Thomson Holidays

Thomsons, the no longer British tour operator who is still UK market leader - confused? The whole company has been taken over lock stock and barrel by the major German tour operator TUI, and are in the process of revamping their brochures and repainting their airlines a nice pale shade of turquoise blue.

Every package holiday I have booked has been with Thomsons. Their brochures generally replicate the end destination, and their prices are, without a doubt, the most competitive in the industry.

THEIR PRICES
I know there are people out there who will dispute this, but I priced two holidays over Easter this year to the same hotel, from the same airport, cost per person with Thomsons - £319, Airtours - £867 and JMC - £768, thats one mighty big difference for the same accommodation. I am again off to Lanzarote with my daughter and her friend on what is traditionally the cheapest week of the year to travel, before Christmas - total cost with Portland (Direct arm of Thomsons) - £644, cost with Airtours - £1,200 - I know where I will be putting my money.

ACCOMMODATION
Thomsons generally tend to have a monopoly on accommodation located near to resort centres, which as a 'townie' I appreciate. (I have found First Choice, JMC and Airtours have a large percentage of their accommodation away from the resort). I am also always amazed when reading descriptions on the same accommodation from a variety of tour operators to find that the same beach and resort centre can be anything from 400m to 1km away.

BRITANNIA
Their airline 'Britannia' to be comparable to any scheduled airline (see separate opinion under airlines). On the one occasion we found the holiday did not in any way resemble the brochure (prior to the development of the 24 hour helpline), we could not complain to the rep as he was sacked on the first day, and we didn't see anyone else until the day before departure, we were issued with an acceptable level of financial compensation upon our return home.

Thomsons brochures are comprehensive, and through the surveys issued during the flight back to the UK, they compile the relevant information, even if it is poor, and publish it on the appropriate page of their brochures, allowing prospective customers to see what customers really think.

EARLY BOOKINGS
In addition to the fair prices and honest brochures, they provide financial incentives to customers who book early, we traditionally tend to book the next holiday before we have had the current one, it gives us something to look forward to upon our return home. For anyone out there thinking I must be rolling in money, I am not, however, by travelling out of high season, this is getting harder as the kids are getting older, and taking advantages of the excellent low deposit offers and free insurance from Lunn Poly and the Travel House (both owned by the Thomson group) and also Co-op Travelcare, we are able to manage our holiday finances accordingly.

CAUTION
Although you can benefit from early discounts, beware when booking early. On two of my last three Thomason holidays, they have written to me shortly before departure (10 weeks and 5 days respectively) advising me of circumstances that have made travel virtually impossible, i.e. in both cases major building work, which would have undoubtedly had a profound effect on the enjoyment of the holiday. On both occasions they point blank refused to offer another holiday rated at the prices available at the time we originally booked.

In 2000, we had to cancel completely, and secured a last minute deal with JMC to Protaras, which was fabulous. By taking the route of advising you of any last minute changes or problems with your holiday, Thomsons exonerate themselves from having to pay any financial compensation. It is possible that this happens with other tour operators, but as I always book with Thomsons, I have no knowledge either way, and would be very interested to know if this is a common occurrence in the travel industry.

OUR CANCELLATION
In 2001, following my partner's skin cancer diagnosis four weeks prior to departure to Tunisia, we contacted Thomsons to ask them if they could change our holiday for a different destination/date, which would have given them more money, they would not accommodate us at all. Fortunately, we had taken out the excess policy on the free insurance and got most of our money back. In light of my previous experiences with Thomsons I was disappointed with their attitude, but taking into consideration all the plus points in comparison with other operators, I am sure we will book with them again.

Our holiday to Salou in 2001, went relatively smoothly, save for an error with the booking, we paid for a suite and were initially allocated two separate rooms, although I wouldn't rush back to either the hotel or the resort in a hurry.

WHERE CAN I FIND THEM?
I think the answer to that is virtually anywhere - they have regular slots on TV TravelShop 2, their internet sights are:

• www.thomson-holidays.com
• www.portland-direct.co.uk
• www.just.co.uk
• www.lunnpoly.com

Bookings can be made on-line, and Portland Direct offer a £5 low deposit if you take out their insurance (last month they were providing free insurance for adults AND the low deposit).

I recently booked with Portland Direct, but over the telephone as I didn't feel the internet could answer all my queries, the service was prompt, efficient and helpful.

Sue - UPDATED 17/04/022nd UPDATE - 05.05.02
Thomsons new summer Brochures for Summer 2003 have just hit the shelves - you may well have seen the publicity - apparently charging for this, charging for that - before you jump up and down shouting this is unfair - think about things:

• Does every member of your family actually eat and enjoy the meals on the flights? (I know my kids don't)
• Do you pick up a hire car at the airport - or get a taxi back because you can't face that long hideous coach journey?

I can answer yes to both of these, and possibly so can many readers - Thomsons, despite these changes, still offer cheaper holidays than the main competition - and don't forget, the price you see in the brochure is the maximum you will pay - more often than not, the travel agents are offering good discounts of those prices.I see they have also ceased putting people's opinions in their brochure from the previous summer seasons brochures, and they have also ommitted to point out that if travelling to the Balearics you will be required to pay a daily Eco Tax per family member over 12 per day of your stay - this will vary between 0.5 and 2 Euros per day dependent on the standard of your accommodation - oh and don't forget to leave your name and address as you may get it back in around 3 years time if the Spanish Government deem that the tax is illegal (some hope)
Sue