BAECAddict

I'm just trying to reconstruct a BA Holidays itinerary that I had to cancel for this Easter just gone and instead (fingers crossed) go next Easter. A couple of the hotels I had booked through BA Holidays last time have availability when booking direct, but are not showing on any searches on ba.com.

I wonder if anyone has had any experience of ringing up and seeing if BA Holidays can find availability even though it's not showing on the website? Obviously I could just ring up and ask, but don't want to waste call centre staff time at the moment or indeed sit on hold for ages just to be told no.

Any thoughts gratefully received!

fruitcage

I think your chances of success are low. I have been told no in the past when requesting hotels that didn’t show on the web site.

However best of luck and let us know if you succeed.

Keiran Newberry

I've also found in recent days they offer different rates for Holiday (hotel + flights) and hotel only bookings. I changed hotels with then for my NY trip next March, and the hotel I moved to didn't have the resort fee included in the rate. If I'd booked hotel only, it would have

flatlander

How far ahead did you book last time? If it was a few months, then the hotels may only be loading availability into the booking system BA is using that few months ahead of time and not a year ahead.

Even if you saw availability a year ahead last time, the hotel may not have loaded availability now. Many hotels are running with very few staff so loading availability may not have happened, and are being very cautious about accepting future reservations.

You could try calling the hotel and ask if they're accepting reservations for next easter (don't mention BA - just say something about having to cancel your holiday this easter and wondering if they are taking bookings for next easter). If they say no, then BA are very unlikely to be able to book you in. If the hotel says yes, then you can try calling BA to see if you can stay in the same hotel. BA might still say no, but at least you know it's possible to book that hotel by one means or another.

T8191

Never tried an unlisted Hotel, but BA Hols did manage to book us into the superior (DYKWIA) accommodation that wasn’t listed. A. couple of phone calls and emails with Laura at the Newcastle Call Cemtre, and all was sorted. UVF in 2016, BTW.

1Aturnleft

A lot will depend on whether the 'off menu' property is part of a larger chain or has sister properties. When I used to work for a luxury tour operator, we'd have the properties that appeared in the brochure /website that paid to be there but quite often, there'd be sister properties that weren't featured in the contract, website or brochure that we could sell if customers asked for it.

I've noticed on BA.com that One&Only resorts can only be purchased as part of a flight inclusive package but you can't book them as accommodation only components. Presumably the contracting dictates the accommodation needs to be packaged with a flight in order to use the prices BAH has negotiated. So fine if you're using BA revenue flights but a no-go if you're wanting to book in association with an Avios redemption.

It could also be the property you're wanting to book will appear in due course. That the contracting hasn't yet been finalised to cover the dates for which you want to travel. From memory, Caribbean contracts for the following year would generally begin to filter through after Easter. So I'd definitely check to see if it appears on sale for this year and pose the question to BAH when the rates will be finalized for next year. There's every chance they'll allow you to secure 2021 rates at 2020 prices if you happened to ask them the question.

travelhappypair

We called BA holidays to see if we could book a holiday including a hotel not listed on their webpage for Bologna and they did it without any difficulty. This was in September 2018 so maybe things have changed particularly with the current situation.

orbitmic

I don't think anything has changed.

Short answer: call them and ask and it may or may not be possible.

Long answer: it just depends on the hotel and room that you are after. BA Holidays are not a travel agent (who could just arrange anything and take a cut) but more like a travel broker (who get access and rates and resell it).Not everything always shows on the website, so at times, they have access to hotels or rooms which may not show. In some cases, their access to rooms is offered directly by the hotel which may then offer other rooms than those shown. Other times, they get them through their travel providers who will only have access to certain types of rooms but may have other hotels in store (in all likelihood what happened in the Bologna example mentioned above). If you want a hotel for which they do not have rates then, or which is no longer used either directly or by the current providers that BA Holidays use, then this just won't work.

ScienceTeacher

I have had a hostel (yes; hostel!) added to a holiday booking that isn’t on the website before. In fact, for a booking (now cancelled) in Los Angeles for July. It couldn’t be priced immediately, and they phoned back within the hour if memory serves me right!

erik123

FYI - I understand in the EU (UK?) all bookings need to be all-in and include resort fees. They can't be charged at the hotel separately.

CarolynUK

It could be that the hotels themselves are closed to bookings at the moment

im looking at a BA Holiday to Porto in the autumn, and the hotel I usually stay in isn't coming up on the listing...... checked their own website and they are closed indefinitely and not open for bookings - even 6 months ahead

and yes it is normally in the listings - it's the Yeatman Hotel

UKtravelbear

The displayed price needs to include all (compulsory) fees and taxes etc but that does not mean the fee can't be collected separatly by the hotel at the end of the stay.

I've seen expedia use language similar to "the booking is £123 of which £23 is payable locally"

I saw similar language doing holiday searches on BA that the price is X but Y part of it is payable directly to the hotel.

Keiran Newberry

It doesn't come across that way at all - it gives the headline price, ie, the price I pay BA and then tells you in the small print the resort fee + tax is payable to the hotel on arrival. It also had some hotels for sale that had special mention of said fee being included.