Flights only with Thomas Cook

[nibbo]

Having never booked a flight directly or on it's own before, i'm trying to put together a diy package for next year. However, the cheapest flights I can get at the moment and what I consider a good price are with Thomas Cook. I'm just a bit nervous about booking with them with the troubles they've had. I was going to book online until I realised that flights only booked online aren't ATOL protected, only flights booked in one of their stores are ATOL protected. How confident would everyone else be booking with Thomas Cook? I don't want to stump up £3000 on flights and then run the risk of them going bust and having the problem of getting money back etc. I normally book Virgin as we like the twilight check in at Gatwick, V room, Downtown Disney check in and flights to MCO but at £600 difference those things aren't worth the extra. I honestly can't see flights being any cheaper than £750 each in mid August. Am I just being over precaucious or are my fears justified.

Nick

 

[flortlebap]

Could you not just book on a credit card and/or take out travel insurance to protect you?

I don't blame you for worrying, but I think the airline is a separate entity to the travel agents.

 

[pumpkin7]

well we've just been on holiday to greece (granted, not america but still) and we had one of the best olidays we've ever had! it was our first time through thomas cook too.

 

[Disney Princesses LW]

again not the as florida but I have just booked online with Thomas cook for 2 weeks in Cyprus and paid over £3 grand I think thy are ok but the credit card is a good idea for extra protection

 

[dazza5931]

we booked in there shop for the atol protection or you could do creditcard we did a package for 3 weeks which includes virgin flights and first 4 nights movies and then dvc after were able to pay off over time

 

[nibbo]

I think I'll book in store and use my credit card for some of it if I go with them. Seems that will give me the best protection.

 

[Tink1987]

You can also book with a Visa debit card - they offer just the same protection if you are paying for goods over £100.

Good Luck, let us know what you decide to do

 

[nibbo]

You can also book with a Visa debit card - they offer just the same protection if you are paying for goods over £100.

Good Luck, let us know what you decide to do

I'm didn't realise that, thanks.
I'm still wanting to fly Virgin purely because we like doing the twilight checkin and staying in a hotel the night before and not having a mad rush on the day, means our holiday starts a day earlier too! Also it will give us an extra day in the parks on the last day thanks to Downtown checkin and later flights. With Thomas Cook flights there would be no park time on final day. We're finishing our cruise the day before we fly home so it would be much nicer to have all day Friday in the park and most of Saturday when we fly home. We always like to do AK on our last day (our favourite park) and head to the airport after the parade in the afternoon, somehow our holiday wouldn't be the same without being able to do that.

 

[Tink1987]

I'm didn't realise that, thanks.
I'm still wanting to fly Virgin purely because we like doing the twilight checkin and staying in a hotel the night before and not having a mad rush on the day, means our holiday starts a day earlier too! Also it will give us an extra day in the parks on the last day thanks to Downtown checkin and later flights. With Thomas Cook flights there would be no park time on final day. We're finishing our cruise the day before we fly home so it would be much nicer to have all day Friday in the park and most of Saturday when we fly home. We always like to do AK on our last day (our favourite park) and head to the airport after the parade in the afternoon, somehow our holiday wouldn't be the same without being able to do that.

No worries at all, I was panicking like you when I booked with a smaller TA because I don't have a CC and don't want one. Then I read about the Visa protection and also checked it out with my bank Lloyds. A lot of people don't realise it so I try and tell people as often as possible so they don't have to apply for CCs just for the sake of it

Have you asked for a quote from the likes of Pillinger Travel and Charter Travel?

 

[nibbo]

No worries at all, I was panicking like you when I booked with a smaller TA because I don't have a CC and don't want one. Then I read about the Visa protection and also checked it out with my bank Lloyds. A lot of people don't realise it so I try and tell people as often as possible so they don't have to apply for CCs just for the sake of it

Have you asked for a quote from the likes of Pillinger Travel and Charter Travel?

I've just phoned up for a quote from Pillinger Travel so hope to hear from them soon. Need to book at least Coronado Springs by tomorrow as free dining ends tomorrow. I phoned Charter Travel over a week ago, spoke to a man who didn't really seem with it, spent an age going over my itinerary with him, he said he would pass it on and someone would ring back, needless to say they didn't so I'm not going with them if they can't even give me a quote. At least the lady from Pillinger was very friendly and helpful so if they come up with my package cheaper than what I can get it for then I'll book with them.

 

[WiganTony]

It may be worth waiting until scheduled flight prices are released (330 days in advance) which should start seeing prices coming down a bit. Also, if you can be flexible, look at alternative airports in the USA (e.g. Tampa or Miami) and possibly indirect flights.

It also helps to be on these boards at the right time - in November 2009, we booked direct flights to tie in with our August 2010 OKW reservation LHR-MIA for £403 each, and last September, we booked MAN-CDG-MCO flights again to tie in with OKW reservations for this August, for £550 each.

 

[Tink1987]

I've just phoned up for a quote from Pillinger Travel so hope to hear from them soon. Need to book at least Coronado Springs by tomorrow as free dining ends tomorrow. I phoned Charter Travel over a week ago, spoke to a man who didn't really seem with it, spent an age going over my itinerary with him, he said he would pass it on and someone would ring back, needless to say they didn't so I'm not going with them if they can't even give me a quote. At least the lady from Pillinger was very friendly and helpful so if they come up with my package cheaper than what I can get it for then I'll book with them.

Hope they get back to you soon, I had the exact same problem with Charter, I had to chase them up twice!

Hope they come up with something great for you

 

[nibbo]

Hope they get back to you soon, I had the exact same problem with Charter, I had to chase them up twice!

Hope they come up with something great for you

They came back promptly but are a good £500 more expensive than me doing it separately. I've now found a Virgin Flydrive cheaper than Thomas Cook flying the day after so I'm going to book with Virgin afterall. I'll go the diy route and everything is booked directly with Royal Caribbean, Disney and Virgin and works out cheaper than any package I've had put together by Virgin, Pillinger and Ocean Florida.

 

[Tink1987]

They came back promptly but are a good £500 more expensive than me doing it separately. I've now found a Virgin Flydrive cheaper than Thomas Cook flying the day after so I'm going to book with Virgin afterall. I'll go the diy route and everything is booked directly with Royal Caribbean, Disney and Virgin and works out cheaper than any package I've had put together by Virgin, Pillinger and Ocean Florida.

Wow, it's amazing how it works out differently for different people!

Glad you found what you wanted though