in a similar position but not with cosmos .
Booked a holiday to rhodes next year from the Libra brochure , 20kgs luggage, inflight meal , XL was the airline , on checking airline and departure airport nothing coming up , so contacted TA to be told carrier and time would be changing to Airtours flight , again on checking both airline and airport nothing again , but airport is showing Thomas Cook flights with a different time to what we were told .

Wilson, I am in a similar situation as I have flights to Dalaman booked with GB/BA next July. There are lots of us on HT who are concerned that they are not going to get the services with Easyjet that come standard with GB and also there is some doubt over whether all the routes will be offered by Easyjet, especially the longer flights to Egypt and Turkey. There is a long thread in the airlines section of this forum under GB Airways and also one on this complaints forum entitled 'GB Airways - refund required'.

I have today cancelled my holiday to lanzarote as it was to celebrate our silver wedding and would not want to be in the position of waiting to see what was going to happen nearer the time. Cosmos head office also said they didn't know what was going to happen about the flights and admitted there may be a chance these will be cancelled. Wish they had told me all this yesterday when i was booking. I have now booked a holiday flying with different airline.

Lucky you Wilson! I booked through Thomson and they have told me that as far as they know their system shows that the flight is still showing as a GB flight and that I can't cancel. Cosmos appear to have acted very well!

Cazzholly,
I agree that Cosmos seem to have acted well in this case as what you have been told by Thomson is, strictly speaking, true. The flight will still be shown as a GB one as the take over by Easy has not yet happened. Should the deal fall through, then it will still be GB that operate the flight as a GB flight. If the deal goes ahead then, and only then, it will be subsumed in to the orange empire. At that point, as I understand it, Easy MAY change the services offered on those flights they have taken over and, as they have already said they would, offer a refund to those who do not wish to continue with their booking. Easy have said that they WILL operate the GB routes as normal to the end of the season so the chances of the flights being cancelled as a result of the take-over is slim (if you believe Easy - and there is no reason not to at this point).
Therefore Thomson are quite clinically correct in their approach. Having said that, they could look at allowing changes/cancellations without penalty as a goodwill/PR exercise, especially since this only potentially impacts GB flights after the 29th March 2008 - lots of time to sort things out.

Cheers,
Jet

Jet
Thanks for your reply. I had hoped also that TUI would allow me to change to an alternative supplier but they are adamant that my GB flights are non-flexible and that if I cancel I will lose the full cost of flights I have no problem travelling with Easyjet (and frequently do so) and though a little miffed to lose out on IFE, allocated seating and meals/drinks it's not the end of the world (though it will be interesting to see if we have to pay the £5.00 per hold bag per flight as well)! My personal concern is that IF the takeover goes ahead and for some reason my flight is either cancelled or changes dates etc. the alternative flights we would need to purchase will be considerably more expensive, if indeed still available. I am also concerned that others have been emailed it appears by GB to inform them whereas I have heard nothing from either GB or TUI and have to get my info from postings on here. I had considered speaking to GB but their website says to contact your agent if you have not booked direct and my agent is disinterested Not a lot one can do I guess except moan on a forum and keep fingers crossed.

Cazz

It is quite possible that at this time the details have not been finalised.

We get postings on here complaining that people have booked in the belief that they are flying with one airline only to finish up with another.

It is quite possible that they may change in your case.

On holiday last month I noted that people booked on Airtours holidays were travelling with any of seven different airlines.

allocated seating and meals/drinks

If you have booked and paid for them you will get them.

though it will be interesting to see if we have to pay the £5.00 per hold bag per flight as well

That again should not be a problem.

You do have a contract.

It is quite possible that you are worrying about nothing.

fwh

Well I may be worrying about nothing .... assuming Easyjet take over the routes as indicated. However, I can't see free and larger baggage allowances or the crew going around giving free meals and drinks to only those who previously booked GB! If I had wanted no frills flights, I would have booked them!

As for the comments about it being common to travel on different airlines to those thought booked, ie. Airtours used in FHW's example, it is one thing to book a Airtours holiday and then end up flying with First Choice or Thomas Cook Airlines or other charter airlines. To book scheduled flights with a British Airways franchise and end up flying no frills with Easyjet is not quite the same!

Luton Airport is a 10-minute drive for me and I frequently make use of Easyjet for city breaks with my husband as they offer some competitively priced routes and I have booked with them to go to Budapest for the New Year ..... but I wouldn't choose to fly as a family on a 4 hour flight with them. I used them this July to fly to Tuscany (only a two hour flight) yet they ran out of soft drinks and all food within the exception of pizza within 20 minutes! We had requested pre-boarding (my daughter is autistic) and yet were boarded last and the crew had to move people, as there were no seats together, in order that I could sit with my daughter. Hubby and son sat rows apart somewhere at the back. I would rather pay more and guarantee I sit next to her hence booking GB Airways.

My son has Downs Syndrome so we need to sit together. The boarding passes are marked when we check in as priority (after those who pay for priority boarding)

To be fair, on leaving the UK, we were boarded before those with speedy seats but on leaving Italy, we were given boarding cards with group A but they didn't bother calling by group as the aircraft was a couple of hours late and it was a free for all which terrified my daughter and we had to wait until the scrum had disappeared!

I do have to say that Cosmos have been tops by allowing me to change my holiday. I had only booked the day before and if the chap I had booked with on the phone had been a little more honest about the flights I would not have booked the holiday at all. My only complaint being that I had to change my duration from 10 days to 7 days as nearly all cosmos 10 day holidays use GB airways although the girl I initally spoke to hadn't even heard of them!!! My fear for others is that all these 10 day holidays for next summer will have to be changed.

Just a point of information but you don't get free food and drink on GB airways anyway now, at least not out of the regional airports such as Manchester. The service is the same as BA Connect which means that there is a pay bar and food of a better quality than the likes of EasyJet available but you have to purchase it on the plane.

You do still get all the advantages of allocated seating, a better seat pitch and a more generous attitude to the size of carry-on bag you're allowed, but the service has already been much reduced on most BA Connect and GB Airways flights. For example, you used to get 30 kgs and could check-in 2 bags at no extra charge and now it is down to one weighing no more than 23kgs unless you pay extra in advance.

I do still prefer BA/GB Airways for the above reasons but the differences between them and the 'no-frills' were already being eroded before this takeover was mooted.

SM

On my invoice from cosmos, meals were included and this was flying GB from gatwick and this was only last week.

I did make it clear that I was talking about the service out of regional airports - you hadn't previously said which airport you were leaving from. The only GB/BA Connect flights that still include a meal service are those out of Gatwick and Heathrow.

SMa

sma you think Manchester International Airport is a regional airport, they are landing planes every 30 seconds in the summer.

Didn't mean to offend SMa just thought i would let you know what was on my invoice.

Hi Wilson,

You didn't offend me! It was just that I wasn't sure that everybody realised that you don't automatically get 'full service' if flying from outside of the London area. This was introduced only relatively recently and anybody who's not flown with BA within the last 12 months mightn't have known this.

SM

PS vee dee, all those planes are still landing at an airport 200 miles from London and that's what makes Manchester a regional airport! As a Lancashire Lass originally (who even after nearly 20 yrs up here still has the 'Manchester' Guardian delivered dailly to her Scottish breakfast table!) and who thinks the centre of the universe is Liverpool, even I accept that anything other than Heathrow and Gatwick are going to be classed as regional airports because they're serving the regions. :-) Try as they might to convince me that they are London's 3rd and 4th airports, even Luton and Stanstead are only really catering for a regional cathcment area in my book.

Sorry sma I didnt think those planes were probably flying half empty im fairly sure all their passengers dont come from the manchester regions but i will bow to your superior knowlege.

So does the fact that a lot of those passenger transiting through Heathrow and Gatwick do come from the regions of the UK outside of London make them regional airports as well? :-)

Going on for 7m people live in the northwest region of England and by heck, a great many of them can afford to fly! T'aint all clogs, cloth caps n wippets oop north any more tha knows! :-)

SM