Travel Weekly Blog

Right on cue after the iffy 'stay away from agents' advice published on MSN last week (read reactions by Travel Weekly and on Travel Rants) Classic Collection Holidays managing director Nick Munday emails this piece of virtuoso sarcasm...

My barber recently told me of a fantastic idea he'd had that would completely revolutionise the hairdressing industry: Haircutonline.com.

The benefits to the customer would be immense, he assured me. A new style and cut would be just a click away!

Step 1: Download your choice of style. As a convenience to its customers Haircutonline.com would only make three basic styles available online owing to the difficulty of certain haircuts.

Step 2: Grab your scissors and follow the online instructions. At this point a flashing disclaimer would warn the customer that as Haircutonline.com was acting solely as an agent, rather than a principal, it could not be held responsible for any accidents that might occur during the process.

And the greatest benefit of all? Haircutonline.com cuts out the middleman, saving the average male customer a massive £7.00!

While telling me this my barber gave me a cut that was executed with all the expertise and experience that a professional acquires during years of personal service, and which seemed such good value for money at just £7.00.

I wondered whether he had been sniffing too much setting lotion, or been reading up on the benefits of bed-banks and dynamic packaging. Was it purely a coincidence that I went home and registered the domain name Dontbookyourholidayonline.com?

Nick Munday, managing director, Classic Collection Holidays

We can't help thinking that this Little Britain sketch is a glimpse of what could happen should ABTA, the FSA and the Treasury fail to reach an agreement on the regulation of travel insurance...