Official Travel Partner
Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 3:50 pm
As one of the 14 people who booked with thomas cook to go to tel aviv for the recent game I was very disappointed when thomas cook cancelled the trip and I was left missing out. Their statement in the newspaper said " We have helped some of the small number of fans who were interested by providing various travel options based on scheduled flights and hotels".
I am sorry but the information provided to me just wasn't good enough and I was unable to travel. I have travelled with the official travel partner on every occasion since they became the travel partner so this is not a rant at them just for the sake of it. I honestly think that they could have booked all 14 of us on scheduled flights as soon as they knew they could not provide us with a charter flight and we would have been able to travel together as a group. Instead I was given information from the internet of flights from Heathrow to Tel Aviv returning to Luton and that Expedia had hotels at £50 a night. I was then on my own and more importantly I would have arrived in Tel Aviv around 10pm and have to find my way to my hotel. The reason I use the travel partner is to have the security of travelling in a group and have transfers in the arrival city.
I just feel that a "travel partner" should at least provide travel for the fans - whether that be 14, 1,400 or 14,000. They were unable to provide travel in 2007 to Moscow and the trip to Moscow this year was only a success because Celtic F.C. allowed us fans to travel with the team. Now the latest Tel Aviv trip is again another letdown. I personally don't think this record is good enough. If Hynds Travel was able to get his clients onto scheduled flights and they travelled as a group I feel thomas cook should have been able to do this too. Does anyone else agree that this is not a good record for a travel partner. I now have little confidence in them that should the venue prove to be at all difficult to get to then they just won't be able to get me there.
I am sorry but the information provided to me just wasn't good enough and I was unable to travel. I have travelled with the official travel partner on every occasion since they became the travel partner so this is not a rant at them just for the sake of it. I honestly think that they could have booked all 14 of us on scheduled flights as soon as they knew they could not provide us with a charter flight and we would have been able to travel together as a group. Instead I was given information from the internet of flights from Heathrow to Tel Aviv returning to Luton and that Expedia had hotels at £50 a night. I was then on my own and more importantly I would have arrived in Tel Aviv around 10pm and have to find my way to my hotel. The reason I use the travel partner is to have the security of travelling in a group and have transfers in the arrival city.
I just feel that a "travel partner" should at least provide travel for the fans - whether that be 14, 1,400 or 14,000. They were unable to provide travel in 2007 to Moscow and the trip to Moscow this year was only a success because Celtic F.C. allowed us fans to travel with the team. Now the latest Tel Aviv trip is again another letdown. I personally don't think this record is good enough. If Hynds Travel was able to get his clients onto scheduled flights and they travelled as a group I feel thomas cook should have been able to do this too. Does anyone else agree that this is not a good record for a travel partner. I now have little confidence in them that should the venue prove to be at all difficult to get to then they just won't be able to get me there.