Cancelled flights

[Fina]

After paying the balance of my holiday to Symi on the 15/4/15, I was emailed on the 17//4/15 to tell me that the Monarch Wednesday 8:15am flight from Birmingham to Rhodes was cancelled for the summer 2015 season.

I was offered a transfer to the Manchester flight leaving at 16:30 arriving Rhodes 22:30. I declined the offer and cancelled my holiday. Will try to visit Symi again next year.

Does Monarch not realise I chose the Birmingham flight because the times were good, its my local airport. I have since booked another holiday to mainland Greece, flying from Birmingham and times to suit me.

[Andy W]

When did you book the package, Fina?
I produce Symi Visitor's tables of who flies to Rhodes and Kos and when and publish them on the SV Travel Blog, and did the initial research for the 2015 version back in October and early November 2014. By that point Monarch Airlines was not advertising any flights at all from Birmingham to Rhodes. During summer 2014 Monarch had announced that they were going to exit the charter flight market before the 2015 summer season started, and become a scheduled airline only. This got quite a bit of newspaper and TV coverage. In my opinion if you were sold the package after October the holiday company is guilty of misleading advertising or even false pretences, and if you booked through a travel agent, that agent is guilty of negligence.
If you booked before October, as soon as Monarch Airlines had cancelled its flight you should have been informed, by the travel agent unless you booked direct with the tour operator. If this was when you booked I'm sure we can guess why this wasn't done, to lock you in as a customer instead of allowing you to take your deposit back and go elsewhere. It is disgraceful not to tell you until after you've paid the deposit.
I think the airline is less to blame than you might think in this particular case, the package tour operator and/or the travel agent are the villains in the piece. The airline went public at least 6 months before the summer season starts, the others failed to pass this on and only told you a month before, after they' taken your money.
I think I can guess who the package tour company is (and it won't be any part of Thomson or Thomas Cook who both have their own flights from Rhodes to Birmingham you could have been offered instead). Would you like to tell us so others can learn?
I'm so sorry this has happened to you.

[Fina]

Thank you Andy, as you have guessed my holiday was booked on the 1st of July 2014, booked on line with Cosmos, a deposit of £123 was paid 1/7/2014. The full balance was paid on 15/4/2015 in total £1768. 2 days later on 17/4/2015 the e mail arrived to tell us the flight had been cancelled.

We were booked into the Nireus, sea view room for 2 weeks. We were so looking forward to our visit to Symi.

I am sure someone will read this who still thinks they are flying from Birmingham to Rhodes. Disgraceful way to treat people.

[Andy W]

And since it is Cosmos as I suspected, Monarch Airlines are a member of the same group of companies so there is no excuse whatever for information not passing in a timely manner from Monarch Airlines to Cosmos to you.
I have issued warnings about the changes at Monarch Airlines affecting people travelling to Symi from various airports, but I never mentioned Birmingham as a departure point as I had no idea a flight had ever been planned in the first place.
I hope you will be able to make it to Symi next year as you suggest. Perhaps you could arrange your flights and your accommodation separately without using a package operator - you could only do better than Cosmos have.

[Fina]

Indeed Andy, in fact we do travel independently to Mastihari Kos.

Thank you for your advice, much appreciated.

Fina