Consequential loss

dave_20042000

I've booked a package holiday in May with Travel Republic, flights with thomas cook. Travelling April 2020. They've emailed me yesterday saying do I want to rebook flights with another airline or cancel booking for full refund. I've said we want another flight but it's cost an extra £100. Can I claim this back £100 back as consequential loss from my credit card company under section 75?

Ben8282

It's taken the package holiday company a long time to realise that they will have to find new flights for their customers hasn't it?
I would have thought they would have had some sort of bulk allocation on the flights and would be finding a way to re-book all the customers?
I would also have thought this would be best dealt with through your travel insurance.

dave_20042000

I think they was dealing with the customers travelling in date order and have come round to me who is travelling next April. Travel insurance is an idea but I'd have to check what my excess is, would have preferred to claim from credit card company if possible. Travel republic gave me the option of having full refund for flight and hotel, or to book new flights but have had to pay an extra £100.

Terry_Towelling

Assuming your purchase does indeed qualify for S75 protection, (bookings via travel agents can be problematic) then the extra cost could well be a recoverable loss. Whether it is a direct loss or a consequential loss is a moot point, and seems to be something that almost nobody has a true handle on. From my reading, this would be a direct loss (but that's just my opinion).

You'd hope the distinction between loss types wouldn't matter, but some card companies have slightly dubious interpretations as to when they will cover a consequential loss. For example, if you buy something for yourself, your wife and kids, all travellers will be covered (usually), but, if any of the travellers are not dependents of yours, some card companies will only cover you for consequential losses and not the non-dependents.

Whether they are correct to do this is uncertain. The card companies seem to have differing opinions to each other and to FOS. You have little to lose by asking your card company.

eco_warrior

dave_20042000 wrote: »

I've booked a package holiday in May with Travel Republic, flights with thomas cook. Travelling April 2020. They've emailed me yesterday saying do I want to rebook flights with another airline or cancel booking for full refund. I've said we want another flight but it's cost an extra £100. Can I claim this back £100 back as consequential loss from my credit card company under section 75?

This exact situation came up yesterday in my place of work and our s75 dept took it on. I’d enquire to your card provider but you mightn’t get a speedy outcome. Currently you don’t have a loss so it’s really going to be down to your card providers interpretation of s75 and probably their position on claims relating to Thomas Cook (as in rules may be bent somewhat as it’s big event).

eco_warrior

Ben8282 wrote: »

It's taken the package holiday company a long time to realise that they will have to find new flights for their customers hasn't it?
I would have thought they would have had some sort of bulk allocation on the flights and would be finding a way to re-book all the customers?
I would also have thought this would be best dealt with through your travel insurance.

Do insurance companies cover these sorts of things? I’d have thought not tbh but I’m not clued up on insurance claims.

lisyloo

eco_warrior wrote: »

Do insurance companies cover these sorts of things? I’d have thought not tbh but I’m not clued up on insurance claims.

Some insurance policies cover 3rd party failure (including airlines). It depends on whether it’s a budget policy or a good one.
That should be fairly easy to establish (by looking at the policy).
However the excess might be each person.

CKhalvashi

Ben8282 wrote: »

It's taken the package holiday company a long time to realise that they will have to find new flights for their customers hasn't it?
I would have thought they would have had some sort of bulk allocation on the flights and would be finding a way to re-book all the customers?
I would also have thought this would be best dealt with through your travel insurance.

In fairness, airfares rocketed soon after TC's demise on certain routes, so I don't really blame them for choosing to defer as many passengers as possible, assuming that's what they've done. as markets need a chance to settle. Ryanair pulling some Spanish bases at around the same time didn't help matters.

lisyloo wrote: »

Some insurance policies cover 3rd party failure (including airlines). It depends on whether it’s a budget policy or a good one.
That should be fairly easy to establish (by looking at the policy).
However the excess might be each person.

Although the EU Package Travel Directive may provide more protection in this case than S75 or an insurance policy, especially as it's possible the cost of the holiday may have increased by more than 8%.

More details are here (link to EU website)

As a starting point, I'd argue that their contract is to get you there by air, accommodate you and get you home, therefore their claim is against TC's insolvency insurance (which all airlines have to have) for the £100 and see how you get on.

If that fails and the agent is acting as principal, I'd argue that there's a direct link under S75 and therefore there should be free cover to you (same result, simply saves you the hassle of paying and trying to claim back).

If they're acting as an intermediary (on behalf of a tour operator instead of a package they have created), that link may be broken. In this case it may be possible to claim through your insurance if it covers this.

Also look at the possibility of a refund and buying the holiday again, through the same or a different agent. Net rates for hotels in certain parts of Europe where TC had connections have significantly dipped in the last few months due to a booking shortage (it means in theory that there are bigger margins, but in reality that there is more room to discount), so it may be cheaper for you to go down this route overall.

Ben8282

This is a rather strange situation as the OP did not book a Thomas Cook holiday. Neither did they book a Thomas Cook flight as such. What they booked was an inclusive tour (package holiday) with the tour operator Travel Republic which involved the use of Thomas Cook flights.
No payment would have been made to Thomas Cook by the cardholder. Any payment (presumably only a deposit at this stage) would have been made to Travel Republic. It is highly unlikely that any payment has yet been made by Travel Republic to Thomas Cook.