The Thomas Cook price doesn't seem too bad Michelle as it's not that much dearer. I checked with another website for your dates etc and it came in at over £2000

Hi Glynis

I agree, some are very expensive.

Well i took the plunge but booked it through Co-operative travel in my town. I got virtually the same deal as TC but paid £1523 (a bit lower), but the TC price only gave me 15kg of luggage allowance, where as co-op gave me 20kg each and the food on the plane wasnt included with TC, but co-op have given me that as well So i think thats saved me another £60 .....

Have any of you had or got any deals?

Michelle x
sonesta beach resort queen

Why not go self catering?? I booked our flights this year for April, June and Sept for £150 each for 2 weeks return per person! The hotel prices have shot up and you are tied eg queuing for eggs in the morn before 10 even if you dont want it but cos you have paid for it. Even better getting up when you want, sitting on your terrace and eating when you want for a fraction of the price. We get a takeway - whole spit roast chicken, 4 flat breads, heaps of salad and dips for 40le and have a feast for 4! Cold drinks on hand in the fridge etc. We take sausages, ham etc and make brunch and toasties. We eat out at the local Egyptian restaurants for a fraction of the cost. Koushari for a pot that is more than enough for 2 costs 3le and we have paid 2le for a kilo of strawberries.

Hi Nana

We can actually stay with friends and get flights, that was an option. But A1 is the best way for us, to eat and drink as much as possible for £50 a day is cheaper than staying at home and eating out with my whisky drinks it would cost a fortune. I never liked A1, i always ate out in NB and still do, but at our hotel never had a problem queuing up, and it was very nice food. We are on the beach by 7.30 and sozzled by 8

Lol dont blame you thats what holidays are for! We do the same with a fridge full of cold beers and duty free booze! We also can spend a day in all inclusive hotels for a charge of around £30 for the day which isnt too bad. I now like the freedom of getting up when you want and opening the fridge and eating when you want and not when you have to as most hotels breakfast finishes at 10 and my lot dont start surfacing until about 10.30 onwards. Im an early riser and like to make a cuppa to take out to the terrace with a slice of toast.
All inclusive in Egypt is very hit and miss and if you have found one you are happy with then stick with it as you have done.
Happy holidays - think we all need some sunshine after all this horrid weather in the UK.

Hi Michelle

We go the 16th November as well but are staying in CSR we stayed there in 2007 and was lovely this will be our 2nd trip has im going for my 50th birthday its my hubbys birthday the day we fly out then mine the next day.

I booked mine through Eclipse website xx

Its incredible, from looking yesterday on the thomson holidays, the same holiday today is around £779, yesterday it was £850 What on earth is going on?

Mine was booked by Panorama although its all through TC........makes a change. Just got to add exit seats now, but systems down at present.

I hate it when they (TO's) play mind games.

It said on the news this morning that spain has hit a 20% low Egypt will soon be top then we can out rule the Russians and Italians

I was told by a travel agent last year that if you book after the 20th of the month you can get a better deal because the agents have usually met their targets.
I dont know if this is true for all agents but its strange that the prices seem to come down after the 20th!

I think people transferring from the 'euro' countries might have a bit of shock at some of the prices of food and drink in Egypt - especially in some of the 4 & 5* hotels. Not only have the prices risen quite considerably in Egyptian pounds but the pound has plummeted against the Egyptian pound too!

Does anyone know the exchange rate over in Egypt at the moment as I'm off to Hurghada on Tuesday? Which is the best place to change currency ie. bank or hotel? In the past I've withdrawn money from ATM's (made the mistake last time of not informing the bank and having my card stopped but hey!) but I'm now a bit more conscious of not wanting to pay transaction fees etc and wanting my money to go that little bit further....especially as I'm aware that the Marriott is v. expensive to eat and drink!

Regarding good deals for Egypt, I booked last month with redseaholidays.co.uk for the Grand Resort in Hurghada. There was a promotion of £100pp so only paid £529 HB, 7 days, inc flight meal, 20kg, transfers and late checkout room. Thought this really reasonable for 5* hotel at beginning of school hols - 21 July.

The rate today is 8.02LE to the pound.I found this on XE currency conversion website.

Thats good, thanks - the rate seems a bit better than the 7.5 I read in a review somewhere today - lets hope it continues to improve.

Try Crown Currency Exchange. I buy all my currency from them, i don't buy from the UK travel bureaus. Apart from about £50 i always get my egypt money at my hotel as they did a better rate than in Naama Bay, or thomas cook.
http://www.crowncurrencyexchange.com/index.asp?adloc=Google&gclid=CKD3mvWc-5gCFYQI3wodFSLJmA

Ring them up and get a quote. I must confess i do not know their rate for Egyptian, but Euros, and dollars are a better rate than in travel agents etc.

Totally agree with Caro. I can't understand why people are being advised to go to Egypt because of the Euro when the Egyptian pound has lost a third of its value in the last 15 months.

The nsgb has a currency converter on their website which gives you the latest exchange rate. Currently 8.0218

http://www.nsgb.com.eg/calculators/Pages/default.aspx

The best bank for exchange rate that I could find in Hurghada was the BNP bank up where the old Papas bar used to be, about 300 yards from Mcdonalds. (on the Sheraton road?)

Thanks for the information Chelsea - might try and find that bank!

By the way did you have the email from redseaholidays about their £100pp promotion for May and June holidays if booked before 16th March and £50pp for other dates?

We proberly don't get 10LE to the pound any more about 8LE in the resort, but that is only pence, you still get value for money over there. Places like Cyprus For every £100 you change you get a lot less. I have been going to egypt since 2005 and even going b and b it is cheaper to eat out than other european destinations. The last time we went to Cyprus we changed £100 in uk money to Cypriot where we got £70 so losing £30 every time we change a hundred. Now of course it is the euro and that is even worse.

A1 hotels of a 3* status like we used to go in is at least £200 dearer than the hotels in egypt. I priced a 4 * hotel in Northern cyprus and for 2 people it came in at over £2000. Where as the hotel in Egypt i go into is £1500 A1 for two weeks. I cannot speak about any other European country as i haven't been for a while. But Egypt and turkey are tops at this present time.

Michelle

Yes I did caro. Not a bad deal. I've already booked 2 holidays for this year via Flyglobespan but will look to use them for 2010

I booked 3 weeks ago for the new Sunrise Tirana AI with T/C (although the cooperative was matching price),for £2500 for 2 adults 13 and 9 yr old going mid July (we booked 2 twin rooms as it was only £50 dearer than the family room). I have looked today and Thomas Cook still seem to be the best price for this hotel as Travel Republic price was over £4000 compared to T/C at £3000.

The prices do change quite a bit from day to day as do the dates (we depart on a monday which was £150 cheaper than the Saturday) so if you can, check a week either side of your dates especially a MONDAY.

T/C charge you extra for in flight meals and only allow you 15KG pp plus 5KG hand luggage, you can up this to 20kg but you have to add £15 pp for the whole party as they won`t allow you to add it to 1 person only (would cost us a further £60). So as we need new cases this year we shall go for 2 larger lightweight cases at 5kgs each rather than 4 medium at 4.5kg each and stick to the 15kg allowance. So anyone thinking of buying cases check their weight!!!!!

I kept missing good deals. I would price up something, think about if for a day or two and the price would go up by £300 or £400

I lost good deals to the Grand Azure, Laguna Vista Gardens, Sunrise Tirana and the Red Sea Holiday Village. I think I was naively waiting for prices to come down. I have now managed to book, but at a really inconvenient airport for me as all London flights had gone.

Definatley think it could be a case of (s)he who hesitates is lost. Especially if you look to book during school holidays/bank holidays like I do.

Well done to everyone who got a good deal.

Doe

Hi Doe,

Glad you have managed to get booked. I have taken my kids out of school a week early (first time i have done this) but it saved me £400 and they don`t do a great deal the last week.

The Scottish holidays start at the end of June so they get cheaper holidays than us!!!!