profiteering

jpsartre

kammx4 wrote: »

It is quite obvious to me that holiday companies are cashing in on the fact that some countries are safer to travel to than others.

Well duh, higher demands to certain countries means higher prices. Did you think tour operators were charities established to provide people with cheap holidays?

gamston

think its a lot to do with ripping off uk folks
my daughter & son in law have booked for Thailand
Thomas Cook 1/2 board was £2400, in Poland its £1200 full board for the same place, so why does Thomas Cook need to charge so much
yes need to get to/from Poland but there are lots of flights for that

John259

There are plenty of great places in the USA other than Orlando. Maybe you could try some of the wonderful national parks instead of the expensive theme parks?

richardw

gamston wrote: »

....yes need to get to/from Poland but there are lots of flights for that

It's about some markets having differing prices, plenty of people are finding cheaper prices from other markets and flying there to get them.

dickydonkin

gamston wrote: »

think its a lot to do with ripping off uk folks
my daughter & son in law have booked for Thailand
Thomas Cook 1/2 board was £2400, in Poland its £1200 full board for the same place, so why does Thomas Cook need to charge so much
yes need to get to/from Poland but there are lots of flights for that

Same destination - different market.

It is no different really as to why you can fly from Dublin (or many other EU countries) to a given destination which can literally save you thousands (if flying business) than if you departed from the UK.

As others have correctly pointed out, it is supply and demand and if people in the UK are prepared to pay inflated prices, then why should airlines or tour operators drop their prices? although I suspect there will also be bigger overheads in the UK.

As regards to the OP, as also suggested in this thread, try planning your own trip as it can save you quite a bit and look at john259s suggestion - the US is a big place and it is not all about theme parks, but that said, I fully appreciate that with kids in tow, Mickey Mouse may be a bigger attraction to them than the likes of Yosemite.

We have endured the Disney parks when the kids were small, now it is 'us time' and there are some fantastic destinations in the US that are well worth the time and expense of visiting which will very likely work out cheaper than a theme park trip - although we used to try and combine both when we had the kids with us.

Blue264

kammx4 wrote: »

been all over the world travelling but don't like the obvious profitieering on all family holidays.

If you can honestly and conclusively prove that profiteering is going on, particularly when Sterling is so volatile, then there's a job in government for you.

This chart shows the how the exchange rate of Sterling and the USD has changed over the last two years.

http://www.xe.com/currencycharts/?from=GBP&to=USD&view=2Y

jpsartre

gamston wrote: »

Thomas Cook 1/2 board was £2400, in Poland its £1200 full board for the same place, so why does Thomas Cook need to charge so much

Because people in the UK are willing to pay £2400 whereas people in Poland are not. When you consider the average UK salary vs the average Polish salary that's hardly surprising. If TC could sell trips from Poland for £2400 you can be sure that they would. There's no conspiracy to rip anyone off, prices are simply determined by what people are willing/able to pay.

phatbear

As previously stated its supply and demand if you dont like the price dont pay it.

Check out thomson holidays for a week in florida from 12th oct and its less than £600 per person including flights, hotel and car hire which i think is a bargain and whys its so low? Because of demand

gamston wrote: »

think its a lot to do with ripping off uk folks
my daughter & son in law have booked for Thailand
Thomas Cook 1/2 board was £2400, in Poland its £1200 full board for the same place, so why does Thomas Cook need to charge so much
yes need to get to/from Poland but there are lots of flights for that

Its easy to make statements like this however if you were booking a holiday from sweden, where i have family,its usually a lot more expensive than the UK.

Its a well known way of getting cheaper long haul flights to go to the continent and fly from there however you need to factor in the initial flight and hotel and transport to and from that hotel and food etc etc.

Consider this the airport i work at yesterday cancelled their one outbound and inbound barcelona flight so if you intended to fly from barcelona onto for example thailand then you would miss your connection and the airline who were going to take you from barcelona and back again would have no responsibility to get you on another flight.

shaun_from_Africa

gamston wrote: »

Thomas Cook 1/2 board was £2400, in Poland its £1200 full board for the same place, so why does Thomas Cook need to charge so much

They don't need to, it's just that they want to, something that is perfectly legal in most cases.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_market

A free market is a system in which the prices for goods and services are determined by the open market and consumers, in which the laws and forces of supply and demand are free from any intervention by a government, price-setting monopoly, or other authority. It is a result of a need being, then the need being met

bigadaj

gamston wrote: »

think its a lot to do with ripping off uk folks
my daughter & son in law have booked for Thailand
Thomas Cook 1/2 board was £2400, in Poland its £1200 full board for the same place, so why does Thomas Cook need to charge so much
yes need to get to/from Poland but there are lots of flights for that

Can you post a link?

That sort of saving for a few hours and a cheap flight would be worthwhile.