Thomas Cook ceased operations worldwide.

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Uzin

Guest
I read some hotels in Tunisia stop Thomas Cook guests leaving until they pay for their hotel stay, "again"... !? They say we won't be paid by TC, so you must pay - but guests have already paid for their package...!!!

In other places they are just kicked out on the street.. !, I guess that is the problem with tour operators paying hotels in arrears.... IATA should look into that, maybe they should pay in advance or at least in part etc...

Feel sorry for them, what a mess to be in....!
 
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KyleMackey

Guest
Uzin said:
I read some hotels in Tunisia stop Thomas Cook guests leaving until they pay for their hotel stay, "again"... !? They say we won't be paid by TC, so you must pay - but guests have already paid for their package...!!!

In other places they are just kicked out on the street.. !, I guess that is the problem with tour operators paying hotels in arrears.... IATA should look into that, maybe they should pay in advance or at least in part etc...

Feel sorry for them, what a mess to be in....!
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That is insane. British news seems to indicate most got out without paying extra on Sunday.
 
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melphis

Guest
I was in northern England this spring and one thing that really surprised me was how may Travel Agencies there were. That and the fact they all had a ton of people in them doing business.

Years ago they were fairly common in western Canada but most have disappeared. For the past 10 - 15 years my wife and I have booked our own travel as it is more convenient. I wonder why the Brits never caught on sooner?
 
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Uzin

Guest
melphis said:
I was in northern England this spring and one thing that really surprised me was how may Travel Agencies there were. That and the fact they all had a ton of people in them doing business.

Years ago they were fairly common in western Canada but most have disappeared. For the past 10 - 15 years my wife and I have booked our own travel as it is more convenient. I wonder why the Brits never caught on sooner?
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They are late to catch up. But the problem was they filled up those shops for cut-price, cheap or special promotion/offer packages (sometime half-price !), very low margin, it did not even pay for the shop and staff - so big turn arounds and large numbers, but low profit and not much money left for TC - hence their demise....
 
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cobraboy

Guest
melphis said:
I was in northern England this spring and one thing that really surprised me was how may Travel Agencies there were. That and the fact they all had a ton of people in them doing business.

Years ago they were fairly common in western Canada but most have disappeared. For the past 10 - 15 years my wife and I have booked our own travel as it is more convenient. I wonder why the Brits never caught on sooner?
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Being in "the business" I can answer that question somewhat.

North Anericans and Europeans, including Brits, "holiday" differently.

North Americans tend to travel alone, so it's easy to make arrangements online by yourself.

Many Europeans and Brits travel in groups, often the same employer or social groups. There are social groups just for travel. So when you have 30-100+ people traveling together at the same time, it's easier to use a travel agent.

I get calls frequently from European and Brit travel agencies wanting to book 20+ motorcyclists. No way I'd do that many. I limit tours to 7 riders max. Besides, the EU requires all manner of insurance, health disclaimers, emissions standards, yadda yadda yadda with which I have no interest in complying.
 
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Drake

Guest
Thomas Cook was founded in 1841. In its heyday it counted Winston Churchill among its customers. But on September 23rd Britain’s oldest travel agent collapsed. Now the post mortems begin. Thomas Cook sold package holidays. But its demise is not a sign of a weak market; the industry is, if anything, enjoying a resurgence. The number of Britons going abroad on “inclusive tours” actually rose from 14.3m in 2010 to 18.2m in 2018. Rather, the firm racked up too much debt with ill-judged takeovers and maintained too many branches. New online-only travel agents easily undercut Thomas Cook on price. Only one tour operator in Europe still owns shops, airliners and hotels itself: TUI of Germany. But even TUI could struggle to fight off the next wave of competition from low-cost carriers. With margins on flights squeezed, the likes of Ryanair hope to leaven their profits by turning their websites into one-stop holiday shops. Quoted Economist Expresso site
 
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KyleMackey

Guest
Drake said:
Thomas Cook was founded in 1841. In its heyday it counted Winston Churchill among its customers. But on September 23rd Britain’s oldest travel agent collapsed. Now the post mortems begin. Thomas Cook sold package holidays. But its demise is not a sign of a weak market; the industry is, if anything, enjoying a resurgence. The number of Britons going abroad on “inclusive tours” actually rose from 14.3m in 2010 to 18.2m in 2018. Rather, the firm racked up too much debt with ill-judged takeovers and maintained too many branches. New online-only travel agents easily undercut Thomas Cook on price. Only one tour operator in Europe still owns shops, airliners and hotels itself: TUI of Germany. But even TUI could struggle to fight off the next wave of competition from low-cost carriers. With margins on flights squeezed, the likes of Ryanair hope to leaven their profits by turning their websites into one-stop holiday shops. Quoted Economist Expresso site
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Read that TC had around 600 retail stores, and that surprised me in this day and age.
 
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frank recktenwald

Guest
Many hotels around the Mediterranean depend almost a 100% on Cook and they're used to getting paid after the season ends which is now. They're up $hit creek because they won't get paid.
 
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RDKNIGHT

Guest
melphis said:
I was in northern England this spring and one thing that really surprised me was how may Travel Agencies there were. That and the fact they all had a ton of people in them doing business.

Years ago they were fairly common in western Canada but most have disappeared. For the past 10 - 15 years my wife and I have booked our own travel as it is more convenient. I wonder why the Brits never caught on sooner?
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Most likey to busy drinking in the pubs
 
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beeza

Guest
Thomas Cook crew and passengers are being held hostage for non payment of hotel bills in Cuba.

The passengers are covered by the ATOL guarantee, although Cuba says it does not recognize it. The pilots and cabin crew are being held at their crew hotel and not free to leave until a bill is paid. They do not fall under the ATOL protection and they've just been told there will be no paycheck this month.

British Airways scored a blinding own goal by asking $10,000 each for the four seats left on a flight from Las Vegas to rescue stranded TC crew. Virgin stepped up and flew them all home for free.

These people are some of my friends and ex colleagues.

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-49820686
 
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windeguy

Guest
Just saw this on a local Facebook page:

News this morning is that Condor Airlines have received bridging financing from the German government and the Hessen regional government and will continue flying for the foreseeable future.

Good news for me - I am booked with them in a couple of weeks.

Good news for Sosua - they have flights scheduled to POP starting early November.

Future still uncertain.
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frank recktenwald

Guest
If I'd be a hotel owner I'd let the guests stay for free in the rooms but charge them for the food.
At least some money will be made.
 
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cobraboy

Guest
frank recktenwald said:
If I'd be a hotel owner I'd let the guests stay for free in the rooms but charge them for the food.
At least some money will be made.
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Would depend on occupancy. I'd set a limit to my generosity and understanding to allow time to get their situation together, but not open-ended. Maybe 2-3 nights IF I had the rooms available.

This is why I suggest to all of my guests to buy travel insurance.
 
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KyleMackey

Guest
cobraboy said:
Would depend on occupancy. I'd set a limit to my generosity and understanding to allow time to get their situation together, but not open-ended. Maybe 2-3 nights IF I had the rooms available.

This is why I suggest to all of my guests to buy travel insurance.
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Speaking of insurance, do resorts have policies that reimburse them for non payment by an operator like Thomas Cook, who was already paid by customers?
 
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cobraboy

Guest
KyleMackey said:
Speaking of insurance, do resorts have policies that reimburse them for non payment by an operator like Thomas Cook, who was already paid by customers?
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I have no idea.

I know travel agencies in the EU have serious insurance, but don't know if it's like a bond to creditors.
 
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TropicalPaul

Guest
The situation with hotels is that they will be paid for the nights after Thomas Cook went under, until the end of someone's stay by ATOL. But for nights up until last Sunday when Thomas Cook went under they have to make a claim on the liquidators, and in reality it's unlikely they will see much money given the amount of a mess the company was in. If you were operating a hotel and you had someone who had already been in the hotel for 10 nights at the point that Thomas Cook went under and then you are told that you would only definitely be getting paid for the remainder of their stay, I can completely understand why you would try to get the guest to pay. Everyone keeps telling guests that they should not pay, and everyone is worried about whether guests are suffering, but nobody is thinking about the poor hotels and their staff. This year has been truly horrendous for most hotels in Dom Rep and nobody has money they can afford to lose.
 
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william webster

Guest
Apparently Thos Cook pays hotels 'in arrears' - meaning after the stay....... I read this

So Trop Paul is right - the road to payment is rocky and the hotels are suffering already.

My natural thought was that the hotels would be paid when Cook was paid (thereabouts)
apparently not
 
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