Hi

Thank you for all the imput, I will see what happens tomorrow when we go in to see the Customer Care Manager, as he is the one who booked us in the first place

If this were short haul there wouldnt be a problem, perhaps ABTA need to re look at what they consider to be 'significant' change - for an 11 hour flight I would say the difference in aircraft should be of the same standard (with the exception of last minute changes due to tech faults)

will get back and let you know how I get on

ABTA's opinion of significant change will probably be limited to just getting you from A to B. All airlines offer different things so doubt ABTA will class this as that......Good Luck!

MikeBravo,

I had an issue with a Thomas Cook holiday 2 years back, whereby they would have switched my hotel after landing at my destination without my prior knowledge. Fortunately, I got wind of it prior to travelling, through guests that were already switched on arrival at, and due to the advice and help from ABTA they helped resolve my problem.

Regards,
Pat

pat wrote:

MikeBravo,

I had an issue with a Thomas Cook holiday 2 years back, whereby they would have switched my hotel after landing at my destination without my prior knowledge. Fortunately, I got wind of it prior to travelling, through guests that were already switched on arrival at, and due to the advice and help from ABTA they helped resolve my problem.

Regards,
Pat

All due respect that is totally different!! Yes a change of hotel with no notice is significant.......a different airline taking you there on time isn't

On Thomas Cook website it does actually say Monarch Airlines when you try to book a Tuesday hol from Manchester to Camcun. Manchester airport only have a Monarch flight listed for Tuesday in their departure schedule.

Hi

There have been developments on this today. Yes I have found that all package holidays on a tuesday from Manchester to Cancun with TC are chartered with Monarch.

It transpires that this was already the case even before we booked, and the Travel Agent has now agreed that Head Office had not updated their system of the change. Our travel and payment document on the day stated TCX - 39 minutes later - when the agent finalised the booking it was Monarch. We argued that this would have come up on his system at the time of finalising our booking (which they do once you have left the shop) and that he should have called us prior to pressing the submit button to tell us that what we had chosen was Monarch, giving us the chance to decline. Because he couldn't remember seeing Monarch on the screen he agreed that yes maybe he was at fault and proceeded to argue our case with head office.

They have now agreed to allow us to change our date to one where TCX is the airline without having to pay the normal alteration charges. We found the same holiday for 2 days earlier on a TCX flight and just before the changes were made, a little pop up appeared saying that this TCX flight was still in operation however they would not be offering the standard 34" and tv and instead would only be operating a 30" and no tv., the same was to be for two other dates we looked at, and are still awaiting confirmation on one more date where this information cant be found.

Where we stand at the moment, partial liability on behalf of the agent not picking up the already altered aircraft prior to booking has been admitted, TC are willing to waive change fees so we can change holiday, the agent on these grounds is now fighting for us to either receive a reduced price upgrade to premium on the Monarch flight or a full refund (no loss of deposit) on the full holiday.

We are now awaiting a phone call - will keep you posted.
Karen

sonicboom2010,

Thanks for the update and I'm glad you're getting somewhere. I can understand why you want the creature comforts of the flights as 10.5 hours on aircraft with 30" seat pitch and no seat back IFE isn't fun (done it many times before the improvements in service levels), but is that enough to stop you going to Mexico? After all, the flights are only the transport mechanism and it's the bit in between that's the main part. I'll be heading that way later this year.

Darren

PS I now use Thomson Airways for must of my holiday / charter flights because of the inconsistancy Thomas Cook now offer. Although flights can change for any number of reasons, you don't always know if you'll get what is advertised.

sonicboom2010,

Thanks for the update and I'm glad you're getting somewhere. I can understand why you want the creature comforts of the flights and 10.5 hours on aircraft with 30" seat pitch and no seat back IFE isn't fun (done it many times before the improvements in service levels), but is that enough to stop you going to Mexico? After all, the flights are only the transport mechanism and it's the bit in between that's the main part.

Darren

PS I now use Thomson Airways for must of my holiday / charter flights these days because of the inconsistancy Thomas Cook now offer. Although flights can change for any number of reasons, you don't always know if you'll get what is advertised.

Also glad you are getting somewhere, agree with Darren however there are so many changes with TCX its hard to keep up with what they are doing.

I hear what your saying about the bit inbetween being most important , and it is,

However my huband doesnt travel that well, short haul not a problem, long haul- it has taken me years to get him to agree to this length of flight, and he agreed because of the fact that they airlines now offer more comfort and things to occupy the mind for that length of time, travelling with young teens is also a factor too

I know to some this may appear petty, but for us the holiday starts the minute you leave the house, not when you step of the plane

I hear what your saying about the bit inbetween being most important , and it is,

However my huband doesnt travel that well, short haul not a problem, long haul- it has taken me years to get him to agree to this length of flight, and he agreed because of the fact that they airlines now offer more comfort and things to occupy the mind for that length of time, travelling with young teens is also a factor too

I know to some this may appear petty, but for us the holiday starts the minute you leave the house, not when you step of the plane

Quite understandable, if the agent does manage to get you a full refund do have a look at Thomson/First Choice as there are very few chances of a change such as the one you have experienced, i knows its not ideal.

sonicboom2010,

I fully understand where you are coming from and I'd be the same. Now the standards of long haul charter travel have moved on, it's dissapointing when you don't get what you expect. It's just a shame you may have to cancel the holiday for the sake of the flights. You never know, a reduced upgrade to Monarch Premium or a full refund may still mean you can get to Mexico. As an alterative, can they not offer you extra legroom seating at no charge or at a discount? Monarch have pairs of seats at the rear of the aircraft that offer extra legroom as well as exit row seats. Extra legroom seats are at rows; 8 seats B/C & H/J, row 30 seats B/C, D/E/F & H/J and row 37-43 seats A/B & J/K. It's worth asking.

Darren

Hi

We are flying to Las Palmas 27th sep flight no TCX191K/L from Newcastle ,is it true that they will no longer have IFE? above the aisles, unless I have read it wrong

Hi

We are flying to Las Palmas 27th sep flight no TCX191K/L from Newcastle ,is it true that they will no longer have IFE? above the aisles, unless I have read it wrong

Hi, Yes its true your aircraft will be a narrow bodied B757 and as such wont have IFE.

And the importance of checking everything on your booking confirmation the moment it arrives is surely one of lessons to be learnt from sonicboom's experience, given that the information about the change of carrier was included there?

SM

Just to say a big thank you to all the help and support received from members of this forum over the past 24 hours - and point taken on checking all the pages of the booking confirmation which from now on will be done with a magnifying glass, however as it turns out the fault was not ours and whether the documents were checked on arrival or indeed this week the fact remains that a lack of communication at the time of booking from said company was the contributing factor to this dispute

I am very pleased to tell you all that Thomas Cook today have offered a full refund of our holiday on the grounds that the change to our aircraft was known to them prior to our booking being made and their failure to advise us of that fact on the day we booked and therefore knowingly mis sold us the transport arrangements that we specifically requested

We have been very lucky to have noticed this problem now and not just before departure, and also very lucky to have had a customer care manager in the TC store who did his upmost to resolve this for us,

I wish anyone else booked with TC this summer the best of luck, and hope that the current TC situation does not affect their holiday or travel arrangements

Karen

sonicboom
Good result! Pleased you got it sorted satisfactorily.

sonicboom2010

Excellent, glad everything turned out ok in the end

Hi Karen,

So glad you got your problem sorted! We on the other hand are stuck & TC will not do anything to help!
I had a call today from them to say that the plane they will be using is a A300 (Mid Haul) Jet with a configuration of 2-3-2. I asked them if it was possible to offer us complementry pre-booked seats to at least guarentee us sitting together (we wanted 2 x 2) as compensation for downgrading our flight to an inferior one & was told that if they did it for us they would have to do it for everyone & it would cost them a fortune ............Funny that! I thought I had already paid for a superior option when I booked in Oct! They told me if I wanted to book I would have to pay........When I checked the website it is still showing the larger plane, so they are still willing to take peoples hard earned cash to book something they already know is NOT available! When In asked her why they were still taking bookings that weren't valid she told me those who have prebooked will be reallocated seats! I have since emailed TC Customer services with my complaint & again requesting they pre book our seats as compensation but the auto response said they would take upto 28 days to get back! We go in 20 days!
I think the lesson is NEVER EVER book with TC again! I will return to Portland/Thomson lesson learnt!

Dx

Hi, I hope you'll beable to advise please. I got a letter from Thomas Cook which says :-

"to make changes to the aircraft in which you are travelling. This is to ensure the safety of our aircraft as they have maintenance requirements. As a result seat back tv's will no longer be provided, will have drop down screens and seat pitch will now be 29 inches"

Think there is abit missing from start of letter. This is going to Jamaica in a couple of weeks time. Will we be entitled to cancel and get a full refund from our holiday at all? Booked a package holiday through a travel agent. It just seems like they may have known about this for ages and have only decided to tell customers.. Any advise appreciated please...

Never flown with them before, not sure if they do this alot..??