Haggle Down Your Holiday Costs Discussion Area

hollydays

Do not use teletext holidays. They are not members of abta or iata
This company has been taken over, by truly travel and should be shut down.
Search the boards here for threads eg
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4983689

You have been warned

nigandjules

This ultra all-inclusive package from Luxury Holiday Collection includes a stay in an upgraded room at an award-winning 5-star Rixos hotel in Sharm el Sheikh, plus flights and transfers, for £599 per person. On top of that, the 40% saving** is valid across six months of departure dates.

Return flights from London, Birmingham or Manchester
Seven nights at the 5-star Rixos Sharm el Sheikh hotel
Guaranteed upgrade to a Deluxe Room
Return shuttle transfers
Ultra all-inclusive board, with all meals, drinks and snacks at a range of à la carte restaurants
Free shuttle service to SOHO Square


So that would be £599 each ( 2 people) plus £40 each for our bags, We are hoping to go from London on March 5th. Can anyone beat that?
:beer::beer:

Richardjackson25

We found the holiday we wanted for 1 week to Skiathos for £1,100. Tried the tips on the blog and reduced it to £756. Then did a search of the main companies as advised, Thomas Cook, Virgin and First Choice. No reductions there. So we booked, then told it was with Cosmos, looked it up the same holiday for £567!!. Tried to cancel 2 minutes later and obviously couldn't as 100% cancellation fee!
Cosmos needs to be added to the companies that need to be searched once you find your holiday.

one_dull_guy

This may sound weird, but when my son hit 4 years old, my wife and I went out of our way to find a timeshare talk that interested us enough to want to invest (we obviously haggled with the sales guy for just turning up - 3 bottles of wine, £50, and a free lunchtime meal for the 3 of us).

We paid £3,500 (or there abouts) for the property: a 2 bedroom apartment in a 2 storey block in the hills or Tenerife in a small 5* resort in mid-August. With it being associated with RCI we use it to exchange to other resorts and, since buying it 7 years ago, have only returned to that resort once as there are plenty of other resorts to visit. A couple of years ago we used it to go to Disney World Florida for 2 weeks, and this Easter we spent 2 weeks at Universal Studios.

We pay £400 per year maintenance and for that we get the accommodation for 3 holidays every year. We just pay for flights and food. as they are apartments, we have full kitchens there so tend to pop down the supermarket and cook our our meals (saves a fortune).

The big money saver is that we aren't affected by the huge hike in prices that the travel agents add during school holidays. We pay a flat maintenance fee that has barely changed since we bought it, and are guaranteed 4-5* resorts several times every year.

Amy_L

Hi all,

Thinking of booking a package deal to The Gambia. Only Thomas Cook flies direct, so only they have decent package deals. I have seen one that takes my fancy, but if they are the only company that goes out there, is there any point in trying to haggle with other companies?

If there is, where should I start?

Thanks
Amy

richardw

Amy, try and find a package from Thomson or Cosmos that is very similar to the one you want from TC and use that as the comparator, you may not get a lot off, but worth a try.

stephb34

Amy_L wrote: »

Hi all,

Thinking of booking a package deal to The Gambia. Only Thomas Cook flies direct, so only they have decent package deals. I have seen one that takes my fancy, but if they are the only company that goes out there, is there any point in trying to haggle with other companies?

If there is, where should I start?

Thanks
Amy

There is (or used to be) a company called Gambian Experience you could try them.

cass61

Holiday to Southeast Asia November 2014

Manchester - Abu Dhabi - Bangkok - Siem Reap - Tara Angkor Hotel B&B 4 nights
Siem Reap - Hanoi - Vietnam - Sunway Hotel - B&B 4 nights
Hanoi - Bangkok - Renbranat Hotel- Room Only 3 nights
Hanoi - Koh Samui - Chawing Regent Beach Hotel - B&B 4 nights
Koh Samui - Phuket - KataBeach Resort Hotel - B&B 3 nights
Phuket - Abu Dhabi - Manchester
Includes internal flights & private taxi transfers ( no more than 1hr wait for flights
Booked a year before holiday, holiday companies visited: said I wanted to pay around £2000pp
Kuoni - said to soon to be looking but rough guide £4000 - £4500pp
Thomson - be around £2700pp (did spend a few hours looking)
Thomas Cook - £2200pp couldn't get it any less, this is the one booked holiday with
Kuoni -

cass61

Holiday to Southeast Asia November 2014

Manchester - Abu Dhabi - Bangkok - Siem Reap - Tara Angkor Hotel B&B 4 nights
Siem Reap - Hanoi - Vietnam - Sunway Hotel - B&B 4 nights
Hanoi - Bangkok - Renbranat Hotel- Room Only 3 nights
Hanoi - Koh Samui - Chawing Regent Beach Hotel - B&B 4 nights
Koh Samui - Phuket - KataBeach Resort Hotel - B&B 3 nights
Phuket - Abu Dhabi - Manchester
Includes internal flights & private taxi transfers ( no more than 1hr wait for flights
Booked a year before holiday, holiday companies visited: said I wanted to pay around £2000pp
Kuoni - said to soon to be looking but rough guide £4000 - £4500pp
Thomson - be around £2700pp (did spend a few hours looking)
Thomas Cook - £2200pp couldn't get it any less, this is the one booked holiday with.

cass61

Holiday to Florida 2016

9 adults 2 children - October two week
Disney Saratoga Springs - 8 night 2x2 villa
Disney Animal Kingdom - 2 nights 2x2 villa (savannah view)
Orlando Cobana Bay resort - 4nights
includes park tickets 14 days, Disney dinning plan, Memory Maker, $200 Disney dollars per villa, transfers.
Virgin - £38.000, although this was for 10 adults & 2 children, tried for end of July, end of August, end of September and October same price
decided to try online:
Jet-save - £31.210 mid September, end of September and October same price
Thomas Cook - £27.000 this is with premium seating October
Co-Operative Travel - £22.765 October
Did spend around 5 weeks sending emails and the odd phone call but worth it