More money!

[CRUISIN LINDA]

I expect you are in bed by now Sheila, but the way to do multi quotes is to click on the little icon to the right of the quote icon (the one with speech marks) for one of the posts you want to quote, then click on the other post in the usual way and both posts will come up. Hope that makes sense ;)

 

Have a great cruise:)

[Jim The Scot]

I have used that one in the past WCM. It was all done over the phone as they don't have a branch in our town. They were very good.

We normally use a more local independent TA who so far has always beaten the online price and no booking fee. We have never had our tickets emailed from Thomson but the TA will happily post them out to us and this year offered to do our boarding passes etc if required. They also phone to book our cabin as when I tried to do so using the number in the brochure I was told the TA we booked with had to do it!

 

Much like you Sheila,get the online prices then usually off to an independent TA who always beat Thomsons.Having said that our cruise just recently we booked with Thomas Cook who were the best price,beat Thomsons and independant TA.Now done something like 5 Thomson cruises and never once booked via Thomson

 

Have a great holiday Sheila

Edited June 19, 2014 by Jim The Scot

[CRUISIN LINDA]

I have been to Thomas Cook, Jim, and they said they could not match Thomson prices as they are Thomson cruises :rolleyes:

 

I don't think we have any independents here, they have all been swallowed up by the big fish! I have certainly never been able to get a price less than the web price. You must have the gift of the gab Jim :D:D

[Jim The Scot]

Linda,

 

I,ve been known to gab:D

 

Be conservative with the truth when the TA asks what's the best price you have ;)

[WeeCountyMan]

"I have used that one in the past WCM. It was all done over the phone as they don't have a branch in our town. They were very good."

 

I'm having to review my opinion - their price quote for a cruise I fancy is £206 higher than Thomsons online deal !!!

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

"Then the girl serving me said we would get an email with our E-ticket four weeks before the cruise. So I said "Do you print them off for us?" Her answer was that NO, as they found that they were spending all their time and toner printing off e-tickets, but would help if requested."

 

What an attitude - I'd be changing my TA with immediate effect.

 

If Thomsons cut their eTickets down to what only is required they could save an Amazonian rain forest in paper.

 

The one I downloaded recently went to 7 pages - only page 1 (cruise ticket) and 7 (parking voucher) were required the rest was unnecessary. I only printed those two relevant sheets.

Edited June 20, 2014 by WeeCountyMan

[WeeCountyMan]

Joe,

 

"What's next???

 

Charging for Brochures?

Deposit on them that's refunded on return to TA? "

 

Don't put ideas into their heads !!!

 

Our local Thomas Cook was part of a trial (decreed from above they advised) a couple of years back - only one copy of brochures on shelves and these were for office use only.

 

The shop staff were clearly unhappy at this experiment - like somebody in head office who'd never worked in their High Street retail had had a "good idea" on how to reduce brochure wastage etc.

 

The assistant could give you the webpage details to go home and view online - or they would sit down with you to look through what was available on their desk screen.

 

The latter was a rather transparent ploy to get folk to book there and then - it clearly backfired as a few weeks later it was back to normal.

[Little Nell]

I expect you are in bed by now Sheila, but the way to do multi quotes is to click on the little icon to the right of the quote icon (the one with speech marks) for one of the posts you want to quote, then click on the other post in the usual way and both posts will come up. Hope that makes sense ;)

 

Have a great cruise:)

 

Thank you both!

 

PS (how do you quote 2 posts in one reply?)

 

Just had to try it, Linda and it worked :D

 

Hope you have a great time, Sheila :)

[CRUISIN LINDA]

Glad my explanation was not too complicated. I can't remember who told me how to do it :rolleyes: I think it might have been JTS :)

 

I expect Sheila is sailing away now - lucky thing :D

[Little Nell]

Glad my explanation was not too complicated. I can't remember who told me how to do it :rolleyes: I think it might have been JTS :)

 

I expect Sheila is sailing away now - lucky thing :D

 

Now I need to find out how to put 2 countdown clocks on at a time :confused:

 

It has been explained to me before but I need the child's version :rolleyes:

[Patcf]

I also went to the TA yesterday, we were told that to match the web price there would be a charge of £10 per person and the charge would be up on the 1st July to £25!!! We did not book !!! I will just do it online instead. There will be hardly any TA,s left at this rate. Also asked about loyalty schemes she agreed that Thomsons are missing out by not doing these!! Not a happy bunny!!

[CRUISIN LINDA]

When I booked the Majesty a few months ago, I was told it was £10 per person but another TA interupted and asked what I wanted to book. When I said it was a cruise, she said that it didn't apply to cruises :rolleyes:

 

When I pay my balance I shall ask if that still applies, if not I shall just book online in future.

[Jakanne1]

I may be wrong about this, but this £25, doesn't it only apply to Thomson holidays and cruises booked at a high street travel agency? Does it refer to all Thomson holidays or just to "on line price matched"?

 

Will this not mean that travel agency shops will be recommending cruises on Fred, RCI, Celebrity, etc rather than Thomson, because if they are booking these companies, they don't have to charge the £25 on top and risk their clients walking out and booking on line. Does that make sense? :rolleyes::confused:

 

Will people be bothered by the extra charge or will they accept it as yet another irritating price increase. Will TAs actually point it out or will it just quietly be added to your invoice?

[boatboy2000]

Been with Thomson since our first cruise in 2010 but quality of drinks package has dropped, loads of silly supplements for mediocre spirits, booking fee, and lots of other things creeping in, looking at other cruise lines now Thomson i'm afraid!:confused:

[Jim The Scot]

I may be wrong about this, but this £25, doesn't it only apply to Thomson holidays and cruises booked at a high street travel agency? Does it refer to all Thomson holidays or just to "on line price matched"?

 

Was under the impression that this charge applies to high street Thomson TA only and not independants or the likes of Thomas Cook.Certainly the case up this way

[Patcf]

Just booked the Moorish Delights for 16th Aug on line and got the extra £50 off today, now I`m a happy bunny!!!!!!! By the way it was a Thomsons TA I went to.

[Julessmiles]

Been with Thomson since our first cruise in 2010 but quality of drinks package has dropped, loads of silly supplements for mediocre spirits, booking fee, and lots of other things creeping in, looking at other cruise lines now Thomson i'm afraid!:confused:

 

We're like you - have been on Thomson cruises since 2009 & have already booked for this year which we are looking forward to but it will be 'Bye Bye' Thomson from us - we are jumping ships & lines from now on....

[GaryT-UK]

We're like you - have been on Thomson cruises since 2009 & have already booked for this year which we are looking forward to but it will be 'Bye Bye' Thomson from us - we are jumping ships & lines from now on....

 

I've really enjoyed my Thomson Cruises, and am off on another in a few weeks because I know I'll have a great time. But having tried NCL & Celebrity too I'd highly recommend mixing it up a bit. They are totally different cruising experiences. You clearly like Thomson, so I wouldn't give up on them, but it never does any harm to try something new every now & then.

[epsombelle]

Hi

 

We took our website price in and asked if they could match it and they did with no charge to us .

 

We even managed to get it £50 less !!

 

In my opinion the TA's need to be matching the prices for their customers ( especially when it is their own company ) otherwise everyone will start to only use the internet and the high street TA will be no more.

 

We have always used the TA's to book our cruises but other holidays we have used and booked with the internet with no issues.

 

If the TA's are to survive they need to up their game to keep customers coming back which a £25 charge will not do:(

[Jakanne1]

Hi

 

We took our website price in and asked if they could match it and they did with no charge to us .

 

We even managed to get it £50 less !!

 

In my opinion the TA's need to be matching the prices for their customers ( especially when it is their own company ) otherwise everyone will start to only use the internet and the high street TA will be no more.

 

We have always used the TA's to book our cruises but other holidays we have used and booked with the internet with no issues.

 

If the TA's are to survive they need to up their game to keep customers coming back which a £25 charge will not do:(

 

When did you book though? The £25 only went on 1st July 2014

[Julessmiles]

I've really enjoyed my Thomson Cruises, and am off on another in a few weeks because I know I'll have a great time. But having tried NCL & Celebrity too I'd highly recommend mixing it up a bit. They are totally different cruising experiences. You clearly like Thomson, so I wouldn't give up on them, but it never does any harm to try something new every now & then.

 

We have to book early as we are tied to school holiday dates & their prices are not value for money any more for early bookers - we have booked with another line for next year for a lot less price-wise than Thomson. Their standards have changed a lot - the food is not as good as it used to be, it is very much 'sell, sell, sell' when you are onboard now & I feel they have actually gone a little dare I say 'downmarket' since we first cruised with them.

 

We're not prepared any longer to pay the premium prices with less value. The only way I would travel with them now would be to get one of their cheap last minute deals which they seem to be offering so many of these days but that is highly unlikely as we are restricted to when we can travel.....

 

There's no harm in change & we will be changing. My parents had their last cruise on the Dream & they said they wouldn't cruise with Thomson again either!

[Huddersfieldtourist]

The £25 now ( from 1.7.14) automatically appears on the Thomson Travel Agent pricing system when they match the internet price I am reliably advised !!

 

This could be a dangerous slope for Thomson Holidays in general .Whether it will remain or be adjusted will no doubt depend on its impact.

[kalos]

The £25 now ( from 1.7.14) automatically appears on the Thomson Travel Agent pricing system when they match the internet price I am reliably advised !!

 

This could be a dangerous slope for Thomson Holidays in general .Whether it will remain or be adjusted will no doubt depend on its impact.

 

Just called by our local travel agents about a hour ago and whilst in there I enquired about this charge .

 

" Yes its true. Its for the service we give you and should anything go wrong we deal with it saving you phoning up Thomson premium help lines ,

we do it for you so if you had made a mistake we can put it right for you ." She told me .

 

My reply " Ah but when I book with you and you read back everything that we have asked for , you get us to sign for it to say its correct ,

so really I'm still responsible for my booking .....

What if I ask you to book Fred Olsen or P& O would you still ask for £25 then ? So a party of ten come to book a holiday or a lone traveller comes to you

with an internet price and both bookings would be charged £25 for a booking ? That don't seem fair to me and it's putting your shops at risk ."

 

She nodded and said " It's what we have to do from now on -Sorry ":o

[Little Nell]

It is not good news for the Thomson shops.

 

I actually find when booking a Thomson cruise with a Thomson TA it actually puts obstacles in your way and removes the right to deal with things for yourself such as booking a cabin.

 

Our local Thomson shop have very limited knowledge of the cruises they are selling and I decided prior to this £25 charge to change my travel agent anyway.

[Jim The Scot]

Our local Thomson shop can't even match match our other well known TA or independant on their own cruises

[Little Nell]

Probably the same well known TA that we are now using, Jim ;)