Families forced to pay £200 penalties to take children on holiday The discrepancies were revealed after an investigation by the Daily Mail found it was cheaper to book hotels and apartments in popular holiday destinations in the Canary Islands, Greece and Turkey for a group of four adults rather than two adults and a child. For example a holiday for a family at apartments in Fuerteventura in August was priced at £2,060 on Thomas Cook's website - an extra £244 more than for a group of four adults. Thomson has since set up a phone line for families to claim refunds. A spokesperson said: "We are aware of an issue with the pricing of a very small number of our villa and apartment holidays. On occasion, a villa or apartment will be more expensive if booked including adults and children compared to a purely adult booking. We are working to rectify this issue. Thomas Cook said families were only rarely charged more. A spokesperson said: "In such cases, it is common practice for any children travelling to be charged the adult price. Meeting the adult minimum occupancy can be cheaper.