Thomson Demand Rivals Withdraw Brochures

Thomson holidays have requested that agencies withdraw any brochures of tour operators who charge fuel supplements as extras. ABTA had originally set a three-month deadline for the travel industry to comply to its code of conduct, including all non-optional extras featured in brochures and online. However, the deadline expired on Wednesday 9th May. Thomas Cook holidays in particular, have come under heavy fire from Thomson, being accused of flaunting the code with a range of charges, including fuel supplements and Air Passenger Duty.

Sales director Derek Jones said: “We want operators brought in line and non-optional extras included in the basic holiday price. There is no reason why APD and fuel supplements should not be included. As an industry we need to tidy up our act.”
Jones claimed: “Thomas Cook continues to levy fuel supplements on existing brochure prices. We have put it into the basic holiday price since Christmas. We expect the Office of Fair Trading and ABTA to take action...brochures should be withdrawn, but at the very minimum, advertised prices on the web and through third-party agents should include everything.”

A spokesman from Thomas Cook said: “We fully support ABTA’s position and will be complying with all its requirements…customers should be presented with prices that are consistent across the industry. Thomas Cook pricing will fit the criteria by the deadline.”
It is claimed that the latest summer 2008 brochures, which were released in March, were not compliant with the code because “there is not a level playing field in the industry and we were waiting for the moment of enforcement”.