I'm not surprised Thomas Cook have gone under

[Burningcheeks]

Their service was shambolic. I actually got up & walked out mid-booking because they gave me no confidence at all. The staff didn't know their arse from their elbow. I was trying to book one of their packages to the Monaco Grand Prix & it was costing thousands. They were making a complete balls of it. If that was happening on the shop floor I wonder what else was happening higher up? I feel very sorry for all those let down & the enormous number of ensuing job losses.

@nononever I see not point using somewhere like Trailfinders if you also have to do your own research as well.

@nononever I see not point using somewhere like Trailfinders if you also have to do your own research as well.

Really? Well for a start we have ATOL protection, good no? Regardless of what company we book with we always do our research, there is no way we are booking somewhere without knowing location/area etc. We like the option to choose our flights and accommodation and then hand our wish list to a travel company.

Oh and if there is one thing I love doing is researching holidays .

Just as an aside, I do it for my friends too. Researching a holiday for my friend and her family to the US right now.

We used Trailfinders, because we did the research to find out which safari parks, we wanted to go to in Africa; but had no idea which safari camps were best; and then how to go about arranging the transfer from say one park in Zambia to another; and then onto one in Tanzania. We wanted people, who maintained their vehicles well and were reliable! It’s better to use an agency with access to that local knowledge and the pull to ensure things happen!

In Africa, the meaning of time is elastic!

9,000 job losses in the UK, 1,000 of them in Peterborough. For that alone I am sad.

I see not point using somewhere like Trailfinders if you also have to do your own research as well.

I agree - we actually did know our way around a lot of NZ as we'd been before but this was a more remote part of the South Island and we relied on Trailfinders - I kind of thought that was the point of using them, but they mucked it up because it turned out the person who put it together didn't know the area either.

It is such a fucking obnoxious insult to act like it's SO AMAZING for people over 60 to be using the internet! So condescending and rude.

To the individuals who are saying this, you do realise do you not, that it was THIS generation (and the one before them,) who INVENTED the internet, and computers, and so on.

Stop being so damn rude.

Re Thomas Cook. Yep it's a shame and I feel sorry for all the staff and everyone involved. Millions of people have been made redundant in their lifetime though (or will be if they haven't already.)

Unfortunately, they will have to deal with it, like everyone else has had to at some time or other.

After 30 years of organising my own holidays I was thinking of trying a package holiday next year for convenience and also because you are better protected should anything go wrong. Also it is sometimes cheaper. Aren't all inclusive holidays package deals usually?

While booking online is of course a challenge to the industry it’s simply not true that no one books a package any more. In 2018 49% of British holiday makers travelling abroad booked a package. Independent agents are growing, I work in the travel industry and a lot of miniples are expanding and the homeworking model is growing hugely. Thomas Cook unfortunately was so large it became inflexible. Lots of bad decisions made asking the way with the acquisition of MyTravel and Coop stretching them too thin. It certainly doesn’t mean the end of the travel agent, I think we’ll see a resurgence of small independent specialist agencies who can tailor make packages while
Bucket and spade holidays will increasingly move online.

It is such a fucking obnoxious insult to act like it's SO AMAZING for people over 60 to be using the internet! So condescending and rude.

Has anyone said they are talking about "over 60" when they say older people? I think that people over 80 are less likely to use the internet particularly if not very educated. They probably don't travel much anyway though so still wouldn't be using travel agents now much.

@woodchuck99

I think that people over 80 are less likely to use the internet particularly if not very educated.

Fucking hell, this thread is going from bad to worse!

Seriously, just stop!

What a horrible thread. I have friends who will lose their jobs due to TC collapsing. A PP was right, some people have no fucking compassion

My DM discovered the internet when she was 90, and now uses it all the time, as do most of her friends.

Far too expensive for me, if you have more than 2 children it wasn’t worth it. I’m not surprised but it’s still very sad.

You do know that holidays aimed at elderly people who struggle with the internet use direct mail to market holidays? There are quite a few firms who send out brochures. My mum gets sent them.

@nononever I research and book all our holidays online. So I do research hotels and what we are doing. But the point of paying somewhere like Trailfinders is so they do the work for you.

YABU. What a nasty thread, all those people have lost their jobs.

Personally I find researching flights, hotels, transfers, etc boring AF and a faff so use agents (haven't used TC). It doesn't mean they are old or not switched on to the internet . It's a person preference same as some people don't like using AirB&B, we've had some awful experiences with them

I am not wholly surprised and feel for those who have lost their jobs. Part of me thinks the impact is less than it could have been given the time of year- imagine if it had been over Christmas or in August.

What sadly will happen is that there will be companies who have extra profits because of their collapse. I also hope that the slots at airports which will go to other companies does not lead to any monopolies by one airline for particular routes or particular airports.

Whilst I think they would have closed at some point, I think that the uncertainty over Brexit must have affected forward bookings and contributed.

Fucking hell, this thread is going from bad to worse!

Erm.. Why? I didn't say that nobody over 80 uses the internet. Of course they do including my parents. Quite a few of my parents friends and my friends parents don't though. It is less likely although as I said they are less likely to travel anyway.

My Mum uses the internet all the time and she was born the same year as Tim Berners - Lee who invented it.
Feel very sad for all those who've lost their jobs

FFS there is always denial on MN that anyone older does not use the internet. 2.6 million people aged over 75 have never used the internet. Its great if your elderly family members do, but plenty don't. And plenty of these people do still go on holiday.

But the point of paying somewhere like Trailfinders is so they do the work for you.

We trust our own judgement when booking a holiday. We compile our wish list and get them to book it. We are not going to spend a small fortune on a holiday where an agent has chosen our accommodation because they think it's right for us. We know exactly what we want. They do the work of booking the flights and accommodation we have chosen. As I said before it gives us much better protection than booking independently.

We have booked DIY in the past as recently as a few months ago to Australia and hit the ground running, but our upcoming trip involves 7 round trip flights and multiple accommodations in different countries so hell yeah we want to be ATOL protected. Plus TF are at the end of a phone if we have any issues.

Oh and TF was almost identical in price to a DIY job, probably slightly cheaper so DIY or TF no difference apart from the all important protection if any part of the trip goes bust.

I might be in the minority but I enjoy researching trips.

I don't like package holidays

What is it exactly that you dislike about having your flights, transfers and hotel organised for you? Because that is all a package holiday is.

We went on two package holidays this year
The first one to a lovely hotel in an old manor house in Madeira
The second one to a low key resort on a Greek island.

Neither holiday was a Brits abroad holiday. Neither hotel was exclusively full of Brits, but had people from all over Europe. Neither holiday felt like a “package”. The package part was merely a means of getting someone else to do the donkeywork for me. As we are adults we avoid hotels aimed at families, and we avaoid all inclusive holidays.

I booked a package because there was no way I could have bought flights, hotel and transfers more cheaply

Our summer holiday last year and the year before were cheaper as package holidays than booking independently, especially when you added in the cost of transfers.

When DD’s interrail ticket had the wrong dates on I booked all her point to point train travel online. I’m nearly 61. I’m not incapable of booking a holiday piecemeal, I just don’t always want the faff, and I’m happy to pay someone else to do it.

I agree that the ageism on this thread is disgusting. I suspect the posters being rude about older people aren’t even old enough to remember how holidays were booked before the advent of budget airlines and the internet

I hope all the people who have lost their jobs will be able to find work quickly

I am surprised it was not more expensive. My friends who have booked through trailfinders have paid more than me, but accept this as part of not having to do the research.
I do the research and see no point having to pay someone to actually book it. I have good travel insurance anyway so don't need ATOL protection.