22/04/2026
Yesterday was a perfect example of what happens behind the scenes in travel and why headlines never tell the full story.
A customer of mine booked their holiday around four months ago, before the recent fuel price rises started making headlines.
It was a tailor-made package, and like many tailor-made bookings, they had secured it with a low deposit, that is common practice.
What many people do not realise is that with some tailor-made holidays, suppliers may hold the flight fare rather than issue the tickets straight away. This helps customers because once flights are ticketed, they often become more restrictive or non-refundable so this allows the low deposits you need to secure your booking.
So in simple terms:
• The flight price was being held
• The customer could pay the rest later
• Tickets had not yet been issued, when they do get issued the full payment of holiday is paid by this point.
However, holding the fare does not always protect against every future airline charge in particular the tax element of a booking, a flight is split into two parts, the fare and the tax, the supplier is holding the fare element not the taxes, these are only locked in when full payment is made in most circumstances.
Today I was contacted urgently because the airline was increasing part of the ticket cost from tomorrow morning, a surcharge element of the tax linked to rising operating costs, something we are seeing more of as fuel prices rise. It was never confirmed to me it was due to fuel however it was just FYI.
That meant there were two choices:
1. Leave everything as it was and risk the increase being added tomorrow
2. Bring forward part of the balance, ticket the flights today, and lock in the current cost
After getting clarity on all the details and explaining the options properly, being on hold, liaising with our commercial team, our business development team and the supplier, I gathered the facts, not the hearsay and was able to professionally deliver the options, the customer chose to pay the flight element now so the tickets could be issued before the change.
Problem avoided.
What is also worth knowing is that this is not unique to one supplier. Many major tour operators include clauses in their booking terms that allow certain increases to be passed on where airline charges, taxes, fuel costs or exchange rates change.
Travel pricing can be more complex behind the scenes than many people realise.
But it really made me think...
How many people booked through cheap online booking sites are in the same position today and do not even know it yet? We're they don't have a dedicated travel agent and are just a ticket number in a computer?
How many will only find out once the increase has already happened, when there is no one proactively checking, calling, explaining or acting quickly on their behalf?
Cheap is not always cheap.
This customer did not pay extra for my service, in fact, I price matched the booking for him at the time.
What he got was experience, someone watching over the booking, someone who understood what was happening, and someone ready to act when it mattered.
That is why travel agents still exist.
And why experience will always matter.
