Beware of Thomas Cook’s cabin baggage scam.

BeBe said:
Welcome to the 21st century
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BeBe
With respect that's a very defeatist attitude. I don't have to put up with having to spend three hours confined in conditions that are plain unhealthy. Add to that the Thomas Cook cabin baggage scam which is designed to entrap the maximum number of passengers and generate extra revenue. I'm going to vote with my credit card and never fly with Mr Cooks airline again. I'm certainly not content to be used and abused and put it down to progress.
 
Borden said:
....unlike most airlines they appear not to specify a size limitation. On boarding the flight we saw people cramming sizeable soft bags into the overhead lockers.....
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Checked today and the hand baggage size is now 55x40x20 cm's.

12 months ago it was 43cm x 28cm x 23cm which is smaller than Ryanair and yet much bigger bags where being booked in. When TC staff where quizzed about this they just said each airport was different? So you flew home with a big bag and can't fly back with it. Great one Thomas Cook!
 
Now you've started something - I could rant endlessly about how dealings with ALL airlines and ALL airports are somehow different from other commercial experiences. There's the Flybe surcharge of £30 per bag Belfast to Southampton cos we booked via expedia.com. The £4 sandwich; the rip-off prices for coffee; the so-called duty-free booze (take the duty off and whack up the price); the on-line check-in fee of £24 or airport check-in £40 (Jet2.com); the $10 to watch a movie on United "short-haul" e.g. Panama to Miami etc etc

I have given up worrying about all this and just put air travel down as a regular encounter with shysters, crooks and villains. I feel sorry for some of the staff who work for them because when you say the price of whatever is a rip-off, and then give them a knowing smile, they do look very embarrassed.

Having said that, the best advice is to read the small print and to know what you are paying for.

Of course, the other side of the coin was Michael O'Leary being interviewed a few years ago and defending Ryanair's treatment of passengers whose flights had been cancelled, he said "Just what do you expect for a £25 return ticket to France?"

Fascinating Aida said it all on Youtube.
 
Borden said:
To be fair I had read in my booking conditions that the weight limit for cabin bags on TC’s airline is 5kg. Call me stupid but I've been flying for years and never before has my cabin bag been weighed.
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OK, you are stupid :D

My rule is to always read the weight and size allowances before booking.

And wear a coat with big pockets, see this article and Rufus Roo: The BIG POCKET Travel Jacket on Amazon.
 
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Flying commercially is a new world.

Borden said:
BeBe
With respect that's a very defeatist attitude. I don't have to put up with having to spend three hours confined in conditions that are plain unhealthy. Add to that the Thomas Cook cabin baggage scam which is designed to entrap the maximum number of passengers and generate extra revenue. I'm going to vote with my credit card and never fly with Mr Cooks airline again. I'm certainly not content to be used and abused and put it down to progress.
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Like I said, welcome to the new world. The things you complain about will be ubiquitous very shortly. Flying commercially is a new world.

Bill
 
Yeah, rant on! How are dealings with airlines "somehow different" from other commercial experiences? Because you are protected against their bankruptcy by the law? Or get protection, refunds, free refreshments and even accommodation if delayed, even when it isn't the airline's fault? That's different! Try that on buses, taxis or trains. Or that you're paying £50 to get whisked somewhere in a machine that costs £50.000.000, burns fuel at a rate of tons per hour and there are only a hundred and fifty of you there to pay for it, plus all the other astronomical charges the airports levy in landing, parking, handling, de-icing, baggage fees etc? Pro rata that's like paying a pound to cross the channel between glitzy marinas in a couple of hours in a yacht that cost a Million, and beefing about the cost of the coffee on board or a paltry booking fee. How on earth do they manage do it? It certainly doesn't involve any rip-offs, not at those rates.

Interesting remarks from someone who repeats the line about reading the small print yet beefs about being charged extra because he booked FlyBE on Expedia. What ever prompted you to do that, and whose fault is it that you got stung? Don't FlyBE have their own website? Sorry, own goal! Duty Free booze isn't compulsory you know (everyone, but everyone has known for decades that the duty free on board is often/usually more expensive than in supermarkets at the destination), neither are the £4 sandwiches and rip-off coffee that cost the same in every high street CostaPacket or in a $10 cinema. When was the last time you bought popcorn and a hot dog at the cinema? Or got into one without having to pay???? Come on, be reasonable!

To put all this into perspective in FY 11 Easyjet made roughly £250M profit before tax and flew over 50M pax. That's a profit of just £5 per passenger on which they have to pay tax. It must be pretty clear that the seats effectively go at cost and much/most of the profit is on the inflight sales which clearly do have high mark-ups. But is that in any way unreasonable? I'd call it a stupendously good deal especially if you bring your own butties.
If you don't like Jet2s break-down of prices fly someone else - again, it isn't compulsory. But its the bottom line that matters, how did that compare? On average, it will be comparable. in an open market it must be. Airlines are learning (slowly) that nothing irritates customers more than "hidden" or extra charges like that Jet2 example. WYSIWYpay is the correct answer. Some are better at this than others.

Ripoffs are everywhere, but probably much rarer in an industry as incredibly price-sensitive as an airline. Try buying a fitted stereo option in a car - any option in a car, £50 for number plates for chrissakes, extra for delivery as if you had the option to get it from the factory. Go to (no - don't, it's a figure of speech) Costa Coffee or Covent Garden for a snack.

The point is prices are all in the open for you to spot, and if you book via an unnecessary agent or don't have the gumption to pack a sandwich why/how is that the airlines' fault?

Ever been to a Chandler's by any chance?

As for O'Leary. The poison dwarf has been making a marketing ploy out of mistreating and insulting his customers for years, and guess what? They come crowding back for more, so what does that tell us about customers? Or, for that matter, the poison dwarf himself?
 
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Isn't this just a case of a different approach o charging?

TCs expect you to rely upon your hold baggage allowance, leaving the "carry-on" for ladies handbags, cameras etc when 5kg should be sufficient - a little behind the times though with laptops and the like, whereas, Easyjet want you to take the majority of your luggage into the cabin so impose no restrictions other than as to size and your ability to lift in into the overhead bins. Ryanair and Jet2 use the 10kg and sell you extra carrying for a modest amount. I use all four of these plus Thomson's Tui and even Aegean in the winter to get to Corfu. I just do my research beforehand.
 
Some do !

sailinglegend420 said:
I think they should weigh the passengers not the baggage!
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Couple of years ago my wife and I flew to the Bahamas via Miami. At checkin for the connecting flight in Miami, our hand baggage was weighed as well as the hold baggage but so also were we! SWMBO was not impressed but when I looked over my shoulder and saw the largest lady Ive ever seen it started to dawn on me why.
When we boarded she was on one side and three of us were seated on the other side.
Im not joking. :D
 
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/a...round-costly-weight-restrictions-flights.html

is this what you are looking for??? ha ha ha...
Personnaly, I tend to avoid ALL Airlines, especially RyancatastrophywaitingtohappenAir and AircrappyFrance and as an ex pilot invite you to read PPrune (Professional Pilot Rumors and News) site to be updated on what professionnals think of them (irish and french operators amongst others...)... very interesting reading and makes you think twice... Signed Al, who cycled 1500kms from Marseille to Cherbourg via Bordeaux rather than flying or taking a train last fall (for the pleasure of cycling of course but...) Safe sailing all.
 
MASH said:
Yeah, rant on! How are dealings with airlines "somehow different" from other commercial experiences? Because you are protected against their bankruptcy by the law? Or get protection, refunds, free refreshments and even accommodation if delayed, even when it isn't the airline's fault? That's different! Try that on buses, taxis or trains. Or that you're paying £50 to get whisked somewhere in a machine that costs £50.000.000, burns fuel at a rate of tons per hour and there are only a hundred and fifty of you there to pay for it, plus all the other astronomical charges the airports levy in landing, parking, handling, de-icing, baggage fees etc? Pro rata that's like paying a pound to cross the channel between glitzy marinas in a couple of hours in a yacht that cost a Million, and beefing about the cost of the coffee on board or a paltry booking fee. How on earth do they manage do it? It certainly doesn't involve any rip-offs, not at those rates.

Interesting remarks from someone who repeats the line about reading the small print yet beefs about being charged extra because he booked FlyBE on Expedia. What ever prompted you to do that, and whose fault is it that you got stung? Don't FlyBE have their own website? Sorry, own goal! Duty Free booze isn't compulsory you know (everyone, but everyone has known for decades that the duty free on board is often/usually more expensive than in supermarkets at the destination), neither are the £4 sandwiches and rip-off coffee that cost the same in every high street CostaPacket or in a $10 cinema. When was the last time you bought popcorn and a hot dog at the cinema? Or got into one without having to pay???? Come on, be reasonable!

To put all this into perspective in FY 11 Easyjet made roughly £250M profit before tax and flew over 50M pax. That's a profit of just £5 per passenger on which they have to pay tax. It must be pretty clear that the seats effectively go at cost and much/most of the profit is on the inflight sales which clearly do have high mark-ups. But is that in any way unreasonable? I'd call it a stupendously good deal especially if you bring your own butties.
If you don't like Jet2s break-down of prices fly someone else - again, it isn't compulsory. But its the bottom line that matters, how did that compare? On average, it will be comparable. in an open market it must be. Airlines are learning (slowly) that nothing irritates customers more than "hidden" or extra charges like that Jet2 example. WYSIWYpay is the correct answer. Some are better at this than others.

Ripoffs are everywhere, but probably much rarer in an industry as incredibly price-sensitive as an airline. Try buying a fitted stereo option in a car - any option in a car, £50 for number plates for chrissakes, extra for delivery as if you had the option to get it from the factory. Go to (no - don't, it's a figure of speech) Costa Coffee or Covent Garden for a snack.

The point is prices are all in the open for you to spot, and if you book via an unnecessary agent or don't have the gumption to pack a sandwich why/how is that the airlines' fault?

Ever been to a Chandler's by any chance?

As for O'Leary. The poison dwarf has been making a marketing ploy out of mistreating and insulting his customers for years, and guess what? They come crowding back for more, so what does that tell us about customers? Or, for that matter, the poison dwarf himself?
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Now that's what I call a rant. ..er .. was trying to be a bit balanced with reference to the actual cost paid for some cheap flights and people's expectations.

As for have I ever been to a Chandlery - No, I make all my own parts for the boat from raw materials.
 
sailinglegend420 said:
I think they should weigh the passengers not the baggage!
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They did use to on flights out of Alderney by Aurigny.

Take off on the twin Islanders was very exciting as you breasted the slope up the runway and then flung yourself off the cliff edge, dropping about 20' before starting to climb.

When the tri-motor Islanders were introduced, half the fun went out of take-off.
 
We need to face reality - it's the budget airlines who are making profits, because of their innumerable surcharges, working their planes to and beyond the limit, underpaying their pilots and working them to (and sometimes beyond) the legal hours.

2nd officers who can't speak or understand English, Irish hours 20% more than UK or US.

Virgin America, voted 3 times best airline of the year loses $207 million.
Spirit the US embodiment of Mike O'Really makes record profits.

It's the travelling public who promote the rip-off airlines, by continuing to buy their tickets - sheep on the way to the shearer.

I make a point of flying "Real" airlines - usually get better all-in prices than any budget airline offers and don't feel I'm on my way to Ravensbruck.
 
AndrewB said:
I've just been caught by another Thomas Cook scam, or rather by Netflight, Thomas Cook's online flight booking company.

...........
We then find we have been charged an extra £70 for a call-centre flight booking plus £30 for travel insurance we didn't ask for or want. Helpful call centre girl is now 'unavailable', and the extra money declared 'unrefundable according to our T&C'.

Avoid this company. You have been warned.
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So £100 "scammed"; read this:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/section75-protect-your-purchases
 
You are all volunteers - if you don't like it vote with your feet but not in any expectation that your gesture will make any difference.

The package tours will continue to keep their profits churning in!
 
Profit is an imaginary concept

This thread is enabling much venting of spleen I see.
MASH mentions EasyJet' made 'profits' of only £250m before tax.
Corporation Tax is calculated on the declared profits so if you make less profit then you pays less tax. That's why they pay accountants megga money. Don't go feeling sorry for them.
Did you know that a Reuters enquiry has revealed that retailer Starbucks has paid only £8.6 million in corporation tax since it opened in the UK in 1998 and in recent years has paid no corporation tax, despite having sales of £1.2 billion in the UK over the past three years. Now how do they do that? Simples, they lob all of loan interest from their other operations into their UK accounts then on top of that the UK operation pays 6% royalty on all sales to their parent company in (guess where) Switzerland for the use of the Starbucks brand, yes really. Result, no profits, boo-hoo = no tax liability - yipee!
Wanty to read more?
http://www.out-law.com/en/articles/...not-justify-a-change-in-the-law-says-expert1/
 
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