Thomas Cook - what you need to know - MSE News 20 September 2019 at 9:45AM edited 3 October 2019 at 4:29PM in Overseas Holidays & Travel Planning 704 replies 47.7K views

folkestonelisa

N4t4lie wrote: »

Two possible ways:

1) Claim for the cost of the accommodation via ATOL.

2) If you paid on a card initiate a chargeback for the cost of the accommodation only with the card company (this will only be possible if you have a copy of the invoice that breaks down the individual costs of each element).

Both could take some time to process so be patient though. Also be aware the card company may just send you to ATOL in the first instance.

Can you contact the hotel direct to rebook? I had to do this when a holiday company went under and our flights were valid still. They were quite happy to have someone call them to confirm they still want the room and are happy to pay them for it rather than cancel.

Where you say claim for the accommodation, do you mean the new accommodation?

And I never thought about contacting the hotel directly.

😁

bagand96

Buggalugs07 wrote: »

I'm £4k in the hole with flights only, booked direct on Thomas Cooks website in May for a family holiday next year. I have travel insurance, but as there is a £150pp excess, I'd lose £600 pursuing that method of reimbursement.

As the flights were booked on my Amex credit card, am I better off forgetting about claiming on my travel insurance and simply holding out for what would presumably be a full credit from Amex? I have made initial enquiries to both and travel insurance are ready to proceed, but Amex say resolution can take 6-8 weeks with them.

Feel I'm in limbo as I don't want to lose out on £600 by settling for that method, when I can wait a bit longer and get the full amount. Just feel vulnerable in case Amex turn round in 8 weeks time and say my claim's been unsuccessful, leaving it too late to pick up the travel insurance claim...

Credit card. Section 75 is law and makes the credit card company jointly liable. Phone Amex tomorrow and state you wish to start a Section 75 claim against your transaction with Thomas Cook. Don’t mention travel insurance.

If you go down the travel insurance and then the credit card for the excess then you’ll end up with the hassle of two claims, and the insurance may take time too.

For what it’s worth Amex paid me very quickly two years ago when Monarch went bust. I expect they are quoting you 8 weeks as that can be for a standard claim that needs investigating etc... The Thomas Cook case is open and closed, they are bankrupt, it’s well publicised. No investigation to take place! From memory Amex credited my card the very next month in the case of Monarch.

livingstonc

Hi all,

Hope someone can give some advice as not sure if there is anything I can claim but here goes?

Booked package holiday which included Thomas Cook flights. Departed no problem.

However, returning on 25th September 2019 to Glasgow Airport as we should be. Checked CAA and advised same time and date for departure. Result.

However, arrived at airport, waited in Glasgow Airport Queue, someone was going along the line and when we provided ours, was advised we will be going to Manchester Airport and then a Coach to Glasgow Airport.

No explanation provided when asked why (I suspect it was the replacement aircraft did not have the same number of seats as the Thomas Cook one would have had). So about 25 of us had to go and checkin for Manchester Flight.

We were supposed to arrive at Glasgow Airport at 0120 hours on Thursday morning.

We arrived at Glasgow Airport at 0910 hours on Thursday Morning

Is there anything I can do here? Make complaint to CAA (as nothing on their website about being on Manchester flight), speak to package provider as ATOL covered.

Anything appreciated in response.

Cheers

Colin

trading_cheetah

I have purchased two TC flights for St Lucia in January through Opodo on a halifax clarity credit card do i have rights for a refund via section 75 or chargeback

NormalforNorfolk

Hi - we had a TC package holiday booked for next summer - we only paid a deposit which we will get refunded under ATOL. However when we booked the holiday we also booked the airport hotel for the night before the flight - this was booked separately on Holiday Extras. However the room rate was a non refundable one. It would appear from the Holiday Extras website that despite the TC situation, the ‘non refundable’ element of bookings like ours will not be waived. They suggest claiming on insurance and if the booking is cancelled they will provide a cancellation invoice for supporting insurance claims. As we paid on our credit card and the transaction was over £100 (£123) is it worth trying to claim from the credit card instead? We are hoping to book another holiday for the same dates and same location, but not the same airport (we usually go from Stansted but could only get Gatwick on this occasion) so would be looking to utilise the insurance Policy we had already purchased for a new holiday. Any suggestions on the best approach to get our airport hotel money back would be greatly appreciated! We also booked airport parking but are resigned to losing that as it was only £52.

bagand96

livingstonc wrote: »

Is there anything I can do here?

Be grateful that you were bought home at no extra cost, and then move on with your life?

To add some context.... bringing Thomas Cook customers home is the biggest operation of its kind, ever. They cannot use any Thomas Cook aircraft. Therefore the CAA have had to get aircraft from all over the world at short notice. CAA ATOL protection guarantees you will get home. It doesn’t guarantee anything else. It is a mammoth undertaking and to replicate TCX’s flight schedule exactly would be a fantasy.

I know it was probably an inconvenience and a very long and tiring day. But in the great scheme of things, a lot of people caught up in this have lost a lot more.

bagand96

NormalforNorfolk wrote: »

. As we paid on our credit card and the transaction was over £100 (£123) is it worth trying to claim from the credit card instead?

It’s a no go on the credit card I’m afraid. Section 75 covers for supplier failure. Given that neither Holiday Extras or the airport hotel have ceased trading then there is no failure or breach of contract from them. The room will be there and available to use. I would try the travel insurance if I was you - claiming for the hotel might not invalidate it for future use - something to ask them at least.

I presume you’ve been in touch with the car parking to ask them if they’ll refund given the circumstances (I guess if it’s holiday extras then it’s a no)

N4t4lie

folkestonelisa wrote: »

Where you say claim for the accommodation, do you mean the new accommodation?

And I never thought about contacting the hotel directly.

��

You'll need to claim the original accommodation booking cost back as that was contracted through the now defunct Thomas Cook, any new arrangements you make are completely separate and would not be covered (and may also be a completely different price). I'd pop the new accommodation on a Credit Card for the small bit of extra protection that offers when booking too, oh and get everything in writing.

N4t4lie

trading_cheetah wrote: »

I have purchased two TC flights for St Lucia in January through Opodo on a halifax clarity credit card do i have rights for a refund via section 75 or chargeback

As you went through an intermediary they will do a chargeback as it is a simple refund you are after. Read the Chargeback article so you know what to expect (on the main MSE website) and give them a call to initiate the claim. Should be fairly straight forward, be prepared to send relevant documents to support the claim as you paid Opodo not Thomas Cook directly.

Twotone2

silvercar wrote: »

Have you tried searching for flights from say Edinburgh or even changing in London or Madrid?

Thanks again for this advice, I have now booked flights with BA & easy jet from Glasgow>Gatwick>Fuerteventura & return, the cost of these flights were slightly cheaper than the ones booked with TC direct from Glasgow>Fuerteventura.

Just waiting now on the refund from M&S bank for the original TC flights, hopefully that will be pretty straightforward and will be credited back to my wife's CC in due course.

Kind regards

Tony