Thomas Cook - what you need to know - MSE News

bobblebob wrote: »

Got another email today from Gold Medal saying my flights are still available as Thomas Cook used them to book them, and they have been unsuccessful in contacting me regarding what i want to do. They then say if i dont ring them by the 31st the will automatically cancel them.


Ive applied for an ATOL refund so dont want the flights now the rest of the holiday has been cancelled, but im abit reluctant to ring them and cancel the flights myself. Im not sure how it will look for my ATOL refund if they see i have cancelled the flights, rather than the agent cancelling them on my behalf, or if it will even matter?

I assume you have a Thomas Cook ATOL certificate? (Some have had certificates from Gold Medal Travel.)

Best way to find out if effects your ATOL claim though might be to contact Gold Medal anonymously and ask some hypothetical questions before committing to any cancellation either way. Just refuse to give your details and talk generally to see where you stand financially. If they say cancelled flights are paid back by ATOL then happy days, if they say ATOL are checking and you will only get back the hotel then you need to ask if they will do the refund for the flights. There are lots of ways this could play out, at least you can talk to Gold Medal, by the sounds of it no one can talk to ATOL about their claim.

Yea Thomas Cook ATOL. The ATOL website states this:

If you booked a holiday with Thomas Cook but your flights are with an airline unrelated to the Thomas Cook Group, your flights may still be available. If you wish to travel, you can do so and make a claim to ATOL for the cost of replacing your other travel services. You are not obliged to use your flights and can instead claim a refund under the ATOL scheme

So legally it seems i can claim a refund as part of the package holiday has been cancelled, even though the flights havent. Ive only paid the deposit for the holiday, so my flights havent actually been paid for yet anyway so assume if i wanted them i would need to pay Gold Medal directly. I will email them see what they say. Like i said i just want the deposit i paid Thomas Cook back and i will start again afresh, just dont want a cancelled flight that i initiate to forfeit my rights

Browntoa wrote: »

I'm not aware of anyone getting an ATOL refund yet looking around

I havent heard anything back. Guess its a waiting game. Got a claim ref but no emails from CAA since submitting day after form available

Yes , part of the issue seems to be the very poor quality of the data the CAA managed to get from TC . They SHOULD have been able to easily supply details of each booking including names and payment etc but apparently not .

Sorts of sums up the way the whole company was run