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Thomas Cook Fighting for Survival
Old 09-22-2019, 11:14 AM   #1
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Thomas Cook Fighting for Survival

I'm surprised they have survived so long given so many online sites and hotels and airlines encouraging you to book directly. At least the British Government has a plan to help out stranded travelers.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/1-tra...125106864.html
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Old 09-22-2019, 11:17 AM   #2
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I didn't even know he was sick!
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Old 09-22-2019, 11:21 AM   #3
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I didn't even know he was sick!


Yes, he never got over that touch of death he had in 1892.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Cook
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Old 09-22-2019, 11:35 AM   #4
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At least the British Government has a plan to help out stranded travelers.
Why? I know little about the situation, but shouldn't Westdeutsche Landesbank and Fosun bear the brunt, rather than British taxpayers?
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Old 09-22-2019, 12:41 PM   #5
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Every once in a while I'll hear or use the term "Cook's tour"--most people have no clue what that means (and why should they, really). Interesting story here: http://thewisecollector.com/thomas-c...and-tours.html
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"Cook has made travel simple, easy and a pleasure. He will sell you a ticket to any place on the globe. Cook is your banker everywhere. His clerks will answer all the questions you ask, and do it courteously. I recommend Cook's tickets and I do so without embarrassment, for I get no commission. I do not know Cook." - Mark Twain, Europe and Elsewhere, 1923
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Old 09-22-2019, 12:49 PM   #6
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I never knew the derivation of the phrase so I had to look it up:

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In 1841, British missionary Thomas Cook convinced a British railway to run a special train to a temperance meeting, then proceeded to find passengers for the trip, an event regarded as the beginning of organized tourism. Within a few years, Cook was setting up excursions on a regular basis, and by the century's end, the Thomas Cook & Son travel agency was orchestrating travel around the world. The agency's tours were famously well-organized, but they were also known for herding travelers hurriedly from location to location. A Cook's tourist might see an impressive array of famous sites, but often only in superficial glimpses. Over time, English speakers started using Cook's tour for any hurried tour, and later, for any rushed activity or cursory review.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Cook's%20tour

Silly me, I had always thought it referred to Captain Cook's travels throughout the world.
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Old 09-22-2019, 12:57 PM   #7
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Silly me, I had always thought it referred to Captain Cook's travels throughout the world.
That was before the Captain teamed up with Wagons Lits and started towing trains behind his ship.
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Old 09-22-2019, 01:21 PM   #8
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That was before the Captain teamed up with Wagons Lits and started towing trains behind his ship.
Was Tennille involved?
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Old 09-22-2019, 01:37 PM   #9
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Was Tennille involved?
No, this was after she divorced Daryl.
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Old 09-22-2019, 04:20 PM   #10
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No, this was after she divorced Daryl.
Yeah got tired of "dragon" him around.....
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Old 09-22-2019, 04:21 PM   #11
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Yeah got tired of "dragon" him around.....
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Old 09-22-2019, 08:09 PM   #12
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Thomas Cook, world’s oldest travel company, has collapsed:

https://globalnews.ca/news/5936407/thomas-cook-deal-uk/
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Old 09-22-2019, 08:39 PM   #13
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The UK government is planning help out stranded UK travelers. I wonder if AAA (auto club) will eventually shut down their travel agency. That operating unit has been on the decline for years. They will eventually stop distributing hard copies of their travel guide and maps.
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Old 09-23-2019, 08:20 AM   #14
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I didn't even know he was sick!
pretty much my reaction - DW admonished me
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Old 09-23-2019, 09:01 AM   #15
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They have hundreds of stranded passengers all over the world. It's going to take a few days to get them booked on other airlines and get'tem back home. Flyers may have to pay for hotels until they return home. Not all the rooms booked will accept travelers either. Those that prepaid for hotels/rooms will probably be SOL.

I got caught in Dover, England when Braniff went out of business, and it was a difficult few days. Hitchhiked back to Houston--and paid my own way to Memphis.
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Old 09-23-2019, 09:17 AM   #16
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Lots of of people stranded and job losses. From the FT https://www.ft.com/content/dd402b2c-...3-db5a370481bc
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The*collapse of the travel company leaves 21,000 jobs at risk and 150,000 UK holidaymakers stranded abroad, reliant on an effort by the government’s Civil Aviation Authority to put together the biggest emergency repatriation in peacetime.
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Old 09-23-2019, 09:27 AM   #17
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Lots of of people stranded and job losses. From the FT https://www.ft.com/content/dd402b2c-...3-db5a370481bc
Still not sure why it would be the government's (i.e. taxpayers, and especially taxpayers who didn't/can't afford to go on vacation overseas), responsibility to repatriate these unfortunates.

To misquote Ebenezer "Is there no insurance, are there no alternative means of transport?"

What am I missing? Dunkirk it ain't.
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Old 09-23-2019, 09:31 AM   #18
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What about the non-Britons? Are their governments bringing them back too?

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Still not sure why it would be the government's (i.e. taxpayers, and especially taxpayers who didn't/can't afford to go on vacation overseas), responsibility to repatriate these unfortunates.

To misquote Ebenezer "Is there no insurance, are there no alternative means of transport?"

What am I missing? Dunkirk it ain't.
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Old 09-23-2019, 09:38 AM   #19
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Lots of of people stranded and job losses. From the FT https://www.ft.com/content/dd402b2c-...3-db5a370481bc
Wow--can't read the article but assuming it's from the POV of UK citizens needing to be returned to the UK, whoa. Looks like there are tons more traveling with Thomas Cook who need to be returned to other countries "On top of the British holidaymakers, some 460,000 other customers are also abroad, with many coming from Germany or Scandinavia." https://finance.yahoo.com/news/1-tra...125106864.html

There is an insurance fund that travel agencies/brokers paid into that should cover the costs https://www.caa.co.uk/ATOL-protectio...rs/About-ATOL/ :
Quote:
ATOL is run by the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). It is able to provide assistance by requiring ATOL holders to pay a fee of £2.50 for each traveller, which is held in a fund managed by the Air Travel Trust. This fund is used to refund, repatriate or reimburse travellers for the cost of repaying for the affected parts of their trip.

This money creates a fund that will support consumers to minimise disruption to their holiday or, if they are no longer able to travel, provide a full refund for the holiday.
So it's not the British government footing the bill for repatriation.

The first trip, although not with a group or a tour, DH and I took after we were married a few years and had jobs that made money was through Thomas Cook's office on Michigan Avenue in Chicago, including their own travelers checks. RIP, TC.
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Old 09-23-2019, 09:48 AM   #20
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From a UK perspective, if a “packaged holiday” is purchased then the mandatory ATOL insurance covers the costs when a carrier goes bust. Thomas Cook also provides flights only and if the traveler has not purchased travel insurance then they are going to struggle to get any refund.

The UK government through the CAA is arranging flights over the next 2 weeks to bring stranded travelers back to the UK.

There are reports of some of the hotels that holiday makers are staying at demanding money from their guests but the advice from the UK is to not pay anything as the travelers have already paid Thomas Cook.
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