Thomas Cook (Condor) flight only?

Dentoned

I’ve planned the trip of a lifetime to Mexico. We’re due to leave Oct 30th/Nov 13th I’ve booked the flights (Man-Cun) with TC direct(£1179) which a month after booking I was emailed to say my flight had changed, would now be handled by Condor and the flight code and time had changed by several hours.

So the trip is DIY...hotel in one town booked and paid for upfront (£879) internal flights to Mexico City (£137) and a hotel in Mexico City (£130- not paid for yet butbstates non refundable) the. Flying back from CUN - MAN.

So what the **** do I do if TC go under presumably taking Condor with them?

I bought travel insurance with Flexicover the day I bought the flights (Feb). I have Standard level cover, protects against scheduled airline failure upto £1500 but doesn’t protect against abandonment which I’m presuming this would be if I can’t get us to Mexico. I have cover of £1000 for cancellation.

I’ve looked for other flights and they’re mostly full, the only ones have two stops take 26hours and are still £800+ I’d incur extra parking charges and be away 17 days!

What order should I try and claim things, I’m desperate; how to tackle this and I’m struggling to stay calm. Is taken a year of hard saving for this 40th birthday trip and I’m actually gutted this might all fall through.

Alan_Bowen

There hasn't been a failure yet. If there is, then obviously your flight will be cancelled and unless you can find another one then you must claim on your CC for the flight element as it is not protected by ATOL. that will leave the accommodation and internal flight to resolve, the CC will not refund those as they are still available so you must try your insurance for those elements

Dentoned

So flight on CC, rest of trip on travel insurance. Am I likely to encounter resistance from them because I just can’t get there? I’m worried they’ll class it as “abandonment” rather than cancellation?

bagand96

I think in terms of travel insurance, abandonment is when you have started your holiday but have to return home.

You have two options. The first, as Alan said is to claim the cost of your flights form the credit card provider and then try your insurance for everything else.

The other one is to try finding alternative flights and claim the cost from your credit card provider. Under Section 75, the credit card provider is jointly liable for the goods/services so tell them you still need the service so therefore need replacements rather than a refund.

The card company will likely push back on this - they’d much prefer to just refund you as it’s cheaper for them. However I am sure that in the past people have used Section 75 to get replacements paid for.

Browntoa

I'd look at flights now , if nothing direct then hub out of Miami or another US airport.

Sort money claim out later

silvercar

I would keep your hotel bookings and find new flights. That way your trip of a lifetime still goes ahead.

Don't restrict yourself to flights from MAN and changing to indirect flights is not so terrible. (speaking from experience here, our return flight from recent holiday was hit by the BA strike and we re routed with 2 changes; yes it was tiring and we got home 12 hours later than we should, but better that than lose the holiday).

whatmichaelsays

silvercar wrote: »

I would keep your hotel bookings and find new flights. That way your trip of a lifetime still goes ahead.

Don't restrict yourself to flights from MAN and changing to indirect flights is not so terrible. (speaking from experience here, our return flight from recent holiday was hit by the BA strike and we re routed with 2 changes; yes it was tiring and we got home 12 hours later than we should, but better that than lose the holiday).

I'd agree with this. Both Cancun and Mexico City are well connected to Atlanta, JFK, Newark and Philadelphia, which all have direct flights to Manchester. In this scenario I'd be searching for a multi-city flight.

Manchester to Cancun
Mexico City to Manchester

I've punched those dates into Kayak and got options coming in at around £600 (admitedly with long connections) or an option for £750 with SWISS/Lufthansa with one connection each way.

You have the internal flight from Cancun to Mexico. Worst case scenario is that you bin-off the return leg to Cancun.

Dentoned

I’ve bought American airways flights via Philadelphia and Miami for a good price. However I can still log into my Condor account? The flight has and MT code (Thomas Cook) not a DE code (Condor Germany) am I right to assume that flight is still dead? I’ve got 24 hours to cancel incase.

I’ve also logged a claim via the Hsbc their website had a helpful link and claim form.

bradders1983

Dentoned wrote: »

I’ve bought American airways flights via Philadelphia and Miami for a good price. However I can still log into my Condor account? The flight has and MT code (Thomas Cook) not a DE code (Condor Germany) am I right to assume that flight is still dead? I’ve got 24 hours to cancel incase.

I’ve also logged a claim via the Hsbc their website had a helpful link and claim form.

Was the TC flight leaving from a UK airport? If so, it is as dead as a dodo.

Dentoned

It was bought via TC but then they transferred to to condor but it kept the MT (Thomas Cook) flight code? Manchester to cancun.

bradders1983

Yes, it is dead. Still a TC plane so no idea why they would have done that.