I know this must be on the TC website, but I'm blowed if I can find it.

Could you please let me know what the maximum size of hand baggage is allowed?

43 cm x 28 cm x 23cm including wheels etc.

Why dont TCX fly to RHO on Saturday. We are thinking of extending the holiday to a 10 day holiday, and we have ruled these out as it brings blanks up. Does anybody know why?

Thanks Sunaddict. I found the dimensions which Gatwick give and they are bigger than TCX - 56 x 45 x 25. Wonder if I dare risk the larger size?

I don't think I would. All airlines set their own hand luggage sizes and weights.

Mobor One wrote:

Wonder if I dare risk the larger size?

Always use the sizes quoted by the airline rather than the airport. It's the sizes quoted by the airline that are enforced at check-in / boarding.

Darren

Nick 1992 wrote:

Does anybody know why?

Aircraft scheduling, ie they're used to other destinations that day with no spare capacity, they already operate flights to that destination on other days that tie in to their programme, other airlines offer similar flights and therefore the market doesn't warrent it, airport (country) restrictions and regulations, etc. There's a whole number of possible reasons!

Darren

Hi Everyone,

We have just had a call from Thomas Cook, we are due to fly to Punta Cana in Dominican on 26/5 & they have phoned to say that due to the Volcanic Ash they have had to change our plane to one with 29" seat pitch from 33" & also a plane with no seat back TV! The flight is 9hrs plus....
Has anyone else had a call to say the same? It all sounds a little fishy to me.....surely if there was a problem with Ash (flights were cancelled at the time!) would it not be sorted out by then! Is this Thomas Cook using this as an excuse downgrade the plane?

Dx

Hi Everyone,

We have just had a call from Thomas Cook, we are due to fly to Punta Cana in Dominican on 26/5 & they have phoned to say that due to the Volcanic Ash they have had to change our plane to one with 29" seat pitch from 33" & also a plane with no seat back TV! The flight is 9hrs plus....
Has anyone else had a call to say the same? It all sounds a little fishy to me.....surely if there was a problem with Ash (flights were cancelled at the time!) would it not be sorted out by then! Is this Thomas Cook using this as an excuse downgrade the plane?

Dx

A little white lie yes, there are long haul aircraft currently in the 29" configuration and it looks like they wont have changed it back in time, but not due to ash no.

Do you think this is the case for all long haul? We are due to fly on the 13th of this month and havent had any phonecall yet.

Thanks

Do you think this is the case for all long haul? We are due to fly on the 13th of this month and havent had any phonecall yet.

Thanks

Not the case for all long haul no just selected flights, its one of those situations where its unlucky if it drops on your flight.

BEfreeTODAY wrote:

Hi Everyone,

We have just had a call from Thomas Cook, we are due to fly to Punta Cana in Dominican on 26/5 & they have phoned to say that due to the Volcanic Ash they have had to change our plane to one with 29" seat pitch from 33" & also a plane with no seat back TV! The flight is 9hrs plus....
Has anyone else had a call to say the same? It all sounds a little fishy to me.....surely if there was a problem with Ash (flights were cancelled at the time!) would it not be sorted out by then! Is this Thomas Cook using this as an excuse downgrade the plane?

Dx

A little white lie yes, there are long haul aircraft currently in the 29" configuration and it looks like they wont have changed it back in time, but not due to ash no.

actually.........One of the a330-200s, OY-VKF, should have had a major hanger check just before summer in perparation for May 1st, it needed to be in hanger for 2 weeks (like an major MOT check, they all have them). When the ash cloud dispersed and we started flying again the other week, this a/c was used to repatriate passengers back to the UK, a priority for the airline, so the hanger slot was moved on to end of MAy, hence 1 x a330 down around the time of your holiday.

A Bummer, but it is actually (although not directly) partly due to the naughty volcano!!

Thanks for the information, that would make sense I guess.....Just my luck (and beleive me I never get any!) I guess I will just have to put up & shut up as changing our holiday is not an option!

Thanks again
Debs x

Thanks for the information, that would make sense I guess.....Just my luck (and beleive me I never get any!) I guess I will just have to put up & shut up as changing our holiday is not an option!

Thanks again
Debs x

Best thing i find is to think about the great destination you are going to always works

lol...........



Dx

Urgent advise needed please - change of airline - mis sold holiday?

Like the previous poster, we too have had our airline changed by Thomas Cook, different circumstances as follows

Booked Holiday 17th Jan - Manchester to Cancun, 4 passengers
Discussed with travel agent we wanted to go with Thomas Cook and fly with Thomas Cook, explained we wanted the good pitch seat and tv's that they offer as standard in Economy as it's an 11 hour flight. Documents given on day of booking and paying full deposit quote, Booked with Thomas Cook and Carrier Thomas Cook Airlines - the agent confirmed this was so on his screen when making the booking

A few days ago I checked our paperwork re visas/passports to make sure I had everything sorted as we are now only 9 weeks off our holiday - which is when I spotted on page 4 of the booking confirmation letter sent by post just 2 days after we paid our deposit, (ie 19th Jan) stating Flight No. Monarch 374 - Airbus 330-200 who do not offer the same economy facilities as Thomas Cook ie only 29" pitch and no personal tv.

Have now spent 3 days trying on the phone and visiting the shop to try and get an answer, they keep fobbing me off saying they have to speak to head office but can never get through?????? however they have verbally confirmed that on the day we booked their system said TCX but no flight number given, after doing a bit of research myself on their online website, it appears that all Tuesday package holidays are being booked using Monarch, and on chatting online with one of their advisors it appears this is the norm for Tuesday departures, so ours is not just the one off plane change

So now where do we stand, all we want is to be on a Thomas Cook Airline or similar to get the leg room and tv's (we are travelling with 2 teenagers - 11 hours of boredam and they will need a parachute)

In my opinion it appears that either 1) the travel agent booking us didnt know his job (he was the manager by the way) and honestly didnt know out of the hundreds of holidays he must have sold that their Tuesday flights to cancun where on Monarch, and that their own Head Office are not supplying the correct screen info to them or 2) he didnt bother to disclose to us that it would be a Monarch Flight - either way I would say this is a significant difference in what we asked for and as such we were mis sold the holiday

Like others we went in for some prices and ended up booking on the day, we were happy with the hotel choice as we had seen it advertised on tv and had also researched on trip advisor some of the better hotels in Cancun, so therefore we didnt use a brochure to book, we knew what we wanted and specifically asked for that hotel and that airline

My bottom line questions are
1) should they transfer us free of charge to another date with a TCX flight
or are we entitled to our money back Full Refund, (they are saying if we cancel we will lose our £800 deposit)
2) If I get hold of a brochure and if in the back it lists all Tuesday flights are with Monarch (meaning this was known to them at the time of booking) take it to ABTA?

Any urgent advise would be greatly appreciated, so that I can go back again tomorrow and state my case yet again

Karen

sonicboom2010,

Welcome onboard
Sorry to hear of your problems. I think you may be struggling with this one as there is a clause in the terms and conditions of booking that states airline and/or aircraft can change. The only thing you can do is keep on at your agent / Thomas Cook and see what they say. There were similar problems at the end of last year when passengers booked with Thomas Cook to Goa found out they were no longer operating the flight and had been given alternative flights with Monarch. They had little choice.

Darren

Hi Darren

Thank you for your quick reply

I understand about the terms re changing aircraft so I know this is difficult, but is it not strange that this was changed within 48 hours of booking and 7 months before departure? If when I pick up a brochure tomorrow it is printed on the flight details back pages that the tues flight was Monarch in the first place would then not be seen as a mis sold holiday by the agent?

It just seems to me that they know all along that Tuesday bookings would be with Monarch, I think my argument here is with the travel shop not telling us not the tour operator, and as such would expect them to either put to rights without incurring charges for changing the booking or allowing us a full refund (no deposit lost)

Am I better to put my complain in writing before going back in again tomorrow?.

sonicboom2010

Check if there is any way you can pay to change, as Darren said its pretty much in the T&C's that the airline or aircraft can be changed at any time.

Its also worth saying being very sceptical that the agent knew exactly what they were doing and were just telling you it was TCX thinking at the end of the day you wouldn't realise and complain, but proving this is impossible, and they probably would just come back and say you should have checked the brochure and the details.

You can also try the Holiday Complaints Forum at the top of the main page.