Tesco Travel

Incapuppy

holidaysforme wrote: »

i think there are a lot of people deluding themselves in to thinking that they are getting a free or discounted holiday, when in fact they are paying way above base price because they are using deals. That's the point i am trying to make.

Yes, I understand the point you are trying to make and I cannot speak for anyone else that uses Tesco vouchers for holidays but I can assure you that I am not deluded :rotfl:

Example:

Cost of holiday:

With another major TO: £2200
With Virgin Holidays using vouchers: £2000
With yet another major TO: £1900
Booked independently: £1800

Vouchers available: £1000

I will obviously ignore the first option. Virgin Holidays are competitively priced against other TOs for a range of holidays and don't forget that any flight sale fares will be reflected in their quotes for holidays using clubcard vouchers; any quotes that I have required have always been considerably lower than VHols brochure price.

As regards my three other options? I can decide to pay £1900 or £1800 for my holiday or I can choose to use £1000 worth of vouchers and pay only £1000 for my holiday. There are no other clubcard rewards that either interest me or offer such good value for my own circumstances therefore I use £1000 of vouchers to save myself £800 on the price of a holiday.

floydy

hello, i am wanting some advice pls

i exchanged £2400 worth of tesco deals with virgin holidays in november (hoping to utilise them before the max £700 would reduce to £525), wanting to book a trip to new york with 3 friends...circumstances and ill health meant we didn't get to book anything....now obviously my tokens are not worth as much if i trade them back in, and prices for the same holiday times to new york have shot up ...any suggestions on how i can spend them, any help appreciated

obviously i know i can use them for other deals but i would rather use them for a holiday x

Incapuppy

floydy wrote: »

obviously i know i can use them for other deals but i would rather use them for a holiday x

I'm not sure what you are asking - do you want people to suggest a holiday for you?

holidaysforme

Incapuppy wrote: »

Yes, I understand the point you are trying to make and I cannot speak for anyone else that uses Tesco vouchers for holidays but I can assure you that I am not deluded :rotfl:

Example:

Cost of holiday:

With another major TO: £2200
With Virgin Holidays using vouchers: £2000
With yet another major TO: £1900
Booked independently: £1800

Vouchers available: £1000

I will obviously ignore the first option. Virgin Holidays are competitively priced against other TOs for a range of holidays and don't forget that any flight sale fares will be reflected in their quotes for holidays using clubcard vouchers; any quotes that I have required have always been considerably lower than VHols brochure price.

As regards my three other options? I can decide to pay £1900 or £1800 for my holiday or I can choose to use £1000 worth of vouchers and pay only £1000 for my holiday. There are no other clubcard rewards that either interest me or offer such good value for my own circumstances therefore I use £1000 of vouchers to save myself £800 on the price of a holiday.

Yes. This seems like a sensible way of using deals for a holiday. Like you say, it's about doing the research and knowing what you are prepared to pay in vouchers/cash to get the best possible outcome:).

floydy

I'm not sure what you are asking - do you want people to suggest a holiday for you?

i would like some advice on how to find and book a holiday, peoples experiences on how they booked their holidays, just wanting to maximise what i can get from the deals, thanx

Incapuppy

floydy wrote: »

i would like some advice on how to find and book a holiday, peoples experiences on how they booked their holidays, just wanting to maximise what i can get from the deals, thanx

To be fair, only you know where you would like to holiday, when you would like to go and how many people will be travelling.

I can only re-iterate what I have said in my earlier post - if you find something that you fancy then compare like for like with other major TOs and also price the option on an independent DIY basis (if you are comfortable with this option). When you have done the research you will know if you are getting good value with the vouchers for your own circumstances.

When were you planning on travelling to New York? If your vouchers were exchanged in November they should be valid through until the end of May (they will be dated) and as airlines release flights around 11 months in advance you could book a holiday for departures up until April 2012 (and perhaps beyond - I have never booked that far in advance)

The price you pay for your holiday is usually the current online price with any current online discount (usually 5% as standard) added back on. Special promotions, e.g: 'was £1200pp, now £900pp' are exempt but you will be able to take advantage of any airline sale fares e.g.: we took advantage of a Malaysia Airlines sale for Bali and an Emirates sale for Mauritius. You can find out about these by signing up to airlines for their email newsletters.

V Hols will also tailor make for you; for both the holidays mentioned above we have split our time at different resorts on the island in question and we have also chosen airlines and flight timings to best suit our needs. You don't have to choose a 'bog standard' package as shown in their brochures, you can go for any duration you require providing flight schedules will support this.

A lot of destinations are cheaper if you are prepared to travel outside of the peak season; e.g: Caribbean holidays are often far cheaper May-Nov because of the hurricane season; check weather histories and facts to determine if you are prepared to travel in low season to make a saving; I have travelled cheaply (in comparison to peak season) to the Caribbean on three occasions during the hurricane season and have never regretted my decision.

Finally, (if you are able to take advantage of this situation) then check to see if your destination suffers a hike in price due to school holiday times; if you go onto the likes of Kayak, Opodo, or indeed your preferred airline's own website then you can easily research fare patterns and determine which periods (and indeed which days of the week) are cheaper for travel.

Good luck and I hope you find something to suit.

PS: you have mentioned 'ill health' as the reason for being unable to make your original holiday plans; don't forget to factor in the cost of travel insurance as your previous situation may well count as a pre-existing medical condition which you will need to declare to, and have accepted by, your chosen insurers; there may be a loading to the premium as a result. If anyone travelling with you would wish to either cancel or curtail the holiday should you fall ill with anything related to your PEMCs then these will need to be declared and accepted on their own insurance policy (and vice versa)

floydy

oh thanks so much for your very helpful advice, can i just tap into ur knowledge a bit more please.....

but you will be able to take advantage of any airline sale fares e.g.:  we took advantage of a Malaysia Airlines sale for Bali and an Emirates  sale for Mauritius. You can find out about these by signing up to  airlines for their email newsletters.

not quite sure what you mean about taking advantage of these airline fares, how can i incorporate them?...do u mean when putting a diy package together before going to virgin to price match??

V Hols will also tailor make for you; for both the holidays mentioned  above we have split our time at different resorts on the island in  question and we have also chosen airlines and flight timings to best  suit our needs. You don't have to choose a 'bog standard' package as  shown in their brochures, you can go for any duration you require  providing flight schedules will support this.

how do u do this? do u mean phoning customer services at virgin with a diy package and asking them to match it up and then use the deal tokens...

tbh i consider the clubcard deals as long gone earned, so free money towards a holiday, still thinking new york for a week probably with 3 of my girlfriends either back end of this year or spring next year

tia

Incapuppy

You will have to compare like with like ie: use the same flights and accomodation that are available through Virgin.

Choose something that you are interested in that appears in the Virgin brochure, price it up online and then see how much the exact same holiday will cost with another TO or DIY. It is no good simply choosing something random elsewhere and asking Virgin to match it if they do not use the same airlines or accomodation.

By tailormade, I mean that brochures are just a guide; you can pick and mix accommodation and duration options to suit; organise twin (or more) centres in one destination (like I did in Bali and Mauritius). You can create multi-centre itineraries providing their featured flights and accomodation support your choices, eg: Far East multicentre or twinning two Caribbean islands.

When you look at getting a price online you can select room and board options at your chosen accommodation (if available) and then you can go on to select flights that suit your needs, ie: Mauritius holidays were showing Air Mauritius flights as default but as Emirates were showing as an available option I decided which combination of flights I wanted and Virgin booked those for me.

If you are still thinking of going to New York I strongly suggest you look at the New York thread stickied at the top of the main overseas forum page to give you plenty of information re: DIY pricing so that you can decide whether the NY option via Virgin is giving you satisfactory value for money.

When I say that Virgin will use airline sale fares (if they are available) then I mean that if, for example, Emirates are having a fare sale, Virgin's price during that period for any destination that utilises the routes in sale should reflect the lower fare prices in their quote (which is how my holidays to Bali and Mauritius have come in at way under the published (hard copy) brochure price.

floydy

incapuppy, thanx so much for ur input, having to reread it several times to digest the info, having not done anything like this before.....

i have looked at the new york thread indepth in the past, my friends and i did get to new york 3 yrs ago, we looked at booking it diy and then went to our local co-op tour operator and they persuaded us to book package with them, and at the time we thought it was reasonable...we paid £650 for 4 nights at the edison hotel, times square with flights from manchester (ba flights)...and we had a fantastic time

in oct last year i started pricing up online with virgin and found that the four of us could have gone and stayed in a comfort inn (b&b) in manhattan for a week in oct 11 for just over £2800, which if i had enough clubcard vouchers i would have been able to cover the cost fully...( i had £2400 in deal tokens)......again, for several reasons the holiday didn't get booked and then just after xmas when i looked the prices had shot up over £6k for the same dates and hotel!!!! aaargghh, if only...