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British Mensa Travel Special Interest Group |
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for cash by Barry Needoff When is £100 not £100? Answer: When it's a holiday discount voucher. A voucher purporting to offer £100 off my next holiday arrived in the post a while ago. Wow... .free money, I thought, until I looked a little closer at the small (and very faint) small print. It would have been nice to reproduce the voucher here, but light blue 5-point type doesn't photocopy at all well, and I thought it might be wiser to conceal names to protect the innocent. Here are the attached 'strings', in larger, darker print. Only for use "in part payment of holidays featured in ABTA tour operators' brochures...Package tours and cruises only; no independent travel [by air, ferry, hire-car, rail...].. when booked with [the named [ABTA bonded] travel agency]". You can't take it into your preferred travel agency to book with them. Only for use by a minimum of two people travelling together.. .for a minimum of 7 days. No singles... .[and so it's only really a maximum of £50 per person]...and no short breaks. "Valid for travel up to 31.12.97". Mensans should be able to work this one out. "All holidays must be booked with [named agency] through which appropriate travel and cancellation insurance must be purchased at the time of booking." This is how your £100 'offer' is paid for. You have to buy their insurance (not priced on the voucher) on which they are certain to make, shall we say, a comfortable commission. "The value of the voucher will be deducted from your final invoice." You can't use it for your deposit, so it doesn't hurt their cash flow too much. "It cannot be used in part payment of your deposit or insurance." Surprise, surprise... "The voucher cannot be used in conjunction with any other promotional offer" Whether by the (named) travel agency or, presumably, by the tour operator. "The value of this Voucher is not covered by the ABTA Financial Protection Scheme." (In fairness, this was printed a bit bolder). If the (named) travel agency closes down, you've lost your '£l00'. The ABTA scheme is a kind of indemnity for your money if the agency you are dealing with fails - this '£100', isn't, therefore, your money! Caveat emptor! First published in VISA issue 24 (spring 1997) |