hi, we (me 22 and my boyfriend 23) have decided to go on holiday in August hopefully to stalis crete, although im worried ive left it to late to book something we like. i have been into a cuople of travel agents today (thompsons and co-op travel) and thompsons had hardley anything, co-op had a bit more but not what we really want for example we could book a hotel but have to use the pool across another hotel, and the pool is the main place we spend our day. there were some 7 nights available but these were almost the same price as 10 nights which we would prefere.
so i was wondering am i best to go around a few different places and see whats available? the past 3 hols weve just gone with thompsons, although i think it may be cheaper eleswhere, so do i go around the diff tour opps like first choice, airtours, thompson etc or go to a travel agent who will look at lots of different operaters and are all travel agents the same as in do they look at the same people or should i go to different ones like going places, co-op travel etc? also should i look at other destinations as a back up just in case we cant get what we want? althoguh i have no idea where to go. we went cyprus last yr and loved it although its quite expensive to get to, been to corfu that was ok, dont think id return wel not to the bit we went anyway (just outside of kavos).
the lady in thompsons mentioned about late deals and that up to now she could only get up to the 15th August but if i went in next week the deals will be up to the end of August, think we want to go then as its cheaper, although any time in August would be fine if its as cheap as the end with the late deal or whatever.
any help would be apprciated we normally book quite a few months in advance this is a late decsision for us as we wanted to buy a house this year but with the credit crunch we are leaving it a while so decided to have a holiday.
thankyou! x
Its a long time since I've used a travel agent but I think its generally accepted that they will try and flog their own holidays above all others.
With Thomson's owners TUI now controlling First Choice as well, I would definately try a couple of different agents.
I would definately trust Co-op more than Thomson because I think they are independent of any tour operators but it still depends to a degree on who you get serving you. They all have access to the same holidays but some members of staff will try harder than others to locate the holiday you want so its always worth trying a few agents.
Have you tried the Portland website? Quite often you will get exactly the same holiday as Thomson right down to the rep but because you direct book they are sometimes cheaper.
You could always ring Sky Travel and the like to see if they can help and then check out holidaytruths for reviews of any hotels they recommend.
Mark
hi, i put my details in portland and no results came back, so i take it there sold out? think i will go into town on sat and have a wonder around the travel agents and then go from there. thanks for your prompt reply.
If you could give me a bit more info such as:-
Date
Duration
Board Type
Departure Airport
I will have a look and see if I can find anything for you. I don't work in a travel agent but there are a few different websites I can look at and I'll post another message on here with anything I find that matches your requirements.
Thanks
Mark
if you find one you like you could phone Travel Counsellors and tell them the hotel you like and the price and they will find the flights for you and give you an overall price.. we have used them before and found them great.. booked everything myself this year and have saved a bundle but if you haven`t done it before it can be nerve wracking.. but honestly Travel Counsellors are good..
sharon
p.s. you could also look on holidayhotels
ok, we want to go at the end of august as this seems to be cheaper, so any time from the 25-26th August, although we can go any time in August if the price is right we need to be back no later than the 10th sept as i go to university so its in my summer holiday. ideally would like to go for 10-11 days. usually fly from manchester never flown from anywhere eles although can also do birmingham and east midlands as were located in the west midlands. thanks
28th Aug to 7th Sept flying at 7.25am arr 13.30. Dep 7th Sept 15.05 - arr 17.25 is £509.96 for 2 people
XL have 29th Aug - 9th Sept Dep 19.15 arr 01.20am. Dep 9th Sept 12.00 arr 13.35 is £402 for 2 people.
Travel Republic have accommodation from £122.22 for 2 people whole duration or 4* £290 for 2.
There'd just be transfers extra with the above - flight times better with Thomson but XL cheaper.
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