MSE News: Q&A: How safe are Thomas Cook holidays?

Quentin

The Banks have come up with another £100million, which they want to get through till April:

http://www.travelweekly.co.uk/Articles/2011/11/25/38896/thomas-cook-agrees-200m-loan-deal-with-banks.html

bagand96

Quentin wrote: »

The Banks have come up with another £100million, which they want to get through till April:

http://www.travelweekly.co.uk/Articles/2011/11/25/38896/thomas-cook-agrees-200m-loan-deal-with-banks.html

How utterly unsurprising. Media coverage of this has been totally overdone.

I wonder how many column inches in the tabloids will be donated to reporting this news, compared to the number of inches writing them off over the last few days?

jillie1974

bagand96 wrote: »

How utterly unsurprising. Media coverage of this has been totally overdone.

I wonder how many column inches in the tabloids will be donated to reporting this news, compared to the number of inches writing them off over the last few days?

a little footnote no doubt

Quentin

bagand96 wrote: »

How utterly unsurprising. Media coverage of this has been totally overdone.

You seem to be wanting to shoot the messenger!

These troubles didn't start this week. (But they did issue their press release this week, so can't grumble that it got publicity). You cannot blame the press for the mess Thos Cook are in now!

Anyone booking with them now knows the risks, and can make a better decision. (And their aircrew strike still looms over them)

And Thos Cook was a FTSE top 100 company just last year - and here they are having to go in with the begging bowl! (How do they have cash flow problems - people pay 3 months in advance for their holidays, and the hotels get paid 3 to 12 months in arrears!)

bagand96

Quentin wrote: »

You seem to be wanting to shoot the messenger!

These troubles didn't start this week. (But they did issue their press release this week, so can't grumble that it got publicity). You cannot blame the press for the mess Thos Cook are in now!

Anyone booking with them now knows the risks, and can make a better decision. (And their aircrew strike still looms over them)

And Thos Cook was a FTSE top 100 company just last year - and here they are having to go in with the begging bowl! (How do they have cash flow problems - people pay 3 months in advance for their holidays, and the hotels get paid 3 to 12 months in arrears!)

I'm not wanting to shoot the messenger. Yes; this was always going to get coverage. Personally I think the coverage has been sensationalist, and at times lazy, by journos who have no real understanding of how the business works.

No-one is either denying that Thomas Cook Group is a mess. However, the press would have you believe we were moments away from stranded passenger scenes in airports all over Europe, which isn't the case. (mid to late summer is the traditional time for tour operators to go under, when forward booking money dries up and bills roll in).

Rewind a few years and this is MyTravel all over again. A company that had expanded way beyond its means in an ill-thought out crusade for travel market domination. MyTravel came very close to the edge, but it did sort things out and get on a good road to recovery. Ironic thing is they then merged with Thomas Cook... who really have no excuse now!

But then thats where TC is. Its been on a massive expansion drive the last few years and is now entangled in all sorts of offshoots and acquisitions, some in markets they don't really understand. However, it doesn't mean its not salvageable. I'd expect now a lot of downsizing, and a lot of sell offs of subsidiary's. We are not just talking about a UK package holiday company here, TC is a worldwide giant.

And, on the crew strike, the last few days has probably helped that, I'd hope the unions will be thinking twice.

MikeyC123

I think there are some really good points on this thread.

1. Yes these days the media brings things to our attention much quicker, not just TCX but also look at the riots earlier in the year.

2. Holiday with package operators are generally ATOL protected, this means you will get your money back but as has been said, it may take some time. Its the inconvenience that's a pain, what might you be able to get if a holiday company you have booked with go bust ? would it be where you want and when you want and can you afford to pay for that holiday again before getting refunded under the ATOL protection

3. How many people mix up Thomas Cook and Thomson, I'd say loads if not most who are not in the travel industry. For one Thomson to advertise with their name in big letters and say they are sounds unlike some other companies (without actually naming them) seems like a good idea to me. It reassures me that I'm not booking with the company that has just gone cap in hand to prevent it from going bust. http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/news/1106142/TUI-knocks-Thomas-Cook-press-ads/
There was another UK airline that went bust last week so times clearly are tough !

If I was in the market today to book a holiday I can clearly say that a company that has just had to tread ice to stop itself from going under would not be at the top of my list as a choice of provider.

Why, simply because they have demonstrated they are in the ****, do I want the hassle of rebooking with someone else if it all goes wrong, no thanks. You just have to look at the fallout of exel when they went under to see what a mess and stress it was for anyone who had booked with them. Yes this is different, TCX have not gone under, but they very nearly did !

BTW I dont think all travel insurance policies always cover companies that go bust, not 100% sure on that, however I'm sure that if just some of your holiday is paid on a credit card you have the protection offered by that also (someone can maybe confirm).

tata

kazlau

This post is the most sensible yet, Martin himself warns of "a self fulfulling prophecy" Thomas Cook is a company worth supporting and backing during the current economic troubles!!

indierocker85 wrote: »

I want to firstly make absolutely clear, I am not in the travel industry and have no connections with it whatsoever.

I went on holiday in May this year with Thomas cook, and have in the past and I am confident that they can get through this.

It is very likely that with the rising cost of living, cost of fuel etc less people are holidaying. Also there have been a lot of natural disasters and some man made disasters in some popular countries, such as Egypt uprise, Thai floods etc etc. This will no doubt have had a knock on effect on bookings etc.

Now being a plc, whenever anything goes wrong, suddenly traders panic and the media jumps up and says "Thomas cook in trouble" etc etc.

The fact is, it is very likely in my opinion the company can make it through this. All holidays are ATOL and ABTA protected and most people have insurance too.

However, the stupid idiots that are the British Media make the situation so much worse by scaremongering. Frankly, people will now be very wary of booking with the company, and if everybody chooses not to book for that reason, then TC won't have a way to see its way through this downturn. Which would be massively unfortunate, as we would potentially stand to lose what is the second largest tour operator in Europe. Meaning it would have a massive effect on the Travel Industry in the UK, huge effect on hoteliers etc elsewhere in the world, and massive job losses. We should be doing our best to ensure there isn't this ridiculous panic forced upon people, and thus they will continue to book with the company as they would of done before, the company will gradually get back on its feet, and will live on. If we did hypothetically lose this company, the effects really don't bare thinking about.

I can say for one though I would have no qualms about going into my local agent and booking a Thomas cook holiday tomorrow. In fact, we are looking at the moment for our honeymoon. I will say that due to previous experiences I would always choose TC over Thomson any time.

Lets all do our bit and help see that this company doesn't get into futher trouble, due to our pathetic drivvel pushing newspapers and news channels.