Thomas Cook Going Bust

[MummyShah369]

Really worried about thomas cook going under, we have booked a package holiday with loveholidays and they say its all ATOL protected, however the flights are with TC and there is a massive cost to book with another airline.
However if we keep current booking then ATOL protection means we get a refund. The issues is I want the holiday and not the refund!! The rep said they would try to find alternative flights.. however the demand will be high for this service if TC were to go burst.... so am thinking should I take a hit and just book an alternative?

I really dont understand how TC have got into such a mess their flights are always sold out and full when we travel with them!

I wouldn't book an alternative until it's confirmed they are in receivership.

In similar boat except not Atol protected as its flights only and not CC protected as bought with Visa.

Our holiday is Aug 2020.

I fear that even if they do find a reprisal this month they may still be wavering by our holiday.

Going to be a long year.

This is the first ever holiday abroad I have booked for my family and TBH I wish I never bothered.

Could be over £2k down and it took us ages to save that flight money.

Wish I'd just booked Haven now but my eldest is 15 and never been abroad so we but the bullet and this happens

Totoro

You may be able to use chargeback if you have paid via a visa based debit card.

Chargeback is a mechanism for your card issuer to reclaim money from the retailer’s bank.
This can allow your card issuer to provide you with a refund in a number of circumstances, including:
if you do not get the goods or services you paid for, including if the company has gone out of business
if goods or services turned out to be faulty, counterfeit or defective (you will need to return the goods in order to get a refund in this case)
if you are charged the wrong amount, or charged twice by mistake
if you are charged for a repeat payment after cancelling a subscription.
How chargeback works
Chargeback claims should be addressed to your debit or credit card issuer, who in turn will put in a request to the retailer's bank.
The process for managing chargeback claims is determined by a set of rules from American Express, MasterCard or Visa.
There are no guarantees your issuer will be able to recover the money through chargeback or that the trader will accept that you were justified in taking the money back.
Time limit
You should make a claim as soon as you identify the problem or are concerned about a transaction, as your card issuer usually needs to start the chargeback process within 120 days from when you made the transaction or when you were due to receive the goods or services.
Providing evidence
Your card issuer is required to provide evidence to the retailer’s bank to make a chargeback claim.
The evidence can be summarised in the form of a written letter or email from you or in a written form which the issuer fills in on your behalf following a discussion with you.
When you first contact your card issuer, you should provide the following information:
the name of the retailer you have paid money to
the date you paid the money and how you paid it (in store, over the phone or online)
a detailed description of the goods or services you paid for (e.g. colour, brand, size of goods) and estimated delivery dates
what has gone wrong with the goods or services delivery
proof of the return of goods to the retailer if they are faulty
if you know that the retailer has gone out of business, you should direct your card issuer to their website (where there will likely be a message from its insolvency practitioner).
Alongside the form the issuer may need to provide other evidence, and they may contact you after your first discussion with them to obtain this. This can include:
invoices
receipts
correspondence you have had with the retailer when trying to fix the problem.

Chargeback is not a legal right, unlike Section 75

Loveholidays are the agent; your contract is with the actual provider rather than loveholidays. TC got into a financial black hole because of poor financial management and over extension.

I would not rebook anything just yet.

Do you have an ATOL certificate?.

Would suggest you read this too:-

www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2019/09/thomas-cook-seeking-p200m-extra-funding-/

Yes got Atol cert but that's not the point money does not replace telling my boy he can't go on holiday

It’s just a waiting game, at least you will be covered should the worst happen and at least you will be reimbursed unlike those who have just booked flights.

I’m sure you will be able to book a similar holiday last minute.

Buy insurance now! Make sure it has end supplier/airline failure. Why don't people do this?

It's too late to buy insurance now as TC's situation has been well publicised.

But for anyone looking to book a holiday with any provider, insurance should be taken out at the point of booking.

Unfortunately the risk to TC has already been made public so buying insurance now is pointless, they will not cover your holiday

I only booked recently and didn't realise what was happening so insurance wouldn't have covered it anyway.

Looks like it’s over for them. Breaking news on Sky

Yup yet another British brand gone under... not sure what will happen but will need to tell ds that we will not be going on holiday

Has anyone started their claim yet? It says on the site that at normal times processing and payment t can take up 28 working days, longer at times like this with increased claims. We've lost a Disney holiday book for 28th March I cant book anything else until I receive the refund. Kids are upset and having a quick look today its costing 2 grand more with other companies. Just wondering how others are getting on.

@PerfectPenquins - I just looked on MSE and they are saying that the CAA reckon they will have the refund service up and running by 30 Sep, and aim to process all redunds within 60 days, so we could be waiting some time to get our money back

I managed to find alternative flights with easyjet but even as I was booking them the price kept on going up. As I did not want to loose the holiday I just decided to pay the extra and was told by live chat rep on loveholidays that I can claim the flight money.... the only minor issue is I need to book one more day at the hotel... anyway better then cancelling and lucky I can afford the extra cost.

We had a package booked with TC but with Easyjet flights. CAA wesbite is so confusing:

"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. You are advised to check with the airline if you are still able to travel. 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. We suggest you reconfirm your other travel services and ascertain the costs before you travel as your refund cannot exceed the entire cost of your package. "

So does that mean we contact Easyjet (our airline) and the hotel directly to see if what we have booked is still avialable?

@MummyShah369

I am in exactly the same boat. Booked next year's holiday with Loveholidays, and the flights are TC.

I'm really concerned that alternative flight prices will have rocketed, so even though the hotel part is safe, how would we even get there?

Got an email from LH today, saying that they will be in touch with my options, and that they are contacting their customers in date order of travel. I haven't bothered trying to get in touch with them, as I thought the queues would be through the roof.
Not sure if I should just wait for them to get in touch, or cancel the whole thing right away. Should I stop my DD payments?
Any advice would be welcome. Thanks.

Hi

I did get on live chat and told them that I found flight that was suitable and that I wanted to book it... as flights would go. They agreed and said I can and they will refund the flight portion from atol.

Given we are going during half term I just did not want to miss the holiday. Anyway if you find decent flights my advice is to book as cost is only likely to go one way... even when I was booking with easy jet the cost went up by 50 pound.in 20 mins when I did drop of for my boy

The flights available are double the cost of my original t.c. flights so no holiday for us. Hopefully get hotel money back too.

@Auntyfannybaws

Och, that's rubbish. Really hope you get something else sorted. Same with everyone else in the same boat.

I'm in the exact same position as you Dieu. Package bought on line through loveholidays and flight part of package are TC flights. I received the same email as you. Luckily, I think, we are paying them by monthly direct debit too so they have only had a couple of hundred quid so far. I know we won't be able to afford the additional costs of alternative flights, if any are found. As we're not flying til Aug 2020 I'm not expecting them to contact us this week with alternative flights as those poor sods due to fly sooner are quite rightly first in the queue. However, should I cancel my direct debit for the next payment due out next week? I just don't know what to do.
To be honest I'm more gutted for the staff losing jobs than my holiday. Especially when you read about the millions in bonuses taken by the CEO etc.

Yes really annoying that people got bonuses to the tune of 20 million pounds....

I would pay loveholidays the money they are a float and will sort things out given your flight is in 2020 no worries they would find a replacement

Does anyone know what happens when Thomas Cook were the agent for a cruise holiday? We paid TC the deposit but now NCL want us to pay again for the cruise deposit etc. Can't find anything relevant on CAA, Martin Lewis etc. I know we are luckier than a lot of people.

Just got an email from Loveholidays saying my holiday is cancelled and I will get a refund... they will not even bother with trying to sort the hotel out, I booked flights with easy jet to get to the hotel... anyway no response from their live chat and you cant get through on the phone. In the end I went directly to the hotel and actually got a better deal.

Given they have now just cancelled the whole transaction I guess I did well to book directly..... how annoying if I had not done this.