Thomas Cook

but then if i have a customer thats had a price from X from Y and Y is a supplier we use I will specifically speak to X at Y so the person at Y still get credited for the booking
 
IceWind said:
but then if i have a customer thats had a price from X from Y and Y is a supplier we use I will specifically speak to X at Y so the person at Y still get credited for the booking
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That doesn't help the end of year profits, commission is still a loss over a direct booking. :p

It's insane in the states, some people will book direct with a supplier on their website, then transfer the booking to their travel agent (who has literally done nothing), then the agent will use some of the commission to give the person extra in-resort/on-board spend.

Customer wins, agent wins, supplier loses.
 
you say that but having agents sell your product, advertise your product and then deal with the mess should something happen boosts your profits.

instead of only selling to say 1million direct customer... you might sell to 900k direct customer but then to 4million customers through agents that you use.

By selling your product through an agent you open your product up to every shop, call centre and online agent out there which will use their own budgets for marketing ( some of which yes it partially paid for by by certain suppliers )

But as an independent agent I will switch sell a customer to the best product for them... if that happens to then be your product then thats a win for you as you have paid nothing to get the customer to book with you other than the commission and its revenue to you that you would not have got otherwise.

This is what suppliers like Riviera Travel and Saga had to do. Not that long ago both these companies were direct sell companies only, however it was costing them so much to bring in new customers to the business as they were having to bid against other companies advertisements they could not keep up with the marketing budget.

Now if we advertise a Viking cruise... and a customer calls up about this and its too expensive for them il switch sell them to Riviera instead which is a cheaper alternative but still very good. That a booking that Riviera have then got without the need to pay for the marketing to get it.
 
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Landed back from Orlando this morning after being delayed almost 24 hours from when we were originally supposed to fly with Thomas Cook. It was a bit of a mess at the airport as no information was being given to us but the CAA and UK Gov got us back.

Onto my question. I booked flight only with them, which isn't ATOL protected, how do I go about getting a refund. I paid be credit card and it was over £100 so I know I can use section 75 but has anyone done this yet?

Also to add on, would I get a full refund or partial due to me using them to fly out with?
 
Did you have to pay for your flight coming home ??

If the CAA flew you back without charging you and you flew out without any issues when really you have nothing to claim.
 
you didnt pay for the flight coming home though the CAA provided you a flight home so there is nothing to claim. CAA had no obligation to fly people home that had only booked flight only as there is no ATOL protection on those flight ( however flight only booked through me has airline failure insurance included )

Flight only you would have had to buy your own flight home and THEN claim for the flight from the credit card for the one that didnt happen... but you had no cost involved in getting home as the CAA flew you home... Normally a flight delay would be covered under an EU 216 claim against the airline but of course they dont exist ( at least in the UK ) any more.

You have no claim on your credit card or to the CAA... you might be able to claim on your insurance for additional costs involved IF you had to pay out for another nights hotel
 
IceWind said:
you say that but having agents sell your product, advertise your product and then deal with the mess should something happen boosts your profits.

instead of only selling to say 1million direct customer... you might sell to 900k direct customer but then to 4million customers through agents that you use.

By selling your product through an agent you open your product up to every shop, call centre and online agent out there which will use their own budgets for marketing ( some of which yes it partially paid for by by certain suppliers )

But as an independent agent I will switch sell a customer to the best product for them... if that happens to then be your product then thats a win for you as you have paid nothing to get the customer to book with you other than the commission and its revenue to you that you would not have got otherwise.

This is what suppliers like Riviera Travel and Saga had to do. Not that long ago both these companies were direct sell companies only, however it was costing them so much to bring in new customers to the business as they were having to bid against other companies advertisements they could not keep up with the marketing budget.

Now if we advertise a Viking cruise... and a customer calls up about this and its too expensive for them il switch sell them to Riviera instead which is a cheaper alternative but still very good. That a booking that Riviera have then got without the need to pay for the marketing to get it.
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Dude, I understand how this all works, I've been here for 7 years now :p

Fact of the matter is, not all agents are equal, and not all 'specialists' are that great. 75% of our business comes from travel agents, however we still directly service 80% of bookings, as once the booking is made, they are our customer too.

Some agents are good and manage things end to end on the customer's behalf, part of my job is identifying those that don't. ;)
 
then your directors should be telling agents to serve their own dam bookings them or risk the ability to sell your product.

i always tell all my customers for any help they need to come straight to me
 
Ok so I've read some information about this from MSE. They say that if the CAA fly you back free, you cannot claim under section 75. Apologies for confusion.
 
IceWind said:
then your directors should be telling agents to serve their own dam bookings them or risk the ability to sell your product.

i always tell all my customers for any help they need to come straight to me
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That what my analysis, reporting, etc is for, so we can build cases and the commerical team can iron things out. I also look at the clientele they get for us, because quality > quantity.
 
Raymond Lin said:
the 24hr delay I think.

I suggest travel insurance.
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you can only claim compensation from the original carrier, now the carrier is bust you will have precisely 0 chance.

if you want a refund then you can try travel insurance (a lot of them don’t include this though) or claiming back through your credit card for the cost of the flight but I have no idea how it would work, if at all.
 
A terribly run company, one of the worst ever - no wonder that it went under.

At the Frankfurt International Airport in Germany, under Condor branding they had exploited human labour as slaves and caused massive chaos at the Airport with multiple delays during the summer busy season.
 
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Just trying to get my head round this.

So normally commission is paid to a third party who sells your product.

So why do direct sales even have commission in the first place? Seems like a fancy word for fat profit margin. You dont pay yourself commission.
 
chrcoluk said:
Just trying to get my head round this.

So normally commission is paid to a third party who sells your product.

So why do direct sales even have commission in the first place? Seems like a fancy word for fat profit margin. You dont pay yourself commission.
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its not even profit margin... more additional profit margin. So on a hotel for a week say costs £3000 All inclusvie. about 7-15% of that ( depending on the supplier ) would be commission. IF you booked that product direct then you would pay £3000... however there is anything up to £450 commission on that. Me as an agent for that supplier if there was £450 commision on that would sell that to you with say £250 discount on it. the buisness I work for then would get £200 profit out of that and you would get the product for £250 cheaper that what it would be to book direct.

BUT its get even more complicated that that.

So say a Cruise holiday. il take on particular cruise for example .

Norwegian Star on the 4th of January from Buenos Aires

If you wanted a BA Grade Balcony Cabin ( this would be a mid ship balcony cabin ) the cost to you from Norwegian Cruise line would be £2619 per person. Now a normal agent would then be able to sell that to you for about £2450 per person.. ( or there abouts )

However because we sell a lot of cruises to Norwegian Cruise line we get a completely different rate that isnt available to other agents... so that same cabin I could sell to you at £2125 per person. That is £988 total less that what you can buy it from Norwegian Cruise line directly.
 
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