HOLIDAY MAKERS are still being told they have no hotel rooms when they come on holiday – with some having to pay more than £1,000 to get a room.
Earlier this month, tour operator FTI – one of the largest in Europe – went bankrupt.
This had consequences for Youtravel, a British bed bank, and for Meeting Point.
Youtravel.com initially confirmed that all bookings until June 11 had been cancelled. This was later extended until July 5.
The majority of affected Brits are those who booked with loveholidays as they use both Youtravel and Meeting Point.
Annie Cox, 24, arrived at Labranda Targa Club Aqua Parc in Morocco on Tuesday after booking with loveholidays.
However, they were then “kicked out of their room” and had to pay for it again.
She said: “They let us check in and then kicked us out of our room, cut off our wristbands and left us to rot in reception for seven hours.”
Annie, from Plymouth, said they had to pay £900 to keep her room.
Other desperate holidaymakers have taken to social media, with many having to pay for their hotels again on arrival.
One person said: “I had to pay for other accommodation and I’m £1,300 out of pocket and they’re not telling us anything.”
Another wrote: “£750, I’ve had to get an emergency credit card so far so we can have a roof over our heads,”
A third said: “I had to pay for the accommodation directly again.”
Someone else commented: “We couldn’t afford the accommodation in Ibiza and had to pay again ourselves or no bed.”
Others say they are worried about their situation future holidayswith many bookings for major events such as birthdays and weddings.
Another woman said: “My flight has been canceled as they try to restructure the hotel due to insolvency. It’s a nightmare.
“I am so stressed because there is a large gathering of people while my daughter is getting married in Turkey, so all this unrest is stressing me out.”
One father said, “I fly next one Friday the 21st and I’m still waiting for an answer. The fear is enormous because we arrive early on Saturday morning with two children.”
Loveholidays released a new statement on social media yesterday.
They said: “We continue to work hard to rebook the small percentage of customers affected by the bankruptcy of FTI Group, the parent company of two of our suppliers, Youtravel and Meeting Point.
“We are constantly updating our FAQs with more information and advice.”
Filokipros Rousounides, the general manager of the Cyprus Hoteliers Association, said as many as 30,000 hotel bookings could be affected.
And around thirty resorts are affected across the Canary Island holidays in Malta, Morocco and Turkey are also affected,
How will the collapse of FTI affect the British?
The Sun’s Head of Travel Lisa Minot has explained what this means for British holidaymakers.
‘The collapse of Germany’s third largest tour operator may not at first appear to be something that would worry British holidaymakers.
“But the group’s many subsidiaries included a British bed bank called youtravel.com – this company is said to have been used by travel agents in Britain such as loveholidays.com to provide holidays.
“The travel agents, also known as dynamic packaging, linked accommodations from youtravel.com to flights.
“Any dynamic package should have ATOL protection as the travel agent sells you flights and another element, in this case hotels.
“Many British holidaymakers will also have no idea that their trips are affected, as travel agents such as Loveholidays are said to have packaged hotel rooms from youtravel.com with flights.
“For all those affected, the situation could be serious as finding alternative hotel accommodation will be a challenge at this busy time of year.
“British holidaymakers should ensure they have very good travel insurance and check the ATOL certificate they are required by law to obtain when purchasing a package holiday from a tour operator or travel agent.
It also affects around 30 resorts in the Canary Islands, local media reported, including 14 in Fuerteventura, 11 in Gran Canaria, three in Tenerife and four in Lanzarote.
Because love holidays are ATOL protected, this even means Brits have to pay for them hotels upon arrival they are entitled to a full refund.