Flyglobespan - to change or not?

[MandyJ72]

Gutted for all the people effected by the XL/TCD collapse but it makes me wonder (rather selfishly I know but you can't help it) about Flyglobespan.

We are booked with them flight only for next year and I honestly can't see anything abut them having any problems, except the head honcho guy saying in the Herald that they were doing fine (well, they would say that wouldn't they) but with all these low cost airlines going to the wall (and Alitalia apparently in trouble as well) is it worth risking keeping the booking or lose the £400 deposit and switch to BA which is actually about £400 cheaper so works out the same.

Have to convince my Dad to go via Gatwick which he is adament he is not doing but I've got a really horrible feeling.

What do you think? Keep it or switch it?

 

[Mr Stoat]

Mandy,

Where abouts are you based? We flew Glasgow / Gatwick / Orlando last year with BA. The service was OK, no better I would say than some of the better charter people. This year we are booked Glasgow / Newark / Orlando with Continental. They were about £450 cheaper than BA, the Glasgow leg starts 2 1/2 hours later and we get in to Orlando 15 mins after BA!

 

[Mr Stoat]

Nuts!

Double post, mods delete please!

 

[carolfoy]

flyglobespan are on the brink, we were expecting these to go this year to be honest.
I personally wouldn't try and save money and fly with them because the hassle those poor passengers with TCd etc now face just ain't worth it

 

[MandyJ72]

Thanks guys - we in Livingston - 1/2 way between Edinburgh & Glasgow - if it was just the 4 of us we would have gone the Virgin / BA route like we always done in the past but my Dad won't do the Virgin via Gatwick again (loads of hassle last year with terminal changes etc that we hadn't realised) but if we go all BA then it's a BA connection so should be same terminal but he's a stubborn old goat and wants to do direct which is why we booked FGS to Sanford!

Spoke to my mum and she's going to phone me back in a bit to see what's happening but think we till tackle him and convince him to change!

When we looked at the prices BA were about £200 more expensive each than FGS so it was a no brainer for 6 of us but then they, and Virgin, have really dropped their prices so are now cheaper!

Thanks for the input guys

xx

 

[stoneyloon]

Got to agree with you unfortunately....

flyglobespan are on the brink, we were expecting these to go this year to be honest.
I personally wouldn't try and save money and fly with them because the hassle those poor passengers with TCd etc now face just ain't worth it

 

[Hilary]

flyglobespan are on the brink, we were expecting these to go this year to be honest.
I personally wouldn't try and save money and fly with them because the hassle those poor passengers with TCd etc now face just ain't worth it

Has anyone heard any rumblings about First Choice?

We're due to fly with them in a couple of weeks and the XL administration has (selfishly!) got me concerned that no-one is secure any more. I know the TUI group is bigger than XL, but I don't know if that necessarily helps any more!

 

[paulh]

Has anyone heard any rumblings about First Choice?

We're due to fly with them in a couple of weeks and the XL administration has (selfishly!) got me concerned that no-one is secure any more. I know the TUI group is bigger than XL, but I don't know if that necessarily helps any more!

think first choice, which used to be part of airtours.is now owned by TUI which means your ok hilary
Paulh

Some data of TUI:

approx. 3,500 travel agencies
79 tour operator in 18 countries
over 120 aircraft
37 incoming agencies in 31 countries
12 hotel brand in 28 countries with 285 hotels and around 163,000 beds
10 cruise liners

 

[carolfoy]

first choice/tui are about as reliable as you can get at the moment and fortunately now own almost all the fleet they use (they were using XL on many routes until fairly recently) theres no point in panicking about it.

 

[MandyJ72]

Swapped to BA - Dad didn't take much convincing, he's a bit of a worrier and he's heard horror stories on the radio all day and as soon as I said that some people thout Globespan would be one of the next few to go and we could switch to BA for the same money basically he said "book it"!!

All swapped over now so am a bit happier!

 

[carolfoy]

good for you mandy, you really don't need the hassle my clientele have been having all day

 

[Hilary]

Glad to hear you're sorted, Mandy!

Thanks for the reassurance, Paul and Carol

 

[ScottishDisMam]

Swapped to BA - Dad didn't take much convincing, he's a bit of a worrier and he's heard horror stories on the radio all day and as soon as I said that some people thout Globespan would be one of the next few to go and we could switch to BA for the same money basically he said "book it"!!

All swapped over now so am a bit happier!

Hi Mandy,
Glad you went with your gut feeling got swapped - I was in the same frame of mind 3 months ago with TCD when they started cancelling odd flights and as were going on a cruise I was worried something like this might happen so cancelled them and now booked with Virgin (thank goodness as it turns out).
You'll be much happier in your planning now.

Lisa x

 

[Freaky]

Good choice Mandy

We flew with FGS this summer but have booked with BA, via Gatwick, for next year - you just never know what will happen.

Tracey

 

[irongirlof12]

good for you to think ahead.

 

[MandyJ72]

Just checked BA prices again - gone up from yesterday when I booked from £238 per person to £280 per person!! So glad I spoke to mum & dad yesterday!!

Works out would be an extra £485 had we waited - scary!!

 

[golds]

hello everyone,
how soon do folk expect globespan to be in trouble?
this year,month,week?
im supposed to be flying out on friday.

they have moved our return flight,im guessing this isnt a great sign?

any help will be appreciated.

thanks in advance.

 

[carolfoy]

flyglobespan have been cutting schedules all summer, a sure sign that things are difficult, I really wouldn't expect them to fail in the next few weeks but who can say? If they go I would expect it to be during the winter months once their canadian programme stops.
PLEASE do not panic, clients abroad during airline failure are still getting home, its not the end of the world. The CAA, ABTA and ATOL will ensure yo get back, don't let the thought of it ruin yor holiday.

 

[milomummy]

Without sounding totally stupid, I would imagine that the worry of these 'smaller' holiday firms going bust and folk cancelling their hols with them will only speed up the possibility of them going under.
Although, I abolutely would do the same thing myself!
It's just the ripple effect isn't it, from one major collapse, it makes people think twice about booking with smaller operators and effectively seals the coffin for them.

Awful and worrying time for all concerned.

 

[MandyJ72]

You are probably right Milomummy, but Im not prepared to take the chance - I know Im being selfish but I don't need the headache and the worry, too much else going on!! And the way our luck goes we would lose the money paid and not get it back!!!!