Thomas Cook changes flights to in-direct

parrysite

Hi all

I booked a holiday to New York back in February with Thomas Cook.
We're due to travel on December 7 and paid the balance in full.

We specifically booked in branch as they had a great deal with direct flights - and told the agent at the time this was really important to us. It was a Thomas Cook 'signature' package which, I understand, means they don't operate the flight, it is an American Airlines flight.

Today we received a call to say that they've changed our flights to in-direct flights as our original one was cancelled, meaning we'll have to leave quite a few hours earlier than planned.

Instead of going Manchester Airport - JFK we're going Manchester Aiport - Heathrow - JFK. The flight home remains the same as it was when booked.

They're not offering any compensation and head office suggested we went into the branch to see what they can do. We'll end up out of pocket as the new flight time means we'll end up having to stay in the airport hotel the night before.

I want to be armed with knowledge before I go in but couldn't find much information on it.

Anyone experienced anything similar to this?

Josh

richardw

Go to American Airlines uk web site and look at one way flights from MAN to JFK, select all carriers and then pick the most convenient flight that is suitable for you, then call TC and ask to be put on that one.

When that's all sorted, call AA and ask for lots and lots of frequent flyer points as compensation.

daveyjp

Hard ball position. You want what was booked. A direct flight to a NY airport from Man. Your compromise is you are happy to go to Newark.

If they decline you will accept a change, but not Heathrow. Icelandair via Reykjavik could be a good alternative.

photome

richardw wrote: »

Go to American Airlines uk web site and look at one way flights from MAN to JFK, select all carriers and then pick the most convenient flight that is suitable for you, then call TC and ask to be put on that one.

When that's all sorted, call AA and ask for lots and lots of frequent flyer points as compensation.

Does that work when booked as part of a package?

richardw

photome wrote: »

Does that work when booked as part of a package?

AA are usually very good with requests for alternative flights when a flight is cancelled and generally happy to issue frequent flyer points as compensation instead of $$$.
They may have been booked on an 'inclusive tour' fare booking class by TC which could prove a headache because there might be limited availability on BA's MAN-LHR flights under this booking class.

parrysite

Looked through all of our paperwork today and there's very little information about this type of booking in there.

Feel that without it written down I might just have to take whatever they tell me about the T&Cs of this type of booking at face value.

I'd rather not have to have a connecting flight at all, but looking online the prices now for our dates have skyrocketed. We'll not be able to cancel and re-book without paying through the nose for a direct flight. Very frustrating situation.

I may request TC book an airport hotel for the night before - the main issue with the connecting flights is that we're now having to take out first flight at a time where we won't be able to get a train to the airport. We'll have to get pay for a cab/car parking.

Voyager2002

parrysite wrote: »

Looked through all of our paperwork today and there's very little information about this type of booking in there.

Feel that without it written down I might just have to take whatever they tell me about the T&Cs of this type of booking at face value.

I'd rather not have to have a connecting flight at all, but looking online the prices now for our dates have skyrocketed. We'll not be able to cancel and re-book without paying through the nose for a direct flight. Very frustrating situation.

I may request TC book an airport hotel for the night before - the main issue with the connecting flights is that we're now having to take out first flight at a time where we won't be able to get a train to the airport. We'll have to get pay for a cab/car parking.

Have you read your replies? Richardw last night posted the most useful response.

christaitfife

Other than just loosing out on a direct flight - what else have you lost out on? How much longer is your travel time and what impact will this have on you? Are there other changes such as departure times? Are you flying American out of London? If they have switched the airline you might have lucked-out

Having a quick look at schedules, you can fly direct with:
Delta
Virgin
United
Lufthansa
KLM

(one of the last two would be my choice!).

The schedule also markets an 8:55am dearture (arriving 14:20) as an AA flight, but operated by BA. It is about 1.5hrs longer than a direct flight, but atleast you would be comfortable and the food is slightly more edible. So if you have been switched to this, it may not be too bad?

parrysite

richardw wrote: »

Go to American Airlines uk web site and look at one way flights from MAN to JFK, select all carriers and then pick the most convenient flight that is suitable for you, then call TC and ask to be put on that one.

When that's all sorted, call AA and ask for lots and lots of frequent flyer points as compensation.

There's no direct flights for those dates on the AA website which is a real nuisance. I feel the flight may have been overbooked - TC say they can't give us a reason the flight has changed because they apparently don't get told the reason.

Good suggestion on the frequent flyer points. Although I'm not sure how useful they'll be as it's rare we can afford a long-haul holiday like this.

richardw

FYI http://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/268925/american-extends-europe-seasonal-suspensions-in-w16/

parrysite

christaitfife wrote: »

Other than just loosing out on a direct flight - what else have you lost out on? How much longer is your travel time and what impact will this have on you? Are there other changes such as departure times? Are you flying American out of London? If they have switched the airline you might have lucked-out

Having a quick look at schedules, you can fly direct with:
Delta
Virgin
United
Lufthansa
KLM

(one of the last two would be my choice!).

The schedule also markets an 8:55am dearture (arriving 14:20) as an AA flight, but operated by BA. It is about 1.5hrs longer than a direct flight, but atleast you would be comfortable and the food is slightly more edible. So if you have been switched to this, it may not be too bad?

Our new flights now take off from Manchester at 6:45am, departing for LHR-JFK at 9:40.
Originally we were due to take off from Manchester at 10:15.
It makes very little difference to arrival time but messes up our plans completely for travelling to the airport.
I also don't particularly like a connecting flight - a delay to one flight could mean you miss the next and so on and so forth. I like the convenience of a direct flight.

As far as we can tell (we've had very little information from TCabout it) we're still with AA the whole way.

Edited: Just checked and it's an AA code share with BA, so operated by BA for the LHR-JFK leg of the journey.

Heading into town to speak to the agent to get more information