What Can Holidaymakers Do After the Collapse of Thomas Cook?
What’s Next for U.K. Travelers After the Collapse of Thomas Cook
(Bloomberg) -- With the demise of Thomas Cook Group Plc, holiday plans for thousands of people just got a lot more complicated. The compulsory liquidation of the 178-year-old travel company, confirmed Monday after rescue talks over the weekend failed, leaves more than 150,000 British holidaymakers overseas and means canceled vacations for many more.
Here’s a breakdown of how the collapse affects customers:
Q. I’m already on holiday -- what happens now?
Customers already abroad on package deals with Thomas Cook should be able to enjoy the rest of their holiday largely unaffected. Such trips -- which combine flight bookings with a hotel room -- are covered by the Civil Aviation Authority-backed Air Travel Organizer’s License program, or ATOL.
The U.K. government says it will organize repatriation flights to Britain until Oct. 6, enough to bring back customers including those who have just embarked on a two-week break. ATOL also protects accommodation, so no travelers should be ejected from their hotels, and the CAA has asked customers not to make any payments there unless otherwise instructed.
Q. But I have a flight-only booking ...
Bookings without accommodation don’t have the protection of the ATOL scheme, though the government has said it will also repatriate such customers to the U.K. over the next two weeks.
Q. What if I’m away on vacation but my holiday is longer?
Customers already away on longer breaks -- a minority given the nature of Cook’s business -- will still have ATOL protection but will have to make their own flight arrangements beyond Oct. 6, for which they’ll be reimbursed. Flight-only customers will need to do likewise and will need to claim reimbursement from the credit-card provider or travel insurer.
Q. I’m with Thomas Cook, but not the U.K. division ...
Cook’s Scandinavian arm has ceased operations and people already on holiday will be covered by the local equivalent of ATOL. In Germany, the company’s Condor airline brand is still operating and has applied for a bridge loan from the government. The German tour operating arm says it’s in emergency mode while sounding out final options but could have to file for insolvency, too.
Q. I’m due to fly out later this year. Do I have a holiday?
For those scheduled to fly on or after Sept. 23, holidays and flights booked on Thomas Cook are canceled. Package customers should get a full refund via ATOL, while flight-only bookers will again need to turn to their card company or insurer. One complication is that some Cook customers are booked onto other airlines, so that their flights could still be available, but not their hotels and airport transfers.
Q. How do I get my money back?
The U.K. government says it will launch a service to manage all refunds on Sept. 30 and that it aims to process all claims within two months.
Q. Has the government handled anything like this before?
The process echoes the 2017 collapse of U.K. leisure carrier Monarch, which left the government to arrange the return of 110,000 tourists. In that event, the CAA had established a temporary carrier with 34 charter aircraft to bring back people from vacation.
--With assistance from Richard Weiss.
To contact the reporter on this story: Siddharth Philip in London at sphilip3@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tara Patel at tpatel2@bloomberg.net, Christopher Jasper, John Bowker
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