Flight change

[Yvettelee]

Received a phone call from Thomas Cook informing us that we have a slight time change on our flight coming home. Our original flight was 3.15pm but now moved to 9.50pm so they call 7 hours a slight change. Thing is last year we left on the 8am ferry for the 3.15pm flight so can anyone tell me if we'd be getting a later ferry, because we can't bear to spend all those extra hours in Rhodes Town. Thomas Cook can't tell us yet and no reason why we have been changed to a later time.

[Kojak]

Hello yvettelee. You didn't state when you were leaving Symi but I presume it's sometime soon if Thomas Cook phoned you. Amazing how a 7 hour flight change is "slight"!

According to the timetables for 31st August the Proteus leaves Symi at 3pm and arrives in Rhodes at 6.40pm - presumably calling at Panormitis so that boat would be cutting it fine. There is a Dodekanese Express at 4.30pm which gets into Rhodes at 5.20pm. A lot depends on the date you leave Symi though as times do tend to change on a monthly basis. This is the link I use:-

http://paleologos.forth-crs.gr/english/npgres.exe?PM=BO#RoutesTable

[Andy W]

I'm assuming you're on a Thomas Cook package.
As to why you've been switched to another flight it depends on what date you're travelling, which is your destination airport, and whether your original flight was actually on Thomas Cook Airlines (TCX flight number) or some other airline.
There are several possible reasons:
Overbooking due to incompetence
Consolidation - that is reducing the number of flights and squeezing the passengers onto the ones that remain. Charter companies work together to do this as it saves them all money when bookings are lower than expected. Sometimes you get shifted to another airport as well.

Use of a smaller aircraft than originally planned.
They left it too late to actually book the tickets (if not TCX) and there wasn't enough space available or the price has increased. Charter tickets are often only issued a fortnight before the outbound departure, and that's when these changes appear like a bombshell.
Your rights are governed by the booking conditions, which vary between package companies.

If you simply booked flights through a Thomas Cook travel agency rather than a package, you're entitled to a lot more information and have more options.

You've every chance of being moved to an afternoon ferry, especially if you point out that the fare on Proteus is about 5 euros cheaper than the Dodecanese Express so they'll save money by doing it.

[Yvettelee]

Oh I didn't did I, we go on the 24 August till the 7th Sept, thanks for your info

[Yvettelee]

It is a TCX flight number and we booked it at Thomas Cook travel agents as soon as we got back from last years holiday so thats 50 weeks ago.

[Andy W]

If you care to mention the flight number of the flight you were booked on I'll see if I can find anything out about what is going on with it.
It seems totally unreasonable to select someone who booked so long ago to be bumped onto a later flight that you don't want. I'd make as big a fuss as you can and threaten to get them as much bad publicity as you can unless they come up with something better.

[Yvettelee]

Andy the flight number is TCX2073. The flight number is the same for the original flight at 15.40 and the new one at 21.50 to Manchester airport.

Thank you

[SueO]

Hi Yvettelee. That's interesting. We booked our Thomas Cook flights back in March and have confirmation (dated March)) of our return flight on Oct 5th TCX2073 departing at 14.45. Wonder if/when they'll advise us of a change in times. Flights were chosen especially to arrive in Manchester at a reasonable time (we have to catch a train to York then a taxi to our home from there)

Do let us know how you get on - hope it works out for you.

Sue

[Allan]

When I checked Manchester arrival times last Wednesday to see if the Jet2 flight was on time I noticed a TCX flight had been rescheduled from the afternoon to 21.something so it seems the change may already be in place and Thomas Cook are leaving it until the last minute to inform its customers.

[Andy W]

At the moment it looks like TCX2073 is retimed up to and including the 7th of September but is still showing at its original time after that. As the outbound flight TCX2072 is unchanged throughout, and the plane is unlikely to be sitting at Rhodes Airport doing nothing for six and a half hours, they've obviously changed the flight programme so the aircraft goes off somewhere else and presumably another aircraft arrives later in the day to operate TCX2073. There are flights with other airlines in the afternoon still, and there are seats available. At least they haven't singled you out for specially unpleasant treatment - everyone on the flight is being disrupted.

[SueO]

Hi Andy. Strangely we're not booked on the TCX 2072 going out - we're on the TCX 2068 departing Manchester on 21 Sept at 18.05. We book (flight only) through Travel Republic and these were the best/cheapest flights offered - it seems to happen quite regularly for us (out on 1 flight - back on another) and has always worked in the past. It would be interesting to look at the schedules in a couple of weeks time..could you let me know the best way to check? Could you post a link?

Thanks in advance.

Sue

[SueO]

Just had a quick look at Travel Republic web site and our combination of flights is still on offer with only a 20 min difference in the return flight time. Don't usually do this as I hate finding out that I could have saved a fortune by booking late but I'm pleased to say it would cost us a lot more now than it did when we booked

[Andy W]

Hi Sue. I did the research on Thomas Cook's flight-only website

Because the flights are used for 7, 10,11 and 14 day packages, as well as people booking flight only, as well as seasonal fluctuations, there's often a load imbalance between the outward and return legs of a flight. This means as you've found, it can be cheaper to book outward on one half of a pair of flights and return on another, but 7 or 14 day packages are normally sold on the basis of using both flights in the pair. Thomas Cook use even numbers for the outward flight and odd numbers for the return.

[SueO]

Yes, of course Andy. Silly me ops: - didn't think about 10/11 day packages. Thanks for the link - I'll keep an eye on it.

[Becko]

I have received a letter, called the travel agent and they have informed me that the aircraft is being used for another flight. It appears Thomas Cooke are consolodating flights. I have asked what is happening to the ferry crossing or what is there intentions for passengers when in Rhodes at silly o'clock in the morning when we do not fly until 10 at night. I have requested that we remain on symi until a later ferry, they are coming back to me.

[Yvettelee]

We went into Thomas Cook on Saturday to sort this out and said they would get back to us. Well never going to believe the answer we got. They said you may have to go to Rhodes the night before. Well my husband said how ridiculos is that, we on a later flight but got to leave even earlier. Then TC said see your rep on the island, explained TC don't have a rep on the island. So said they would get back to us again.

[Kojak]

This is a problem I've had with Olympic several times. Reps on Rhodes often aren't familiar with Symi and ferry times etc.

[Eleanor]

We are still having problems with olympic for next year no flights from Glasgow that odd Rhodes popular with lots of people (not us though)x

[Kojak]

I finally managed to book the Anastasoula for next year this afternoon. It took an age of being on hold but I stuck it out until Olympic came up with it.

[snoopy2]

Oh my gottle in heaven - is this the start of a 52 week gloat! AAARRRGGHH