Thread: Mexico Exit Charges First Choice

We went to Mexico in November with First Choice Holidays afew days prior to our departure from the U.K we had a letter from them stating that we were responsible for paying our own departure tax. A quick visit to the first choice website told a different story and clearly stated that departure tax was part of the cost of the holiday we then checked this information the day before departure from the U.K and also on our return after the holiday and the information remained that this fee was part of the holiday cost.
We wrote to first choice and asked for a refund of these charges stating our case and including printed off copies of their own web pages to be met with refusal. A second stronger letter to them has not altered their stance.
It is our belief that many people who travelled to this region with First Choice were affected by this charge and would ask for advice how to proceed with getting a refund from them.

We booked through a travel agent but the information for departure tax was stated on First Choice own website as paid for. This information was the most up to date which was available within the public domain and as i understand this was the information which should be relied on.

HI
i have just done a first choice booking and printed out the errata LMAA
reads as follows
for uk dept on or after 1 nov 2008 the compulsory overseas destination departure tax of usd $50-55 (subject to change) per person will be payable locally by customers in us dollars.
now its depends when you made the booking and whether the errata was on viewdata at the time. also if the booking Breakdown shows the dept tax had been pre paid (which the operators were doing) see what you can find out and pm me i will try to help

I have referred this to consumer direct and they have advised me to write to First Choice again asking their exact reasons for refusing a refund. They seem to think because First Choice claim to have sent me a letter but have no proof of postage that my claim is valid as the website information stated that the exit tax was paid. I will wait and see what develops.

hi
can you pop into the travel agents and ask for a printout of the booking page, it should show the dept tax has been prepaid (before 1st nov) operators were collecting it at time of booking. You also need to ask when the errata LMAA was placed on viewdata (normally they is a date next to them) but i checked last night and nothing on my booking.
You should have also have had a copy of the letter regarding tax in with you travel documents and the agent should have made you aware of the changes. I am sure your booking would have had taxes pre paid , i will try and do a bit of digging on monday and see if i can come up with anything

Thanks the holiday was booked in May 2008 I think and as far as we were aware the departure tax was included in the price of the holiday. I believe that up to 12,000 people were affected by this change and at the airport in Cancun on the return many passengers had got differing information including one person who worked for Co-Op travel who was not aware of the First Choice change of policy.

hi
you need to find your invoice or ask travel agent for a copy that should show the dept tax. I have been looking at a few bookings i made last year and the dept tax is shown in the Breakdown

Had a response letter from them yesterday basically again referring to their letter informing us of the change of policy with no proof of postage/delivery and also that the information in our ticket booklet saying that the tax had been paid on booking was incorrect??? I would take that as an admission that the goal posts had been moved post booking. Consumer direct will be informed as soon as possible.

hi
you need to see a copy of your invoice that would show a Breakdown and say whether the dept tax was included, as the travel agent for one and if a letter was sent it would have gone to the agent not yourself.
lets say the tax was included at time of booking then first choice changed their mind you should have had a refund. Go back to the travel agent and ask for invoice and copy of the letter , its up to them to sort this out for you

I have the original invoice and there is no information whatsoever about departure tax. The ticket booklet states that it is paid, then before we travelled First Choice allegedly informed our travel agent that departure tax was the passengers responsibility. Consumer Direct say that First Choice must show proof that we were informed and at the moment they have failed to produce any.

I received a call from travel agent to say my tickets were ready to pick up and "would you like to have some extra money £125 to pay for exit tax?" I didn`t know what she was on about and come to have a look on here. I paid this holiday up in full over a year ago because my flight was cancelled due to swine flu. 3 days before it was cancelled, no one told me then of this extra charge. I haven`t left the UK yet and I`m annoyed. (they have had a year and bit interest from me too).