A GROUP of friends are almost £2,000 out of pocket and their 10-day package holiday in serious jeopardy after the collapse of an online travel firm.
Overseas-based Lowcosttravelgroup, which trades on the internet as lowcostholidays.com, went into administration on Friday leaving the travel plans of thousands of customers across the UK and Ireland in tatters.
Speaking to the Irish News a 25-year woman from Lisburn said she had been left "livid" after she and her boyfriend along with another local couple booked a 10 day holiday together to the Algarve in Portugal through the website back in April, paying £700 each.
They were due to fly out from Belfast International Airport next Thursday, but their plans are now in serious doubt.
The group has still yet to receive any correspondence from Lowcastholidays and are nearly £2,000 out of pocket.
"Luckily our return flights are booked and paid for, but when we phoned the hotel in Portugal they had our booking but no payment,” she said.
“We said we would pay the hotel again ourselves but now the price of the two rooms has nearly doubled. We've pleaded with the hotel to honour the original price offered at the time of booking which we are willing to pay again for but they haven't got back to us yet."
“It's sickening when you work hard and save for a relaxing holiday and then in the end it just causes stress and disappointment.
"We're trying to keep positive about it all but it's the last thing you think is going to happen.
"I'll probably never book a holiday package again after this - I've always made my own direct bookings in the past but was willing to give it a go this time to save us some money and now we're out of pocket.
"Fingers crossed we can get our lost money back and still have a great holiday - as we had planned," she added.
Across the UK and Ireland more than 110,000 have had their travel plans disrupted by the firm’s collapse.
The company, which is headquartered in Palma, Majorca, and has offices in Switzerland and Poland, is not part of the UK Civil Aviation Authority’s ATOL protection scheme or a member of UK travel association Abta.
The Commision for Aviation Regulation in Ireland has said people who have booked holidays with Lowcostholidays, but have yet to travel, can make a claim if their holiday will not be honoured by the company.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland the director of legal affairs David Hodnett said the commission will also cover claims for those who are abroad who find they now have to pay a second set of accommodation fees.
All those customers who have forward bookings are requested to check with their airline/ferry operator to see if their tickets/accommodation is still valid and have been paid by the travel agent – in the event that it hasn't been, customers can claim a refund of monies paid to the travel agent
Claim forms are available on the commission's website www.aviationreg.ie.
