Why do they do that?

The simple answer is that it is a scam.

And if Sunterra admit to knowing LCI Travel then they would be responsible for some of it. Sunterra can blame the agent and the agent can blame Sunterra. That way they can give the customer the runaround.

Is the holiday real?

Of course the holiday is real. They wouldn't dare con you with that one. You would soon be telling all your mates about that one and they don't want you doing that.

So first of all what is the holiday?

It is what is called in the trade a "fly-buy".

A fly-buy uses accommodation that would otherwise be vacant. You will be sent to some Sunterra accommodation somewhere, and whilst there you will be subject to another high pressure sell which you have to attend. Hidden away in the small print is a clause saying if you don't attend then you will be liable for the full cost of the holiday. The resort reps (salespeople) will be constantly at you first of all to attend and then to buy Sunterra points.

That is assuming you get the holiday. Don't imagine for example there is a chance of getting any holiday at peak periods. The accommodation is all used up then.

And of course there are some interesting side tricks. For example. Where would you like to fly from? Doncaster? err......nope.........Manchester? .........err nope.
Glasgow? You would like to fly from Glasgow - fine, plenty of flights from there.

Or the main place - which is Gatwick.

You of course think that this is your bad luck and maybe you aren't flexible enough. But after 18 months you have lost your free holiday.

There are other tricks to this one of course. Fantastic savings on luxury accommodation is part of it. Remember it would have been empty otherwise.

Flights? They are simple. Low cost flights to the Costa del Sol. Except of course you can't use those and they don't either. So your cheap holiday will work out as expensive if you had booked it yourself. Flights to the Canary Islands or Portugal? Nothing like as inexpensive as you could have got yourself from the internet. Anywhere else? There isn't anywhere else.

In the next blog we will have a good look at Sunterra - a company that people might

LCI Travel

Do you live in easy reach of Wakefield, Rotherham, or Nottingham?

Then there is a good chance you may get a telephone call from a company called LCI Travel offering you a cheap holiday. The cost is supposedly £34.50 each person to pay for a processing fee.

For this you will get a "Two flights, plus one week's luxury self-catering accommodation in either the Canary Islands, The Balearics, Portugal, or the Costa Del Sol, plus a free category A car hire for the duration of the holiday with unlimited mileage free insurance and free collision damage waiver".

Is there a catch? Well on the face of it how could there be?

Where do you wish to start?

Let's start with LCI Travel. Are they a travel company?

Well actually despite their claims - they aren't. They are a marketing company. A travel company sells holidays. LCI Travel don't sell holidays they sell Club Sunterra. That's all.

But they said they were ABTA and ATOL and IATA registered.

Well - and get used to this - they lie. It is easily checked.

Enter their name into the ABTA website.

You can even enter their "ABTA number" which they will tell you is S203X

Certainly it looks like an ABTA number. But it does not seem to be on the ABTA database. And their free holiday booking site does not mention an ABTA number.

Their ATOL number is a different kettle of fish.

Ask them for that and they will tell you it is 4160. That is indeed an ATOL number. It belongs to a firm called Canaryroute Ltd who are a branch of Sunterra.
So what is the connection between LCI Travel and Sunterra. Well as I said, they sell Club Sunterra - so nothing wrong with that.

Well actually there is. You see I asked ATOL what the connection was.

Here's what Sunterra told ATOL. (The "company" she is referring to is LCI Travel)

Having checked with Sunterra, this company is not an agent or in any way affiliated with them. We will be looking into this further.

Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention.

kind regards

Helen Creighton

ATOL Consumer Advice

Civil Aviation Authority

So here is a puzzle, LCI Travel only sells Club Sunterra and uses their ATOL number when asked for one - yet Sunterra tells the CAA that LCI Travel is not an agent or in anyway affiliated to them.

So why would they do that?

Answer in the next bulletin.