Some 'hurry-before-it-goes holidays' provide poor value, says Which?

Consumers are not always getting the best price when they book time-limited "hurry" holidays, according to Which?

Which? looked at 30 adverts for hurry-before-it-goes holidays and then checked again when the closing date for booking had passed.

It found that in 13 of the adverts the holiday could be booked at the same price or lower, "suggesting there may have been no need to hurry after all".

Which? said it believed travel companies were doing three things that could be considered misleading:

:: Extending deals beyond the advertised deadlines;

:: Cutting prices after the hurry-deal offer had finished;

:: Repeating hurry deals one after another.

Which? said one cruise company sent out an email encouraging consumers to book a "dream cruise" in an offer "only available for five days" and three-and-a-half weeks later started a six-day sale that offered even better prices on the same cabins.

Which? executive director Richard Lloyd said: "No one likes finding out that someone on the same holiday paid less for it. But it's even worse if you bought your holiday in a rush because the ads told you the prices would be available only for a short time.

"It's unacceptable that holidaymakers are hurried into making decisions that might not give them the best value for money.

"Travel companies understandably have to adjust prices up or down according to demand. But they shouldn't kid consumers that the prices on offer won't be around for long."

PA