Is this brexit related?
Exchange rates and access to credit may be in some part Brexit related, but not enough to have on its own altered the outcome.
Thomas Cook collapses, stranding 150k UK holidaymakers
51–60 of 285 posts
Re: Thomas Cook collapses, stranding 150k UK holidaymakers
#52I was always wondering about the profit margins of these companies. From their prices I always felt that I am paying a portion of the previous guy's vacations. I'd call it a pyramid scheme, only everybody loses.
I have a future holiday booked with Thomas Cook. I paid a deposit, which I expect to get back through either ATOL or my credit card company. The overall cost was going to be less than I would have paid booking direct. They should probably have charged me more :(
Probably should check with the credit card company sooner rather than later.
Re: Thomas Cook collapses, stranding 150k UK holidaymakers
#53I was always wondering about the profit margins of these companies. From their prices I always felt that I am paying a portion of the previous guy's vacations. I'd call it a pyramid scheme, only everybody loses.
The big problem was its £1.4bn in debt, which really brought it down. Id be careful holding shares in companies with big debt if there's a coming downturn.
How's AT&T looking these days?
Re: Thomas Cook collapses, stranding 150k UK holidaymakers
#54Earlier quoted context omitted.
“Temporarily stuck until they can get a flight scheduled” is better, but wordy. These vacationers are in safe countries with good infrastructure. They definitely aren’t stranded like Tom Hanks in Cast Away. However, the other airlines can’t magic up 150,000 seats, so it might mean that some people will take a while to get home.
In one of the articles it said one hotel wasn't letting guests leave without paying more money, as the hotel believed they weren't going to get paid. So in some extreme cases it's not just about getting flights back to the UK.
Hmm, I’d be careful with this sort of behavior. Not letting people leave is the definition of kidnapping and I can’t think of any jurisdiction that doesn’t look dimly upon it.
Re: Thomas Cook collapses, stranding 150k UK holidaymakers
#55I was always wondering about the profit margins of these companies. From their prices I always felt that I am paying a portion of the previous guy's vacations. I'd call it a pyramid scheme, only everybody loses.
> profit margins of these companies
They are really low. They rely on large numbers of tourists to have a meaningful profit YoY.
Source: worked for a tourism company in early-to-mid 2000s.
Re: Thomas Cook collapses, stranding 150k UK holidaymakers
#56> Customers at a hotel in Tunisia reported being locked in by security guards as the hotel demanded extra money, fearing it would not be paid by Thomas Cook. This is quite bad behaviour from the hotel. Presumably their business relationship is with Thomas Cook, not the people on holidays? They went as far as grabbing people who jumped a wall in an attempt to get out! More details here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-4…
The Guardian article mentions that hotels have to wait up to 3 months to be paid by the holiday company. I can see why the Tunisian hotel did what they did, but you are correct that their business relationship is with Thomas Cook, not the holidaymakers. Meanwhile, Thomas Cook holidaymakers were anxious that they might be evicted from their hotels or charged again for their holidays. Holiday companies do not normally…
British travel agents that belong to ABTA, the national association, should have emergencies like this covered by insurance, so the money is there.
This is basically the nightmare scenario for a travel agent so you would think ABTA has an emergency process all set up and ready to go.
Re: Thomas Cook collapses, stranding 150k UK holidaymakers
#57I don't think "stranding" is the right word. For some time now, UK companies selling "package holidays" (with hotel, air, etc. all from one vendor and with one bill) are required to put up funds that the government uses to repatriate those who are already traveling when a company goes under: https://www.caa.co.uk/atol-protection/ Note that it does not cover trips that people put together themselves; in that case, I e…
Why does only cover "package holidays" and not all round-trip air tickets? That distinction doesn't make sense except as a subsidy of package deal providers...
It’s not a subsidy; the companies which sell package holidays need to put the cash up.
It was done because of financially unstable package holiday companies setting up and then failing leaving people stranded. Most people in the UK know to buy an ‘ATOL Protected’ holiday if they go for a package deal.
Re: Thomas Cook collapses, stranding 150k UK holidaymakers
#58Guardian reports: > Dozens of charter planes have been brought in from as far afield as Malaysia to assist with the mass airlift. Getting a charter plane has been quite difficult since the 737MAX grounding. Any excess capacity has been soaked up. There have been lots of unusual chartering by airlines that don’t usually charter. Air Canada had been using some, and it’s exceptionally rare for them to not use AC-branded…
On the other hand, there are presumably now about 50 fairly new Airbus aircraft for sale, mostly A320 or similar, plus some Boeing ones.
(Various sources give different numbers for the fleet size.)
Re: Thomas Cook collapses, stranding 150k UK holidaymakers
#59Strange... must be down from the 600k reported by Business Insider: https://www.businessinsider.com/thomas-cook-bankrupt-airline...
I was trying to figure this out too, other reputable sources cite 600k as well. There is some number of passengers who have not yet left on their trip, who are part of that number.
I'm wondering how one gets stranded before leaving on a trip (and that group makes up 75% of stranded people)
It's 150k UK vs. 600k total holidaymakers.
Re: Thomas Cook collapses, stranding 150k UK holidaymakers
#60One interesting part of the news coverage is that there are 600k customers involved, and only 150k of them are UK holidaymakers. Notice the lack of coverage of the other 450k?
The guardian is a British newspaper, so there's an understandable focus.
An additional factor may be the insurance situation: Some countries require travel organizers to set up insurance for these cases, ensuring that customers can still get back. I'm not 100% sure on this, but I think the UK doesn't have such requirements, which would worsen the situation for them in particular.