Nowadays, there only seem to be a handful of major tour operators - Thomsons (including First Choice), Thomas Cook and Cosmos.
Airtours, Portland, Panorama etc all belong to these three and there are a few other smaller companies such as Olympic etc dealing only with single destinations. This lack of choice of who to book with clearly limits the customer when it comes to booking a holiday, especially if you've had a bad experience with any of them.
Reading through alot of the posts on these forums, there appears to be alot of complaints about the tour operators (two in particular) ranging from changing bookings at the last moment to disputes over deposits to problems in the resort not being sorted out etc etc. What does appear to be a common thread through many of these complaints is the lack of concern displayed by some of these companies when it comes to sorting out any disputes or problems. As there is a clear lack of choice as to who you can book with, they do appear to have us all by the private parts!
I was wondering who is your favourite tour operator - the one who sorted out your problem promptly, gave you good customer service, a good holiday and who you would recommend to others.
As an agent we deal with all the tour ops but our preferred tour op providing they do the destination is Olympic and Libra Holidays.
Thomsons and the like are fine but they are not very agent friendly in some cases.
Thomas Cook are the worse when trying to get hold of them and their charges for a simple spelling error are stupid, a simple slip of the key cost me £25 (was £60) but had to grovel to get it down.
From past and present experience, Easyjet is probably the most helpful to agents out of the low cost airlines.
Thomsons and the like are fine but they are not very agent friendly in some cases.
Thomas Cook are the worse when trying to get hold of them and their charges for a simple spelling error are stupid, a simple slip of the key cost me £25 (was £60) but had to grovel to get it down.
From past and present experience, Easyjet is probably the most helpful to agents out of the low cost airlines.
which is the safest bet for booking with a punter? With all the jobs losses, credit crunch etc which ones will still be going and aren't likely to pull a service or have to change flights by a few days when a plane gets cancelled etc ??
We had a villa holiday a few years ago with Libra; I thought they were swallowed up by Thomas Cook in the last couple of years?
Thomson and Thomas Cook are the 2 largest now and I am happy to book with either of these and their partners.I prefer Thomson companies as at the moment they still give an allowance of 20kgs on package holidays as opposed to Thomas Cooks 15kgs.
If either of these go bust I think that will be the end of package holidays.
If either of these go bust I think that will be the end of package holidays.
Libra are still going we haven't had problems with them, if Greece/Cyprus then Olympic holidays and of course monarch holidays [formally cosmos also this years main supplier to sky holidays.com]
Recently I have generally ended up using one of the Thomas Cook group as I find the prices better than everyone else.
No real issue booking with any of the TO's, I did like Kosmar (bust) and ARGO (part of Libra now) and I'd book with pretty much any of the main ones if the all in price was lowest.
No real issue booking with any of the TO's, I did like Kosmar (bust) and ARGO (part of Libra now) and I'd book with pretty much any of the main ones if the all in price was lowest.
I still seem to be going with either company's from TUI, i.e. next holiday booked with First Choice, or Thomas Cook.
I know you can often beat their prices by using Travel Republic or OnTheBeach but somehow I just don't feel as comfortable booking with these. Especially when I see all the grief Travel Republic customers are still going through due to the XL collapse.
If I was going to save hundreds I might give them a go but if there's not much in it I will stick with TUI or TC.
Doe
I know you can often beat their prices by using Travel Republic or OnTheBeach but somehow I just don't feel as comfortable booking with these. Especially when I see all the grief Travel Republic customers are still going through due to the XL collapse.
If I was going to save hundreds I might give them a go but if there's not much in it I will stick with TUI or TC.
Doe
im tending to do more diy holidays and ive been using easy jet a lot recently and so far all has been fine, got another 3 lots of flights booked with them this year, so fingers crossed.
ive just won a case against thomsons/portland so im a bit worried about using them again, as they werent very helpful during all my problems
think theres good and bad in all of them
ive just won a case against thomsons/portland so im a bit worried about using them again, as they werent very helpful during all my problems
think theres good and bad in all of them
I prefer Thomsons, they're sometimes a bit more expensive but i've had too many problems with Thomas Cook
Thomson a bit more expensive, you need to take out mortgage with there prices. My booking for this year booked last may thomson £2600 more expensive, thats more than a bit expensive
i only ever found them £150 more expensive at most
I have mostly used Thomson/Portland. I had begun to do a few DIY holidays but now find that Thomsons are quite competitive.
I have just booked a holiday to Majorca for May, and I researched it all online and then went into a
First Choice shop and they price matched it exactly.
I asked the young man if it would have been the same price if I had just gone in and asked to book the same holiday and he said they woulldnt be able to give me the discounts.
Sue
I have just booked a holiday to Majorca for May, and I researched it all online and then went into a
First Choice shop and they price matched it exactly.
I asked the young man if it would have been the same price if I had just gone in and asked to book the same holiday and he said they woulldnt be able to give me the discounts.
Sue
Have been away with most of the main companies over the years and all seem much of a muchness to me, A few years ago when Thompson flew Britannia airways they did seem a cut above for a package company but they are just a small part in the TUI wheel now and it shows.
We nearly booked our week in Fuerteventura this august with First Choice until we found exactly the same holiday and with better flight times for £530 less with Thomas Cook, That kind of price change never does cease to amaze me.
We nearly booked our week in Fuerteventura this august with First Choice until we found exactly the same holiday and with better flight times for £530 less with Thomas Cook, That kind of price change never does cease to amaze me.
its an impossible question to answer,similar to 'whats the best supermarket' again impossible to answer...however i believe that Thomson is the better of all the various Tour Operators i'am sure many will agree but others will have their own favourite,they all offer the same sort of thing and you see the same accm in many different brochures
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