Nightmare experiences for Irish holidaymakers as Love Holidays’ travel partner goes bust

After major tour operator FTI Group files for insolvency, disgruntled Irish customers took to Irish radio to share their troubling experiences with the travel agency Love Holidays.

The conversation between Tara Hogan and David Phelan with Joe Duffy on RTÉ Radio 1’s Liveline heard several issues, including unnotified flight changes and unnotified booking cancellations due to German travel company FTI Group’s file for insolvency.

Irish woman, Tara Hogan, explained that her flight delay, initially seen as an inconvenience, turned into a blessing when her friend, who had flown ahead, discovered their hotel had not received payment due to the insolvency of FTI Group. Ms Hogan stated that Love Holidays failed to notify them of the issue.

“We would have arrived at the hotel at two in the morning with nowhere to stay,” she said. Fortunately, due to the flight delay, Ms Hogan’s father was able to arrange another accommodation for the holidaymakers on short notice. Despite paying over €1,300 to Love Holidays, Ms Hogan said she received no assistance or communication from the company on the issue.

Another Irish man, David Phelan said he and his family were supposed to fly from Cork Airport to Gran Canaria, but upon arrival at the airport, they discovered their flight had left the previous day.

Mr Phelan stated that all his travel documentation indicated the flight was scheduled for that day, and that despite booking and paying for the holiday months in advance, the flight change, which had been notified to a seperate email address created by Love Holidays, was never communicated to him.

“We arrived at the airport, only to find out our flight had left the day before. It was devastating, especially as this was our first family holiday,” Mr Phelan shared. He added that the cost to rebook the entire trip out of his own pocket, added over €2,500 to his total expenses.

Love Holidays attributed the issues to their third-party suppliers. They stated that FTI, the company involved in the bookings, had gone insolvent, affecting less than 3% of their customers in Ireland.

A statement from Love Holidays said: “Earlier this week the FTI Group, one of Europe’s largest tour operators and the parent company of 2 of our suppliers, Youtravel and Meeting Point, filed for insolvency.

“This means that a very small portion of our customers’ accommodation arrangements will be affected. However, we’re working hard to honour these bookings with other suppliers to minimise disruption to any holidays.

“If you’re travelling with us soon and your accommodation was booked through Youtravel, please don’t worry. Our team is working on reinstating these bookings so you can travel as normal.”

A statement from FTI Group said: “We are currently working hard to ensure that trips that have already started can be completed as planned. Trips that have not yet begun will probably no longer be possible or only partially possible from Tuesday, 4 June 2024.

“In cooperation with the (provisional) insolvency administrator yet to be appointed, a concept for the ongoing information of affected travelers and the operational implementation of the necessary measures will be developed in the coming days.”