Holidays Your Money Their Tricks

Money's tight. Every pound is precious.

But wherever you turn, big companies are determined to squeeze you

even more, with their tricks.

£4.15, I'm not paying that.

But this is the series that's determined to stop them.

Ha-ha-ha-ha. I foiled that trick.

Each week, we go undercover to expose their tactics.

It's like a thing to get people through the door.

It's not as if they're trying to hide it.

We talk to the whistleblowers.

-It's quite a trick.

-It is a trick. Nothing but a trick.

And reveal how YOU can fight back.

So would you like to know what in total you managed to save?

-£1,293.

-Wow.

Yes, whether we're going on holiday, buying a car,

furnishing our homes

or enjoying time off,

there can be shocking underhand ploys to avoid.

Do you want know the secrets as well? Then keep watching.

This is Your Money, Their Tricks.

Tonight, holidays. Parking your car at the airport?

Can you escape the sky-high costs?

£30?

That's more than twice what it would cost me

to leave my private plane there.

But if you're paying someone else to take care of it,

be careful who you choose.

When I returned from my holiday every single panel

on the car had been damaged,

and three of the four tyres had been punctured with a sharp instrument.

Cruising instead of flying?

How sailing solo could cost you hundreds more.

If I booked this cabin for the next available cruise on this ship,

it would cost me £3,668.

I feel as though they are discriminating against single travellers.

Plus, I go undercover, to reveal the perils of car hire abroad.

Even if I bring it back half-full I don't get a refund?

And those confusing cabin luggage rules.

But there are signs around the airport. Does it not say that

it's law on their signs?

So is it check it in for 50 euros or leave it behind?

So, holiday time. We won't see each other for a while.

-Where are you off to?

-BOTH: Costa Blanca.

That's a coincidence. Whereabouts, exactly?

BOTH: Alicante.

You'll be on the same flight, that's amazing. How much did you pay?

Oh, I found a ticket in the sale. £81 one way.

-Bit of a bargain, eh?

-In the sale?

How come I saw the same ticket for just £76?

Oh, dear. Looks like you've been had by the ad.

Yes, it certainly seems as if I could have been tricked,

even before I set off.

Spend ages scouring the newspapers and websites in search of the best offers...

..and you could STILL end up paying more.

Why? I mean, I thought sale meant CHEAPER.

But then English was never my strong point, so what do I know?

If only there was someone I could turn to.

Someone who knows everything there IS to know about words.

Sale. "A special disposal of shop goods at rates lower

"than those usually charged."

OK, I was right. Sale DOES mean cheaper.

But someone really needs to tell the airlines.

Because, over the last year,

we've been monitoring some of their own so-called sales.

We've got stacks of data.

I just need somewhere nice and quiet to study it all.

Yeah, this'll do.

Where to begin?

Right, Fly Thomas Cook.

This airline certainly doesn't always follow

the dictionary definition of "sale."

If I'd booked this return flight from Birmingham to

Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt,

in their January Deals Sale, I'd have paid a total of £257.48.

But when we looked six days later -

just five days after the sale ENDED, that same return flight was

only £161.48.

Almost £100 cheaper!

It was the same story with flights to other destinations.

Fly Thomas Cook had encouraged people to buy while the sale was on,

only to reduce the prices afterwards.

In fact, of the ten return flights we monitored in this sale,

seven of them were cheaper within a week of the sale ending.

This is most misleading.

The consumer is going to think that unless they act quickly, the price

is going to be more expensive and this isn't always the case.

If an average consumer realises that they're going to be able to buy

the same return flight considerably cheaper a week after the sale ends,

they would delay their purchase until after the end of the sale.

But they're certainly not alone in lowering prices once a sale is over.

In fact, we found six other major airlines

doing exactly the same thing. Sneaky.

You know, I think the airlines have a potential problem here.

If they keep advertising so-called sales, then bring

the price down afterwards, we customers are going to grow cynical.

So, how do they convince us their so-called deals really ARE genuine?

Well, if you're Fly Thomas Cook,

you don't just advertise any old sale.

You advertise the BIGGEST EVER flight sale.

"Up to £30 off all return flights.

"Sale countdown has begun so book your flight before time runs out."

Fly Thomas Cook ran this ad campaign back in January.

With the clock ticking, we called up three times to check it

really WAS the best time to buy.

On two out of three of those calls, they told us something like this.

Convincing. But untrue.

Because, the day after this so-called "Biggest ever" sale ended,

Thomas Cook launched a new one.

Three days into which,

eight of the ten return flights we monitored became even cheaper.

Good evening, Fly Thomas Cook. How may I help you?

Oh, hi. I was just looking at your website...

'In fact, after that new sale, you know, the one that came

'after their so-called "biggest ever" sale - the airline went on to

'extend or launch new sales, a further nine times.

'Which left me baffled. And in need of some answers.

So it's definitely the cheapest time to buy before...

So the price won't come down after the sale ends?

It was just that it was back in January that

I was looking at this flight.

It's the Gatwick to Orlando flight and then it was in the biggest ever

sale and it was £582.42.

But then there was another sale and the price actually went down

to £562. And then the sale continued and it went down to £472.

And then it went up to £500, before coming back down to £382, but

now it's £462 which is £100 cheaper than it was in the biggest ever sale,

so I'm a little bit confused about what "Biggest Ever Sale" means.

OK, but do you think I should risk it for today?

Do you think it will be the cheapest price today?

Do you think I should get the ticket today?

Thank you. Bye.

Well, I thought I was happy to pay that latest price,

until the very next day,

when there was another new sale and Fly Thomas Cook reduced that return flight by £20.

The airline have since told us, their prices are reduced

from the fare previously available. Prices after a sale remain

fluid and they can go up or down at any time,

depending on the number of seats remaining, closer to departure date.

However, they add that they're now reviewing how

they present their prices during such a sale.

Airlines ought to be able to regulate their prices properly

and know when their sales are starting and ending.

If consumers are given misleading price indications which cause them

to make different transactional decisions, there may well be

a breach of the regulations and this could even lead to prosecutions.

Well, we'll leave any potential prosecutions to the authorities.

But in the meantime, what can you do to make sure you're

getting the best deal on your flight?

Well, as we've discovered, prices can fluctuate dramatically.

You might not always want to take the word "sale" at face value.

Instead, consider flying on a Tuesday.

According to research, it could be 35% cheaper than a Friday.

And don't come back on a Sunday, that's the priciest day to fly.

For more information and advice you can visit our website:

OK, you've now booked your flight. You're at the airport.

So, where do you park your car?

You could go Long Stay, Short Stay, Mid Stay or Park and Ride.

The problem is none of them come cheap.

You see, this country has some of the most expensive airport car parks in Europe.

Parking at one airport in particular can cost you

for two weeks nearly £110.

In fact, the average price for a fortnight's parking

at Britain's five biggest airports is a whopping £82.

Compare that to Germany, where it's £67.

Yes, an ordinary holiday-maker can pay through the nose

for leaving a car at a UK airport.

Now, if you were a real jet-setter...

I wonder if you could just give me some information, please.

How much would it be to park my private plane at your airport?

It's just under two tonnes in weight.

Yeah, a day's parking. Yep.

Excluding VAT, yeah?

So it's going to be about 13 quid, something like that? Yeah?

It's quite cheap that, isn't it?

To find out just how MUCH more, I gave their car park a call.

What's the cheapest rate for parking my car at the airport

for 24 hours?

£30? That's more than twice what it would cost me

to leave my private plane there.

SHE LAUGHS

Yes, in four out of the country's ten busiest airports, we found

parking a small aircraft for 24 hours to be cheaper than a car.

Of course, you could always get someone else to park your car for you.

You'll find them at every major airport.

They're called "Meet and Greet" companies. Simple concept.

Forget the hassle of finding a space,

you get an employee to meet you at the airport and do it for you.

Then when you come back, they're there to greet you with the keys.

In the meantime, your car has been kept in a secure location.

And when I say "secure", I mean...

Secure.

"To keep safe from danger, harm, or loss,

"to ensure the safety of, to protect.

"Or to fence off, to enclose by or with a barrier."

Exactly. Just because some of these companies promise

to keep your car secure doesn't mean that they necessarily will.

And how do I know?

Because I've tracked down a man who not only used to work

for one of them. He's also willing to talk to me.

Last year, you worked for one of these meet and greet companies.

When people leave their cars with a company like the one that you

worked for, you expect it's going to be looked after,

and you expect it's going to be secure.

What is your experience?

Basically, they'll take the car,

assure the customer the car will be fine

but it's what happens after the car's been taken away.

You'll get staff members eating in there, driving it around,

picking other staff members up.

Are they careful to keep the cars in good condition

and to keep them clean or not?

No, not really.

They'll have mud on their shoes while they sit in the car.

Eating in the car.

A number of times I've seen someone smoking in the car.

-It's like they don't really care.

-Are they kept secure at night?

I wouldn't say it was secure,

secure as in the fact that no-one could get in. It was cordoned off.

It had fences all the way around. You had two barriers.

You could walk into there but you couldn't drive into there.

What sort of damage was done to the cars?

There was a few cases where people hit bollards and walls

and fences reversing back or hitting a lamp post.

Reversing into other cars. Scratches and dents mainly.

Thanks for that.

Interesting. But that's one company. One view.

What about the others?

How many of them

are tricking us into believing our car's secure when it isn't?

We've heard from holiday-makers who've left their cars

with other meet and greet companies.

And they've come home to find, well, I'll let them tell you.

When I returned from my holiday, I found that every single panel

on the car had been damaged,

and three of the four tyres had been punctured with a sharp instrument.

I reported it to the police and they told me

that my vehicle was one of 40 that had been damaged in a similar

fashion and that, in fact, the cars had been parked in an open field.

With no security at all.

When I collected my car,

everything was absolutely fine.

It wasn't until a little bit later, I received a car parking fine.

My car had been parked in a McDonalds car park,

while it was supposedly in their car park.

The company refused to pay,

so I then started getting letters from the debt collectors.

What was my car doing parked in a McDonalds car park

when I paid for it to be in a secure car park with surveillance cameras?

We've also heard from other drivers who've complained about

tampered keys and locks.

Scratches.

And even tyres being replaced with old un-roadworthy ones.

Now, there are meet and greet companies out there

who operate safely and legitimately.

But how many are not delivering the security they promise?

Time for our own little survey.

Six cars.

Booked in with six different companies. At three major airports.

What could go wrong? Find out later.

Cruises. More popular than ever.

We took more than 1.7 million of them in 2012,

and that figure's set to rise this year.

And you can see why.

They advertise top class accommodation,

food and drink at your fingertips and days of endless sun.

What's not to like?

Well, as with any holiday, there are a whole host of tricks that

can leave you hundreds of pounds out of pocket.

So, I'm taking to the water to meet some people who know

everything there is to know about cruises and how to survive them.

Meet Gill and Bill.

Gifty and Gordon.

And Reggie.

Veteran cruisers all.

-Right, are we ready to set sail?

-HORN BLARES

OK, it's hardly the Queen Mary II, but it'll do.

Now, the first thing to negotiate is the booking process.

-Hello.

-Hi, Sian.

So how many years have you been going on cruises?

Oh, quite a few years, Sian.

In fact, I used to work on board cruises for some five years.

Travelled the world.

With experience like that, you'd think this couple would be

alive to every ploy.

But even they were caught out recently by tricks like these.

Bill and Gill booked a Norwegian fjords cruise with P&O

through Thomas Cook.

Choosing the company's so-called "vantage" fare

they paid £890 each for a balcony cabin.

Not cheap.

But then the vantage fare does mean that if the holiday comes down in

price between booking and departure, P&O will refund the difference by

issuing onboard spending money or a cabin upgrade of equivalent value.

Now that's just as well, because this one did come down. Hugely.

Our cruise was discounted by over £700 per couple for a similar cabin,

outside balcony cabin. Over £700, Sian.

So when you saw there was a difference in £700, what did you do?

Well, of course we were delighted that,

by booking the vantage fare,

that we would be compensated by this reduction of some £700.

So I immediately contacted both P&O and Thomas Cook.

But P&O refused. Why? Well, how about this?

The company called the new prices getaway fares.

And, simply by giving them a different name,

with slightly different terms and conditions, they don't have

to compensate customers who booked under the vantage fares scheme.

It's the same holiday,

booked in confidence under the vantage fare with the price promise.

There's just no point in paying so far in advance.

By introducing this getaway fare, which is basically another title

for exactly the same cruise, similar cabin...

I feel it's a bit underhand.

P&O told us they've honoured the price promise on tens of thousands

of bookings since introducing the vantage fare last year.

They say they publicised the fact they would be likely to

introduce getaway fares on some cruises.

And the high demand for vantage fares confirmed that many customers

prefer the peace of mind of securing a cabin location,

plus other benefits like cancellation protection.

They apologise to the Collins'

if they feel they didn't receive the service they should have,

and that they'll work with Thomas Cook to ensure the training

they give their staff meets their high standards.

Thomas Cook say they're sorry

if the couple feel they were given wrong information,

but there was no guarantee at the time of the booking

that P&O would issue a cheaper getaway fare on their chosen cruise.

They say their experienced agents

have regular and comprehensive training

on the various pricing structures from the cruise lines.

A number of cruisers set sail alone,

just like Diane Drayson,

but if you are travelling solo, you need to watch out for this trick

from one of the biggest cruise lines, Cunard.

Diane booked her cruise from Dubai to Southampton in March.

She had managed to secure one of those getaway fares.

I feel I'm lucky to have been able to get a getaway fare.

I believe that this is the last cruise

in which solo passengers can buy getaway fares.

Yes, Cunard no longer allow solo travellers access

to the special getaway fares - only couples.

Those sailing alone must pay the more expensive vantage fares.

The result?

The price of travelling alone could end up higher

than two people travelling together.

I've had a look on the website

at the next cruise that is still up for sale.

If I booked an ocean view room,

just like this, on this same ship,

it would cost me £3,668.

However, I have two friends travelling together.

If they booked the same cabin to travel together in it,

they would pay jointly £2,198.

Yes, that's almost a £1,500 difference.

Not small change.

I love travelling on Cunard ships.

I am bitterly disappointed

that I will no longer be able to afford to travel on Cunard.

I feel as though they are discriminating against single travellers.

OK, Diane, what about pretending there are two of you?

I have felt tempted to invent an imaginary friend

and put their name on the roll.

We checked up with Cunard and discovered that

if the second person in the cabin doesn't turn up, then bad luck,

we'll be back to paying full fare.

Cunard told us they make special offers available

to single travellers from time to time,

and they greatly value and welcome many every year.

But, due to customer feedback, they have now changed their policy.

As from the 1st September this year,

their getaway fares will be available to solo travellers.

So if you're planning a Cunard cruise on your own,

you might want to hold off cruising until then,

or book with their sister company P&O.

On four of their ships, they have single cabins.

Hello. Drink, please.

Another common cruise complaint we've heard about

is that dreaded on-board extra.

Tip? I thought I'd paid all the tips.

But, of course, I thought wrongly.

I didn't know that most cruise companies

add tips to your bill automatically.

And I certainly didn't know how big those tips can be.

Well, it varies from line to line,

but probably 10, 13 dollars a day per person.

You can either pay that in advance

or you can pay at the end of the cruise

on your ship board account.

OK, well, if you have pre-paid your tips,

you've no need to worry about coughing up any more on board.

Right? Mm, not always.

On top of that, there's an extra 15% on all drinks that you buy

when you're on board the ship.

So you've already paid for service that you haven't received,

and then when you get on board you have to pay another 15%

-for every drink you have?

-Correct.

And do you think people know about this when they sign up for a cruise?

You have to look rather carefully at the small print

to find out exactly what the position is.

Oh, well, at least once the cruise is over, there are no other ways

for them to take extra money from you

unless you've booked a flight home from the port

as part of the overall deal.

I usually prefer to book my flights separately from my cruise

because typically I find with all the websites that are available now

you can get a better deal,

especially if you're travelling long distance.

Reggie's right. Take this Princess Cruise departing from San Francisco.

If I booked the cheapest flight on offer - to and from there -

through the Princess website, I'd be paying more than £782.

If I booked the cheapest flight available with that same airline,

it would be little more than £672.

Now, it might not offer the same flexibility,

but that's £110 less per person.

Princess say they advertise all their fly cruises

with a cruise-only fare, to give passengers more flexibility

when selecting their chosen flights and transfers.

They offer a live flight system

that covers the majority of airlines

and flights booked as a package with them provide extra protection.

The Cruise Lines International Association,

which represents many of the operators,

says most aim to simplify tipping

by automatically adding a sum to passengers' accounts.

But they always make it clear these payments aren't compulsory,

and may be taken off or amended at the passenger's discretion.

So, now you know what to look out for,

you can step on board with confidence.

Happy cruising.

Ah, welcome to sunny Spain.

Now, I must remember they drive on the right over here.

Right-hand side of the road, right-hand side of the road.

I can remember that. Right-hand side of the road!

Yes, having survived booking the flight and the airport,

it's time for the next stage in the holiday hurdles -

picking up the hire car.

Now, even if you paid in advance,

there are extra charges to look out for here,

like those for a sat nav, a child booster seat,

or for adding an extra driver.

Good. Not much of a queue. OK.

Not to mention the insurance and other add-ons.

But, luckily, I've no worries on that score, because,

before my holiday, I booked with one of Spain's leading hire companies,

and the largest dedicated to the tourist sector.

Five days' hire in Alicante.

Goldcar told me that insurance cover was included in the price.

They even said I wouldn't have to pay any excess

if I damaged the car accidentally.

But the best bit...

just 124.25 euros.

That's under 25 euros a day.

That's fantastic.

So, booking complete. Nothing more to add.

Mmm.

Sorry? They didn't tell me about a fuel charge when I booked.

And as I'm only here for a few days, I don't want a full tank.

They do bury this charge away in the small print.

But, as it's compulsory, it should be included in the headline price,

or at least mentioned on the booking page.

An accident waver? Sorry, but that wasn't made clear, either.

In other words, pay extra for their fully comp insurance,

or leave a 600-euro refundable deposit

in case I cause any damage.

And you guessed - that's buried in the small print, too.

Oh, well, I'll have to make up for that extra insurance cost somewhere else.

I really don't think I'm going to use all that fuel they've put in.

So surely they'll give me a refund

for whatever's left in the tank when I return it?

Do you know? This is not the perfect start to a holiday.

So, my 124-euro hire car that I thought was really cheap

has actually cost us 102 euros more than I thought it would,

or in UK money, £86 more.

Goldcar do offer refunds on fuel

if you're hiring for three days or under.

You still lose out, though, because they charge you more

per litre of fuel than they charged me.

How much more?

Well, they charged a member of our team £93 for her tank of diesel.

Why so expensive?

Nope, that's wrong. The car's tank only takes 60 litres.

They also lied to our researcher about the extent of the insurance.

Not true.

The car is covered for damage caused by collision, theft,

accidental fire and vandalism.

Look, it's all here, in Goldcar's own terms and conditions.

Telling customers their policy provides less cover

than it actually does amounts to mis-selling

as it means they're more likely to choose an expensive upgrade.

We hired four cars in Alicante, and this happened on three occasions.

Our team found the company up to similar tricks elsewhere.

These are the beautiful rolling hills of Tuscany.

This is the less easy-on-the-eye Pisa Airport car rental centre,

which many British tourists use when visiting this part of Italy.

This is me watching some of those tourists arrive.

And this is the Goldcar desk, where the staff told our team

they had to pay a compulsory fuel charge on their Renault Clio.

And they had some interesting ways of trying to justify such costs.

Here comes that same tactic.

Hang on.

She just said it's a 62 litre tank,

but I'm looking at the Renault website here

and it says it's only 55 litres.

Try again.

So, 132 euros for a 55-litre tank of diesel.

That's 2.40 euros per litre.

That sure seems expensive,

but then, hey, what do I know about the price of fuel in Italy?

Not much,

which is why our team visited three local filling stations

to see what they were actually selling it for.

At one, it was just 1.725 euros per litre.

At another, it was just 1.67 euros per litre.

And even at a fuel station right by the airport, it was 1.775 per litre.

That's 62 cents a litre less than the 2.40 that Goldcar charged us.

In other words,

Goldcar charged us 34 euros more for a tank of fuel

than if we'd just been able to fill it up ourselves.

That's a 35% mark-up.

And you now won't be surprised to learn

they're up to the same thing back here in Alicante.

Now, remember, they charged my colleague who hired a car

for under three days 110 euros for a full tank of diesel,

which works out at 1.85 euros a litre.

But when we drove to filling stations near the airport,

we found that same fuel much cheaper.

OK.

OK, right, what are the prices?

Diesel is 1.399 euros.

OK. On to the next one.

Right, so here we have...diesel is 1.399 euros. Seems cheap.

SHE SINGS

That guy was so looking at me!

OK, so this one, diesel is 1.389 euros.

In fact, we found garages selling fuel for 45 cents a litre cheaper

than Goldcar charged my colleague.

Which means she paid 27 euros - or £23 -

more than she should have for the whole tank.

They've essentially got this sewn up -

make people pay for a compulsory tank of fuel,

then you can charge what you want for it as people have to pay.

And Goldcar's explanation for all this? There isn't one.

We put all our findings to them,

but they told us they didn't wish to comment.

OK. You've made it.

You've got your cocktail in hand, the sea lapping at your feet.

You're on holiday.

And you can now...relax.

Can't you?

When we actually got there,

it wasn't what the website showed us at all.

It was just a nightmare.

The walls were dirty

and they were absolutely disgustingly filthy, these rooms.

The holiday from hell is exactly what it was.

OK, well, maybe "relax" was too strong a word.

That's because with some companies,

you can still fall victim to certain tricks.

Number one - what happens if the hotel you booked

isn't the one you actually get?

Like Darren Swales, who booked this three-star hotel in Prague

through a company called Travel Republic.

When we arrived there, the hotel was fully booked,

and the receptionist told us that all the rooms had been booked

and we would need to be moved to another hotel.

It was in a pretty rundown part of Prague city itself,

and clearly it was a hostel.

When we arrived in the room, it was absolutely disgusting.

There was a stain on the bed frame, there was stains on the mattress

and there was a brown stain on the white towel.

This was no way a three-star hotel at all.

Travel Republic did book Darren and his party into another hotel,

but Darren had to pay for the first night's accommodation himself.

They failed to compensate him for the £200 he was left out of pocket.

To this day, we haven't received any money back from Travel Republic

at all, apart from the £7.92 for the refund for the phone calls

that we made while over in Prague.

Trick number two.

Who do you turn to if the hotel is available,

but it's nothing like what was promised?

Jamie Berry booked with another online travel agent.

I paid £1,600 for a holiday to Tenerife,

seven nights, four-star, all inclusive.

A few quirky little things with the hotel - bathrobes on arrival,

a nice Jacuzzi to relax in, four-star luxury.

When we arrived there,

the hotel itself was certainly not the four-star hotel

that we thought we'd paid for.

The plaster was coming off the walls,

there were towels all over the floor

where they were soaking up bits of water from, I assume, leaking roofs,

a musty smell, the hotel that clearly needs a refurbishment.

There was no Jacuzzi, it was full of mud.

The agent did offer Jamie alternative accommodation,

but as he'd have to spend another night in the hotel

before they could move him, he chose to fly home.

He's since had to fight with both the hotel AND the online

travel agent to finally get back £615 for his £1,619 holiday.

Trick number three. Where do you stand if the hotel is in fact...

a building site?

It was just a nightmare.

The pool was in disarray,

it was having major building work around it.

The room was bad.

We paid for four beds and got three

so we had to make up a bed on the floor.

The bath, there was rust around the plughole.

A broken mirror, a broken floor tile by the balcony door.

The balcony door itself didn't lock, you could break into our apartment.

There was constant building works, constant noise,

constant disruption and it's not what we paid for.

But Travel Republic failed to compensate Chris

and his family for ANY of the disruption.

Not to worry, package holidays are protected by regulations -

the Package Travel Regulations, funnily enough.

That means, by law,

you have the right to expect the holiday you booked and paid for.

And if you have problems whilst you're away,

you may have a claim against the tour operator for compensation

based on the total value of your package holiday.

And when I say package holiday I mean...

"Package holiday. A holiday organised by a travel agent,

"with arrangements for transport, accommodation, etc,

"offered at an inclusive price."

Exactly what these holiday-makers booked. Wasn't it?

They were trying to blame the hotel, and the hotel were saying,

"No, it's Travel Republic." They said, "No, we're just the middlemen.

"We just advertise the hotels."

Travel Republic looked as though they were the company

that you were booking through.

Everything had Travel Republic written over the website.

You sort of trust that they're selling you

the package that they certainly seem to be selling you.

They've included a flight, they've included transfers,

they've included your hotel.

To the naked eye, it's a package holiday.

Oh, yes, sorry. Forgot to tell you. Trick number four.

Online travel agents who LOOK like they offer package holidays

but in reality they don't.

Yes, they may include flights, accommodation and transfers,

and even come with ATOL and ABTA protection, but be aware.

Whilst they may offer good value, make sure you read the small print.

If the agent sells you separate contracts for each

element of your holiday - one with the airline

and one with the hotel, it means that you may not have the

same level of cover if something goes wrong.

You can't be sure the hotel has been checked out by the company beforehand.

And if a holiday is changed or cancelled by the company

at the last minute, you may not be able to

withdraw from the whole holiday without penalty.

So how does an online travel agent convince you to buy what you

might think is a package holiday

but without all of the protection that a package holiday brings?

Well, I'll let Sian explain.

Thanks, Nicky.

Right, say I want to set up my own online travel agent.

All I need are a couple of laptops, a web designer and a holiday expert.

So let's build the website. First up. A name.

Sunshine with Sian.

And what about a little picture of yourself?

Oh, lovely!

I can put pictures of happy holidays.

-Here we go.

-Oh, dear!

I'll tell you what. She looks like she's having a good time!

What about these? Are these more suitable.

OK, we're going to upload your photos.

I can use the word "all-inclusive", "beach holiday", "great value holidays".

I can even make the way I sell my holiday sound better than

a package holiday.

"We're an online travel agent,

"which means we don't sell package holidays.

"What we do instead is let you build your own holiday by giving

"you access to many different suppliers offering flights,

"hotel and transfers, thus saving you money."

All I need to do is to add a small disclaimer that says,

"We act only as a search engine and each product you book with us

"has a separate price and so creates a separate contract."

Yes, you may think you're buying a package holiday

and all the protection that comes with it in when, in fact, you're not.

I personally don't mind them selling holidays like this

but, for goodness' sake, be clear to the consumers, be open

and say what is and what isn't protected.

Travel Republic says it's refunded Mr Swales the cost of a night's

accommodation and offered him a travel republic discount voucher.

Due to the delay in arranging this,

it's now offered an additional £100 compensation.

As for Mr Evans,

it recognises that his experience at the hotel was unacceptable.

It's now offered to refund the FULL cost of his holiday.

It says it champions value choice and flexibility

and has high satisfaction ratings.

It doesn't sell, organise or arrange package holidays

and makes this clear to customers when booking.

Earlier we heard from holiday-makers who left their cars with

meet and greet airport parking companies and had

concerns about what happened to them whist they were away.

So, we put six of our own cars into six other companies at three

different airports.

OK, not an extensive survey.

But we had reason to believe those companies had also been

parking cars insecurely or at least not as securely as they promised.

So I'm now going to find out what they did with ours.

Each car was fitted with a tracking device.

That tells us whether it went to the car park

they said it would and, crucially, whether it stayed there.

All six companies promised to keep our cars secure.

So what does that mean? What can you expect?

You expect to have your car parked in a safe manner,

if it's going to be parked by staff, which is often the case, you expect

it to be parked in an area which is watched by cameras and supervised

by staff members, you expect to have that 24 hours a day.

You expect to have barriers on the way out to ensure that

if you're not the authorised driver, you can't take that car out.

Skyone Parking Ltd, at Gatwick,

offered something else as well as security.

A covered car park.

So, first up, we left this Ford Fiesta with them.

OK. We dropped off our Ford Fiesta here at Gatwick,

and followed it here.

Well, it looks like a car park, good start.

But was it covered?

Nope. Take a look. That's our car. And that's an open gate.

Anyone could get in and touch it.

Don't worry, she belongs to us.

And every time we checked on our car, the gate was open.

Like here. On the second day.

And the third day.

Not what I'd call secure.

The car park was even left unsecure at night.

Like here at 1.37am. 4.24am.

We promise it is there under the snow.

Parking a car by an open gate all night clearly is

the opposite of security.

If you're parking a car where you believe it's secure,

the gate should be locked, unless there's someone physically there,

then that's totally unacceptable as a secure site for parking.

Skyone Parking Ltd told us our car was among a small number to

be parked in a temporary overflow facility that should have

been manned 24 hours a day with the gates closed at all times.

They've ordered an investigation into our findings

and will take appropriate action if negligence is proven.

Well, at least that car did stay in the car park.

OK. The Vauxhall Astra next.

This car was sent into a company called RS09 UK Services Ltd.

Also operating out of Gatwick Airport,

they promise a "safe and secure storage area" and stress

that "you can be sure your pride and joy is in safe hands".

Let's hope it is.

Our car was immediately driven here,

to a place with a fence, a gate, and a CCTV camera.

Looking good so far. But hang on. What's this?

Right. It's on the move.

Yes, 24 hours later, our car was taken elsewhere.

Let's see if we can get it.

It was driven by what we can only assume is an RS09 employee to

this residential address in Crawley.

So our car that was meant to be parked securely has ended up here...

..where it, in fact, stayed for 11 hours overnight,

before being taken back to the car park.

Did he use our car to drive to and from work?

That's totally unacceptable to have a car driven out of what's

meant to be a secure car park, parked on a residential street

overnight when you've paid to have it parked in a secure car park.

If you'd wanted to park it in a residential street, you could

have done that and not paid the car parking charges.

And there was one final surprise waiting for us

when we picked up the car.

Thank you.

Oh, look at that. Muck and leaves and mud all over the floor.

It's not very nice.

Not the state you want your car back to you in.

RS09 have since told us

that an employee, who no longer works there, DID remove the

car from their secure yard without anybody's knowledge or permission.

They describe this as totally unacceptable

and will do everything they can to stop it happening again.

They've also apologised and offered to refund us.

So what about the other two airports we tried?

Well, we're happy to report that at Heathrow, the two companies

we used parked our cars securely just as we were promised.

Then there was Luton.

Although we put two cars in with two separate companies,

Stress Free Parking Ltd Luton and Swift Airport Parking Ltd,

they were both taken to the same car park.

What's more, they each promised their car park would be

monitored by CCTV cameras.

Look, Swift Airport Parking, even has a big picture of one.

But whilst our cars were in there we couldn't see any cameras.

So we've since sent Graham to investigate.

Caravan there.

You would have thought that's for security, but there's no-one here.

There is no CCTV here.

If it is, then it's very very well hidden

and I'd probably put my reputation on there being no CCTV here.

The whole point is to have it visible as a deterrent

and there is none visible.

We've not been challenged on the way or on the way out,

the whole place appears to be completely unmanned.

If there is anybody present then with the curtains drawn,

they're either asleep or not interested.

As a piece of waste ground it was fine, as a secure car park,

totally inadequate.

Stress Free Parking describes security as their utmost priority.

They say they were one of five companies using

this car park as a temporary overflow solution to their main

Luton facility and there were no security breaches.

They say they vacated it t the end of March

prior to our expert's visit

and have now moved to a larger site to cope with increased demand.

Swift Airport Parking told us

they subcontracted the parking of our car to another company.

They say their car park IS secure, with a manned gate 24 hours a day.

The CCTV cameras?

They say they hide them so intruders won't know where they are.

And they say they didn't challenge our expert during his visit

because he looked "innocently lost".

OK, so this is a snapshot of the meet-and-greet industry

rather than a comprehensive survey -

still gives us cause for concern, though.

So how can you ensure you're not caught out?

Number one - photograph your car inside and out before you

hand it over. That way you can prove that any damage you

find is their fault, not yours.

Number two - make sure you record the mileage.

That's a good indication as to

whether your car's been on a journey of its own.

Number three - make sure you check your car before you leave

the airport.

Many companies have a clause in their contracts clearing them

of liability for damage reported after you've left.

Number four - look out for approved operator schemes.

Just last week Gatwick Airport brought out one of their own.

Companies who are members of this are able to use dedicated areas and

have been checked out beforehand to ensure they meet a certain standard.

Over here in Spain, my holiday's coming to an end.

I was stung by unexpected hire car costs on the way in.

I'm determined not to pay any extra baggage charges on the way out.

But then I am flying with Ryanair.

Please close.

And we all know how strict THEY can be about bag sizes.

SHE LAUGHS

OK, so Ryanair is 20.

Excellent. By 40.

Oodles of room. By 55. Perfect!

The only problem is I don't have any room to fit in any

presents for Nicky and Sian.

But not to worry.

Here at Alicante Airport, there are signs telling passengers

we can take a bag of shopping on board our flights,

in addition to our hand luggage.

No doubt about it, apparently.

Boarding with one of our shopping bags in addition to your hand

luggage is permitted by law.

In fact, I've counted at least eight of them, all very prominent.

What more reassurance do I need before filling my shopping

bag with presents to take home?

I think I'm going to get Sian and Nicky the best present from Spain.

And it's got to be Sangria. A MASSIVE bottle!

1.5 litres!

I'll get two!

So I've got my wheelie suitcase AND my bag of duty free shopping.

Oh, I think I'm boarding. Let's go.

And here's the Ryanair boarding gate. Yay!

I've got nothing to worry about.

What?

This? But there are signs around the airport.

But I thought it said.

Does it not say that it's law on those signs?

What do I have to do?

Oh, God.

Now, who's right here?

Ryanair are adamant that you're only allowed one

item of luggage on ALL their flights wherever you depart from.

But Alicante Airport is saying that I'm allowed

to take on an extra duty free bag by law.

SOMEONE'S wrong. But it's definitely not me.

Alicante Airport's argument is that they've discovered

a law from 1960 in the days when airlines were

owned by governments, and the government could control what the

rules were and that rule says that you can take on one piece of hand

baggage plus a bag of goods that you've purchased from the airport.

Ryanair's argument is ignoring what that law may be and it's probably

completely out of date anyway. Our rules are quite clear and we've told

the customer it's one piece only and that there are no exceptions.

Alas, it looks like Ryanair

and Alicante Airport aren't going to come to an agreement any time soon.

The airport says it's complying with a law that's been updated

several times, even as recently as March 2011.

But Ryanair says it's ALSO complying with a law to control cabin

baggage for safety and security reasons.

So, it doesn't look good for me, then. Does it?

It won't fit. What are my options?

What!? 50 euros.

So is it check it in for 50 euros or leave it behind?

I'll leave it behind. Oh, my gosh, look.

Loads of people have had to leave things.

Oh, poor Nicky and Sian. They'll never believe me.

I'm sure there were signs that said you could take...

OK.

Customers have been told at the time they book that it's one

piece of baggage and then all the information subsequently

appears to contradict that.

The difficulty is you can't argue about the law in the ten minutes

that Ryanair give you to board the plane

and arguing that there's a law from 1960 that allows you to carry

a second bag isn't going to get you anywhere.

Ryanair has since told us

it makes its policy clear at the time of booking, at check in,

at the boarding gates and in reminder emails before passengers travel.

So, if you're planning to fly from Alicante,

you might want to remember that policy.

You could always book with someone else, of course.

Just check ahead to make sure that the signs at the airport

definitely apply to them.

-Welcome home.

-Hello. Where's the sangria?

Er, I'm afraid there was a slight problem with that.

I wasn't going to pay 50 euros! I'm sorry.

I understand. It is your money.

My sangria.

And their tricks.

Join us next time,

when we take on more companies trying to get your cash.

Inside DFS, uncovering the tactics used by some salesmen

to make you spend.

Is it just me or did he just tell us how to commit insurance fraud?

Sales. Can you believe them?

-I reveal the truth behind these Harveys ads.

-My goodness!

And shoppers strike back. How you can slash your household bills

in a matter of minutes.

That's a very good result for a very short phone call.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd