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Thomas Cook - Gone

Got to feel for the staff of Thomas Cook, as well as anyone who has booked a holiday with them , big repatriation job ongoing.

Have used them in the past, shame, it’s getting harder and harder for businesses to survive.
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Comments

  • They were a big player in the package holiday industry. 
    With Thomas cook going bust I can only see prices rising sharply for next summer. 
  • A friends Daughter is getting married in Jamaica in December, the whole family were going over by Thomas Cook. They must be devastated.
  • I think this was a long time coming, but failure to adapt to the way people holiday being the most significant. They have loads of travel agencies, and they are only used by a fraction of people nowadays. People much prefer booking flights and hotels through the Internet for example, so Thomas Cook are left with massive outgoings and declining profit. They apparently had a dreadful merger a few years ago too.

    Add the weak pound putting people off, and they couldn't cope with it
  • One of my friends works for them. She's nearing retirement but what will happen to their pension?

    Another friend is 'stuck' somewhere pleasant in Turkey and not too worried.

  • A very sad loss to the industry. Hate seeing long standing established names go to the wall.

    i know all you millennials are comfortable with breaking down booking components, but the simplicity of a package holiday takes a great deal of stress out of the process, particularly for families and older people. 

    Suspect from today thats just got a little bit more expensive.
    Agree. We used Jet2 for a  beach holiday in Spain classic, and there was little thought involved. Still all done online
  • I can see the Thomas Cook trade mark still being worth a lot of money. That'll get sold in no time
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  • They were shockingly inefficient. A friend of mine here worked for them until a couple of years ago. An example is that when he changed roles a couple of years before he left, his new job meant he no longer had a company car, but a fixed car allowance. In the following two years they continued to pay him the allowance and never took back the car - even though he told them several times to begin with. In the end he just kept pocketing the money. I think he got a pay rise and they were also supposed to change from paying him in sterling to paying him in euros, which also never happened. So he got the rise agreed but in £ meaning (at the time) about 20% higher wages. Again he informed them more than once, but no-one would take responsibility for sorting it out.

    Very sad for the staff that are left and the poor customers who have been let down. We lost out when Monarch went phutt, but it was small beer compared with what many will face. :'(         
  • Will any more package companies go under? 

    I know you get your money back but is it worth the risk of losing your holiday?

    Maybe better to do it yourself with a credit card!
  • Feel sorry for the staff and those whose holidays have been affected.

    Some may argue it’s progress in this changing world, parallels with Uber and Black Cabs.

    Don’t worry though, the CEO and the rest of the directors will end up in similar roles at another company still being paid top dollar.





  • rananegra said:
    I think what's surprising to me is that the cost of the bridging loan is about £200M: what is the cost of them going bust in terms of repatriations, redundancies and pensions now being picked up by the public purse, not to mention the extra in benefits paid to all the staff who've lost jobs. Another short-sighted decision by the government.
    The vast majority of the repatriation cost is covered by ATOL which is funded by the travel industry via every holiday you book for this exact reason.


  • Feel sorry for the staff and those whose holidays have been affected.

    Some may argue it’s progress in this changing world, parallels with Uber and Black Cabs.

    Don’t worry though, the CEO and the rest of the directors will end up in similar roles at another company still being paid top dollar.





    Always the worst part of any Company going out of business!!
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  • They were a big player in the package holiday industry. 
    With Thomas cook going bust I can only see prices rising sharply for next summer. 
    Or alternatively, all those hotels that have thousands of rooms block booked out in advance by Thomas Cook, will now have to sell them off to other tour operators or direct to the public.
  • rananegra said:
    I think what's surprising to me is that the cost of the bridging loan is about £200M: what is the cost of them going bust in terms of repatriations, redundancies and pensions now being picked up by the public purse, not to mention the extra in benefits paid to all the staff who've lost jobs. Another short-sighted decision by the government.
    The 200 million would of only delayed the inevitable. 
    I believe the total dept is about 1.5 billion and was growing. 
    Very sad for all involved, but can't go throwing good money after bad. No-one would have continued booking with Thomas Cook knowing that it was in such a bad state.

  • Will any more package companies go under? 

    I know you get your money back but is it worth the risk of losing your holiday?

    Maybe better to do it yourself with a credit card!
       There was a fella just on the radio stuck in Turkey, that has done just that.

    Unfortunately his credit card booked flight was with Thomas Cook.

    It's ironic because it's that kind of do it yourself behaviour that has put pay to TC.
  • About 10 years ago, I recall a travel agent friend of mine telling me that Thomas Cook would be in trouble somewhere down the line as they were greedily buying up smaller chains and independents galore. Around that time, you’d often see 2 TC shops in the same town or High Street. 
  • I have used them a few times to go to Cuba. The issue is, if you go into their shops and book they are much more expensive than the same Thomas Cook holiday on online sites.  The shop service isn't that great that people would rather do it than book online. They ususally add a couple of kgs of luggage and that's about it. 

    A couple of years ago, they stopped using a favourite hotel of ours. Fair enough, but we decided to book the hotel seperately (through Travel Republic) and get the flights through Thomas Cook. We went into the shop and were quoted over 1k each. We checked online and got the same Thomas Cook flights for less than half the price. We saved a lot of money that holiday doing it how we did.

    More and more people who go on holiday are tech savy enough to do it all online. The times have moved beyond the company. Although it would be interesting to see how Tui is doing. If it is doing well, there may be other factors too.
  • I've flown on Thomas Cook flights in the past and regretted it every time. They had the worst legroom of any carrier I had the displeasure of experiencing. I am sorry for Thomas Cook's customers and staff but I  hope this collapse hurts their management  and shareholders every bit as much as their lousy legroom hurt my knees.
  • They never properly recovered from buying out Co-op travel's retail outlets at a time when online booking was replacing traditional travel agents. Disastrous decision.
  • more competitors with skinnier margins

    example 

    same flights and hotel with olympic holidays 

    £673 pp 

    thomas cook 

    £1236 pp

    its a no brainer that people will shop around.
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