Thomas Cook's customers shocked by flight prices

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Thomas Cook's customers have accused the airlines of taking advantage of the company's disappearance of vacation after facing high bills to book replacement flights.

People who had booked flights with the airline, now trying to find alternative offers, told the BBC that in some cases, flight prices had tripled.

Holidaymaker Angela Mills said that a flight from Glasgow to Rhodes, Greece, was worth £ 280 Sunday, but today £ 1,000.

Analysts said prices reflected strong demand on routes with few seats in reserve.

"People are not sitting there rubbing their hands with joy, and if sales increase rapidly on the most popular routes, prices go up," said John Strickland, an airline analyst with JLS Consulting.

Mr Strickland said that September was a popular time for people to take vacations outside the peak school holidays and that many flights were already very full.

He added that airlines could decide to stop price increases, but said companies should be trade-oriented.

"Thomas Cook failed because he had huge debts and was losing.It is a fragile industry.More than a dozen airlines have gone bankrupt.

"If airlines do not realize profits where they can on a minority of flights, they have no chance of surviving."

But Ms. Mills said the increases were bad for travelers already "in shock".

She had to fly from Glasgow to Rhodes on Wednesday on Thomas Cook flights. When she sought alternatives after the collapse of the travel business, the lowest price she could find for replacement flights for her and her husband was over £ 1,000.

The company to which she booked her accommodation – Jetline Holidays – finally found her another contract for an additional cost of £ 600.

But she will now have to catch the plane from Edinburgh and on her return, spend a night in Prague before returning from there.

Ms. Mills stated that she hoped to be able to claim the additional cost of the flights from her travel insurance upon her return.

What are my rights?

Anyone who has purchased future package tours with Thomas Cook is covered by the Air Travel Planner License (ATOL). This means that they will not go away, but the cost of the vacation will be refunded.

However, Atol protection does not cover flight offers only. The main alternative for travelers is to request a refund from the credit or debit card vendor they've used or to make a claim on their travel insurance.

What are your rights? Read more here

Kevin Spence was scheduled to visit Florida next year in June with his family, a trip that took two years to plan and save.

But he said that between the flight price checks just before the collapse of Thomas Cook Sunday and the next morning, they had risen sharply.

The initial flight costs of £ 1,800 for his family of four have now increased to £ 2,500, he said.

"I am devastated.

"The cost of vacation now exceeds our budget and I am now in a position where I may have to cancel it completely," he said.

However, Nigel Wilson said he managed to surpass the price increases by booking new flights for his Manchester-Marrakech vacation at 12:30 BST Monday morning.

Flights for his family of four cost him £ 640 more, but he said that when he checked the prices later on Monday, the cost had risen to £ 1,500.

"If we had waited, we would not have had the funds to book more tickets at this price," he said.

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