Anyone who has tried to book a long-haul flight recently will be aware of the enormous number of tour and flight operators currently plying their trade online. Type the words “cheap flight to Bangkok” into Google, and you will be instantly wooed by hundreds of companies, from the big shots such as Expedia and Opodo, to the small shops operated from tiny offices in London side-streets. However, it is just as well that there is this much choice as, according to new research, the travel sector has one of the worst online customer service records in Britain.