ALL ABOUT YOU — LETTERS
Cook’s late charge When is a late booking with Thomas Cook? For the last few months you have had to add the transfers on a late booking (£40 in some cases) and it comes up in the errata if it’s applicable, allowing Cook to display a price on viewdata that appears lower than it really is. So, looking today, January 11, how is it that I am getting that message for a departure to Antalya on April 26 and Las Palmas on April 30 from Glasgow? The message comes up ‘This is a Late Booking’ etc. No it isn’t! It’s 15 weeks away. Even Cook’s date on their first page says ‘Late Search to April 5’. Sorry, but this is an absolute con; you cannot call these dates a late booking. l Name withheld, Personal Travel Advisors Travel Weekly would welcome a response from Thomas Cook
Cyprus Airways Story: Cyprus Airways ceases flying after EC ruling Six aircraft and 560 staff? That’s nearly 100 people per aircraft! Hardly surprising nobody wanted to buy it as a going concern. As the commissioner says, it wasn’t viable without Cypriot taxpayers’ money. l Dave Dennis
Kathryn will be key Story: Former Tui retail chief Kathryn Darbandi (née Ward) to join Thomas Cook An excellent appointment. Kathryn did a great job in leading the Tui retail business. I am sure she will have a very positive impact on the people and performance in
Thomas Cook retail. l John McEwan
Best wishes, Bryony Story: Spear Travels agrees to buy Tickets Anywhere Best of luck to Spear with their new branch. And although Bryony [Hordern] is far too young to retire, I wish her all the best! l Andy Freeth, managing director, Travel 2
CAA plan is ‘inept’ Story: Abta in talks with CAA to host Agency Agreements More evidence of how the CAA’s ineptitude affects the industry. The CAA solution is to create so much bureaucracy that agents and operators can’t be bothered, thus reducing consumer choice. l Vince Furnier Travel Weekly would welcome a response from the CAA
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Cruise excursions
L CRUISE
Story: Attraction World drops cruise excursion programme
Don’t blame the trade. Many agents were pushing these under pressure from their head offices, despite knowing that the vast majority of cruisers will buy only from the cruise lines, as they know ships will wait only for late-returning passengers on lines’ own excursions. l Guest
If there is no appetite for it, how come Cruising Excursions are still in the market? At best, Attraction World dipped a toe in the water, offering a relatively small selection of excursions with certain cruise lines in certain ports. l Peter Wellman
We must disagree with [Attraction World director] Tony Seaman’s comment that shore excursions are at the “bottom of the food chain”.
Cruisingexcursions.com, from launching less than four years ago, now offers almost 12,000 excursions to over 700 ports worldwide. l Cruising Excursions
LETTERS PAGE Email:
editorial@travelweekly.co.uk Please write “For Letters Page” in the subject line. All correspondence must be accompanied by a name, job title and company address; these will be withheld on request. Please limit letters to 150 words. We reserve the right to edit letters for brevity and clarity. Other comments are taken from
Travelweekly.co.uk. The deadline is midday Monday.
How have your cruise bookings been recently? Fair
Good 39%
36% Poll conducted January 12 •
gazetteers.com
Poor 19%
Don’t sell cruise
7%
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