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Dangers of DIY Holidays – Are You Covered?

You’ve looked at all the holidays on tour operator’s websites, found a holiday you really like but thought to yourself  – “I bet I can do it myself and save myself some pennies.”

So, you’ve gone ahead booked your flight and got a great deal, booked the fishing lodge direct or through an agent and saved a few pounds. Now you’re looking forward to the best fishing holiday you’ve ever had. You go out to your local tackle shop tell the guys in there where you’re going and ask them to supply you with all the gear you need, a few hours later off you go home with bags of lovely new shiny tackle and an empty wallet, but you don’t mind, as you have just saved a bit of money by booking your own holiday.

But what happens if something goes wrong?

I expect you’ll try and claim refunds or make a claim on your holiday insurance because that will cover you. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case as you have booked individual elements. This could leave you spending more money to resolve the problem.

We all think that these things will never happen to us but unfortunately, they do. For example who could have predicted the Icelandic ash clouds, oil spills in the Gulf or the unseasonal weather in Russia? That’s without factors such as industrial action impacting airlines and air traffic control or civil unrest breaking out in countries like Egypt and Ukraine.

So how can any of these things outside your control impact your holiday plans?

If we look at the most recent events in Russia for example, which over the winter received almost double the amount of snow and coldest spring since 1998. Consequently, this meant that many river sections were still completely frozen for the start of the salmon season and holidays had to be cancelled as it was impossible to fish.

So what and why is there a difference?

First, we have to look at what is a ‘DIY holiday’ and what is a ‘holiday’ booked through a tour operator.

When something does go wrong?

Let’s go back to the Russia example with the fishing having to be cancelled due to unseasonal weather. The fishing provider offers you either a full refund or the chance to move your holiday to an alternative date. But what about the other elements like flights you booked, airport hotels, airport parking, what if you cannot change your dates due to work or family commitments?

For a Holiday booked with Sportquest Holidays

We will do all the work and sort out all the problems and with our experience, we can often sort out everything a lot quicker with industry knowledge. Plus as per our terms & conditions, if your holiday is postponed due to either adverse weather, airline rescheduling, industrial action, mechanical failure, medical outbreaks, an act of terrorism or where the foreign & Commonwealth Office has advised against all but essential travel, you will be entitled to any refunds that Sportquest Holidays receives from the airline or suppliers.

For a DIY Holiday.

Unless you have bought & paid for everything as either fully refundable or flexible bookings you could stand to lose them all. After all, it’s not the airlines or hotel providers issue if a week before you are due to depart you no longer have any fishing to do at the other end. It will also be your responsibility to:

  • Apply for refunds, if applicable,
  • Find & rebook suitable flights
  • Find & rebook suitable hotels
  • Find & rebook suitable transfers
  • Rebook car parks
  • Pay for new elements while awaiting refunds

Fortunately, these unforeseen circumstances are rare, but they will always happen to those who think it will never happen to them.

As you can see from all of the above, the DIY holiday that you thought you could save a fortune on, could, in fact, be totally the opposite. Is it worth the risk? The simple answer is NO; after all, it costs no more than by booking with a Tour Operator than booking everything directly, so why take the risk?

Kind Regards

Peter Collingsworth

Contact Us

If you have any questions about booking any holiday travel please feel free to call our office 01603 407596 or email info@sportquestholidays.com and we can talk you through everything. Alternatively, you can view all of our fantastic fishing and shooting tours here on our website.

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