loveholidays vs On the Beach: An Honest, Sourced Comparison (with Jet2holidays and TUI)
This page compares published policies, regulator rulings and independent surveys. It isn't legal or financial advice. It contains a few clearly marked affiliate links; no company has paid for, seen or approved this comparison. Our disclosure.
The short answer
Both loveholidays and On the Beach are large online travel agents that build your package from separate flights and hotels, and both sell ATOL-protected flight packages. loveholidays is the bigger of the two: Skift reports it sold £3.4bn of holidays in the year to October 2025, against On the Beach's own reported £1.249bn for the year to 30 September 2025. loveholidays has a lower flat cancellation fee for groups and a promise to match other UK sites' prices. On the Beach is now an ABTA member, has 24/7 WhatsApp and phone help while you're in resort, and gives you credit if its own price drops after you book.
Neither includes transfers as standard, and hold bags depend on the airline. In Which?'s customer survey both score below the big tour operators. So whichever you choose, budget for the extras and plan the airport-to-hotel part yourself. Our True Cost Calculator helps with the first; our transfer guides help with the second.
At a glance
| loveholidays | On the Beach | Jet2holidays | TUI | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type of company | Online travel agent (dynamic packages) | Online travel agent (dynamic packages) | Tour operator with its own airline | Tour operator with its own airline |
| ATOL (CAA licence holder) | ✓ ATOL 10989, We Love Holidays Limited | ✓ ATOL 11549, On the Beach Travel Limited | ✓ ATOL 9618, Jet2holidays Ltd | ✓ ATOL 2524, TUI UK Ltd |
| ABTA member | No (left in September 2020) | Yes, since 1 Dec 2025 (P8849) | Yes (Y1256, per its T&Cs) | Yes (V5126, per its T&Cs) |
| Lowest deposit | From £19pp short-haul, £29pp long-haul | Advertised from £19pp; its help centre says £30pp for trips 45+ days away | £60pp | From £60pp; £0 on selected holidays booked 26+ weeks ahead by Direct Debit |
| Monthly payment fees | Admin fee up to £4.95 per payment (book 11+ weeks ahead) | Set-up fee up to £20 per booking, plus up to £5 per automatic collection (manual payments free) | Monthly payments available | Monthly Direct Debit available |
| Transfers included | No, add-on | No, add-on | Yes | On many packages, not all |
| Hold luggage included | Depends on the airline | Depends on the airline and fare | Yes: 22kg hold + 10kg hand luggage | Varies; check your booking |
| Their own cancellation fee | £75 per package booking | £50pp (60+ days out) / £100pp (under 60 days) | Not compared here: check the booking conditions | |
| Their own change fee | £25 per booking | £30–£45pp (passenger), £40–£60 (board/room), £80–£120 (hotel) | Not compared here | |
| Price promise | Same holiday cheaper on another UK site: refund of the difference + £5pp | If its own price drops (60+ days out): credit voucher. No competitor matching | Not compared here | |
| Trustpilot (18 Oct 2026) | 4.4 (284,661 reviews) | 3.8 (100,545 reviews) | Not compared: we couldn't read Trustpilot directly | |
| Which? customer score | 69% | 72% | 82% (Which? Recommended Provider) | 76% |
Financial protection: ATOL and ABTA
ATOL is the protection that matters most for flight packages. We checked all four licence numbers against the CAA's published ATOL holder data. At the March 2025 renewal the CAA authorised We Love Holidays Limited (loveholidays) for 4,014,688 passengers and On the Beach Travel Limited for 2,149,841. Jet2holidays and TUI UK hold the two largest licences. You should get an ATOL certificate after paying for a flight package; keep it.
ABTA is a trade association. Members follow a code of conduct and you can use ABTA's complaints process. loveholidays' own guide to online travel agents says "some travel companies, like loveholidays, aren't part of the scheme", and Travel Weekly reported in September 2020 that it had resigned. On the Beach rejoined on 1 December 2025: its help centre says bookings made from that date can use ABTA's complaints and arbitration service (the arbitration fee is £150, refunded if you win).
Whoever you book with, the Package Travel Regulations 2018 make the organiser responsible for every part of the package, including transfers they sold you. See how to complain about a package holiday.
Deposits and paying monthly
loveholidays lets you secure a short-haul package from £19pp, and you can pay monthly if you book at least 11 weeks ahead, with an admin fee of up to £4.95 per payment. On the Beach advertises deposits from £19pp, but its help centre quotes £30pp for trips at least 45 days away. Its instalment plans can add a set-up fee of up to £20 per booking, plus up to £5 for each automatic collection; you avoid the collection fee by paying manually. On the Beach's holidays page also says "fee-free monthly payment plans", so check the payment breakdown at checkout.
Sidekick tip: add up the admin fees across the whole plan before you choose it. At the maximum £4.95, eight monthly payments come to £39.60. The True Cost Calculator does this for you.
What's actually in the price
This is where people get caught out. With both agents the headline price is usually flights and hotel. Transfers are an extra, and whether a hold bag is included depends on the airline. Jet2holidays includes a 22kg hold bag, 10kg hand luggage and return transfers. Since April 2025 UK law (the DMCC Act) has required mandatory fees to be in the headline price, but genuinely optional extras like bags and transfers can still be shown separately.
If you need to cancel or change
- loveholidays: £75 per package booking to cancel, or £25 per booking to amend, plus whatever the airline and hotel charge. Flights and transfers are generally non-refundable.
- On the Beach: £50 per person to cancel more than 60 days before departure, or £100 per person within 60 days, plus supplier charges. Changing hotel costs £80 (60+ days) or £120; board or room changes £40 or £60; passenger changes £30 or £45 per person.
- The arithmetic for a family of four cancelling within 60 days: £400 in On the Beach's own fees against £75 at loveholidays, before supplier charges. For a couple more than 60 days out, it's £100 against £75.
- Your legal right: under regulation 9 of the Package Travel Regulations you can transfer the package to someone else if you give reasonable notice (7 days before departure is always reasonable). You pay only the actual costs.
Price promises compared
loveholidays says that if you find the same holiday cheaper on another UK website it will refund the difference plus £5 per person. Its own pages give different time limits (within 24 hours on one page, within 7 days on another), so screenshot the terms when you book. On the Beach doesn't match rivals. Instead, if its own price for your exact holiday falls at least 60 days before departure, you can claim the difference as a voucher (bookings from 17 February 2025, one claim per booking). See what to do if the price drops after you book.
Getting help
loveholidays has an AI assistant around the clock, human agents from 09:00 every day (to 17:30 on weekdays and 17:00 at weekends), a phone line for current bookings (01234 975 975) and an in-resort emergency number (+44 1233 800490). On the Beach is chat-first, with live chat from 08:00 to 18:30 on weekdays and 09:00 to 17:00 at weekends. In resort it offers 24/7 help on +44 333 003 1934 and WhatsApp, with 19:00 to 08:00 UK time for emergencies only.
Complaint Census, which classifies recent Trustpilot reviews automatically, found the most common complaint theme for On the Beach was not being able to reach a person, and for loveholidays support that didn't solve the problem. "Not as described" hotel complaints were second for both. These are what reviewers report, not findings of wrongdoing.
What the regulators have said
- CMA, December 2020: loveholidays gave undertakings to refund more than £18m to around 44,000 customers for holidays cancelled because of COVID-19.
- ASA, 23 July 2025 (upheld): crossed-out and "from" prices on loveholidays' website weren't available when customers tried to book.
- ASA, 9 September 2026 (upheld, as reported by Complaint Census): two paid Google ads from loveholidays didn't make the basis of their environmental claims clear.
- ASA, 5 November 2025 (upheld): On the Beach's "free airport lounge access" ads didn't make clear that passes were limited by lounge capacity.
- ASA, 11 February 2026 (upheld): On the Beach's "identical holiday for £592 less" email compared packages that weren't identical (different airline and bag allowance).
Which suits you?
| If you are… | On the published terms, consider… | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A family or group who might need to cancel | loveholidays | A flat £75 per booking, against £50–£100 per person at On the Beach (supplier charges apply to both) |
| On a tight deposit budget | loveholidays | From £19pp short-haul; On the Beach's help centre says £30pp for trips 45+ days away |
| Booking early and price-watching | On the Beach | Price Drop Protection credits you if its own price falls 60+ days before departure |
| Someone who found it cheaper elsewhere | loveholidays | It matches other UK sites plus £5pp, within its time limit |
| Wanting ABTA's complaints process | On the Beach (bookings from 1 Dec 2025), Jet2holidays or TUI | loveholidays isn't an ABTA member |
| Wanting reachable help in resort | Either: compare the hours above | On the Beach has 24/7 WhatsApp and phone; loveholidays has 24/7 chat and an emergency line |
| Wanting bags and transfers in one price | Jet2holidays or TUI | Jet2holidays includes 22kg bags and transfers; both score higher in Which?'s survey |
| Paying monthly | Compare the totals | loveholidays charges up to £4.95 per payment; On the Beach up to £20 set-up plus up to £5 per automatic collection |
After you book with either
Whoever you book with, the bits that go wrong most often come after you've paid: getting from the airport, a hotel that doesn't match the photos, and getting hold of someone. Start here:
- Getting to your hotel: shared coach vs private transfer vs taxi, transfer alternatives, and our airport-to-resort route maps:
- Taxi fares: official airport taxi tariffs for Antalya, Palma, Tenerife South and Dalaman.
- Before you fly: the countdown checklist and how to check your hotel.
- If it goes wrong: transfer didn't turn up, hotel not as described, how to complain, and the flight delay compensation checker.
Sources (checked 20 October 2026)
- CAA, historic ATOL holders data 2009–2025 (licence numbers, holder names, authorised passengers): caa.co.uk
- loveholidays: "What is an online travel agent?", Book with Confidence, Spread the cost, FAQs on transfers, luggage, cancellation, amendments and contact, Value page
- Travel Weekly, 16 September 2020 (loveholidays resigns from ABTA); Travel Weekly, 1 December 2025 (On the Beach rejoins ABTA)
- On the Beach help centre (ABTA membership, deposits, cancelling, Price Drop Protection, contact), package holiday terms and conditions, low deposit and holidays pages
- Jet2holidays package holidays page and terms and conditions; TUI low deposit, pay monthly and website terms pages
- On the Beach Group plc FY25 results (2 December 2025); Skift, 19 October 2026, on loveholidays' accounts
- Which?, best and worst package holiday providers (6 May 2026)
- Complaint Census pages for loveholidays and On the Beach (updated 18 October 2026)
- GOV.UK/CMA, "loveholidays to refund over £18 million" (2020); ASA rulings G25-1286542 (We Love Holidays Ltd), A25-1303961 and A25-1311296 (On The Beach Ltd)
- Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018, regulation 9 and Part 4 (legislation.gov.uk); GOV.UK on the DMCC Act hidden fees rules
FAQs
Is loveholidays ATOL protected?
Yes. Flight-inclusive packages sold by loveholidays are protected under ATOL 10989, which the CAA's ATOL holder data lists as We Love Holidays Limited. Check that your ATOL certificate arrives after you pay.
Is loveholidays a member of ABTA?
No. loveholidays says it isn't part of the ABTA scheme, and the trade press reported that it left ABTA in September 2020. Your flight packages are still ATOL protected, and the Package Travel Regulations still apply.
Is On the Beach a member of ABTA?
Yes. On the Beach rejoined ABTA on 1 December 2025 (membership number P8849). For bookings made from that date you can use ABTA's complaints and arbitration services.
Which is cheaper to cancel, loveholidays or On the Beach?
On their published fees, loveholidays charges £75 per package booking and On the Beach charges £50 per person (more than 60 days before departure) or £100 per person (within 60 days). Both add whatever the airline and hotel charge, so the true cost depends on your booking.
Do loveholidays or On the Beach include transfers?
Not as standard. Both sell transfers as an add-on. Jet2holidays packages include transfers and a 22kg hold bag, and TUI includes transfers on many packages, so compare like for like.
Free: the post-booking countdown checklist
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