Tour Operators and Travel Agents

Discussions regarding Tour Operators and Travel Agents
HI sunaddict...am worried...tried that one....it wasnt the one either my email from them ...or my invoice takes me too....

link on email from thomascook takes me here http://www.thomascookessentials.com/ where it asks me for a password ....I dont have one....tried forgot password incase been given one and not took notice...but says no account for email address.

link from pdf invoice takes me here http://www.thomascook.com/.....go on manage my booking....choose the online option.....put in details....it accepts them and shows me my booking stuff....gives me options to pay but not add extras on.

When I go to the one you give me....I put in my date of travel ....my lead name ....my outward flight number....and my long number reference.....it says no account....I did again putting in the letter and number reference...and still the same.

So I am stumped...this was a package I booked....tweetie
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Are you using the correct reference number? When did you book? It takes about 72 hours from booking a package for the information to go through to the airline. It is the link on flythomas.cook you need to book extras.
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thanks sunaddict...had another look....found something in FAQ's....wht cant I log in.. says cant do it till 90 days before...Im booked for 11th july....which Ive now worked out is 102 days....so thats why cant log in...any one got a spare brain...mine not working lately...this last virus doing more damage than I thought...I worked it out as 72 last night :duh ...missed out a month,

Should have booked then when there were options to do so in the begining. ...balance due on wenesday....and it will only let me view my booking or pay the balance....when I do go to do it in a few weeks it will probably cost more.....

To be honest was worried about having to book it now....incase need name change due to one of my lads starting new job and might not get the time off now...and dont know how could affect seat bookinng ect...but wanted to check prices ...tweetie
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Tweetie - I don't think you can book meals on short haul anymore, can you?
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Hi tweetie, prebooked seats to Greece are £15.00 per person and meals are £16 per person.
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hi sunadict....thanks is that £15 return....or £15 one way...tweetie
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Hi tweetie, both are return prices.
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hi all...yes little legs it doesnt help confidence...read that yesterday...came up on googles listings when I was trying to find other stuff....thing is they are loads cheaper than the others at the moment...the only one cheaper was direct holidays if you took free meals and extra 5kgs into account....Thomsons prices are a lot higher....so is mind boggling that its TC thats having the problems.

My final payment for my 11th july holiday is 4th april...this wed....and I had it in my head was 12wks before we go....and as such was confused about why I couldnt get into my account to add extras on...as can do this 90 days befote traveling....my reasoning was 12 x 7 =84 days from wed the 4th april...so 30th march was 90 days...

Then the lad was working out when he needed tell work as has to give 8wks notice....and he said to me "its 14wks from wed...so have 5 or 6 wks to tell work" I said "no its 12wks wed as thats when final payment id due"

When I checked it out he was right....I remember it being 6 wks before due date to pay balance...then 8...then 10 ...then 12....when did it become 14.

With so many of these companies failing...14 wks is a long time for them to hold our cash....especially when the hotel dont get paid till the end of our stay...or have I got it wrong
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what my problem is i just want to book flights with them, i have found the flights and dates are available ect..... but i can not book them on line as i have £500 worth of world wide travel vouchers so i have to go in store an book rather than the net going through flythomascook.com. so i go with my flight print out to the store and say here you go i want these flights and here is the vouchers and cash. they say no can do. they say there flight booking system does not use flythomascook.com.!!!!! for gods sake its there own web site. but i have also found another problem with old cookies aswell reguarding flight bookings.

Lets say you want to book a flight to FUE (or anywhere else) and wish to book your outbound / inbound flights separately. Thomas Cook flights will sometimes show as not available on a single leg. However, If you book a holiday with TC there IS availability on your chosen return flight. Obviously they are holding back 'seats' in the hope they will get a 'AI' booking for that flight. Try it for yourself...FUE-CWL 18th April ....... no availability ------then look at A holiday booked from CWL to FUE 11th to 18th April and, guess what, seats become available on the same plane on the way back to CWL.
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I don't think you have got it wrong Tweetie, the date for paying off a balance seems to be moving back all the time. It may be someting to do with their financial problems as the longer the money is in their bank I guess the more chance they have for surviving. It's not too much of an issue for me as I seem to book closer to travel every year now & have to stump up the lot on booking.

I don't think the hotels always get paid at the end of our holiday, dependant on what month we travel, sometimes they don't get paid until the end of the season.

I'm sure sunaddict or another poster who knows their stuff and has worked in travel for years posted this.

The big TO's must settle their accounts at the end of various time periods which can make difficulties particularly for small family run hotels. I guess it's all very complex & about cash flow & how large companys finance things.

I am going away with TC in a few weeks & am not too worried about them short term, but who knows what the long term holds.

Doe :sun2
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hi doe...Im usually booked up the earliest the dates are available for July to oct the following year...but because of the greek mess and the feeling that none of the travel firms are 100% safe have held back....can think of some who were taking deposits and balance as they went under....I left it till march this year for this july....

and am leaving it till 13wks before for booking hols in sept...Tc dont include transfers for hols booked less than 12 wks before.... am unsure about how to sort reliable transfers mysel...or would be waiting longer and getting a late bargain....

such a long gap between balance being asked for and hotel ect getting paid makes me feel more worried thier are cash flow problems....its about time there were regulations about how long before travel they can demand your balance when they are not using it to pay for your holiday....but using it to ease thier cash flow.... tweetie
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If you book through Thomas Cook travel agent the payment date has been 14 weeks for at least the last 12 months. The agency pays the tour operators, and then the tour operators pay their suppliers depending on what payment terms they have in their contracts.

littlelegs, Thomas Cook Airlines are a charter airline, so tour operators charter a flight, or sometimes a flight will be shared between operators, although the airline will retain some seats to sell as flight only. They 'don't hold back seats'. Those seats are already allocated to a package. They don't sell unlimited flight only seats.

Flythomascook is the airlines website, not the travel agents or tour operators. The businesses trade completely independantly. The airline does not accept Worldwide Travel Vouchers. It is the travel agent that does, hence you cannot book on flythomascook using them. A travel agent doesn't book TC flights on the internet.
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hi sunaddict...I coached it last year ....so last time was year before with TC...probably why I still thought it was 12....but over the years we have been asked to pay and let them hold our money for longer and longer....and after the failures of even big operators ect it makes us less happy to part with our money 3 and a 1/2 months before we get to go....its a long time in which for things to go wrong...I personaly like thomascook....and if they are doing it then the others will be too.....but cant figure out why at one time 6 to 8 weeks was Ok....but now its 14wks
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Im sure my balance with TC is due 12 wks before departure
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hi hayley/john....I thought mine was....work it out...my hols 11th july...balance due 4th april

26 days left in april
31 days in may
30 days in june
11 days in july

=98 days divide by 7 = 14wks

Check yours again incase...sunseeker says has been 14 wks for last 12mnths....tweetie
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Oh dear I'm sure I only booked about 12 weeks before travel and assumed I got my transfer included, so I better check my paperwork, it was a Thomas Cook Style holiday but i don't suppose that will make any difference.

Maybe I will need to organise a cab :( but I prefer the tour operators transfers especially in Egypt, they may be a bit slower as you wait for people to collect cases etc but I feel more confident in them. Perhaps TC will let me book one over the phone if I ahve missed out.

Doe :sun2
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just worked mine out to be 10 weeks, going on aug 20th balance due 11th june
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hayley/john, which travel agent did you book through? The tour operators paperwork will say 10 or 12 weeks usually, but Thomas Cook travel agents paperwork will state 14 weeks. If you've booked through a different agent, they may have different terms.
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