The bankruptcy of the third-largest European travel operator FTI has taken many people by surprise: holiday plans that had been made over months have suddenly been thrown into disarray. And all those who are already abroad are also reporting chaotic scenes on the ground.
After the FTI bankruptcy became known, some hotels are now asking their customers to pay again – illegally.
A couple from Rhineland-Palatinate has now reported this to “Bild”: Both are stuck in Egypt and the hotel is not being paid for the ongoing stays of the travelers who booked with FTI.
“The hotel manager denied us and about 80 other hotel guests access to all of the hotel restaurants. The doors were locked and then all of the holidaymakers were called to the lobby,” the holidaymaker is quoted as saying. The hotel gave the travelers an ultimatum: pay double or leave the hotel without their suitcases – they would be kept as a deposit. The (repeated) price per night: 80 euros.
From that point on, the affected hotel guests no longer received any food or drink – even though the couple had paid for an all-inclusive holiday.
An FTI tour guide told them that they had no choice but to pay and that the money would be reimbursed later by the German Travel Insurance Fund (DRSF). The couple paid and their return flight was now secured.
Legally, FTI travelers on site are protected by the DRSF. A spokesperson for “Holidaycheck” explained that, legally speaking, hotels are not allowed to demand the money from travelers.
This means that travelers should show the official DRSF cost-assurance declaration to the hotel; payments directly to the hotel are not recommended. If the hotel does not accept the form, you should stay calm and insist on clarifying the matter with management. Travelers should only pay the requested amount in an emergency – it is important to ask for an invoice.
Von Martin Gätke (mg)
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The original of this article “Next FTI horror: Hotel gives German couple in Egypt a perfidious ultimatum” comes from Express.de.
