Budget Travel Gone Bust

friday1

Does anyone know if you can get your money back?

January

Ireland’s largest tour operator Budget Travel will cease trading from this evening with the loss of 172 jobs and the closure of the company’s 17 retail shops, it has been announced.

The firm applied to the High Court to have the company placed into provisional liquidation and for the appointment of Simon Coyle of Mazars as provisional liquidator this afternoon.

Senior executives of the company and the liquidator will meet with the Commission for Aviation Regulation this evening with a view to making arrangements to cater for holidaymakers who are currently abroad and for holidaymakers who had been scheduled to depart in the coming days and weeks.

The company says that it has already drawn up contingency plans and will work constructively with the Commission to minimise the disruption caused to holidaymakers.

The company currently has a bond of €11.4m in cash lodged with the Commission which will be used to assist holidaymakers abroad and refund any deposits or bookings made with the company which can not now be honoured.

The management of that process and the payment of refunds etc is at the discretion and control of the Commission which will have the total assistance of the liquidator in the processing of claims.

A helpline (01-6613122) has been established at Budget Travel to deal with queries from customers .

Budget Travel managing director Eileen O’Sullivan today expressed her deep regret and sadness at the decision to place the company into provisional liquidation.

"This has been a painful and distressing time for us all and we deeply regret that this situation has arisen," she said.

"We particularly regret the impact of the decision on our loyal customers and on our colleagues across the company many of whom have worked with us for decades. We will do everything we can to minimise the impact of this decision especially on those who are currently travelling with us."

Ms. O’Sullivan said that the dispute with the Commission for Aviation Regulation regarding the granting of licences for the coming year had brought financial challenges to a head.

"The travel industry in Ireland is facing massive pressure from a sharp and sudden collapse in demand this year," said O’Sullivan.

"We understand that the Commission has a job to do but we sincerely believe that had our licences been renewed as expected we would have been able to apply to the courts for protection under the Examinership procedures during which we could have restructured our business to take account of the market collapse.

"Not only that but we would have benefitted from the fact that the bond necessary to secure the licences going forward would have been approximately 40% smaller than the €11.4m bond currently with the Commission.

"The difference refunded to the company would have helped it to tackle its financial challenges."

Budget Travel began a restructuring process in August of this year when it announced the closure of 14 of its retail outlets and the loss of approximately 95 jobs.

While that addressed some of the financial challenges the company was facing, it has not been sufficient to prevent the financial challenge escalating, the company has stated.

Read more: http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/budget-travel-to-cease-trading-this-evening-435752.html#ixzz0Xsw2vAe1

From Here..

Cabaal

There website looks like its still taking bookings, they might want to update it

Oryx

Budget are also being discussed in the travel and holidays forum.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=63187150#post63187150

messrs

not sure if this in right forum - please feel free to move.

Budget Travel, the largest tour operator in the State, is to be wound up after the High Court this afternoon appointed a provisional liquidator to the compnay.
A total of 747 people are currently on holiday abroad with Budget Travel.
The company says it is working closely with the Commission for Aviation Regulation to ensure plans are put in place to enable all customers to return to Ireland with the minimum of inconvenience.
For people who have booked holidays with Budget Travel, the company says it may be possible to arrange the same, or a similar holiday package with an alternative company.

Other customers will receive a full refund in due course from the Commission for Aviation Regulation.
The company was established in May 1975 and has a 30% share of the market. It has 17 outlets and employs 172 people.
Budget Travel began a restructuring process in August of this year when it closed 14 of its retail outlets and the loss of approximately 95 jobs.
A helpline has been established at Budget Travel to deal with queries from customers. The number is 01-6613122.

January

Thread just below for this...

therewillbe

Thanks to the Internet& pcs and the recession another fine Irish ! company has gone. Sad day.Thanks for all the great Holidays over the years.

dudara

If anyone is affected by this, please contact Budget Travel on the helpline number provided 01-6613122.

They have a large bond lodged with the Commission for Aviation Regulation for this exact purpose.

mcaul

therewillbe wrote: »

Thanks to the Internet& pcs and the recession another fine Irish ! company has gone. Sad day.Thanks for all the great Holidays over the years.

Its a long time since it was an Irish company. Gillian Bowler sold out to Granada,(UK) who then sold it to Tui travel (German & world's biggest) who in turn sold it to Primera Travel group. (Swedish)

Though i will say that whenever i dealt with them, the staff were particularly good.

The good news is, thanks to the bonding system, no member of the public will be at a loss.

vincenzo1975

we have a holiday in madeira booked with 540 euro paid off, will need to get onto this number tomorrow.
The budget paperwork has PRIMERA TRAVEL GROUP at the bottom, have they gone or is it just the budget travel section.

Cynical me

mcaul wrote: »

Its a long time since it was an Irish company. Gillian Bowler sold out to Granada,(UK) who then sold it to Tui travel (German & world's biggest) who in turn sold it to Primera Travel group. (Swedish)

Though i will say that whenever i dealt with them, the staff were particularly good.

The good news is, thanks to the bonding system, no member of the public will be at a loss.

Who cares about Budget! they are a ripp off anyway:pac:

Run_to_da_hills

Cynical me wrote: »

Who cares about Budget! they are a ripp off anyway:pac:

Awld ones and the computer illiterate cared about them.

I saw two that looked to be in their 70ies outside the Budget office in Dunlaoghaire SC today. They wer due to fly out in December If they booked by credit card they might even be able to claim travel insurance on top of all this.

Max Power1

Cynical me wrote: »

Who cares about Budget! they are a ripp off anyway:pac:

Thats exactly why they went bust! Too many people could book their own holidays online cheaper than budget travel

vincenzo1975

Max Power1 wrote: »

Thats exactly why they went bust! Too many people could book their own holidays online cheaper than budget travel

thought it had something to do with that thing called the recession meself.

If your looking for a nice hotel with 4-5 star facilities, its very hard to beat the travel agent prices. If your looking for any old kip with a ryanair crappo flight, you will probably save a few bob.

vincenzo1975

oh yeah, is it possible to get a list of fully bonded travel agents anywhere, how do we know if the travel agent is legit? do we just have to take their word for it?

UPDATE*** CLAIM FORM CAN BE DOWNLOADED HERE!!

http://www.aviationreg.ie/Albemarie_Ltd_TA_Tony_Bond_Travel_has_ceased_trading_with_effect_from_25_September_2009/Default.442.html

Tippex

vincenzo1975 wrote: »

oh yeah, is it possible to get a list of fully bonded travel agents anywhere, how do we know if the travel agent is legit? do we just have to take their word for it?

UPDATE*** CLAIM FORM CAN BE DOWNLOADED HERE!!

http://www.aviationreg.ie/Albemarie_Ltd_TA_Tony_Bond_Travel_has_ceased_trading_with_effect_from_25_September_2009/Default.442.html

Yep you can its on the right hand side of the homepage of the site you were on under the heading of "Licensing Status of Travel Agents and Tour Operators" http://www.aviationreg.ie/Licence_holders/Default.154.html

MOH

vincenzo1975 wrote: »

If your looking for a nice hotel with 4-5 star facilities, its very hard to beat the travel agent prices. If your looking for any old kip with a ryanair crappo flight, you will probably save a few bob.

I've booked stays in 4 and 5 star hotels a lot cheaper and more flexible than I could get from a TA.

sneakerfreak

Can the two or three absolute arsewipes saying "who cares" please fúck off out of this thread.

I have just a week ago handed €2400 over to Budget for a trip to the Pacific Islands,I am self employed and the trip was work orientated,I now seem like I have let down the business associates I was going to visit.

I used a Travel Agents for the first time in my life as its quite difficult to get all the way to Vanuatu in the Pacific.My own efforts were €500 cheaper than Budgets but involved at one point a 17hour stopover.I was happy to pay Budget for the simpler flight itinerary.

Dublin-London-Singapore-Sydney-Port Vila is not easy to organise on your own.

Also a couple I know in Bray had just booked their honeymoon 2 days ago with Budget,what they handed over was not far off 6 digits.

Keep your smug "who cares" bullshít to yourselves ye fúckin thicks.

thebiglad

sneakerfreak wrote: »

Can the two or three absolute arsewipes saying "who cares" please fúck off out of this thread.

I have just a week ago handed €2400 over to Budget for a trip to the Pacific Islands,I am self employed and the trip was work orientated,I now seem like I have let down the business associates I was going to visit.

I used a Travel Agents for the first time in my life as its quite difficult to get all the way to Vanuatu in the Pacific.My own efforts were €500 cheaper than Budgets but involved at one point a 17hour stopover.I was happy to pay Budget for the simpler flight itinerary.

Dublin-London-Singapore-Sydney-Port Vila is not easy to organise on your own.

Also a couple I know in Bray had just booked their honeymoon 2 days ago with Budget,what they handed over was not far off 6 digits.

Keep your smug "who cares" bullshít to yourselves ye fúckin thicks.

Well put and at least people will get money back on this one (look at threads from earlier in year re Jim Langan's etc).

I am sure people will be bitterly dissapointed, I am off on hols Saturday to Hong Kong and booked all direct with airlines/hotels etc last April (did not trust travel agents to look after my holiday for 8 months) - I cannot imagine how it must feel with 2-3 days to go to be told holiday is cancelled and now must wait for refund to book again (even leaving aside if you have money to rebook that rebooking this late will cost significantly more).

Yes, so those people who think this is amusing - take it somewhere else.

MissFlitworth

sneakerfreak wrote: »

Also a couple I know in Bray had just booked their honeymoon 2 days ago with Budget,what they handed over was not far off 6 digits.

6 digits?! Were they going to the centre of the earth or something? Just under €100,000 must have paid for quite the holiday

dudara

Posters, please stop detracting from the topic at hand. The merits of travel agents vs self-booking is not the point here.

dudara

sneakerfreak

MissFlitworth wrote: »

6 digits?! Were they going to the centre of the earth or something? Just under €100,000 must have paid for quite the holiday

lol sorry I meant 5 digits

watna

sneakerfreak wrote: »

Can the two or three absolute arsewipes saying "who cares" please fúck off out of this thread.

I have just a week ago handed €2400 over to Budget for a trip to the Pacific Islands,I am self employed and the trip was work orientated,I now seem like I have let down the business associates I was going to visit.

I used a Travel Agents for the first time in my life as its quite difficult to get all the way to Vanuatu in the Pacific.My own efforts were €500 cheaper than Budgets but involved at one point a 17hour stopover.I was happy to pay Budget for the simpler flight itinerary.

Dublin-London-Singapore-Sydney-Port Vila is not easy to organise on your own.

Also a couple I know in Bray had just booked their honeymoon 2 days ago with Budget,what they handed over was not far off 6 digits.

Keep your smug "who cares" bullshít to yourselves ye fúckin thicks.

off-topic I went to Port Vila last February. It was a lovely holiday.

There would be easier ways to go then the flights you've listed above e.g. Etihad to sydney goes via abu dhabi with no stop in London. It's pretty direct and easy to book yourself onmline. Pacific Blue go to Vanuatu - I'm pretty sure. You can book that online too. So you could go Dublin to Sydney, via Abu Dhabi and then book yourself a flight to Port Vila.

on-topic - I really liked budget travel. I got some really good last minute deals with them to a few places around Europe that were realy quite cheap. Always foud them easy to deal with too. I may not be living in Ireland again. I'm really pleased that they have a bond and nobody will be out of topic. Some members of my family have winter sun holidays booked so it's great for customers. Sad to see them go though. The less competition amongst company like that the worse off we'll all be, especially those who cannot or do not want to book online.