scrubbedexpat099

They had more non UK customers than those from the UK, not sure what those Countries are doing.

They did not just do package holidays.

jeepster

With the hundreds of thousands of people involved, of course they should have been bailed out. Why not? Fairy tales about free markets...free markets don't exist. Someone, somewhere has their thumb on the scale.

spouse of scouse

If I've read the news reports correctly Mike (and I may well not have!), then TC package holidays are indeed ATOL protected, but bookings for flights only aren't.

Giantaxe

For someone living in San Francisco, TC's predictable demise is too bad. We waited a long time to get non stop service to somewhere other than London. Last year both Virgin Atlantic and TC flew to Manchster from SFO. Virgin moved their service to Los Angeles this year. And so we're now down to zero. And with the demise of WOW and TC, plus the possible demise of Norwegian, I suspect the other carriers are going to jack up their west coast to UK prices moving forward.

Steerpike

As I posted above - .. the 'fine print' on my purchase;
"This sale is not ATOL protected. For further information please see ...

Not sure if this is because I purchased a US originating ticket, or if it's because I purchased a 'travel only' ticket, or both ... but no ATOL protection on my trip. Since I haven't departed, I'm not 'stranded' as such but I need to get to UK for an important family medical situation, so there is some pressure to find a replacement.

durham_lad

spouse of scouse

Really sorry to hear about your situation Steerpike. It's stressful enough to have an ill family member so far away, without having to worry about this. I hope you can at least get the money you paid for your ticket back, and that you can find another flight at a reasonable cost.

petitefrancaise

That's a bummer for you steerpike....
Not sure why Mikelincs had to go on about stranded ( in bold red, no less), it was just the headlines as they were appearing across the UK press. However, a few of my FB peeps have been sharing that it is just package holidays protected by ATOL.

Doesn't travel insurance cover this scenario?

I have also been reading about Norwegian Airlines, they seem ok for now but not sure I would book a flight for next summer for example. They have been a life saver for Austin -London flight costs - half the cost at least of BA and also direct. I will be very unhappy if they go under as well.

petitefrancaise

well, the cynic in me notices that this was BIG headlines in the UK press at a time when the UK Supreme Court was deciding what to do about Boris behaving like an autocrat. Diversion tactic.

I wonder what the German government will do about Condor?
https://simpleflying.com/what-will-happen-to-condor/

Owen778

I was wondering about that. A collapse would affect Alaska too - they run services to Frankfurt from both Anchorage and Fairbanks. The only other way to Europe that doesn't connect elsewhere in the US is Iceland air through Reykjavik.

Giantaxe

Both. ATOL covers only "packages" bought for departing UK customers. You'll get the flight cost back from your credit card but of course that doesn't solve your issue. Hope the Norwegian idea works out.

I'm now wondering what to do about my next UK trip. Plan was the fly TC to Manchester and then find a way to return from Edinburgh. Was thinking of throwing the Faroe Islands into the hopper too.

Steerpike

Update - very good news, I think!

I called Auto Europe to cancel my car rental, which was for the same period (9/28 -> 10/12) as the flight. The guy was very cooperative. I mentioned, in passing, that I was canceling because of the collapse of TC, and he asked if I'd like to speak to their airline folks. My instinct was to say no, as this was a 'sales pitch', but I decided to give it a go. I immediately got connected to a very helpful guy (speaking perfect English), who quickly found me a flight 10/1 -> 10/14 for $1,252, flight only. But then I mentioned I needed a car, and that opened up a whole new avenue.

Within minutes, he had a deal for me that had a TOTAL price of $1,066, INCLUDING the same car rental deal (automatic, Vauxhall Astra, etc). He actually had two options for almost the same price - non-stop SFO->LHR on United, or, one-stop SFO->MAN on Air Canada with 2 hr layover in Toronto (incl. baggage). I opted for the LHR->MAN via Toronto, as I don't mind stretching my legs mid-way, and driving 'up north' from London isn't too appealing these days (and I'd need a hotel on my last night in London).

I've read on these forums more than once that 'bundling' is the way to go; I never thought I could simply call someone and have them figure it all out for me! (I tend to prefer to duke it out with various web-sites, but clearly, these people know how to 'drive' the system and find things that I'd probably never see!)

So my original flight on TC, plus car rental, was costing me a total of $937 (3 month advance purchase); this package (flight and car) is costing me $1,016 with only 7 days advance purchase! I do have to change planes, and I do have to pay another fee to reserve seats, but I'm quite pleased under the circumstances!

I need to fly this route every 3 months so I'm going to call these guys every time from now on (1-800 fly Europe, a division of auto-europe).

durham_lad

Steerpike

Update - it cost me a total of $134 to make FOUR seat reservations on Air Canada - 2 x $25 for the north american flights, 2x$42 for the atlantic flights. Bit more than I was hoping for but - I'm too old / too picky these days to risk being stuck at the back and/or in the middle. My original TC reservation price mentioned above included $110 for seat reservations.

Steerpike

I reluctantly supported Obama's bank bailouts (and GM bailout) back in 2008 due to the cascading nature of the failures back then, but I'm not so sure I'd be happy to see a bailout of a single airline. Airlines are in a cutthroat business, for sure, but it's not clear to me that their failure is catastrophic. Other airlines typically step in, and I suspect the net-loss of jobs won't be significant over time - I imagine all these employees of TC will get rehired by other airlines soon. Bailouts just encourage bad business decisions.