Thomson Rip-Off Fuel Charge

holidayguru

Sorry blindman,

A couple of points re your quote ' It may be their responsibility but how many times have we heard that they avoid this at all costs!'

If an agent has booked a deal that they've packaged under their ATOL licence
then they have to re-book/repatriate/find new flights.

Are you familiar with atol & what it offers?

Also....I disagree re your quote ' Not necessarily so, hotel web-sites have special offers etc which undercut this + one can use Priceline in the US and now more in Europe to get very good deals.'

May be so in some cases but with 90% of 'med/beach' type accom. atol agents are cheaper than doing it yourself.

Also your comment 'IMHO TA are in the same group as Estate agents and Second-hand car salesmen.
There may be an odd one or two that are 'Good Eggs', but the way their 'industry' is geared, very low basic pay with commission earned needed to bring their salary up to a decent level, most are in it for themsleves.

Why all this resentment to someone earning a living? At the end of the day if you book a 'split' package (ie flight & accom. separately) you are not covered by atol & if the flight goes bust or the hotel supplier goes bust you are knackered.

Point I was trying to make is that good independent ages can save people the hassle of trawling the web, do it cheaper & it's fully protected.

Oh...regarding wages then yes you are 100% correct re:high street agents. Those that are home based are self-employed & have to give the customer the best price or no repeat booking.

My 1st example I gave re: the family of 4 (2 young kids) being overbooked-the hotel they were offered was not in the location they wanted. Now with 2 young, tired & crying kids they told me they just did not want the hassle & in retrospect for just £10 in total more an Agent could have sorted it out for them.

I hope I'm making some valid points here.

I was warned by a customer who posted on here that MSE posters were totaly anti agents & anal in their view..please don't make me think she was right??!

blindman

Don't take it personal

This is my opinion and my experience (30 years of travelling).

I'm not against anyone earning a living, nor anal in my view.

You must be the rare breed of agent whose first thought is NOT "How much can I make out of this"

The point I'm trying to make is that it's very easy to DIY travel and most agents steer you to the best option for them, not you.

One example of rip offs easily avoided by DIY.

You've read the posts on this site

not saying they're all true of course and people are more likely to post negative comments.

I'd be interested in how you'd resolve a fully booked hotel (with the crying kids of course) quickly from the UK whilst (I assume ) the (tight g*t)family involved were abroad?

holidayguru

blindman wrote:

Don't take it personal

This is my opinion and my experience (30 years of travelling).

I'm not against anyone earning a living, nor anal in my view.

You must be the rare breed of agent whose first thought is NOT "How much can I make out of this"

The point I'm trying to make is that it's very easy to DIY travel and most agents steer you to the best option for them, not you.

One example of rip offs easily avoided by DIY.

You've read the posts on this site

not saying they're all true of course and people are more likely to post negative comments.

I'd be interested in how you'd resolve a fully booked hotel (with the crying kids of course) quickly from the UK whilst (I assume ) the (tight g*t)family involved were abroad?

Hi blindman,

Sorry...anal is a bit strong (!!-some of my opinions were formed on the debthelpwanabee chat section on here-check it out!).

Ok...1stly of course we make some money....we have to live.

Secondly.....on the service fee issue link (for ryanair) I agree '1/2 & 1/2' so to speak. If worked in a High Street Shop & someone asked me to book a ryanair seat-yes i would charge a fee, but I'd always suggest they try the local internet cafe 1st!!!!

Now...if it was being used as part of the overall package then no fees would be charges as we'd make the money from the Hotel.

As far as the family issue goes...well 1stly our company has a 24 hour number for emergencies, 2ndly the companies that provide our hotels all have a 24 hour emergency contact (check some of the popular ones, many do not so if a problem at 3am you stuck till the office opens or till monday am if arriving early hours sunday) so with one call we can take it over & move them quickly if needed, without the need for them to have the stress of being stuck.

Blindman....the Industry is changing rapidly. I'm 39 & started in retail travel many years ago (!!!) & have also worked overseas. My last 7 odd years or so of working for myself have been great as I've 'dynamicaly packaged' (horrible industry buzz-word!) for over 6 years-just like you do. Our profit if you like comes from the fact that in most cases we're 20/25% cheaper than what the public can get (for main med/beach/dom rep/mexico, etc...).

As an example....if you book with ryanair you're tied to their terms & conditions (not singling out ryanair-think they are great but low cost airlines 'customer services' (!) can leave a lot to be desired!). If you booked with an independant who packed as an atol package then you are given the travel agents terms & conditions, which are infinately better than just the low cost airlines! Hope I'm making myself clear...

I 100% agree with you though in relation to your bog-standard high street agents though.

Just on one point (& this is not to start a big thread-just a funny observation!), I had a customer who wanted 8 passengers, 2 weeks, to the Mitsis Norida beach in Kos. Now we get very good ratess directly from them & I thought 'hey-nice booking if I can get it'. The customer had been on this site & seen Martins tv show about 'playing one off against the other' to reach the 'base' price. Now Martins example if I recall was an nd of Summer/early Autumn carrribean deal-no manic August, seats not as much in demand/phones not as busy so the customers on tv phoned round & 'hey presto'-big discounts! This lady wanted 27 July this year. I said to her 'yes-we'll better that price by 'x' £'ss' but you MUST book now/very very soon as only 10 seats left & prices can change'. I knoew she was going to take my price away & try with another Agent. She came back to me 2 hours later-having knocked a further £10 pp off the price & said if I dropped it a further £5 she'd book now. Ok I thought...commisions been knocked down but a quick sale for 8 pax. Went in for the flights-had gone up £50 pp (!) & the special offer rooms on the Hotel has gone. Upshot-£90 pp dearer! She booked it in the end but so regretted trying to play the game.

What people forget is that in Peak Season it's supply & demand & prices can go UP too!

leosayer39

Holidayguru

I have recently pm'd you

Leo

ethansmum

its £45 each on long haul flights!!