To ask if there are any cons to booking with on the beach / love holidays?

[Springandsummerarecoming]

I see you have to add transfers and suitcases onto the cost but are there any other cons? The holidays seem so cheap.

Both are not ABTA protected should anything go wrong.

I was booking a holiday recently and was going to book with OTB but read so many bad reviews about them, things like changing flights and hotels (lower star) last minute, not sending tickets and closing the phone lines to people so they cant get through and read one who said they didnt take the last scheduled payment from her bank and then cancelled her holiday on her. Just have a look at the reviews.
Cant comment on live holidays though.
We opted for jet2 instead who have eveything included in their price and are ABTA protected

Oh right. I saw they were ATOL protected. Do you need both? I will go and google.

I’ve used OTB for years to fly to Portugal and have never ever had an issue whether I’ve booked in full or paid it up, I’ve booked yesterday with them again I find them the best priced and super easy to navigate and convenient to my needs and I believe are atol protected

I go with on the beach every time. Never had any problems. Recently went to Tenerife for a week, £210, self catering. Super holiday. Have booked for September with them, too. 5 days, £330.

I go with on the beach every time. Never had any problems. Recently went to Tenerife for a week, £210, self catering. Super holiday. Have booked for September with them, too. 5 days, £330.

Ps if your only flying it’s only atol protected you need as abta protected is more boats trains etc so similar thing but dependent on your type of holiday

I've used on the beach many times, never has any issues and the site itself is so easy to use.

It sounds fab. Who do they use to fly with? Does it depend where you’re going? I’m worried about east jet cancelling loads of flights and having upset and disappointed children.

@hamdden12 love holidays is.

@Springandsummerarecoming , on the beach use easyjet and ryanair. The flight times are not brilliant ( 5.30pm my last one and coming home 7.30pm) ; although I do believe some people like later flights. I don't especially but when you look to change flights, you either can't get a morning one or earlier flights, say lunchtime, are £150 each approximately, which defeats the object of a cheap holiday.

We've used love holidays a few times and have had amazing holidays through them inc Mexico for less that £1800 for two adults in a five star all inclusive resort for 7 days.

They were fantastic when we had a problem on another holiday (a TUI package deal booked via love holidays) and stepped in to help resolve the issue with TUI for us and even managed to get us a refund for some of our holiday cost.

I've used OTB beach once. The search engine is very good at seeking out what is available, but I didn't like how it can take them 24 hours to book your flights (what if it sells out or the price increases?).

It also adds a layer of complication which is likely to cause difficulties if the flight is cancelled, I'd rather have a direct relationship with the airline. I think they just book with whatever scheduled/budget airline flies on the route you're asking for.

Friend has used them a lot and she likes how you can pay in instalments over time, but we never book far in advance to benefit from that and I'd rather pay on a credit card for the extra protection, plus I'd just transfer the balance to a 0% offer if I needed to spread the cost.

There was a small discount on the flight + hotel package compared with booking separately, but I don't think I'd bother again.

I suppose it depends what you are looking for and what is available as to whether they beat other operators on price.

I've just entered the dates for the holiday we booked the other day with jet2holidays and OTB aren't offering anywhere near the same price, it's quite a bit more.

Tui seem to be offering some big discounts, but I'm not sure I'd want to book with them given all the stories about large numbers of cancellations.

I’ve booked with both before and had lovely and reasonably priced holidays.

I've used OTB several times and have never had any issues.

You can never get through to customer services it's dire

I hope they are Ok. We are going to crete in august for £430 pp which i thought was amazing

I always used on the beach. Never had an issue. Not even when they cancelled my holiday during pandemic.

I've also used jet2 but I understand like Tui they are currently having issues.

On the Beach really looked after me during the 2010 Icelandic volcano eruption. I got put up in the Hilton all inclusive for an extra 4 days until I could get a flight home.

I’ve used Love Holidays a few times. Never had a problem at all. Lovely accommodation and transfers on time etc. never used OTB.

I was put off them both over covid though when the y both stopped being ABTA regulated as they didn’t want to refund people.

Ive also used OTB a few times with no problems whatsoever...just got back from a week in Portugal...fab holiday and very reasonable cost.

I had my OTB holiday cancelled a couple of times and they were brilliant at finding me an alternative hotel last minute, so I had a very positive experience with them

If they are atol protected shouldn’t they still have refunded? Seems wrong. I am tempted by the cheaper prices but wondering if it’s worth spending a bit more this year. I guess either way we’re going to be crossing our fingers and hoping for the best.

Search love holidays on Facebook. Their care through covid was awful. They cancelled one flight so agreed my package was cancelled and I needed a refund. I was lucky and had paid on visa so after waiting six weeks I did a charge back and got full refund on visa within days. Thanks dad for that advise! Friend didn't and took 20 months to get refund. I believe in the beach were better - I used them for years and they were fine. First and last time using love holidays