May I suggest that next time you book a holiday you book it with a tour operator that has it's own airline - that way you know who you will be flying with (which seldom changes) and in our experience even booking sometimes 12 months in advance the times change very little. I know Kosmar are cheap and have a vast array of accommodation in Greece but sometimes cheap is not the best!!

Pippa

yes i will endevour to follow that advise. i made the mistake of thinking that as i booked through tomas cook that i would be booking through a company which ensures its packages were unlikly to change.

more fool me eh.

hopefully when i go to the travel agents tomorrow i will be able to get this mess sorted out and alter the holiday to 2 weeks instead as there is no way of getting even close to the original times evn by using oftehr airlines.

If you change to two weeks will you have to pay an amendment fee?

If you are flying from Exeter (I am guessing here as you mentioned you were flying from Devon), then there would be very few airlines to choose from anyway

Good luck with getting your holiday changed. Seems like a lot of expense to go through, to get your 9 hours you are going to book an extra week Are you sure you didn't just want an excuse to extend to a fortnight

The small print in the back of the Kosmar brochure, doesn't mention anything about length of holiday, however, it does state the following:

When a major change becomes necessary, we will inform you or the travel agent, as soon as it is reasonable possible, if there is time before your departure.

A major change is one that we make to your holiday arrangements before departure which involves a change of UK airport, resort area, accommodation to one of a lower price or international flight time of more than 12 hours (not including flight delays) or change from a day flight to night flight and the flight departure time changes by more than 6 hours. (night flight means deaprture from the UK between 20:00 - 04:30 or arrival in the UK between 24:00 -04:30. You may then either:

a) accept the changes
b) purchase another available holiday from us or
c) cncel your holiday

if you chose a or b then you will be paid compensation.

From the flight times you have given it doesnt apear that they would constitute this as a major change, therefore it doesn't look like the above would apply.

Kath HT Admin

as it happens according to kosmar dspite what i was told over the phone by them yesterday i would lose my despoit for canceling.

i did incur a fee but that was as a result of having to change the date of holiday and also the accomodation

i was flying from bristol. nothing goes from exeter. i think its just a big place where you see plane land but never ake off

ta for all your help.

i was flying from bristol. nothing goes from exeter. i think its just a big place where you see plane land but never ake off

you'd be surprised, off to Tunisia in 3 weeks from there. Plus - shock horror - sometimes you can fly from there to New York

In brochure 8 a.m. flight. I have just been notified of airline and flight time changes, Birmingham to Kalamata 1 p.m. now 4.15 p.m. we won't arrive in resort until after midnight, similar on return flight, the main thing that worries me is the airline they are now using, Scandia, they have terrible reviews, it seems to me they are just asking for trouble. I have written to Kosmar usual answer "refer to the booking conditions" I really think there should be more legislation governing these tour operators, as they seem to be able to take your money and then just do what they please. Like a lot of people, we chose this particular holiday because of the convenient flight times. Just wish I had read these reviews before I booked, maybe I shall be able to write a review on return saying how good accommodation, reps etc were after all, lets wait and see

It all comes down to the fact that you are happy to pay the lesser prices with Kosmar but still expect all aspects of the holiday to match with a dearer tour operator.Some of the accomodations in the Kosmar brochure are available in other brochures and a price comparison for the same holiday can be quite a shock.We travel with Kosmar twicea year, and yes we have had flight times changed,but we accept that some things are beyond Kosmars control.After all the brochures are produced so far in advance that some things might not be written in stone.Stop getting in a state and make the best of things and have a good holiday.

when it comes to flight time changes there is nothing you can do. the same has happened with me out bound and inbound and my flights are just ridiculous ie arriving at tenerife at 5.05 am instead of midnight. i actually loose a days holiday as i depart 23.59!! i was angry when my flight tickets came through as the flights are just unreal now BUT i have to just get on with it. lucky i am staying for 2 weeks so hopefully i wont mind too much the loss of a day and the next day after spending some time in bed.

i realise changes occur but i do think that flights should be set in stone before the main season starts. i booked about 2 months ago aswell.

BUT i will have a super holiday regardless

May I suggest that next time you book a holiday you book it with a tour operator that has it's own airline - that way you know who you will be flying with (which seldom changes) and in our experience even booking sometimes 12 months in advance the times change very little.

It used to be like that pre 9/11, but my experience in recent years is that it doesn't apply anymore. Judging by the complaints elsewhere on this forum about tour operators who do have their own arilines switching flights at the last minute, it would seem that it is many other people's experience, also.

when it comes to flight time changes there is nothing you can do.

Actually, sometimes there is. It depends upon the circumstances. I pursued a complaint over flight changes against a tour operator recently, and obtained a court judgement which equated to around a third of the holiday cost.

The law stipulates that a tour operator is not allowed to make changes to your flight arrangements purely for their own convenience, or to turn a greater profit; the flight changes have to be justifiable and unavoidable.

If you paid your holiday balance in full before the changes were made, then a tour operator is under an absolute obligation to pay you compensation under the ABTA code of Conduct and the package travel regulations, which always take precedence over a tour operators' small print. This applies whether or not you choose to accept the changes and proceed with the holiday, or cancel and have a full refund.

no offence mrsj but i wouldnt go that far over flight times. my flights have changened and i am loosing a day but so what atleast i am fortunate enough to be able to go abroad and have a holiday. dont let something as trivial as flight times ruin your holiday. im sure my times have chnagened for a valid reason

no offence mrsj but i wouldnt go that far over flight times.

I'm sure that a lot of people wouldn't. It is the principal reason why tour operators behave in this fashion, because they know that 99% of the time they will get away with doing it pretty much scot free. I took it as far as I did on point of principle; not because of the money aspect of it.

im sure my times have chnagened for a valid reason

I hope your trust is not misplaced. In our case, the tour operator didn't have a valid reason. We were bumped from the independently chartered flight we should have gone on, to a night flight a day later on one of the tour operators planes that they were having trouble filling. We later discovered that not only was the flight we should have flown on still operating as planned, but the tour operator was still advertising holidays for sale flying on it through one of their other companies

i see well in your case mrsj i think you were justified. personally i am not overly bothered by my flight changes but if i felt i was being taken as a mug then i would have done something about it