Thomas Cook – Engaged couple fear for £12k Lanzarote wedding as travel agent faces going bust just days before their special day
A COUPLE are fearing for their £12,000 dream Lanzarote wedding as Thomas Cook teeters on the brink of collapse.
Ryan Towers and fiancée Louise Jones are just two weeks away from tying the knot in front of 30 family and friends after booking their special day 18 months ago with Thomas Cook.
But they are now terrified their dreams could be dashed after it emerged the travel agent could go bust by Sunday.
The UK's oldest airline is still scrambling to plug its £200million funding gap with fears thousands of holidaymakers could be stranded abroad.
Dad-of-two Ryan, 24, told : "I woke up this morning to hear the news, just 10 days before we are due to fly. We are left not knowing what the situation is."
The couple, from Leicester, are due to get hitched at Amura restaurant in Puerto Calero and stay at nearby Lomo Blanco apartments.
They paid a deposit and have been paying off the rest monthly - with the holiday booked through Thomas Cook but their flights on easyJet.
Is my Thomas Cook holiday safe?
Thomas Cook has reassured Brits that holidays are still safe and can still be booked.
By being ATOL protected, Brits will not be left out of pocket and will be given alternative flights to return home.
However, it's worth pointing out that flight-only bookings with Thomas Cook don't enjoy the same protection.
Holidays booked with a credit card may also be able to get a refund for cancellations from their card providers under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act.
This is because card providers are jointly liable when a purchase or service isn't fulfilled but it only kicks in if you paid at least £100 on credit card.
If you paid less than £100 on credit card or if you paid for your flights on debit card, you may be able to get a refund via a scheme called Chargeback but there's no guarantee.
If you're yet to travel, your first action should be to contact the travel company to make sure that your booking is in place.
Simply contact Thomas Cook's tour operator or agent, your accommodation provider and your airline.
Or if the turbulence around the company is making you feel uneasy, and you'd like to cancel your trip then you may be able to get a refund.
But depending on the type of holiday you've booked you might end up losing more money in cancellation fees.
If your holiday is ATOL protected don't cancel it. You will get a full refund if the company goes bust.
But they claim Thomas Cook told them they cannot take their flights if it collapses – and their travel insurance does not cover company failures.
Ryan said: "My partner and I are footing the bill, which is £12,000. I’ve got the gamble of whether to hope Thomas Cook pulls through or cancel and pay £200 per person, that’s £6,000.”
Hundreds of Brits who have booked their holiday with Thomas Cook have been left worried about whether their holiday will go ahead or if they will be stranded abroad.
Holidaymakers who are booked on flights-only could now be stuck abroad if they don't make it home in the next 24 hours.
Those on a package holiday are ATOL-protected - meaning the government would be forced to launch the biggest peacetime repatriation of British citizens at an estimated cost of £600million.
It would be the biggest repatriation since Monarch Airlines went bust in 2017, which left 110,000 people stranded abroad.
Those who are yet to travel but have booked a package holiday with Thomas Cook should also be ATOL-protected.
If the 178-year-old company goes bust, some 9,000 British jobs potentially could be lost, and 21,000 worldwide.
A source told The Sun: "The CAA has put measures in place including staff and replacement aircraft to assist with repatriation and customer service for the 14 day period following the grounding of all Thomas Cook aircraft."