Hi Rich ... the company seems to have been mentioned in numerous forums and topics. You will be able to retrieve all previous discussion via the Search facility, using keyword(s) Freedom Direct or FreedomDirect.

For just one of those topics in our DIY Holidays forum, please click here.

David

Hi, came back Wednesday from a Freedom Direct holiday - it was spot on - definatley wouldnt hesitate to use them again

Thanks, just booked the holiday with them

We booked accom only with them to Majorca last December and all went well and i would definetly use them again.

Can anyone give me any feed back on Freedom Direct. We have booked flights and 2 Apartments at the Adler in September - has anyone used them bofore

We used them last year for hotel only and all went well,no problems at all.

i used them to book my hotel in marrakech this year and all went fine

Thanks for the feedback - much appreciated.

My son and his friends have used freedom direct for the last 3years without any problems and always got good prices for their holidays. Jacqui

Thanks Jacqui. It is good to have feedback from people who have used a company

I used them to go to Sunny beach in September for flights and hotel, no problems at all
fiona

regarding this Newcastle based company...they have went into administration today !!! more hassles for some of us.

Hi just wondering if anypnes knows if viking flight booked thru freedom direct is still ok ? mightmare flying in 6 weeks

we have booked through freedomdirect for holiday to turkey it was package holiday flights goldtrail hotel medisun and transfers do you think we are safe or lost holiday?

take a look at this announcement to find out you next step

wizard

since posting the link above things have moved on please read the rest of the topic

wiz

looks like your holiday will be lost but as an abta member your money should be safe

Freedom Direct fails

Online travel company Freedom Direct Holidays has ceased trading.

The firm, which had around 100 employees, had failed to renew its ATOL licence earlier this month.

The CAA estimates that 200 customers are currently abroad and there are around 9,000 to 10,000 more with pre-booked holidays.

It is estimated the total cost to the CAA's Air Travel Trust Fund will be around £2 million. The company's ATOL bond was for £750,000.

A CAA spokesman said it was too early to calculate the exact cost to the fund, but said the £2 million estimate was a "sensible one".

He said the case was complicated because the main part of Freedom's business was as a retail agent, not as a tour operator, so those retail customers will not be ATOL protected.

In addition, anyone who has booked in the last three weeks, since the company's ATOL expired, are also not covered.

The Newcastle-based business also traded as Freedom Direct, holidaysyoulike.co.uk, holidaysyoulike.com, hotsunholidays.co.uk, and snowdeals.co.uk.

On its websites today, it has posted a notice advising customers of the failure.

"We would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused to our customers and to thank the many people who have booked holidays with us over the last 12 years," said CEO Martin Jones.

Customers who have booked holidays are advised to submit a claim to the Civil Aviation Authority.

Customers requiring further assistance should contact CEGA, ABTA's claims handling partner, tel 01243 621500 or email ABTAClaims@cegagroup.com.

With permission from Travelmole

There's going to be about 100,000 disappointed people from what I've read. I'm half relieved it's my day off today.

It makes sense that they have gone, really.. from what I saw when people were calling us to ask for price beats against them they were working off a 3-5% profit margin. No sensible business can operate that way. They were using low cost airlines and not really charging any kind of booking fee and then using basically cost price bed banks. Many time I have told customers to be aware but in the search for the cheapest holiday they will go where they can save even 3 or 4 pounds in some cases.

The problem that the customers who have booked with FD will have now is that flights have increased in price quite a lot since they would have booked back in Jan/Feb meaning not only will they have to wait for their refund from Atol (if there is anything left after XL) plus it will cost more to replace their transport. Add onto that the fact acomm is also up in price and there is less available will increase their woes.

As much as you lot seem to hate the big boys it is becoming increasingly clear that in these uncertain times DIY and Dynamically packaged holidays are no longer for those who do not understand the risks that booking them carries.

I'm back into work tomorrow and all over the weekend, so I will be happy to help anyone who needs assistance and a point in the right direction regarding where they can get a reasonable replacement for their lost holiday.

I don't think XL going down the pan helped them much either.

XL being the owner of Freedom flights caused a lot of confusion I believe, with people thinking Freedom Direct were somehow linked with this XL subsidary.

Sad sign of the times we are in, they won't be the last!

Mark