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Thomas Cook scraps price parity for agents

Thomas Cook will scrap price parity from December 21.

Cook ran a pricing trial in October in which some hotels were being advertised cheaper online than through independent agents.

Some agents criticised the move claiming they could not match the operator on price and were forced to discount and sacrifice commission.

At the time Cook said it was trialling different price models across its channels for selected destinations, as part of a review of its “omni-channel approach”.

Cook said it has listened to feedback before making the decision and has informed agent partners this week.

Price parity is being scrapped for both independent agents and in Cook’s own stores.

Phil Gardner, Thomas Cook sales and e-commerce director, said: “With more and more customers looking for deals and buying online, we need to compete on a level playing field with other operators and online travel agents.

“As a result, we will be strengthening our web pricing to make sure we offer our online customers the best price possible.”

Both Jet2holidays and Tui do not offer agents price parity on their products.

Meanwhile, Thomas Cook’s city-break and hotel-only alliance with Expedia Group has now gone live in nine markets.

The new offering, powered by Expedia technology, was made available first to customers in the UK in July, followed by Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Belgium, Netherlands, France and now in beta test in Germany.

Thomas Cook Group CEO Peter Fankhauser said: “The introduction of our Expedia Group product in Germany, our biggest market for city and domestic holidays, is another sign of positive strategic progress.

“We are optimistic about the prospects for this part of the business as we complete the automation of our complementary business.

“In addition, the option to distribute our holidays via Expedia Group’s brands where we have excess capacity reduces risk and puts us in a better place to deliver against our strategy.”

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