Last week, 18 holiday companies, including Bales Worldwide, Solmar, Noble Caledonia and Discover the World, started contacting customers to tell them that they’d been caught out by fuel costs and the rising euro – and now needed more money.

Clients who have booked holidays at brochured prices face a stark choice: pay the extra or lose their deposit. Package-holiday regulations require tour operators to absorb just the first 2% of any change in holiday costs.

After that, they are legally entitled to demand up to 10% extra on the published price without offering the client the chance to request a refund. Most surcharges currently affect only holidays in the eurozone, although some operators who pay suppliers in euros in other parts of the world are also affected.

Bales Worldwide, which has introduced surcharges on some Egyptian itineraries, defended its decision. “This is the first time we’ve requested permission to surcharge in 12 years,” it said, “and it applies only to our Nile cruise programme. Passengers are being asked for between £55 and £70 extra due to currency fluctuations. Fuel-supplement increases are also payable, but that’s out of our control.”

The worry now is that others will follow suit. Derek Moore, of the Association of Independent Tour Operators (Aito), warned that if sterling fell further against the euro, more operators would be forced to increase their charges.

“For many operators who do not surcharge, the logic suggests they will have to start thinking about it or operate at a loss,” he said. “The big question is which operators will start thinking about it, and whether it will open the floodgates.”

Nick Newbury, of Original Travel, pointed out that holidaymakers should not be expected to pay more because travel firms haven’t planned ahead. “Over the past four years, the pound has been strong, and tour operators have done very well out of it, but I doubt they were calling clients to say they’d got a better deal and offer some cash back,” he said. “Holiday companies should be now be prepared to take a hit without calling on their customers to bail them out.”

The airlines are at it as well. Soaring oil costs have been blamed for another hike in air fares, with Thomson and First Choice introducing fuel supplements for the first time. Return fares with the charter carriers have been increased by £30 for long-haul flights, £10 for mid-haul and £5 for short-haul as of May 1.

The announcement follows British Airways’ 12th fuel surcharge increase in four years. From May 2, passengers on long-haul flights of less than nine hours will pay an extra £20 return, taking the charge to £126. On longer journeys, the surcharge is up by £30, adding an astonishing £158 to the price of a return flight. BA has also increased the fuel surcharge on short-haul flights by £6 to £26 return, and Virgin seems set to follow. “We’re assessing the implications of BA’s higher charges for passengers,” the airline said.

Ryanair, which promises it will never apply fuel surcharges, has increased the cost of checked baggage to £16 and airport check-in to £8 for return journeys.

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