Families pay more for self catering package holidays
By Darren Cronian on Saturday, January 31st, 2009

When you book a holiday in the same resort, same dates, same tour operator you would expect to pay the same amount, no matter if your party was made up of 2 adults and 2 children or 4 adults. In fact I would expect the holiday to be cheaper for families, well with some tour operators it isn’t.

Families pay more for self catering package holidays

Pay more for family travel

Tonight I carried out some research and I wanted to share the results, to hopefully open up a discussion. Searching with Thomson, for 7 nights, in July 2009, self catering holiday at the Palmeras Playa Apartments, Sa Coma, Majorca

Total price for 4 adults is £1,692.00 but for 2 adults and 2 children the price shoots up to £1,811.00.

Tour operator comparison

To compare this with other tour operators I did similar 7 night, self catering package holiday search on First Choice and Thomas Cook and the results were the same, more expensive holidays for families, same location, same date, same everything, just two kids instead of two adults.

Families pay more

I wondered why is it costing a family more, and realised this is probably due to the fact that children do not count towards the occupancy of a self catering room so extra charges are added to the adult cost. Under occupancy charges plus reduced child cost is usually greater than the adult price.

Am I the only person who thinks that this is unfair?

Possible loophole

Tour operators must be aware of this price difference and I am wondering if consumers are able to get around this problem by booking 4 adults, even though two of the passengers are children, I suspect not, or if you can, they are keeping that quiet.


Related posts

Please enter your email address to receive my free newsletter

 



14 responses to “Families pay more for self catering package holidays”

Jack | 31 January, 2009 at 1:27 pm

It’s not only unfair, but disingenious.

However, I can see why it’s in effect, as it means more income for using fewer resources in the resort.

Taking holidays with kids is very expensive as it is, with the agents often taking things much too far.

Report this comment

Nick | 31 January, 2009 at 1:47 pm

Darren

Travel Agents hate this, thats why for 2 adults 2 children we check prices for 3 adults 1 child and 4 adults as well.

Report this comment

AnnaE | 31 January, 2009 at 10:24 pm

I don’t think it’s unfair. Have you seen what kids can do to a hotel room in 7 days? I have. Somebody’s gotta pay for the repairs and heavy duty cleanup afterwards.

Report this comment

Darren Cronian | 1 February, 2009 at 9:03 am

@ Jack

I agree, but to be fair its not the travel agents, it seems to be the big tour operators, that are taking advantage of the supplement for the apartment under occupancy, even though its two adults, rather than two children.

@ Nick

Very interesting, so I suspect not all agents will do that and the likes of Thomson and Thomas Cook could do that themselves if they really wanted to. Okay the difference was only just over £100 but even so, thats food, or entrance into a few tourist attractions.

Report this comment

Darren Cronian | 1 February, 2009 at 9:04 am

@ AnneE

It’s not a hotel room, its self catering apartment, or aparthotel. To be honest I disagree, two kids are likely to do less damage to a room than 4 adults. You cannot charge an extra £100 for 2 children because they might damage the room.

Report this comment

Murray Harrold | 1 February, 2009 at 5:49 pm

Not much to debate, here, Darren. You are of course prefectly correct. Nick mentions one of the thing we agents do – it’s like booking return air tickets to get a cheaper singles. Agents 2, website 0. I think. AnneE is a bit near the knuckle, though; I am surpised at your restraint!

Report this comment

Darren Cronian | 1 February, 2009 at 6:45 pm

@ Murray

I’m not convinced its because of kids that the price is increased, and it’s interesting your and Nick’s responces as travel agents. So, yes, not much of a debate, not one that I thought they would be, so let me turn this around to anyone from Thomson, Thomas Cook and First Choice who all read this blog.

Why do you charge more for 2 adults 2 children than 4 adults on your website?

Report this comment

Andy | 5 February, 2009 at 8:22 am

From the Thomas Cook help pages:

“Can I book a child as an adult, if the holiday works out cheaper?

It is usually possible to book a child as an adult, as there may be occasions when the total holiday cost will be lower when booked this way. However, this may mean that any child booked as an adult may not be able to take advantage of some bookable children’s facilities / clubs at your accommodation.”

Report this comment

Jane | 6 February, 2009 at 2:19 pm

@ Darren,

Sorry for the slow reply – it’s been a crazy week with the snow. Any how, as you mentioned, this is an industry wide issue. I’ve checked with our pricing teams as to why this can happen and will summarise as best I can:

As you thought, it’s all down to how the self-catering accommodation is sold to us: units are sold according to the maximum number of adults they hold, and as such under occupancy charges are often brought into the booking. There are procedures in place to ensure that at the time of booking, the best prices are returned (free child places/early booking offers etc), however there are some occasions when a cheaper price will be returned for 4 adults as opposed to 2 adults and 2 children.

Our agents are aware that sometimes discrepancies can occur and will (as per Nick’s comments) always secure the best price available. Our pricing teams are looking to review how these units are priced for sale in the future.

Report this comment

Darren Cronian | 6 February, 2009 at 2:36 pm

@ Jane

Thank you for replying on behalf of Thomson and First Choice. I think that’s one of the few times that a tour operator has responded on behalf of a post/comments left.

Report this comment

Darren Pegram | 8 February, 2009 at 6:40 pm

@ Jane

You mention that there are some occasions when a cheaper price will be returned for 4 adults as opposed to 2 adults and 2 children.

I can assure you that when searching for a holiday online, 100% of self catering holidays I have checked are more expensive for 2 adults and 2 children.

You say that there are procedures in place to ensure that at the time of booking, the best prices are returned. If I book a self catering holiday for 2 adults and 2 children via your website (unwittingly at the inflated price) at what stage would your travel company advise me that a cheaper option was available?

As for your pricing team (who have been aware of this problem for a number of years) to solve your pricing problem you need to do two simple things; firstly count children towards the occupancy of a self catering apartment, and secondly count children towards the online discount. Then, finally, ‘free children’ and ‘discounted child price’ really will mean just that.

Report this comment

Darren Pegram | 11 February, 2009 at 2:40 am

hmmmm. No more comments?

So, are tour operators intentionally ripping off families?

Report this comment

Clive Wilmer | 27 February, 2009 at 4:02 pm

Hi Darren

Thank for highlighting this, I also checked it out, and unbelievable as it seems you are spot on. I found an example where the cost was almost £300 more for 2 children and 2 adults. In fact I decided that it was also worth highlighting on my own blog.

Report this comment

John Donahue | 15 March, 2010 at 11:00 pm

Another sneeky marketing trick exposed. Just like supermarket and air travel price fixing, this tactic doesn’t surprise but surely it can be stopped. I understand it certainly is unethical but may not be illegal.

Thanks for highlighting this. I’ll be sure to pass it on.

Report this comment