Funjets Cancels Charter Flight into Coz till Oct 1 2005

[OWSIinAustin]

Guys and Gals,

In case you didn't know Funjet has canceled all flights into Cozumel unitil October 1st 2005. While they have offered to refund or rebook this is not good enough for many people. It appears that much of the damage has been done to the all-inclusive properties that no doubt pay a lot more in comissions back to Funjet. Or should I say The Mark Travel Company http://www.marktravel.com which owns quite a few travel/tour travel companies. The offical company line is that they are doing this for the safety and enjoyment of their customers. I believe that its because they can't book people into the all inclusive properties. I have worked in the travel industry and have had dealings with tour operators and have seen this happen before. I have tickets that are no longer valid but my lodging is open and ready for business. So I am rebooking with a schduled air carrier at a much higher rate and stuck waiting for a refund from Funjet which might take up to two billing cycles to appear back on my credit card. I also wonder if this would be a good grounds for a lawsuit. Beyond, my personal feelings I would think that the lack of charter flight would also impair Cozumel tourist economy. I'm not sure of how many flights have been canceled but I would imagine no charter flights for two months would put a decent dent in the number of people able to get to Cozumel. Enough of my rant I will get off my defog box, I urge anyone outraged by the latest action to send a letter or an email to PR rep listed below.


Funjet Travel/The Mark Travel Corporation
8907 N. Port Washington Rd.
Milwaukee, WI 53217
(414) 228-7472
Media Inquiries:
Holly Botsford
(414) 934-1286
hbotsford@marktravel.com

Thanks,
Chris

 

[redacted]

Guys and Gals,

In case you didn't know Funjet has canceled all flights into Cozumel unitil October 1st 2005. While they have offered to refund or rebook this is not good enough for many people. It appears that much of the damage has been done to the all-inclusive properties that no doubt pay a lot more in comissions back to Funjet. Or should I saw The Mark Travel Company http://www.marktravel.com which owns quite a few travel/tour travel companies. The offical company line is that they are doing this for the safety and enjoyment of their customers. I believe that its because they can't book people into the all inclusive properties. I have worked in the travel industry and have had dealings with tour operators and have seen this happen before. I have tickets that are no longer valid but my lodging is open and ready for business. So I am rebooking with a schduled air carrier at a much higher rate and stuck waiting for a refund from Funjet which might take up to two billing cycles to appear back on my credit card. I also wonder if this would be a good grounds for a lawsuit. Beyond, my personal feelings I would think that the lack of charter flight would also impair Cozumel tourist economy. I'm not sure of how many flights have been canceled but I would imagine no charter flights for two months would put a decent dent in the number of people able to get to Cozumel. Enough of my rant I will get off my defog box, I urge anyone outraged by the latest action to send a letter or an email to PR rep listed below.


Funjet Travel/The Mark Travel Corporation
8907 N. Port Washington Rd.
Milwaukee, WI 53217
(414) 228-7472
Media Inquiries:
Holly Botsford
(414) 934-1286
hbotsford@marktravel.com

Thanks,
Chris

I read Funjet's notice and it seems reasonable. What is it you think they should do? I would have thought a severly curtailed flight schedule might work brfore 1 OCT, but nor sure the charters would go for that. Flights to/from Cancun with free ferry seems pretty reasonable to me, at least for the short run.

 

[rje634]

That's a shame, especially seeing (according to your countdown timer) that you are only missing the Oct 1 date by a week or two.

 

[TorontoDive]

I read Funjet's notice and it seems reasonable. What is it you think they should do? I would have thought a severly curtailed flight schedule might work brfore 1 OCT, but nor sure the charters would go for that. Flights to/from Cancun with free ferry seems pretty reasonable to me, at least for the short run.

I think OWSInAustin's original remark (and correct me if I'm wrong) is that Funjet is cancelling their charters because they are not selling out or selling close to capacity of their All-Inclusive vacations - NOT because the hotels are in a severe state of disrepair.

This affects the Cozumel businesses and the travellers that have been booked in an unfair and impoper way. As OWSInAustin has already explained IF he can get a refund it'll be at least two billing cycles, so for two months he'll have double charges that he'll have to pay off (one charge for Funjet and one for the scheduled carrier). If he doesn't have the reserve money to pay off both charges he'll have to absorb the interest charges. Also Funjet is cancelling their charter basically "at whim", when according to what I keep hearing so much lately that hurricanes are "an act of God". So what?? So if the charter is full the plane will fly regardless of the traveller having a decent vacation for hard earned money but if the charter isn't full Funjet can just cancel and mess everybody up?? That's UNFAIR!

 

[redacted]

I think OWSInAustin's original remark (and correct me if I'm wrong) is that Funjet is cancelling their charters because they are not selling out or selling close to capacity of their All-Inclusive vacations - NOT because the hotels are in a severe state of disrepair.

This affects the Cozumel businesses and the travellers that have been booked in an unfair and impoper way. As OWSInAustin has already explained IF he can get a refund it'll be at least two billing cycles, so for two months he'll have double charges that he'll have to pay off (one charge for Funjet and one for the scheduled carrier). If he doesn't have the reserve money to pay off both charges he'll have to absorb the interest charges. Also Funjet is cancelling their charter basically "at whim", when according to what I keep hearing so much lately that hurricanes are "an act of God". So what?? So if the charter is full the plane will fly regardless of the traveller having a decent vacation for hard earned money but if the charter isn't full Funjet can just cancel and mess everybody up?? That's UNFAIR!

No doubt, with the southern hotels down and others in question, Funjets business on Cozumel is going to take a serious setback. And some folks who have near-term plans with open hotels will be unhappy. Others who took a Funjet air only deal may be in a $$$ bind. But what should they do? What would be the right business decision? What would be FAIR?

 

[Bill51]

But what should they do? What would be the right business decision? What would be FAIR?

Find a smaller plane and fill it with the people who are booked at hotels that are open?

With the number of RJs available today that shouldn't be a problem.

 

[redacted]

Find a smaller plane and fill it with the people who are booked at hotels that are open?

With the number of RJs available today that shouldn't be a problem.

A reasonable suggestion. But I think they have a similar problem of underused AC on the mainland with all the resort closures there and are hoping to salvage that route by forcing their customers to travel thru Cancun. Seems like a good option as long as they don't stick Coz bound customers on flights that don't mesh with the ferry schedules.

Plus you would have to find the available RJs. And there profit margins might not support it. Even a curtailed schedule may just be more than they could manage from a scheduling standpoint. Hopefully they come up with something better before 1 OCT. This will make me think twice about using them again.

 

[DallasNewbie]

Find a smaller plane and fill it with the people who are booked at hotels that are open?

With the number of RJs available today that shouldn't be a problem.

They don't even need smaller planes, they could just cut back on flights. In some cases, they had several flights a day. This is going to be big trouble for Funjet. They will be sued. They can claim that they were unable to deliver what was promised to the vacation travelers because of the hurricane, but they have no excuse for dumping the air-only passengers. There's no "circumstances beyond their control" stopping them from flying a plane-load of air-only passengers into CZM today.

I suspect that there will be several repercussions from this. Funjet is going to be financially hurt, and I predict that they are going to cut back (or eliminate) air-only vacations.

 

[Bill51]

A reasonable suggestion. But I think they have a similar problem of underused AC on the mainland with all the resort closures there and are hoping to salvage that route by forcing their customers to travel thru Cancun. Seems like a good option as long as they don't stick Coz bound customers on flights that don't mesh with the ferry schedules.

Plus you would have to find the available RJs. And there profit margins might not support it. Even a curtailed schedule may just be more than they could manage from a scheduling standpoint. Hopefully they come up with something better before 1 OCT. This will make me think twice about using them again.

Part of doing business is called taking risks and losing a little money for a few weeks is a lot smarter business proposition than getting such a bad reputation that you lose the company in the future.

 

[OWSIinAustin]

I believe my point is that while Funjet might not be making money hands over fist in their charters they still have a contract with it paxs err passengers and agreeed to provide travel on the days of travel contracted to a paid for. If you bought a ticket on American,Delta, Southwest, etc etc and the airlines canceled the route for some reason would you be expecting to be reaccomodated per rule 240 on another flight or even another carrier and no additional charge? You paid your money and fufilled your obligation but the carrier did not. Do you think if they were flying the charters and you decided not to go becuase you were worried about the sharks you would get a refund? I think not. The offer of a refund after Funjet has had the money in their account for months and then have to wait 6 to 8 weeks for it to be credited back is unacceptable for people that can not get a refund back from non-Funjet lodging. I have flown Ryan Air or whoever it is this year many times at different times of the year and have never seen more then a handful of seats empty. Which leads back to belief that they are canceling the flights just to CYA rather then the stated purpose of concern for their customer safety, its just PR spin.

Maybe they could find some RJ's to take the load but I doubt Funjet/Mark Travel will even consider it.