Hi Laura

You can book with First Choice travel shops and Hypermarkets...

http://www.firstchoice.co.uk/travelshops/

As mentioned, you can also book FC holidays through TRAVELCARE ....... BRANCH SEARCH HERE.

You can also book FC holiday through GOING PLACES.

As for other tour operators using FCA aircraft, you'd have to post in the FCA topic in the FLIGHTS FORUM, but I think it's only companies within the FIRST CHOICE GROUP which use their aircraft....could be wrong though!

Pippy

thanks very much for your replies! i shall take a look!!!

you can also book at the thompsons holiday shops.
i think the holiday hypermarket is part of first choice, and i think the co-op is

Holiday Hypermarket is owned by FC, that's why it's on their website HERE

I'm not aware of FC owning Travelcare though, Travelcare are owned by the Co-operative group...

http://www.travelcare.co.uk/index.asp?tcaffid=84&dest_select=&hi_alert=

Pippy

As Pippy saysTravelcare are independent.

You should be able to book a First Choice Holiday through the majority of High Street travel agencies.

Kath HT Admin

First Choice work on a 3 season rota. Summer is due out when the summer season starts, Mid April, I am not sure of the exact date but if you ask your local shop I am sure they would be able to tell you

Thanks Emma

The sooner my next trip to Sharm's in the bag, the better!

Pippy

You can book a First Choice Holiday through almost any travel agent but most of the time it would be cheaper to go to them direct.

Other tour operators will be very unlikely to have any seats on the FC planes to Goa

I booked this August's (2006) holiday to Turkey on 20 April 2005 with First Choice online - I think the brochure had been out for a week or so when I booked, so expect mid-April again this year for Summer 07
I'll probably be one of the first to book again - can't wait!

We always use First Choice/Eclipse too. Do you think you get better deals the earlier you book then?

Up to now, I've been very pleased with my early booking prices. Last time I checked the prices (a few weeks ago) my Easter 06 holiday to Gran Canaria had gone up by £40 since I booked in June 05 (Eclipse), my Easter 07 holiday to Fuerteventura had gone up by £80 since I booked in November 05 (Eclipse) and my August 06 holiday to Turkey had gone up by £500 since I booked in April 05 (First Choice), so as far as I'm concerned, it certainly pays to book early

I booked my holiday to the Conrad by phone direct to First Choice 3 weeks before we went.Whilst there we met a couple who had booked months earlier and whose daughter worked for FC and they thought they had a good deal.It turned out they had paid more than us and had even paid extra for a pool view room.When they told us their room number,it was next door to the room we had been given when we arrived but asked to be moved as there were lots of large trees outside the room which made it dark.You certainly could not see the pool!.I think there is no good time to book as bargains can be had by booking early and by booking late.If you are tied to dates booking early may be your only option.

I've never checked the price once I've booked, just in case it leads to tears!

My main reason for booking early is that I know how quickly the Conrad booked up for summer '05.
We booked that holiday in April '04, by July '04 the Conrad was booked solid for almost every week in the summer. A friend of mine wanted to come with us but didn't book in time.

As it happens, the hotel wasn't full when we went, so many people had cancelled due to being nervous after the attacks, our flight was only half-full.

We really do need to book asap for next year, so far it looks as though there will be seven of us going, so we'll need three rooms, all of which must have a sea view!
I'm going to email the hotel once the booking's in the bag to request particular room numbers, last year we had 3131 and 3132, I'd like those and 3133 as they were perfect. Super view, right next to the steps down to the beach and a shower almost at the bottom of the steps on the beach!

Pippy

We booked early to get the best price but at one stage our holiday was £364.00 cheaper. They have also now put a second flight on, same day, same airport but much better times and still cheaper. I have found them very unhelpful when trying to change to different flight. Dont think I would book early with them again.

The web prices for Manchester departures in November were amazing.£697 for 2 weeks for 2 people on November 28th!.We had to go on the 24th from Gatwick so didnt get as good a deal.We will certainly be looking out for this November.

i go to Marmaris every year since 1997 and only once was our flight changed it was due to bookings being down in1997 our flight was with brittania airways from newcastle it was diverted to pick up at luton airport .
when you go to turkey and you like were you stay ask if they would book you in privately the next time you go and how much they would charge per night i once got a into a hotel on the sea front for £10 a night in august. i do this every year and have a lot cheaper holiday they all do it
in the early part of the season they always change flights
the bookings are down this year so expect time and flight changes it just normal

It saves to book early!

The reason being is that higher marketing discounts are usually applied when the 1st edition brochures are released, which attracts more people to try and book early.

These discounts usually run from 1st edition brochure release date until a specific booking date, with the same fixed discount being applied to a selection of properties within the brochure. This also includes free child place allocation.

These discounts are issued by the tour operator and appear on the viewdata system, however these discounts are usually only available to preffered ABTA travel agents. These discounts cannot be taken off by the agency as it is an onscreen discount.

In addition to this, you may then recieve a further discount from the travel agency, which would mean a manaul in-store discount.

When looking around for holidays the travel agency will probably not include the manual discount on your first visit, but if you hagle you may get a further discount with them.

i would also recommend looking at the first choice website, the discounts are higher online than in store if there is a discount applied to the holiday.

low deposits are not available on online bookings as far as i know so that might be a drawback for some people.

Hi Scotlad

Are you able to find out on what date Eclipse/FC will release their summer '07 holidays?

Not that I'm keen or anything!

Pippy