Thomas Cook/Easy Jet.

[EMM]

Thomas Cook has announced that it is reducing it fleet of planes as it builds it realtionship with EasyJet.
This might explain why EJ flights are getting busier and prices increasing,
You book a Thomas Cook holiday and fly with EJ !!

[Octopus]

I wonder if this will backfire a little. I think if I booked a Thomas Cook holiday and ended up on Easy Jet, next time I'd be looking to see if I can save money by booking accommodation directly and an Easyjet flight.

[bruce]

Several holiday companies already use Easy Jet.

[joeysoap]

On two occasions this year, both EasyJet out of Belfast, I was sitting beside passengers who had booked a package through a tour operator. Both were very interested in how I managed my booking, transfers/car hire, accommodation etc.

Win win for EasyJet, they can raise their prices, sell more seats, with the added bonus of generating interest from tourists who would normally use a travel agent.

[laserblazer]

When all the flights were cancelled because of the bad weather a couple of Xmases ago we had booked a flight from Bristol with EJ. My mother in law was booked on the same flight with Thomson. We were offered a different flight and had to go home. She was ferried to Stanstead but the flight didn't go, sl she was put up in a nice hotel and flown out next day.

[cereza]

Several holiday companies already use Easy Jet.

Quite right bruce and they have done so for many years.
EJ is now making bigger profits by cutting back on the number of flights thus operating full planes at higher seat prices.
I flew back to Gatwick last week on BA who were a lot cheaper than EJ as well as providing more luggage allowance and a free roll and small drink !
More than ever you will need to book your EJ flights as soon as they open.

[bruce]

I cannot fault the Easy Jet flights out of Liverpool Airport, good flight times and reasonable prices.
Monarch and Jet 2 out of Manchester are much more expensive, I would not consider flying with Ryanair regardless of price or convenient flight times.
For example next June Easy Jet can fly 2 of us to Faro for £216 - plus any luggage but still a bargain.

[cereza]

Yes bruce I agree - they are also good value from Gatwick at the moment - but I fear that the prices will go up more than before as the price bands are taken up.

[TomUK]

Regarding the reduction of their fleet by Thomas Cook:
My sister-in-law returned from Tenerife to Manchester yesterday at the end of a Thomas Cook package holiday. They left Tenerife 90 minutes late, not too bad I suppose, but as they were almost home, crossing the south coast, the pilot announced that they were diverting to Glasgow. No reason given, just an appeal to passengers not to take out their frustrations on the cabin crew as it was not their fault. On arrival at Glasgow they collected their luggage and had to wait over an hour for coaches to arrive to transport them back down to Manchester. Despite many enquiries no one would give them information as to why all this had happened, saying they weren't sure. There were quite a few who had babies needing fresh nappies, milk, etc. and they were told the crew had radioed ahead and supplies would be obtained from Boots by the ground staff at Glasgow, but this never happened.
During the coach journey back to Manchester, it emerged that they had been diverted because a Thomas Cook aircraft at Glasgow had developed a fault and the Manchester flight had been sent there to replace it, as its outbound Scottish passengers had already been delayed by five hours. Could this be a sign that Thomas Cook's fleet reductions are already beginning to bite?
Needless to say a lot of people were peed off that instead of arriving at Manchester at 5-15 pm, they arrived at 11-30 pm after four hour coach journey because their plane was hijacked to Glasgow. There was some puzzlement as to why it couldn't have landed at Manchester and then continued to Glasgow after passengers had disembarked. I suppose there must be some technical reason why this didn't happen. Or were they just avoiding paying two sets of landing fees?

[pete-flint]

So, this is the reasoning behind E.Jet bringing in seat allocation ! Nothing wrong with flying E.Jet, they run a tight ship, which is how a "budget" airline should be run, but mixing it with T.C. could be a problem. If T.C. is the Big Brother it will demand and get preference over E.Jets running order.
I'll stick with Monarch.

[EMM]

AS they do with hotel bookings I fear the scenario will be that TC book 30% of the seats on a particular route that they no nonger fly to.
EJ then do not have to discount early bookings as much as they already have a good start to the seaon.
TC will of course negotiate a beneficial rate for their clients causing EJ to increase their margin for the rest of us.

Not good news, but lets hope that TC continue to use their own aircraft for holidays in Portugal.