I was always a Thomson Holiday person and in fact even bought shares to earn extra discounts etc. Fat load of good that turned out to be after a couple of years

Hiya Karen
I'm laughing here, cos we too bought some shares in Thomson.....like you say they were a load of poo and we had to hang on to them for longer than we expected, just to get our money back.

I agree DIY isn't usually cheaper for only 2 people but is when there are there are more, when we pay for a room rather than number of people

Totally agree hun.

Hopefully its not going to be a case of it becoming as dear to DIY as booking a package.

My theory is, that when Thomson have a monopoly on the hotel or a big stake in the beds, then they do not want people booking cheaper by DIY.
It is obviously important to Thomson to have people book through them, having entered a contract and paid the money out for the beds to the hotel owners and therefore they close down all other avenues of booking.
Booking direct with the hotel may be the only other option left and if it remains cheaper than Thomson, then people will just go DIY, which is bad news for Thomson....so how do you get around the remaining loop-hole.?

You tell the owners that if they want their beds to be guaranteed full for the season and a guaranteed income, then they have to raise their prices in order for people to compare with Thomson and think they are getting a good deal.

If Thomson are promising to fill 95% of the rooms, then the other 5% is not worth fretting about by hiking up the DIY prices....it's swings and roundabouts, but the only problem is, it is Thomson turning the wheel in the playground.

Sanjiiiiiiiiii.