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AIBU?

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Original poster

To feel this is a bit sneeky of the travel agent

127 replies

mayaknew · 29/05/2022 04:18

Booked a family holiday via a popular online travel agent.

Board basis half board

I was looking through the booking to price adding extra luggage and I noticed that the information on meals was breakfast and lunch !!

I've never in my life heard of half board being lunch! I've looked it up and it apparently can be lunch but never would I have expected that. It didn't specify this at time of booking and I certainly wouldn't have paid what I paid for lunches.

I feel a bit ripped off if I'm honest. This is our first holiday in 9 years.

OP posts:
BrunoMadrigal · 29/05/2022 09:38

I’ve done half board twice (both in same country).

Both times it was breakfast and one other meal, lunch or dinner.

Considering the responses on this thread, maybe the travel agent wasn’t that sneaky.

BrunoMadrigal · 29/05/2022 09:42

AchatAVendre · 29/05/2022 08:42

I think thats awful of the travel agent and lunch will probably end up as a packed lunch or nothing at all, depending on how flexible the hotel is, plus you will incur charges for dinner you wern't expecting.

Not necessarily. When we were on holiday it was the full half board menu. Only issue was that most of the restaurants were closed for lunch so we only had an option of 2 out of say 5 restaurants.

Doubleraspberry · 29/05/2022 09:44

I would immediately assume half board was breakfast and dinner. We always went half board on holiday when I was with my parents, and it was always dinner. Full board included lunch.

comfortablyfrumpy · 29/05/2022 09:47

I would be annoyed too. HB has always been breakfast and dinner when I have taken that option.
I am always out during the day so that would be no use to me.

SoupDragon · 29/05/2022 09:49

Whenever I've been half board (Europe) it's always been breakfast and dinner.

whynotwhatknot · 29/05/2022 10:20

years ago was always breakfast and dinner-havent doe it for ages wouldnt surprise me if they try and change it to save money

Darbs76 · 29/05/2022 10:23

Half board is nearly always breakfast and evening meal. I’d be disappointed too

balletmuffin · 29/05/2022 10:23

I have had breakfast and lunch OR dinner. Or Tea as we call it for the evening meal 😀

Morristj · 29/05/2022 10:33

BrunoMadrigal · 29/05/2022 09:38

I’ve done half board twice (both in same country).

Both times it was breakfast and one other meal, lunch or dinner.

Considering the responses on this thread, maybe the travel agent wasn’t that sneaky.

So far the majority say they would expect breakfast and dinner.

AssignedSlytherinAtBirth · 29/05/2022 10:42

I was a travel agent and half board means breakfast and one other meal. This other meal would normally be your choice between lunch or dinner, but occasionally it would be specified by the hotel as one or the other, usually evening meal. I would contact the hotel and ask them their policy. You may find that other agents use them, with different rules, and that there may well be an option to have dinner instead of lunch, unless the kitchen is closed in the evenings. (Possible, but unlikely.) So I wouldn't panic yet.

DS has stayed at a low-cost (city) hotel that, post-covid, doesn't offer any meals at all! Thankfully there were lots of cafes around.

riesenrad · 29/05/2022 10:47

I would also assume breakfast and dinner. After all, if the breakfast buffet is generous enough you don't really need lunch anyway - a piece of cake or ice cream is enough to keep me going until dinnertime if I get a decent breakfast!

Viviennemary · 29/05/2022 10:48

I suppose half board is breakfast plus one meal. Years ago I think some places offered lunch or dinner as the meal. But I dont think I've ever seen lunch only. Bit annoying.

Doubleraspberry · 29/05/2022 11:02

I don’t think the issue is what the hotel offers in terms of meals so much as the OP feels she is now paying for an arrangement she doesn’t want.

Puzzledandpissedoff · 29/05/2022 11:07

IME half board has always been breakfast and dinner. I didn't even know it could be lunch

Neither did I; there are plenty which will swap lunch and dinner, but I've never seen one where HB means lunch only, not least because folk are often out and about during the day and wouldn't be there for it

Personally I'd contact the place direct, if only to check the kitchens are actually open in the evenings

BellePeppa · 29/05/2022 11:29

From my previous bookings I always had to stipulate lunch or dinner. Always chose the dinner option.

pixie5121 · 29/05/2022 11:32

I think YABU to assume. I certainly wouldn't assume it was dinner.

Lunch is the main meal in Spain, Italy and other Mediterranean countries. When I've done half board there, I've had a three course meal with drinks for lunch. In places like that, dinner is poorer value because it tends to be very light.

I don't see how it's sneaky. Not everyone goes out for the day. Loads of people just want to sit round the pool, or go to the beach in the morning, have a big lunch, and then a nap and beach again in the afternoon.

SparkyBlue · 29/05/2022 12:15

I've never heard of it being lunch. Half board is always breakfast and dinner and full board is breakfast lunch and dinner and then there is the whole all inclusive thing. I'd be very annoyed as well OP. For those who said you shouldn't have assumed that's just silly as why in earth would anyone have assumed it would be lunch. It's always dinner

pixie5121 · 29/05/2022 13:12

SparkyBlue · 29/05/2022 12:15

I've never heard of it being lunch. Half board is always breakfast and dinner and full board is breakfast lunch and dinner and then there is the whole all inclusive thing. I'd be very annoyed as well OP. For those who said you shouldn't have assumed that's just silly as why in earth would anyone have assumed it would be lunch. It's always dinner

Because, as several posters have pointed out, lunch is the main meal in quite a few countries! Not everywhere is like 'back home'. Not everywhere is Britain. The narrow mindedness and lack of cultural awareness on here drives me demented.

It's clearly 'not always' dinner, is it, since OP is getting lunch. I've had several holidays where it's been lunch. Perhaps if you would be so annoyed about the included meal being lunch, you should stay at home? Or....you know...actually check what you're buying? It's not rocket science.

AchatAVendre · 29/05/2022 13:22

pixie5121 · 29/05/2022 13:12

Because, as several posters have pointed out, lunch is the main meal in quite a few countries! Not everywhere is like 'back home'. Not everywhere is Britain. The narrow mindedness and lack of cultural awareness on here drives me demented.

It's clearly 'not always' dinner, is it, since OP is getting lunch. I've had several holidays where it's been lunch. Perhaps if you would be so annoyed about the included meal being lunch, you should stay at home? Or....you know...actually check what you're buying? It's not rocket science.

Show quote history

However, this popular online travel agent will be perfectly aware that they are targetting a UK market and so I think they have been misleading. Their customer base would appear to be UK based and they will know perfectly well that people would assume half board to mean breakfast and dinner. It takes one line to explain that they don't mean that.

And I grew up in another European country too. And lunch is not the main meal of the day there either. I wouldn't be particularly impressed with half board meaning breakfast and a small selection of meat, cheeses, a jam, peanut butter and some bread!

And by the way, lunch can actually be the main meal of the day in some parts of Britain, at some times of the week or in some farming and fishing communities. Not everywhere is as uniform as you imagine.

OvaryActions · 29/05/2022 13:23

What's with the snide and rude responses @pixie5121 ?

It's not about expecting everywhere to be British (who even said that Confused) but that travel agencies usually do mean breakfast and evening meal when referring to HB. A lot of these hotels in touristy places will be catering to many nationalities (Brit, Irish, German, French etc) and are not necessarily going to be in keeping with local traditions but a more bland catch all situation to keep many people happy.

If OP has never come across HB including lunch then it's not unreasonable for her to be surprised...it's not rocket science.

SundayTeatime · 29/05/2022 13:27

I think it might make a difference depending on the sort of online travel agent. If it’s the sort where you are just buying the hotel room , like trivago or lastminute, maybe adding on a flight, it would be different to going through a package holiday site, like Tui.

Meraas · 29/05/2022 13:29

I think checking that half board means breakfast and dinner is pretty standard before booking a holiday. Sorry OP!

pixie5121 · 29/05/2022 13:33

OvaryActions · 29/05/2022 13:23

What's with the snide and rude responses @pixie5121 ?

It's not about expecting everywhere to be British (who even said that Confused) but that travel agencies usually do mean breakfast and evening meal when referring to HB. A lot of these hotels in touristy places will be catering to many nationalities (Brit, Irish, German, French etc) and are not necessarily going to be in keeping with local traditions but a more bland catch all situation to keep many people happy.

If OP has never come across HB including lunch then it's not unreasonable for her to be surprised...it's not rocket science.

Because someone thought it was 'silly' that you'd ever assume half board meant anything but breakfast and dinner. It's not remotely silly. I would never assume and would always check.

If the hotel caters to lots of Mediterranean guests, then having lunch instead of dinner is far from a rip off. At the hotel I stayed at a few weeks back, lunch was a fantastic a la carte meal, three courses and as much booze as you wanted. Dinner was a mediocre buffet setup and you had to pay separately for wine if not AI. I was AI but if I'd been half board, I would have felt very ripped off by having dinner included rather than lunch.

I just think it's wild to blame the travel agent, as if OP had no agency to check.

pixie5121 · 29/05/2022 13:37

AchatAVendre · 29/05/2022 13:22

However, this popular online travel agent will be perfectly aware that they are targetting a UK market and so I think they have been misleading. Their customer base would appear to be UK based and they will know perfectly well that people would assume half board to mean breakfast and dinner. It takes one line to explain that they don't mean that.

And I grew up in another European country too. And lunch is not the main meal of the day there either. I wouldn't be particularly impressed with half board meaning breakfast and a small selection of meat, cheeses, a jam, peanut butter and some bread!

And by the way, lunch can actually be the main meal of the day in some parts of Britain, at some times of the week or in some farming and fishing communities. Not everywhere is as uniform as you imagine.

Show quote history

They are an online travel agent, not one on a British high street. They cater to all sorts of nationalities. The info on board type is available. OP didn't bother to check and just made an assumption and now somehow the OTA is being 'sneaky'? It's just not true that half board is always dinner. It depends. And this has been the case for years. I remember getting lunch for half board in Fuerteventura in about 2006.

If I'd done this, I'd think I'd fucked up and should have checked. Not sure why it's always someone else's fault.

MintyGreenDream · 29/05/2022 13:37

Just ask the hotel.DF is on holiday now and has swapped over on hb from lunch to evening meal no problem.

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