Episode 3 Rip Off Britain: Holidays

We asked you who's left you feeling ripped off

when it comes to your holidays.

And you couldn't wait to tell us your various disasters.

I don't understand how people can do this to other people.

I wanted to cry then.

I had more than enough.

Whether it's a deliberate rip-off, a simple mistake,

or a catch in the small print,

we'll find out why you're out of pocket,

and what you can do about it.

Keep asking the questions, keep...

You know, go to the top if you have to.

We do get results. That's the interesting thing.

Your stories. Your money.

This is Rip-Off Britain.

Hello, and welcome to Rip-Off Britain,

where this week we're on the island of Tenerife

to investigate one of the subjects that you contact us about

probably more often than anything else -

your holidays.

But unfortunately, for a lot of you,

what should have been a time of relaxation

and a chance to grab a well-earned break has gone disastrously wrong.

And when that happens, it isn't always obvious

what you can do about it, or who can help to put things right.

As we're going to be hearing in some of our stories today,

you may find that you haven't actually got the protection

that you think you've got.

Or indeed it could be that the company with whom you booked

do not want to admit responsibility when things start to go wrong.

Or perhaps they're even less keen

to put their hands in their pockets to sort things out!

Either way, we're not just going be hearing about

some of your holiday horror stories - we've got advice

to stop the very same things happening to you.

Coming up, how Britain's favourite airline

sent this man backwards and forwards across the globe -

after a missed connection that wasn't his fault.

The whole dream of being there and travelling all this way

and doing all these exciting things was literally

just slipping through my fingers at that point.

The nightmare of getting to the airport

only to find your flight grounded

because the airline's run into trouble.

You just feel the ground is going to open up

and you are going to fall through it. It was unbelievable.

You don't believe it is going to happen to you - but it does.

Now here's a holiday nightmare that most of us can identify with.

You know the story. You book a hotel which looks great in the brochure,

only to find that when you arrive,

that your dream accommodation is in fact a building site.

Well, for one couple who got in touch with us,

it was even worse than that. The hotel they had gone to

for that very special celebration didn't just have the builders in,

whole parts of it were literally falling down around them.

And they've even sent us the footage to prove it.

There are some landmark birthdays

that just cry out for a little extra celebration,

so when Lynn Eaton from Carlisle was thinking how to mark

her husband Jim's half century last April,

she knew she wanted to do more than simply throw him a party.

We were just having a cup of coffee and I could see this sign

in Thomas Cook window, something about Vegas.

And I just said, "Do you fancy Vegas instead of a party?"

and he said yes. So that was how it started, really.

So, seizing the moment and after a look through the brochure,

and indeed a chat with the friendly agent,

they'd booked Jim's birthday treat - a week at The Imperial Palace hotel,

very handily placed for Vegas's legendary Strip.

I was very excited.

I couldn't wait to get there, really.

And it was the hotel itself

that they were particularly looking forward to.

It was small and it was friendly.

And we thought it is in the middle of everything

and it's not the most expensive.

We were quite happy with that one, so that is why we picked it.

So far, Lady Luck seemed to be on their side.

But the couple's fortunes began to change

when the day of the trip dawned - and they had a chance conversation

with another passenger on the flight out to Vegas.

I told him we were stopping at the Imperial Palace

and he gave me a bit of a blank look,

and then said to me, "Are you sure?"

"Because we've been moved out of there

"because it is getting major renovation work."

As soon as they landed, Lynn and Jim sought out a Thomas Cook rep

to find out just what was going on

at the hotel that had looked so perfect in the brochure back home.

She explained, yes, there is major, major work

being done on the hotel.

I said, "Well, can we be moved?"

and she explained that we weren't actually with Thomas Cook

at this point, even though we'd booked in a Thomas Cook store,

and there was nothing she could do.

This was news to Lynn and Jim.

They'd certainly been under the impression

that they were on a Thomas Cook holiday.

But the rep explained that in fact their holiday had been booked

with a separate part of the Thomas Cook Group,

called Flexible Trips.

We were on a Thomas Cook flight.

As far as we were aware, we were with Thomas Cook.

We'd booked in a Thomas Cook shop,

but she made us aware that we were actually with Flexible Trips,

which we'd never heard of before.

-Had we?

-No, we hadn't.

So they set off for the hotel,

and quickly encountered more surprise

about where they were headed.

We did jump into a taxi and we said

we wanted to go to the Imperial Palace

and he looked at us and said, "Are you sure?"

And we said yes and he said, "Are you sure?" And we said yes.

He said, "It's getting torn down."

"We know." And when we got closer to it,

he didn't know how to get into it.

I was stunned. I was lost for words.

I looked at Lynn and she looked and me.

And the taxi driver was saying at this point,

"I may have to leave you on the Strip here,

"cos I can't find a way in."

And as you can see from what they filmed on their video camera,

things only got worse when they eventually found their way inside.

-It was a car park.

-Underground.

-Underground car park,

and then it was a building site.

The further into the building we got, the more of a building site it was.

It was chaotic. First thing we saw was obviously the scaffolding.

But behind that were diggers,

heavy machinery, guys with big drills,

jackhammers, noise.

I should have had a hi-vis jacket, I should have had a hard hat on

and I should have had rigger boots on, basically.

Because everywhere you looked, there was construction workers.

There were bits boarded up, you know,

with the tape on it and danger areas.

Whole parts of the casino bit were all cordoned off.

You weren't allowed in any of those bits.

Now, as they'd packed sun hats and not hard hats

for this once-in-a-lifetime birthday trip,

Lynn and Jim were devastated.

And they couldn't understand why they hadn't been told

about such major work when they'd booked.

It really did upset me. It was his present,

and that was the hurtful thing

because it was his 50th birthday present,

and I'd brought him to that.

With the whole trip turning out to be more of a disaster

than a celebration, Jim managed to get through

to the Flexible Trips helpline.

They explained at that point in time there was nothing they could do

for us and they would arrange something

the following day, which they did.

But it seemed the two alternatives suggested

really were in the wrong part of town.

I want to be central. I don't want to be miles away from anywhere.

I certainly don't want to be in an area

where somebody was gunned down the night before.

Feeling desperate, the couple even looked into flying back home.

He tried to ring to try and arrange for flights

and the women at the end of the phone said no,

nothing out of Vegas.

So Jim and Lynn tried to make the best of a bad job.

But Lynn was devastated

that the trip she'd planned had gone so badly wrong.

She just felt as if she had let me down and she didn't.

Thomas Cook let us down, simple as. They let us both down.

And they knew it was a 50th as well,

so I think they should have been a bit more careful

about the description of the hotel and the resort

and where we were going.

When Jim and Lynn returned home in June,

they got straight onto Thomas Cook.

But the company's response was not what they'd expected.

The final letter we have received up to now is an offer of

£150 in vouchers to book another holiday through them.

That wasn't an offer they were prepared to accept.

So Lynn and Jim wrote to us.

And once we got involved, there was very good news indeed.

Thomas Cook sent us a statement from Flexible Trips,

saying they were "really sorry" about the couple's experience -

and they've now offered a full refund

of the accommodation costs - in cash.

They're "looking into how it happened",

and in particular have asked their local ground agent

why they weren't advised of the building work

when other tour operators, including, of course,

parent company Thomas Cook, were.

Meanwhile, for Lynn and Jim,

an offer to refund the accommodation costs doesn't make up for

the fact that such a special trip was ruined.

It marred the birthday, for sure. Scarred me for life, I think.

But no, it is something I'll never forget.

And yeah, we laugh about it now, but at the time it wasn't funny.

These days, in terms of travel,

sadly, even when you've booked and paid for a flight ticket,

it doesn't mean that you're guaranteed to take off.

Because sometimes airlines can find themselves in financial trouble,

and in a worst case scenario, even go bust.

Now, if that happens, and all flights are cancelled,

it could either scupper your entire holiday,

or if you're already away, leave you stranded abroad

with the prospect of having to fork out for another flight home.

Don't be fooled into thinking, "It will never happen to me."

Because in these times of recession,

airline failure is much more common than you'd think.

In 2012, 10 airlines were said to have "failed",

which is the term used when they cease flying

or go out of business.

Names such as Hungary's national airline Malev,

the big Spanish carrier Spanair

and Danish budget operator Cimber Sterling

were consigned to the great airport in the sky.

And when a carrier fails,

passengers can end up paying the price.

That's what happened to Kathleen Lether

from Tyne & Wear last year.

The holiday she'd very carefully planned with her husband John

looked ruined when the Indian airline Kingfisher

suddenly pulled the plug on its UK services.

We landed at Heathrow and we just went to the desk,

the flight information, and I looked for IT8, the flight number,

and it just wasn't there.

And I just thought, "Oh, my God, why's it not there?"

I was really thinking to myself, something's gone wrong here.

Kathleen and her husband soon realised they were going nowhere.

Neither the airline nor their travel agent

had told them that Kingfisher had in fact stopped

all flights from the UK.

You just feel the ground's going to open up

and you're going to fall through it.

It was unbelievable. You don't believe it's going to happen to you,

but it does and all I was saying was, "What's gone wrong?

"What's gone wrong? I'm here. Where's the plane?"

The couple had little choice but to stump up for fresh tickets

with a different airline - at a cost of £1,168.80.

I couldn't do nothing about it. I couldn't materialise a plane,

and yes, I didn't want to cut my holiday short,

but the only option was go home and have no holiday

and I honestly felt I was by myself and I kept saying,

"What do I do? What do I do?"

You know, it's a bit like having a crash.

"You should do this, you should do this,"

but when you're in shock, you don't function right.

The problem is that with more and more of us

bypassing the traditional package holiday route

and booking our flights direct - often online -

when this sort of thing happens,

you may find that you haven't any legal protection whatsoever.

If you book a package, you're protected against

your holiday company ceasing to trade by something called ATOL -

a government-backed scheme which, if the worst happens,

sees passengers either given a refund

or alternative arrangements made to allow them to finish their trip.

Recently, that protection has been extended to travellers

who book a flight and accommodation, or car hire,

together at the same time -

what the industry jargon calls "flight plus".

But you're still not guaranteed protection

if you book a flight on its own.

So what can you do to stop your holiday plans

being grounded along with your airline?

One thing's for sure -

don't assume that you can rely on your normal travel insurance.

Many travel insurance policies do not cover airline failure.

If that's important to you, you need to look at the small print

to see if it is included, but generally, it's not.

To get a sense of how many of us would be covered

in this kind of situation, we got in touch

with the most popular travel insurers in the country

to see if their standard policies would protect you.

We rang Which? Magazine's top ten recommended

travel insurance providers.

Four out of the ten didn't offer any cover against airline failure -

and of those that did, not all included it in their basic policies.

So it really is worth checking your policy,

or you could find yourself in a similar situation to Kathleen,

forking out for replacement flights

and not sure if there's any chance whatsoever

you'll get any money back.

Luckily for Kathleen, she'd booked her flights

through a local travel agent. And although neither that agent

nor the company which the flights had been booked through

had been given any prior warning that the flights would be grounded,

they've told us they don't think Kathleen should have to wait

any longer to try and get a refund and compensation from the airline.

So they've offered her a total of £2,000 to cover that.

And although that's very good news indeed,

Kathleen will never forget the moment

when she discovered the flights she'd booked wouldn't be taking off.

I cannot explain what it felt like. You hear about other people,

this happening to them, you think, "Oh, that must be terrible,"

but it's so much different when it's yourself.

According to the RAC, around two million British motorists

take their cars to Europe each year. But there's a lot more to remember

than just driving on the "right" side of the road.

You've got to make sure you're on the right side of the law as well.

And in France, steering clear of trouble

means knowing about some new rules you might not have expected.

Drivers in France already face a fine

if they're stopped by police and aren't carrying a fluorescent jacket

or a red warning triangle in their car.

But last summer the French government also made it

a legal requirement to carry an authorised breathalyser in your car.

In July last year, France introduced a new law

that requires you to have a breathalyser in your vehicle,

and from March this year, it will be an on-the-spot fine

if you can't produce one.

Now, we recommend that you take two breathalysers

in case you've had to use one or one doesn't work.

They come in small packets like this.

They cost about seven or eight pounds,

but make sure you've got them in your car before you leave.

There's another unexpected way

drivers can get into trouble in France -

thanks to your sat nav.

Any equipment in the car which can tell you

where speed cameras are located is now banned

and just having equipment that could do that

could land you with a hefty fine. So if you do go to France,

then make sure that you switch off that capability if you can,

and if you can't, don't take it at all.

And if you think you know how much alcohol it's legal to drink

before driving, think again. In some European countries,

even a sip of mouthwash could push you close to -

or even over - the limit.

We always advise don't drink and drive at all,

but just be very careful. It's about half the limit of the UK,

but for new drivers and young drivers in many countries

there's even a lower limit that applies than that,

and in some cases it's zero

and indeed in some eastern European countries, it's zero for everybody,

so just watch the mouthwash as well.

You can find more advice on trouble-free driving abroad

on our website:

Still to come on Rip-Off Britain -

Why this mother had to fork out hundreds of pounds extra for flights

just so her family could all travel together.

I was trying to stay calm but it was very hard,

because I was so looking forward to this holiday

and to me, it had just been ruined.

We've been getting answers to some of the travel problems

you've been writing to us about -

all too often, you tell us that when the worst has happened on holiday,

what should be an easy process to put things right

turns into a seemingly never-ending saga.

Simon, how many times have you come across people

-who have their luggage damaged?

-Oh, yes.

Well, we have got Valerie Helbert and Andrew Orchard from Whitley,

who have that problem precisely.

They went to Egypt, got two suitcases from the baggage belt,

discovered that they were totally shredded.

Took them to the airline desk and said, "Look what's happened."

The airline desk said they can resolve the issue

as long as they get in touch with the company, which they did.

They are now being asked by that company

for photographic evidence of the state of their luggage.

They say it has been going on for months

and they can't get any recompense. What do you advise?

If you arrive somewhere and if your luggage doesn't show up at all

then you go over to the baggage desk.

There is always one in the baggage hall

representing the airline you have just arrived on

and you say, "I want to file a property irregularity report."

Now if, as sounds here, the company then wants to get legalistic,

well, I'm afraid you need pre-emptively to get legalistic too.

You need absolutely to make sure you file your claim within a week.

Because that is what the airlines generally require

and furthermore, your travel insurer, unless you can show

you've actually tried to claim it back within a week,

they won't be interested either.

You've been telling us that when accidents happen on holiday,

it can be hard to get things sorted.

Sandra Sandy had a bad fall down the stairs at her hotel in Turkey.

They'd been left wet and there was no banister

to grab hold of to break her fall. She ended up in local hospital.

But Sandra and Dave are facing a fight

to get the company they booked with

to take responsibility for her injuries.

What's been the long-term effect?

Well, I can't physically do anything. Before, I had problems with my back,

and they told me and my doctor said

though I've had problems in the past, I find,

even with simple things like housework, I can't do too much.

Well, that's an excuse to get out of the house, I guess!

Yes, it is, but I don't have anybody who'll do it.

-I can't do the ironing.

-No.

But, Simon, the most important thing is about to come from you,

because if anybody ever finds themselves in this position,

-what are the rules?

-OK. The tour operator,

the holiday company that fixes up a package holiday,

as Sandra and Dave's was,

has an absolute strict duty of care,

because as a holiday company, they are absolutely responsible

for the actions of the hotel that they contract.

They are responsible for making sure that it is safe.

If it isn't, you have redress, not with the hotel,

but with the company back in Britain,

which is going to be an awful lot easier, legally.

However, what you would need is to become almost...

Imagine you are a policemen taking a statement.

You'd need to talk to fellow guests, get statements from them,

get their contact details in case you need to verify anything.

You'd also need to get photographs of what was going on.

Don't forget, we've plenty of advice, not just to do with holidays,

on our website...

These days, of course, we can fly to all sorts of wonderful,

exotic locations - but not all airlines actually go direct

to the places that we want.

So if you're booked onto a connecting flight,

there may well be a moment when you just begin to wonder

"Are the timings a bit tight here?"

And whether you're actually going to be able to catch

that connecting flight without having the stress of racing across

an unfamiliar airport from one plane to the next.

And what happens if you don't make your connection?

Whose fault is it? And is there going to be

anyone there to help you? Here's someone who found out

the answers to all of those questions the hard way,

after an epic trip that saw him rack up

a load more air miles than he'd bargained for.

Stephen Barton first met his friend Jonathan

at art college nine years ago.

And they've stayed good friends ever since -

to the delight of their mothers.

It's just been a close relationship. A good friendship, hasn't it?

Jonathan now lives in Zimbabwe,

so when he announced that he'd be getting married,

he obviously wanted Stephen to head over for the wedding.

My main role for once I arrived would be to be a groomsman,

so I was actually going to be at the front

and standing there whilst the vows were read and said

and the rings were passed.

Really important point in my life, to be there with my friend

and see him go through that sort of almost rite of passage.

And there was more than just the wedding to look forward to.

A special safari had been organised for the days before.

For Stephen - who'd never flown long-haul before -

it would be the trip of a lifetime.

But with no direct flights from the UK,

it would take a lot of planning.

The flights were going to be expensive,

so I really shopped around for quite a while

on all sorts of different comparison websites.

Price, though, was not the only concern,

and Stephen and his family were delighted

when he booked his flights with a name they knew they could trust.

I felt confident that it was BA, British Airways, you know.

Well known, thought, "Be safe with those guys,

"so I'm willing to pay more than the absolute bargain bin rate."

We felt that there was a security and a safety in going with BA.

It's a known, it's the people's airline, you know.

Everything about BA tells you that it's trustworthy, that it's reliable.

And we took great security from that.

You can see why. BA's ads like to remind us

of their customer-focused motto.

To fly...to serve.

So his parents were confident he was in good hands

when, last August, his dad took him to the airport.

He'd be flying first to Johannesburg,

and then connecting to a flight to Harare in Zimbabwe.

I think our parting words were,

"This is an adventure. This is an experience of a lifetime

"that you'll never forget."

I didn't quite think at the time

how profound those words would turn out to be.

As Stephen headed to the gate,

he heard his flight was delayed by half an hour.

That would eat into what should have been

a 90 minute transfer time in Johannesburg.

But he wasn't too worried. After all, he'd still have

an hour to catch his connecting flight.

And if anything did go wrong,

surely the airport staff would help him out.

I was sat on the plane feeling that there should be

absolutely no problem making the connection.

BA had booked the timeslot,

so I was under the impression that they would be informed

of what would happen at the other end and how long that would take.

The 11-hour flight made up much of the lost time,

So when Steven landed in Johannesburg,

he had over an hour until his connecting flight to Zimbabwe.

Unfortunately, there was a very long queue at Passport Control,

with plenty still to do on the other side.

I've got to get through this, get my next ticket,

get through the security checkpoint and get to the gate

and I've only got 20 minutes now.

Stephen now faced a race against time.

I ran down there towards my boarding gate,

and the signs were all still lit up when I get there, and they go,

"Very sorry, your plane has boarded and gone."

I was sat there, I definitely felt like throwing up,

because the pit of my stomach disappeared.

The whole immensity of the fact

that I was trapped on my own abroad.

Still, as it wasn't Stephen's fault he'd missed his connection,

he headed to the BA desk,

assuming they'd be able to put him on the next flight.

The person in the BA desk basically was sat on the line of,

"You missed the flight.

"Regardless of the reasons, it's your fault."

Insisting it was his responsibility,

the staff told Stephen that if he wanted to make it

to his final destination, Harare,

he would have to buy another onward ticket, costing over £450.

I didn't have enough money on me to pay for this.

And he didn't have any other way of paying either.

Worried about security in Zimbabwe,

Stephen had left his plastic cards at home.

I'd been travelling with just enough cash for what I was

going to be doing once I was there,

because I was going to be staying with a friend and his family,

there was no need to be carrying any bank cards.

But his protests got him nowhere,

and to his horror, Stephen was told that without any way of buying

a new ticket, he'd have to return home to England.

At this point, I'd really felt that British Airways had completely

let me down. I did get close to tears at points,

between exhaustion and complete and utter crushing defeat.

It was pretty bad.

So with no other option made available to him,

Stephen had to change the date on his return ticket -

and fly back to Heathrow on the next flight.

The whole dream of being there and travelling all this way

and doing all these exciting things

was literally just slipping through my fingers at that point.

Stephen spent the 11-hour flight back to London fuming.

And by the time he landed, he'd decided he was not prepared

to roll over and take no for an answer.

I hit this immense surge of determination

that actually, I am going to go.

I've still got time to get there for the wedding.

BA can sort themselves out and sort out my situation.

And this time, the receptionist at the BA desk was a lot more helpful.

She recognised that this should not have happened

and reset everything so that I could fly out the next day.

Popped back home, sorted out some more money.

So Stephen prepared for a third 11-hour flight.

A four-hour delay meant that, once again,

he'd miss his connection in Johannesburg.

But this time, BA staff put a note on the system

to ensure that he'd be put on the next connecting flight for free.

By the time he finally arrived in Harare,

it was a full three days later than planned.

And though he did make it in time for the wedding,

he'd missed out on that once-in-a-lifetime safari

that his friend Jonathan had laid on.

At the wedding reception, two of the speeches,

the groom's speech and the best man's speech,

incorporated the fact that Steve had probably travelled

equivalent to round the world to get to the wedding,

so he was greatly applauded

for actually for making the wedding in the end.

The guests may have appreciated Stephen's commitment,

but he was less than impressed by what happened next.

When he wrote to BA outlining everything that had happened,

he didn't get a reply. So he wrote to us.

And when we contacted BA, we did get a response.

They told us they're sorry that Stephen's trip wasn't stress free,

but insist that - even with the delay -

there was "plenty of time to reach his connecting flight",

and that other passengers did make it.

So while they say "BA was not at fault",

they do accept that "discretion could have been used" by staff,

and "he should not have had to travel back to London".

They apologise for that, and say they've learnt from the experience

to "ensure that it's not repeated".

They also apologise for the fact

that Stephen's had an "unacceptable wait for a response",

and to compensate for that,

they've offered him a £100 travel voucher.

It doesn't rectify the fact that I didn't get there on time,

and I didn't get to have half of the experience,

so it doesn't really make up for it.

Ultimately, it's just better than nothing.

Joining me now is Simon Calder, who's our travel expert.

Simon, that is a terrible story, and I'm sure it's not isolated.

Do airlines really leave you enough time for a connecting flight?

If you are an experienced traveller and you know what you are doing

and you are maybe taking advantage of the amazing 35-minute connections

you get at some European airports, then it is absolutely fine.

You know the layout of the airport,

you have been there a million times before and you know

that if you miss that flight,

then the airline is going to put you on one a few hours later.

But do they make the right kind of reparation if they've got it wrong?

Well, in most cases -

apart from this very, very unfortunate shuttling back and forth

between the UK and South Africa, it is very straightforward.

The airline says, "Sorry, we messed up the connection.

"Here's lunch, here's dinner,

"here's maybe a hotel if we need to put you up overnight

"and we will get you there as soon as we can."

And that almost always is the way that it works out.

Certainly happened to me more times than I care to remember,

but if you are an inexperienced traveller,

then it is up to you to say, "Look, I've not done this before.

"I am not familiar with big international airports

"where there is all sorts of stuff going on.

"Give me a bit more time to change planes."

If you're going through a good travel agent,

they should be able to pick that up and say,

"We've booked you on the next connection.

"You'll have about three or four hours waiting."

But it is going to be an awful lot better

than the stress of thinking, "Where's my plane? Where's my gate?

"Where's my luggage? It's all gone wrong! Oh!"

Next, someone who's absolutely furious

about their holiday experience,

and when you hear what happened, you can understand why.

Back in the '80s, the hair was big.

So were the mobiles. And when it came to travel,

the package holiday was king. For most people,

booking a summer break involved at least a couple of trips

to a high street travel agent.

First, to collect the brochures. And then, back again to book it,

with someone who could try and answer your questions face to face.

But since then, everything's changed.

And child of the '80s Amanda Stemp from Redhill in Surrey

feels the customer experience now is very different.

I think the problem with booking on the internet is that

you don't get the customer service at all,

because you're not actually dealing with someone.

Last summer, Amanda was busy setting up a business

selling memorabilia from the '80s.

And she was keen to take the family away before it launched.

A final chance to RELAX, you might say.

So after looking online, she booked a week in Majorca

with one of the big names in internet holidays -

Travel Republic.

We have booked with Travel Republic before, last year

same location, and we didn't have any problems.

She'd be going with her partner,

their two young children, and a family friend.

Amanda had organised the trip around dates when all five

were able to travel together.

But she didn't book all the seats in one single transaction,

a fact that may well have complicated what happened next.

Just three weeks before they were due to leave,

Amanda received an e-mail that threatened to ruin

all her carefully laid plans.

I received an e-mail from Travel Republic

stating they had changed my partner's homecoming flight

to two days later.

We were also going with a friend

and they had changed his homecoming flight

to almost a day earlier, as well.

Amanda immediately phoned Travel Republic for an explanation.

They confirmed that her partner and his friend's return flights

had indeed been changed to a different day.

I was getting quite annoyed, actually,

because no-one could tell me why

only some of the flights had been changed, not all of them.

It was then I said, "Well, that's no good, either,

"because I have got two young children.

"How am I expected to fly without him

"with suitcases and two young children?"

One on my lap...you know, it's just not convenient.

It's not fair, really.

Amanda made clear that she wanted the whole group

to travel home together.

And though Travel Republic did offer some solutions,

none were ideal. One way or another,

it seemed everything they suggested would leave her out of pocket.

She'd either need to extend the holiday

and pay for more accommodation,

or rebook onto more expensive flights.

I was trying to stay calm, but it was very hard,

because I was so looking forward to this holiday

and, to me, it had just been ruined.

Though Amanda was told they could cancel

and get a refund of the flights,

she wasn't offered the money back on the accommodation.

But it turns out that wasn't quite right,

and in these circumstances,

it would be company policy to refund BOTH costs.

But as that wasn't explained, Amanda felt she had little choice

but to take up the only option she was given,

which was for them all to travel back together

on the dates that she'd initially planned

by booking with new seats on an entirely different airline.

And although Travel Republic did put value of the original flights

towards that, it still meant she had to fork out an extra £367.

I was really quite angry.

I don't see why you should have pay

extra amount of money at such short notice.

This was extra money which I had actually put aside

to set up my own business

It should have been something I should have been spending

on my business and they were just taking that away from me.

Though it ended up costing a lot more than they'd budgeted for,

the holiday itself did live up to expectations.

But Amanda is still annoyed about the extra expense.

And as she never got a full explanation

about what had happened,

she doesn't feel Travel Republic gave her the service she deserved.

I've yet to have an answer,

which hasn't helped the situation at all.

Well, after speaking to Travel Republic,

we have got to the bottom of what happened,

but it does seem Amanda wasn't given all the information she needed.

It turns out that the original flight she'd booked on had been

unexpectedly cancelled, as the plane was needed elsewhere -

a detail that was not passed on to Amanda.

Or the fact that all five of her group

could have been put on a flight

leaving 13 hours earlier for no extra cost.

Travel Republic say that as the original bookings had not been made

in one transaction, there was nothing in their system

to link each of them together.

The airline has apologised for the inconvenience caused,

and has offered a credit of £250 against future flights.

And because they say they're "committed to pleasing each and every customer",

Travel Republic themselves have offered

a £250 accommodation voucher as a goodwill gesture.

But Amanda says she won't be rushing to use them.

Meanwhile, her obsession with all things '80s lives on.

And though there are lots of things from that decade

she wishes hadn't gone out of fashion,

a face-to-face relationship with your travel agent

has now been added to the list.

I think because back then you would go to the shop,

you'd deal with the same person time after time,

they had respect for the customers back then.

I don't think that's around at all now.

Our travel expert Simon Calder has travelled over a million miles

during his career, picking up some pretty handy tips along the way.

Such as, how to make sure next time you go away,

you pay absolutely the best price you can,

and advice on the cheapest

and the priciest days of the week to fly.

The worst days of the week to fly on: undoubtedly, Friday and Sunday.

You'll be paying a fortune because everyone wants to travel then,

and you're going to be really squeezed,

no chance of an empty seat next to you.

Saturdays can be very tough,

particularly in the ski season to winter sports destinations,

but actually, Saturday afternoons are often quite quiet.

After that, well, Mondays are usually very busy,

particularly with business travellers starting off the week.

So, too, are Thursdays.

Wednesday is when it starts getting really, really comfortable,

both in terms of the price you're paying and the space you'll have,

but the great day of air travel if you want to pay least

and have most space is Tuesday.

Simon's also got advice on that old conundrum -

whether to book early, or hang on till the last minute

for a late bargain.

If you're prepared to take a chance with a last-minute holiday,

you can get a real bargain, probably half the price

that everybody else on the plane around you has paid.

However, you have to do it right,

and that means being flexible about your date of departure.

Maybe get 10 days off from work and then work out that you can go

any time on three or four possible days.

Next, make sure if you possibly can, that you're able to get access

to the two key holiday airports in Britain.

That's Manchester and Gatwick.

There's many more opportunities from there than from other airports.

And make sure you've got a plan B in your pocket,

so if it doesn't happen, you're not too miffed.

You might hop into the car, drive across to lovely old France.

So the thing to do is not be too concerned

about where you go or when and just hope you're going to get a bargain,

and nine times out of ten, you will.

I just have. I'm off to lovely Turin in Italy.

Thank you very much, £59 return, hooray.

Here at Rip-Off Britain we're always ready to investigate your stories -

on any subject, not just holidays. Confused over your bills,

or just trying to wade through never-ending small print?

You should read it, but it's not in plain English.

It should be simple, you know? ABC. You know, very basic stuff.

Unsure what you do when you discover you've lost out

and that so-called great deal has ended up costing you money?

You get home, you get your bill, and it's like £70

when it's meant to be £35, and it's just basically...

You get ripped off, don't you?

You might have a cautionary tale of your own

and want to share the mistakes you've made with us,

so others don't do the same.

We paid them good money to act in our best interest. They didn't.

You can write to us at...

Or send us an e-mail to...

The Rip-Off team is ready and waiting to investigate your stories.

These days, booking a holiday has never been easier -

most of us do it ourselves, online, in the comfort of our own home.

But as we've heard today -

just because you can hand over your money with the click of a mouse

doesn't mean it's going to be that simple unpicking things

if your trip doesn't go to plan.

And that's because there can be a lot of different companies involved

in even the simplest of bookings.

Which is why getting a mistake put right or a refund sorted out

can sometimes prove to be very tricky indeed,

and why so many of you have told us that when you're trying

to get your problem resolved, it can seem like

each of those companies is frankly just trying to pass the buck!

It's all a bit of a nightmare sometimes.

So the best advice is to make sure before you go on your holidays,

you're clear about exactly who you're booking with

and where their responsibilities begin and end.

And of course you'll always find out more advice on our website -

bbc.co.uk/ripoffbritain

But that's where we have to leave it

on our sunny island of Tenerife for today.

But we'll be investigating more of your stories very soon.

So until then, thanks for your company.

-from all of us, bye.

-Bye-bye.

-Bye.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd