayed in. It might be worthwhile to get something from him/her in writing stating that the studio apartment is only for double occupancy.

AR I worked for Thomson for almost 5 years. Whilst I didn't work in Customer Service I got a pretty good idea of how things work.

I am with you 100% in your belief that you are entitled to a refund of the supplement, I'd also request small amount of additional compensation as a good will gesture to compensate for your time and effort chasing up their response.

It does look like they loaded their system incorrectly, listing the accommodation as 3 person, and basing supplements upon that.

I don't necessarily agree you have a right to a refund or be angry. If the room was too small and you disliked it, and it was misrepresented in size, that's one thing. Pricing is a different matter, however. Just because the owner and other tours think it should be used for two does not mean the company you booked with didn't price the tour based on triple occupancy. That is really the issue--if your base room costs were lower than other tour companies to begin with, a supplement was appropriate. That is the real issue, not whether the room is for two or three people. What the owners sell it as isn't really the point either, it seems to me, but what you were charged in your base package.

Perhaps it was priced incorrectly and your post just doesn't make it clear. However, if you chose your package because the base cost was a lot cheaper than others, that might be the reason.

Thanks Kavey for the info. Thanks also Leslie - I spoke to the reception at the time to confirm the room arrangements. They said that they would only put a (free of charge) child as an addition to the room, and that would be in a fold-away bed. I took advantage of European Laws and photographed the room tariff that is put up in every room. It states clearly that a studio apartment is for 2 people. What gets me is that I can't think of many instances where 3 adults would want to share a studio apartment. I mean, where's the privacy as there aren't any bedrooms?

I would certainly be pursuing this if I was in your shoes-particularly now you make the point about it only being equipped for two but there is another point also.In the U.K. occupancy is often dictated by Fire Certificates and so the number of people who can stay in a room is governed by this and not by what the owner wants. So for example if there was a similar system in Cyprus(and I've no idea if there is) the owner may actually be prohibited from letting to more than two.If you could find this out it would really pull the rug from under Airtours' feet!

Christina, I would agree with your point if the studio AR describes were able to accommodate 3 adults.
It seems that this would not be possible, in which case it should not be sold as such.

There are pretty strict rules about standards and representation for UK tour operators these days and their contracts with the owners of the properties (who, in this case, confirmed to AR that they list the room as double occupancy only) do specify occupancy levels.

AR, I hope you'll post here or email, to let us know the results.

Christina - The basic cost of Airtours for 2 weeks was £659 each. The other two comparative brochures priced the holiday within £20 of this figure. They did not, however, charge under occupancy when two people travelled and Airtours did (at £300). The moral of the story is that I should have done more research at the time, but the UK market is such that it is difficult to find company choice when you actually book a holiday. I booked at the UK travel agent called Going Places which is owned by My Travel. They sold me a holiday by Airtours, which is owned by My Travel. It is very difficult to get otherwise in the UK where there are only 3 travel agencies left in most high streets - each one tied to companies that are not obviously owned by them.
I will let you know how I get on with this matter.

Well, to update this problem after 6 months.
I have received £400 back from My Travel (Airtours). They agreed that the under-occupancy should never have been charged and have also given compensation for the facilities not being as per brochure.
I threatened them with a solicitor that specialises in travel and overseas claims. Apparently he is well known to My Travel.
It was never about the money per se, but that I should never have been charged the under occupancy.

HOORAY FOR YOU, AR.

I think you were always right. Well done.

So pleased to hear it, AR.
Often tour operators compensate those with the loudest voices, those who do not give up after the first refusal letter back.
You did deserve compensation and I'm glad you received it.

Another option for those who dont get satisfaction is small claims court. Even when the amount of money is small sometimes it's important to stand you ground on principle - and companies pulling scams like this frequently don;t bother to show up to defend themselves and you win by default.