Haven't had a holiday for years - I know nothing!

wallbash

callum9999 wrote: »

I have no desire to see them or any other proof of your travels. I was merely saying that your claim of it being difficult to show a taxi driver the name of your hotel, or find the transfer bus, is absurd and not consistent with reality. In a tiny village in Outer Mongolia yes, in an EU airport with a constant stream of British holiday makers no.

Thats your reality, pity its not the feeling on the majority on this thread.

Again we are trying to help the OP ( well some of us are)

MasterPoo

joxy wrote: »

Hi all,

I genuinely have only had one holiday (lasting more then a couple of days) for 25 years, and my husband and I have only ever had a couple of weekends away.

Now we find ourselves in the position where we would like to book a cheap holiday away somewhere, (perhaps Malta or Rome) but the system is such a minefield I genuinely don't know where to start!

ANY TIPS, HELP, HINTS OR GUIDES WELCOME!

Thank you for your help!

I've just seen this deal:http://www.holidaypirates.com/holidaypackages/all-inclusive-holiday-to-malta-for-7-nights3315

****DISCLAIMER****
I've never used this company.

callum9999

PeacefulWaters wrote: »

I really struggled to find English speakers in Italy. Lovely people, willing to help, but very little English outside the tourist traps.

I loved the arm waving too. And that was just me!

How does using a travel agent change that? Unless you're suggesting that tourist services at the airport also can't speak English - which I find incredibly hard to believe.

wallbash wrote: »

Thats your reality, pity its not the feeling on the majority on this thread.

Again we are trying to help the OP ( well some of us are)

No, it's THE reality. The only stage that a travel agent smoothes over is the transfer between airport and hotel - something that is incredibly easy to do yourself. If the OP is a paranoid worrier then yes a travel agent would be wise. If they aren't then they can just do it themselves - like millions of first time travellers do with no hassle whatsoever.

You're right, I'm not trying to help them at all. I'm trying to get them lost and abandoned in a foreign country - hopefully they will get all their stuff stolen too....

PeacefulWaters

callum9999 wrote: »

How does using a travel agent change that? Unless you're suggesting that tourist services at the airport also can't speak English - which I find incredibly hard to believe.

I wasn't referring to travel agents. I'd moved on from there.

wallbash

This site, well has been the case for the last few years full of horror stories about DIY hols that have gone wrong. Don't take my word for it , wait and see. People buy the wrong holiday, skimp and try and save a few pounds.
they come to this site and ask how to complain, get their money back etc.
Any holiday can go wrong even to US the more experienced. The OP is new to the holiday trade , maybe new to flying, everything will be an adventure, would be nice if he had a good experience. And for that, trying to make it the simplest possible should be our aim .
What ever the OP tries, I hope its a success. Maybe he/she will let us know. And to finish, if the OP goes DIY I wish he/she has a trouble free time.

Blue264

I was in Rome two weeks ago for 4 days and loved every minute of it. Despite what others have said here, Rome is a lot cheaper than visiting London. We had a fantastic 3 course dinner with drinks at a trattoria just around the corner from Santa Maria Maggiore for 34 Euros all in.

As for the language barrier, as long as you are polite to people, they will go out of their way to be kind and helpful towards you. Everywhere we dined, we were asked which country we were from, and given a menu in English. My Greek OH asked about this, and was told that they try to print a copy of the menu in several languages, but he couldn't find a Greek one Aww bless...

Where ever go, I always learn the absolute basics in the language of the country I'm visiting.... Yes, no, please, thank you, hello, goodbye, excuse me, sorry and do you speak English. Anything more than that is a bonus, and I find Italians to be some of the most helpful people to their tourists. They're keenly aware that it's big business for them and are eager to make tourists enjoy their stay, particularly in the current economic climate. Everytime my OH said he's Greek, he was greeted with laughter and hugs from the Italians because of what Greece is going through.

callum9999

wallbash wrote: »

This site, well has been the case for the last few years full of horror stories about DIY hols that have gone wrong. Don't take my word for it , wait and see. People buy the wrong holiday, skimp and try and save a few pounds.
they come to this site and ask how to complain, get their money back etc.
Any holiday can go wrong even to US the more experienced. The OP is new to the holiday trade , maybe new to flying, everything will be an adventure, would be nice if he had a good experience. And for that, trying to make it the simplest possible should be our aim .
What ever the OP tries, I hope its a success. Maybe he/she will let us know. And to finish, if the OP goes DIY I wish he/she has a trouble free time.

None of which will happen if they ask one of the many people on here, me included, who are happy to check over every single detail of what they want to book. It's one flight booking, one hotel booking and quite possibly one transfer booking - hardly rocket science!

If they want to use a travel agent, great. If the most experienced traveller in the world want's to use a travel agent, great. I merely object to your ridiculous claim that it's too complex for them to do themselves. It categorically is not - period.

And frankly incredibly bizarre given you described how you and your daughter have arranged far, far more complicated trips for your first holidays on yourselves.

wallbash

And frankly incredibly bizarre given you described how you and your daughter have arranged far, far more complicated trips for your first holidays on yourselves.

Suggest you re read some of my posts.

Have widely traveled for many years .....starting with hols with parents, they did ALL the organization , easier than me doing it when I was 7!
But did start solo travelling in late teens AND sorted it out myself/
Clear enough ?
Took daughter from a very early age ( maybe about 3 ?) and surprize I bought all her tickets.
But her solo travels, she booked.

I merely object to your ridiculous claim that it's too complex for them to do themselves. It categorically is not - period.

You can make any claim you like.
But reading your ramblings, suggest you get a holiday.
Will supply the address of Thomas Cook if you wish.

Blue264

Can I just say that the posts above are detrimental to the advice requested by the OP. Both of you make valid points, but if there's anything I can't abide, it's this exact debate.

I'm a travel agent in the business sector, which is a world apart from the leisure sector. If a friend asked me to find them an all inclusive hotel with free child places, I wouldn't have a clue! Those of us who work in the industry have access to a handful of travel agencies who specifically book leisure travel for us if needs be, and they provide a great service. So why, when I book round the world trips on a daily basis, would I use such an agency?

Collective bargaining power, accumulated local knowledge of the leisure market and being able to phone them on a Thursday morning to ask what agent rates have they got available, and be on the beach by Friday lunchtime.

The OP has mentioned two locations they would like to consider. Malta is one where I would advise they consider heading off to an agency to see what's on offer. Rome is a location I would book myself so that I could see the city at my own pace and not be hearded round to meet the reps timetable.

Finally, just because someone is well travelled it doesn't automatically mean they're a good or confident traveller. My OH has lived in 6 countries and been around the World, but he's a terrible traveller. He's the person who almost misses a flight because he left something vital at the hotel. He's the one who takes the wrong escalator at the airport and ends up in arrivals instead of departures. I always feel I need to put baby reins on him in any port or airport, but he loves travelling...and that's the point. I do all the booking and planning trains, ferries, flights, etc...then he sits back and enjoys it all.

We're all here, hopefully, to share our experience in an effort to make someone's request more manageable.

callum9999

wallbash wrote: »

Suggest you re read some of my posts.

Have widely traveled for many years .....starting with hols with parents, they did ALL the organization , easier than me doing it when I was 7!
But did start solo travelling in late teens AND sorted it out myself/
Clear enough ?
Took daughter from a very early age ( maybe about 3 ?) and surprize I bought all her tickets.
But her solo travels, she booked.




You can make any claim you like.
But reading your ramblings, suggest you get a holiday.
Will supply the address of Thomas Cook if you wish.

And how is any of that in contradiction to what I said?

You can indeed - as you've demonstrated perfectly. Of the 50 odd people I know who have booked their first holiday on themselves without a travel agent, not 1 of them messed it up. As you love to keep telling us, you did it perfectly fine on yourself. Your daughter did it perfectly fine on herself. Why is it not possible for the OP to do it on themselves?

How on Earth you can describe my posts are rambling when you type in broken English I have no idea. Though as you and Blue264 are getting stroppy that's probably the perfect cue to stop...