Or the 500,000 bookings are all paying £10 each less than it costs TC to be profitable. If customers demand cheap fares/hotels and TC run at a loss, no amount of forward bookings will make them profitable.
Well, yes, I agree. That's what the bit about employing the wrong model meant. There's clearly plenty of demand out there; the fact that they can't service that demand whilst making a profit is where the problem lies.Or the 500,000 bookings are all paying £10 each less than it costs TC to be profitable. If customers demand cheap fares/hotels and TC run at a loss, no amount of forward bookings will make them profitable.
Well, yes, I agree. That's what the bit about employing the wrong model meant. There's clearly plenty of demand out there; the fact that they can't service that demand whilst making a profit is where the problem lies.
You can blame that on the consumer if you like, but it doesn't change the fact that their business model wasn't sustainable.
Those 500,000 people will still be wanting to go on their holidays and someone will find a way of making that happen at a profit. Hopefully whoever that is will pick up a lot of the staff that have lost their jobs today.
We're in broad agreement on this. Unfortunately, that's just the way a lot of consumers are.Why I blame it on the consumer is this: move the argument sideways for a moment. Everyone is happy to book Ryan Air because they will get you to a European destination for £20 BUT when things go wrong the punter wants a hotel for the night and compensation and to be flown home the next day by a rival airline all at Ryan Airs cost. You cannot have cheap flights and all the benefits as well. TC, as you say were far too aggressive in their price cutting and then couldn't cope with the problems in Egypt and elsewhere, they over extended and seemed reluctant to reign it in.
The Government effectively had the casting vote on whether Tommy Cook’s went out of business because RBS and Lloyd’s pulled the plug on a deal. It was clear any Government support was focussed on helping holiday makers get home since yesterday. They mustn’t have felt the business was recoverable or weren’t prepared to distort the market.
My wife works for them and if they pull the plug tomorrow as expected she'll not get paid this month. No idea how we'll pay the mortgage on the 1st October. Nightmare
Tui is now the only full package tour operator in Britain (integrating their own planes in the package and getting discounts on block booking hotel rooms). Everyone else is just mixing and matching flights and hotels and putting ABTA/ATOL protection on it. In most cases it's cheaper DIY but without those protections - but you can still claim off credit cards.Presumably TUI will now benefit from the demise of Thomas Cook.
Tui is now the only full package tour operator in Britain (integrating their own planes in the package and getting discounts on block booking hotel rooms). Everyone else is just mixing and matching flights and hotels and putting ABTA/ATOL protection on it. In most cases it's cheaper DIY but without those protections - but you can still claim off credit cards.
Why I blame it on the consumer is this: move the argument sideways for a moment. Everyone is happy to book Ryan Air because they will get you to a European destination for £20 BUT when things go wrong the punter wants a hotel for the night and compensation and to be flown home the next day by a rival airline all at Ryan Airs cost. You cannot have cheap flights and all the benefits as well. TC, as you say were far too aggressive in their price cutting and then couldn't cope with the problems in Egypt and elsewhere, they over extended and seemed reluctant to reign it in.
Tui is now the only full package tour operator in Britain (integrating their own planes in the package and getting discounts on block booking hotel rooms). Everyone else is just mixing and matching flights and hotels and putting ABTA/ATOL protection on it. In most cases it's cheaper DIY but without those protections - but you can still claim off credit cards.
It isn’t “what the punter wants.”
It’s EU law.
TC didn't fly to Amsterdam (I don't think) so it sounds like TC was just acting as a travel agent. Check with airline if they still think the flight is booked - but if the hotel hasn't been paid then they may not honour the booking and you are looking to ATOL for compensation. What they do if your flight is still OK but not other parts of the package I'm not sure.What’s happening to those who have already paid for a holiday or break in the next few months,I only ask as my daughter and her boy had booked to go to Amsterdam for 3-4 nights with Thomas cook,will they be reimbursed or is it gone down the plug hole ...
Not impressed with Tui profiteering on the back of folks misery. Supply and demand and make a few bob more why yes but a more or less doubling of prices overnight is shameful..Feeding frenzy in motion and a rising of prices across the board.