Thomas Cook plane swap and now not premium

[StaffsLass]

I’m the friend lol. Thanks Linda my brother just told me to read this thread. Interesting thanks and will be helping my parents to look into it further. I was at the check in ages because I also had issues with my son’s seat as they kept taking him off the back row which he needed for a special harness for him. I over heard them say that there was ‘new letters’ to give out and she’d taken the old ones away’. Then I overheard the other check in lady tell another passenger she would get a full refund of her seat but the letter states the difference between economy to premium. I’m wondering if the original letter didn’t. The crew had no idea till they got on the plane. They had to hunt for some blankets to pad my son in his seat and they found one pillow. They had no idea what else they had or didn’t have on board. We got told there would be no premium meals either but there was. I will be emailing tc on our return.but the crew were fantastic with me and my 2 children and actually liked the plane aside from it being a bit narrow to walk down. Will see how the return plane compares.

[legallyblonde]

Does anyone know why this seems to happen regularly with TC?

[StaffsLass]

Originally Posted by CJC

May I ask which seats you had booked eg how did they select which ones were bumped down to economy?

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There’s a section at the front after business class that they put the premium passengers in. Business class was empty but they couldn’t put anyone in it caus there wasn’t enough seats. There were around 70 spare seats that day so lots of room for moving around but they did separate economy and premium.

[Squidgyness]

Originally Posted by legallyblonde

Does anyone know why this seems to happen regularly with TC?

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Planes go wrong unfortunately, TC have a fleet with some all economy planes and some split class, if they only have an all economy plane to hand that's what you get.

As for customer service they are all at it. I'm still so annoyed about Thomson (sorry TUI now) for the "sea view" debacle in Malta in 2015, for which we got the princely sum of £35 back.

So many issues pop up, but that's travel for you - it's complex and goes wrong a lot, and the companies can't be bothered trying to fix it unless you prod and poke them. Virgin overselling rooms, forgetting to add DDP to bookings, TC changing planes, TUI having to be taken to court over late flights etc etc. I've seen the lot on here, very few things surprise me now.

At least I have more knowledge now thanks to the Dibb. If anything like this happens in 2020 I'll be prepared and that's all you can ask really.

[quartergill]

Originally Posted by Mr Tom Morrow

OP. Oh goodie a nice claim coming on. You are entitled to 75% of your return ticket cost. Not the difference between Econ and PE.
However TC and Tui both fight to the bitter end so be prepared for a Civil Court Case where you will win.

If they send you a cheque or make an offer of the difference in Econ to PE do not accept it.

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I hope it doesn’t happen to me but if you are downgraded one way is it still 75% of return ticket cost?

[Trebor1]

TC have form for this. Did it to us on our last visit. We ended up on a plane with no inflight entertainment. Never booked with TC again.

[Rickster1978]

Originally Posted by StaffsLass

There’s a section at the front after business class that they put the premium passengers in. Business class was empty but they couldn’t put anyone in it caus there wasn’t enough seats. There were around 70 spare seats that day so lots of room for moving around but they did separate economy and premium.

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Hi. I was sat at the front and I don’t think there was a business class section. There was a small section with 12 seats which seemed to go to the first few people who had assistance in boarding the plane. I was in row 4 which was two rows behind the premium / wider seats.

I also don’t think there were premium meals but that’s the norm for the TC return flight as it’s only ever the James Martin meal on the flight out.

Plane was pretty modern but I struggled for leg space and didn’t get any sleep at all.

You’re spot on about the crew not knowing the plane. Funniest part of the flight was them trying to work out how to put the lights on so they could serve breakfast.

[StaffsLass]

We were on the man to mco and there was definitely premium meals as my parents had one! It was the steward who told my dad it was business inthe very front and they couldn’t let people sit there as there were too many premium passengers. I requested them to be sat at the bulkhead as the reason they wanted premium seats was because they have bad legs and mum has assistance. My mum came and sat with me at the back and said there was more leg room there. My dad said about lack of leg room.

[quartergill]

Originally Posted by StaffsLass

We were on the man to mco and there was definitely premium meals as my parents had one! It was the steward who told my dad it was business inthe very front and they couldn’t let people sit there as there were too many premium passengers. I requested them to be sat at the bulkhead as the reason they wanted premium seats was because they have bad legs and mum has assistance. My mum came and sat with me at the back and said there was more leg room there. My dad said about lack of leg room.

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Is this new as we have flown premium with TC from Manchester over last few years, and again this year, and we were/are at front. Business wasn’t an option on booking. What do you get in business?

[Mr Tom Morrow]

Originally Posted by quartergill

I hope it doesn’t happen to me but if you are downgraded one way is it still 75% of return ticket cost?

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Sorry, missed your post. The amout due back is 75% of the 1 leg. Not 75% of the total cost.

There is a slight difference in fares due to time taken to fly. Thus the 2 legs aren't split 50/50. More like 52/48

So on a £1000 return fare if the leg home got cancelled you would be due 75% of circa £470 not £500.