Travel question: We paid for luggage twice – how do we recoup the fee?

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An airline charged Judith £60 each way for an unbooked hold bag (Getty/iStock)

Q My sister and I booked a Secret Escapes all-inclusive holiday to Kos. Unfortunately we were not aware we had to book our hold luggage in separately as we did not read the details properly. At Newcastle airport we were informed of our mistake and paid £60 each for our luggage. The airline representative came to the check-in desk and gave us a receipt. They assured us that the receipt for £120 would be accepted in Kos as proof of payment for the return journey.

When we tried to check in at Kos our receipt was not accepted and we had to pay another €140 [£123] to check in our luggage. We filled in a complaint form at Kos airport but as yet have not had a response from the airline. Should we complain again via Secret Escapes or go directly to the airline?

Judith M

A The Secret Escapes business model is to help tour operators and hoteliers shift “distressed inventory” – stuff they are struggling to sell – by creating appealing products, such as the trip you bought. Most of them involve flights with airlines that charge extra for baggage – and most of those airlines have higher fees for bags checked at the airport rather than online in advance.

Secret Escapes is obliged to tell you explicitly that only cabin baggage is included in the cost of the trip. To assess this, I have made a series of test bookings for a range of European holidays with Secret Escapes and on each occasion there was a clear warning: “Hold luggage isn’t included, but can be added after booking.”

If, though, you have evidence that you were not properly informed then you can seek to claim from the company. But if you were told by Secret Escapes, then I am afraid all you can do is try to recoup the apparent double payment from the airline (£60 per bag each way looks punitive). It may be that Secret Escapes will help you in this task.

Every day our travel correspondent Simon Calder tackles a reader’s question. Just email yours to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder