Hi. I wonder if anyone can advise me as to what to do next. I will try to keep this as brief as possible. Enticed by their notification of a seat sale in June, I booked a family trip for Christmas online through Thomsonfly. I paid at the time of booking and received confirmation promptly. At the beginning of September I booked further flights for a surprise Valentines' trip for me and husband.

About a month later, I received notification of a change to the times for the February flights. It was not a problem. Apart from letting the car park know of the changes, it did not affect the hotel or our plans. About a week later, the December flights were changed. Again, we could deal with this.

A week later, the February flights were cancelled due to the company stopping that route. The hotel was very good and refunded my deposit. However, I had to wait 12 days for the refund from Thomson.

On 5 November, Thomson cancelled the flights for our Christmas trip. My family were so disappointed; Thomson had done it again. I contacted the company as I was not prepared to accept a refund. The hotel was fully paid for, everything was arranged. I wanted them to get me and my family to our destination. Apparently, despite being willing to fly from anywhere in London, Thomson could not do this. If I still wished to travel, it was up to me to sort out alternative arrangements. I then received an email stating I may have to wait up to 2 weeks for a refund. This time I telephoned them immediately. This was unacceptable. The person I spoke to said he would ask for the refund to be actioned quickly. Amazingly I got the money back within 5 days.

Trying to find alternative flights at this time of year for Christmas is not easy. I have had to find a further £240 to cover the difference between the original flights and the new ones. I have written to Thomson, clearly setting out my complaint, raising the issue of EC regulation EC261/2004 and asking that they reimburse me for the additional costs incurred as a result of their actions. They have replied. The usual 'we are sorry' but letter in which they highlight that EU regulation EC261/2004 does not provide for additional costs for subsequent or alternative arrangements. They say that such claims should be made through my own holiday insurance. Can anyone tell me, is this possible? I have tried but my insurers state that it is unlikely that any company would insure against this type of loss.

Rather confusingly, they have further stated "we would ensure alternative arrangements were made as soon as possible to minimise the disruption to your journey." I am at a loss to make sense of this sentence. I actually asked them to help with making alternative arrangements but they refused.

So, any suggestions as to what can be done next? This whole incident, apart from making me extremely angry, has left me shocked at the apparent lack of assistance and protection available. Am I right to conclude that if I want to make any changes to my original booking, I have to pay but they are able to create any number of problems without facing a similar 'fine'? And that furthermore, unlike their customers who pay immediately, often months earlier, they can issue refunds in their own time?