Insider Info

TRAVELMAN_2

Hi-please see my reply to 'does anyone know where Travelman is' at the top of the board!

Also any paperwork expected by people is delayed by 2 days-sorry-base unit just installed!

A VERY frustrated with technology (!) Chris!

P.S-not forgot gazateer....coming soon!

Smiley_Mum

Hi Travelman,

Wondered if you would be able to help with some info?

Best companies to deal with when it comes to avoiding single supplements etc or tips for single parents on booking hols to avoid excess charges etc.

I am a single parent with two children, both under 5 and wonder if you had any ideas as best companies to deal with for hols at home or abroad.  I would love to take my kids away for a week or so in the Summer, any ideas welcome.  Are Haven or Center Parcs any good?  Apologies if I should post this elsewhere.  Any info gratefully received.  :)

TRAVELMAN_2

Re-posting this as we're now in the MAD period & new posters mmight have missed this...

Please look out for my 'gazzette part 2' & a post explaining my 'scarlet pimpernel' (!) dissapearence shortly....

Chris

TRAVELMAN_2

EDIT, 27/1/05-Guys/Gals-this has been bumped up the forum by a poster. Just to say the ethos/psychology/general info is the same....it has to be said we're still too early to see if May will be as cheap as I posted last year & this year Egypt is a bit pricier....in general at the moment still bargains to be has but as a lot of people for 'lates' are displaced Asia?india customers this has put pressure on the 'lates' market-prices probably 20-30% higher than last year. Can see 'lates' settling & possibly reducing a bit soon, but remember it's all supply & demand!

8) 8)

Hello all!

Good to be back. For any new MSE poster please read my other posts about the 'art' of bargain hunting!

Here we go...... Gazette part 2!!

Well...the Summer 2004 season is underway....WHERE are the best bargains & destinations??!

What is the 'not publicised' BARGAIN deal for familiies for the July/August hols...all will be revealed...read on!

If you can go in May/June (avoiding expensive Whitsun) & especially mid-week-there are some of the cheapest 'late' prices I've ever seen! Flights to Greece£59 (Kos 19/5) & 14 night Majorca flights-£49! (Glasgow 25/5).

It really is a 'moneysavers market' at the moment! If you are looking for just plain simple, basic quick weeks in Greece they start from £69 pp (about £85 total inc.tkt on departure charge, etc) for allocated on arrival or from £79 for named s/c apts (all beit fairly basic).

The big savings can be made on the 'all-inclusive' family market & the 4/5 star h/b or all-inclusive Hotels. Savings can be HUGE. Also-4/5 star in TUNISIA/SHARM-EL-SHEIK (red sea) Hurghada (Red sea) & Turkey.

As an example of this you can get all-inclusive, 3* , Majorca (Club Cala Romani, Calas De Mallorca) in May/early June from £124 pp adults 1st child up to 14 FREE!(accomodation only)with all these cheap flights about there are bargains to be had!

Also....Sharm/Hurghada in Egypt-30 degrees now & 4*+ all-inclusives from £100 a week (??! honest!) accomodation only-kids £45 approx??! All these can be found on [url][/url]https://www.medhotels.com *. We/your own travel Agent can add flights on to this to BUST the main Tour Operator prices! We also have transfers on hese from £ pp rtn. *Also..Turkey/Tunisia-similar prices on the web-site mentioned.

The message at the moment for bargains is that if you want 'cheap as chips' & are not bothered if the room is basic/allocated on arrival then go down the Tour Operator Route (ie thomson, thomas cook, airtours)-best deals can be obtained in this way.

BUT if you want family deals/4* or higher/all-inclusive by finding your own accom & getting an Agent to 'package it' for you (preferably an ATOL agent as you are 100% protected) then real bargains to be had!

Tip1
Now...on to some 'insider' information re ALLOCATED ON ARRIVAL deals....please read before you book one!

Why do Tour Ops do this???! The answer many will give is 'that it helps us fill our beds'...WRONG! The allocated on arrival deal (lets call it AOA) in 90% of cases is WHEN there is an inbalence of seats to beds. I worked in Crete as a Rep/manager for 5 years (yes...it's just like club reps if not worse!) & when we had 'allocated-on-arrival' the reps were told to 'find a bed within 2 miles of the resort' ??! have you noticed that the cheapest AOA'S say 'room-only/bb/or sc??! Take note of the above as if you don't like the location you're stuffed!

AOA is OK IF a resort is given (as long as you are willing to be up to 2 2/12 miles out!) OR its a deal with 1 of say 4 properties! PLEASE heed the above & if NAMED is £20 pp more (think of it as just an extra 2 pints a day!!) then go for this!

TIP 2-FREE PLACES!

Free places DON'T exist in my opinion. If you do a 'total party search' & then a 'free child search' you'll find in most (but not all) cases there is NO difference in price! Also...if you get a free child in an apartment as the child is free you pay the dreaded 'under-occupancy' fee FOR the free child! Con or what! best just looking for 'bottom-line' prices.

TIP3-TOTAL COST FOR YOUR HOLS!

a)-When comparing costs on text/net ALLOW FOR THE 1.95% CREDIT CARD CHARGE, BOOKING FEE (POSH WORD FOR XTRA COMMISION), security charges, ticket on departure fees, transfer costs & flight meals.

The law allows Agents to advertise 'lead-in' costs excluding most of the above. ASK THE QUESTIONS!

b)-When you're in an AGENCY ask them to do a LATE SEARCH, FREE CHILD SEARCH, SALE SEARCH & A TOTAL PARTY SEARCH. You'd think that ALL prices would be the same....wrong!! They may look at you in a 'don't tell me my job' way BUT if you're in front of the computer you'll SEE which search they're doing. Today i booked someone for a 4* in Majorca-it was cheaper on the 'sale search' than it was on the 'late' search!!! A lot of Agency staff (I'm preparing to be flamed here!) are not that experinced & always go for LATE SEARCH if it's a last minute booking!!!

TIP 4 THE BARGAIN PLACE FOR JULY/AUG HOLS!

You've all been waiting...........(!)

BULGARIA! The Black Sea Resorts (avoid Golden Sands-much building work) of Albena, San Konstantine, Sunny beach, etc...example-COST FOR 2 AD+2CH, ACCOM ONLY-1 WEEK, 9/8-£306 !! (No-not an error!)-flights-£199 (Lgw)-£1102 for 4 pax, PEAK SEASON, 3* hb??! transfers can be added but v.cheap on arrival. NOTHING beats this at present.....ideal for familiies as beaches are safe & cost of living is very cheap! Check out the prices on https://www.medhotels.com[url][/url] & get your Agent to source flights/possibly transfers for you. 'Packaging' Bulgaria is new-get in before all cotton on!

A humerous note to end on......one of my longstanding customers reccomended me to his brother. I was warned that this wallet had not seen the light of day (if youknowwhat I mean!!) for a while....so I got him a 4* all-inclusive in the Dominican republic for 14 nights, all-inclusive (back in March-cheap time!) for £409. His reply was 'eeehhh (my attempt at a Yorkshire accent!)...thats a bit steep-seen it in town for £360!!!', to which I replied 'that's great-you'd best book at that price'. Then the questions about 'any extras, charges...etc...' to which I replied 'no' but I then said as a joke'tell you what'I'll even drive you to the airport' . 'Ok Ok my customer said...i get your point, it's cheap I'll have it!'.

On his day of departure our head Office phoned me & said 'where's Mr xxxx's taxi?!' I told them it was a joke....upshot was it was £55 return Huddersfield-Manchester (which I'd have to pay myself!) OR me in my little Peugot!! Well...my customers got a lift from me (they live 2 miles away unfortunately!) & the comments....'eeeh...what great service....I'll reccomend you to ALL my friends...!'

That'll teach me......

Hope the above is of interest-speak to you soon!

Kind regards,

Chris

TRAVELMAN_2

Tip for Whitsun...if you have your own accomodation (or want to package something up) & want a flight to main destinations such as PALMA, MALAGA, FARO, IBIZA, for 29/30 May-DON'T book a 1 week flight on that date!

Take an 'insider' industry tip...as an example-cheapest charter (at time of typing) on 29/5 ex Gatwick is £264 pp inc tkt on dep fee/security... answer is book ANY flight on 22/23 May-DON'T use the inbound & just book inbound only with an economy airline such as Easyjet!

Example price saving.....1 week charter-29/5, FREEDOM FLIGHTS, night flt Gatwick-£264 pp, Palam, Majorca, flt only.

Outbound with COSMOS (a 3 night break flt only-inbound not used)-£66 inc. fees 0630 29/5, inbound return land on EASYJET at 2320 on Friday, 4/6 at 2320 (still 6 days in the sun!)-£183 pp!! (based on euro of 1.38/£1).

Total on a 1 week charter=£1024
Total on the 'split' flights=£732

TOTAL SAVED ON A FAMILY OF 4-£292!!!

Saturday/Sunday inbounds available but a touch dearer.....giving away all our tricks(!) but a great way to 'beat the system'!

Of course, it can be done the other way round-14 night charter-only INBOUND to be used, BUT you must advise the Airline before departure that the outbound is not to be used-otherwise if they think it's a 'no-show' they may cancel the inbound-100% avoidable by making a quick call!

Hope this trick is of use!

chris

System

Travelman

Very interesting, very informative.

However, this year (late summer) my girlfriend and I were thinking of trying Croatia as a holiday destination. I've been told it is very beautiful (by a Croatian!) but I wonder if you have any idea of cost /recommendation of where to go?? Any info would be gratefully received.

BTW, as you seem to know a great deal about the travel industry, you will probably be aware of Tapestry Holidays. If not, I can recommend them highly. Limited choice of destination but once you've travelled with them (and you can get some seriously cheap late deals on their web site!) you then get offers of half price/two for one deals for the following year. We got two weeks in Assos (Cephelonia) for £245 per person per week. These are fairly high class holidays with lots of nice touches (free towels/fruit/day trips). If you did know all that already then apologies for dribbling on.

Thanks again

Gary

TRAVELMAN_2

Hi!

Tapestry are a FAB little company-been around for a good few years-sounds corny but they REALLY do pride themselves on customer care & repeat business.

As far as Croatia goes as its a bit of a 'happening' destination it's a job to know what to do with prices. I'd say 2 ways to do it-1)-book a cheap flight with an economy airline NOW & sort out accom off the web OR hang fire until 1-3 weeks before departure-aim at 7-11 Septe-kids will be back at school 7 much more chance of a deal.

Hope this helps & thanks for your kind words about my gazzette!

Chris

leostevo

Does anybody have good info about deals when travelling alone - I have two weeks free end of June and beginning of July

System

leostevo

Where do u want to be and what do you want to do?




Nice piece of work, Chris.

leostevo

open to offers - activity or hedonism