Goldtrail’s customers return home

The “vast majority” of Goldtrail customers who were on holiday when the tour operator collapsed should be back in the UK by Monday night, the Civil Aviation Authority has said.

Around 16,000 Britons were abroad when the Turkey and Greece specialist went into administration on Friday afternoon, while a further 2,000 were scheduled to fly from the UK at weekend.

As the school holiday season gets under way, it is estimated 50,000 people booked to travel with Goldtrail could be affected over the summer months.

A number of British travellers complained they were told to pay for their hotels even though they paid when they booked their holiday.

Guests at a Turkish hotel said they were asked to hand over their passports and told to pay £400 to get them back, according to reports.

Police were called to the Toros hotel in Altinkum and ordered the passports to be returned, The Sun reported.

Susan Thomas, 55, of south Wales, said: “It was awful, the guests had their passports held to ransom. They took them off them in the middle of the night then refused to give them back until they’d paid £400. We were pleading with them to return them but they would not budge.”

Samantha Cole, 23, and partner Paul Homer, 25 who were holidaying in Turkey with their one-year-old daughter Faith, were told to pay £110 in addition to the money they already paid Goldtrail for their stay at the Secret Garden apartments in Marmaris.

Ms Cole, of Middlesbrough, told the newspaper: “It’s ruined everything. Paul’s been laid off and we were just glad to have booked and paid for our holiday last winter. Now the hotel are demanding we pay another £110 for accommodation when we’ve paid it back home.”

The CAA advised customers who find themselves in that situation to contact its helpline because the Atol scheme protected them against paying again.

Source: Press Association