To feel this is a bit sneeky of the travel agent

[mayaknew]

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.

So what is the actual name of the hotel you are staying at? Maybe someone on here can help if you tell us the exact name?

I've booked half board 4-5 times and every time it's been breakfast and dinner, not lunch. I wouldn't even be hungry for lunch after the hotel breakfast tbh, we usually end up having a snack type meal at some point in the middle of the day.

I like the idea of being able to choose which meals, as a few have said here.

Even TUI?…

I’ve already posted but would also add that…….it may be a mistake. I worked in travel and the system we used for creating web content wasn’t idiot proof - it would be quite easy for me to click the wrong tab when getting to the meals section. Have you looked at Tripadvisor? Are there other previous customers mentioning the same thing?

Any “half board” I’ve ever had was breakfast and dinner. Because when you are on holiday you’d probably want to go off somewhere for the day. This is nothing short of terrorism by mealtimes. It’s absolutely outrageous

Never heard of half board being lunch before.

Never known it to be other than breakfast and dinner.

What did they say OP?

No reply yet 🙄

@mayaknew which hotel is it ?
Have you contacted the hotel directly?

Las pAlmeras

They are part of Fergus hotels. I've contacted them via email so also tweeted them still no reply

From their website, their food is all buffet-based, so it's hard to see why they'd object to dinner rather than lunch.

Interestingly on Booking.com, half board means evening meal.

But on expedia, the main listing doesn't say, but you have option of half board or full board, where the price differential between half board and full board is more than between breakfast and half board, so they're charging a lot more for the second main meal of the day, which suggests the half board in lunch (cheaper) and full board upgrades you to evening meal (more expensive as expected). So the clues are there, before you go searching for the small print.

The French listing for Full Board on Facebook says it includes all drinks though, so might be more aligned to AI than just the three meals? (Why yes, I AM in a boring meeting right now.)

Any time I have gone half board it is always Breakfast and Dinner. Normally we would ask to do Breakfast and Lunch and that never seemed to be a problem.

Speak to the travel agent.

Ok so I checked on hotel website and there are no details but on Booking.com if you want to add lunch or dinner they are each priced the same at 13 euros suggesting it shouldn't be a problem to swap, hopefully the hotel or travel agent will come back and confirm to you

I've never known it to be lunch. It's very rare.
As an aside, you may be able to request a picnic breakfast or lunch on days you're not eating in the hotel at all. We do this with all inclusive sometimes.

Trip Advisor seems to think half board is breakfast & dinner.

But also that you might be grateful to eat out anyway! Although with buffet food reviews, you never know if the reviewer wanted more English or more Spanish or, in the case of the truly awful AI we went to in March, just a cook who knows that pate filled Vols Au Vent aren't a thing for anyone!

It's the travel agent/booking website that OP needs to contact. They'll have a contract with the hotel, and different agents/websites will have different deals, i.e. as I said above, Booking.com show it as evening meal, whereas Expedia suggests it's lunch (without checking the small print). The hotels will be doing deals with the big agents/platforms and will provide what's been agreed with the agent, not just meal plans, but also things like room quality, view, balcony, amenities etc. You don't get the same "deal" from all the platforms - they differentiate in order to make direct comparisons harder, i.e. offer a cheaper price for a cheaper room/amenities to compete with other platforms.

@Badbadbunny but hotel may genuinely not care which meal the guests take for their HB regardless of which tour operator they are with.

I agree it's a bit cheeky, and even seems a money saving attempt since (for me anyway) if I have a bit breakfast I only want a small lunch, then something bigger later. Breakfast plus lunch has to be cheaper for the hotel than breakfast plus dinner, but it's not what half board means.

Never had half board mean breakfast and lunch !

I agree. Its not even about the main meal of the day....its the fact that if its lunch...then your day is totally stuffed as you wont be able to go on any excursions and actually get your meal....you will be limited to hanging around till after lunch. Lack of culture????? hmmmm...there is an answer to finding this a cultural desert and being driven mad by it......

I have a full board trip coming was considering half board when booking. I noticed you could chose between breakfast and lunch or breakfast and dinner.