I had always wanted to visit Brazil. This year I looked through Thomas Cook's brochure to find holidays to Brazil including a 6 day tour of Rio and Iguacu falls. I had never been on a tour like the one descibed in the brochure before and I thought that at least with Thomas Cook, it would be well organised. How wrong was I.
If you're thinking of booking the Rio and the falls tour followed by Costa du Sauipe my advice would be to book with a different company. Not Thomas Cook.
Someone at Thomas Cook decided to change our itinerary without telling us. This meant many problems arose to name but a few: When arrived in Rio, at 10 a.m, we waited 30 mins. for our luggage. We found out our luggage was sent on to Iguacu. We went outside into arrivals to find there was no rep to meet us. We tried phoning the emergency number but no one answered. Finally after having spent 3 and a half hours in the airport, someone from Thomas Cook finally answered the phone and sent someone to meet us. Our tour of Rio had to be postponed to the next day.
The next day we were told 3 different times of our flight to Iguacu. In the end the tour guide guaranteed that they had our tickets and our flight would leave at 11 a.m. The day we were to leave for Iguacu, we queued for 2 hours at check in, only to have missed our flights because Thomas Cook refused to buy new tickets at the price the airline were charging. So they hadn't even bought our tickets the previous evening. We then had to go back to the airport in the evening. That evening we hung around Rio airport and Sao Paulo for hours. We were taken to Rio airport at 7p.m and arrived at our hotel in Iguacu after 12:30 a.m.
For the final leg of our tour, we were to return to Salvador where we would spend 8 days at a beach resort in Costa Du Sauipe. We were told by our rep that the flight would land in Rio but we didn't need to get off the plane. She assured us that the plane would only be about 20 mins letting other people that wanted to go to Rio off and others on. Yet again, nothing was according to what we were told. We ended up having to get off at Rio airport and waiting 2 and a half hours in the airport for our connecting flight. So it was after 1:30 a.m that we had arrived at our final hotel. We arrived at the airport in Iguacu at 7:00 and it took us that long to get to our last hotel.
We never fully enjoyed our tour as we spent more time at airports than we did on the tours.We were so tired throughout the rest of the holiday and fairly upset by our ordeal.
To make matters worse Thomas Cook are refusing to pay anymore than £60 compensation for a £400 tour.
I suggest you have a chat with Ros Fernihough travel law lawyer who assists our members. She will offer you free advice regarding any claim and can be reached on 01922 621114
Thank you for sending me the number. I shall phone Ros Fernhough.
Has anyone been on a similar tour, i.e. a 5-6 day tour of Rio and the falls, but with a different tour company? If so did you have to wait a long time in airports for transfers? Or did everything run smoothly?
I do wonder if you should just go for a competely tailor made holiday rather than just a package with an excursion added. That way you will be given the timings of all your flights. Try getting quotes from Kuoni, Tradewinds, travelbag.....there are others but that is a start!
Hi,
i have booked to go to Rio and Iguassu then on to Co0sta do Sauipe with First Choce. We are going next October for our Silver wedding. I do hope that we dont have any misfortunes like you had. I am so looking forward to it. Do you know anyone who has been with First Choice on this trip?
Thanks Dizz xx
i have booked to go to Rio and Iguassu then on to Co0sta do Sauipe with First Choce. We are going next October for our Silver wedding. I do hope that we dont have any misfortunes like you had. I am so looking forward to it. Do you know anyone who has been with First Choice on this trip?
Thanks Dizz xx
Hi Dizz,
No I haven't heard from or know of anyone that has been with First Choice.
I was hoping to hear from someone on this website. I think this season was the first season of the Rio/falls tour for both Thomas Cook and FirstChoice. However, despite it being Thomas Cook's first time, it was still no excuse to get it wrong. I still can't understand how they could change an itinarary and not tell their customers what they had done. It should have been common sense to. 
I am sure your tour will go smoothly. Just to be on the safe side, when at a Brazilian airport, to fly to Rio from Salvador or to the falls from Rio, just check your plane ticket to make sure that it has the correct destination on it..or atleast the destination you have been told by First Choice. In England, I have never thought to even check the ticket to see if there has been an error with the destination, as a check in over here is for a specific country i.e if you are going to Cuba only people going to cuba will be queuing with you. In Brazil you go to the check in which deals with all internal flights. I hope that makes sense.
You will love Brazil!!!! Rio is beautiful. If you like steak you must go to a steakhouse in Rio. The beef is the best in the world. And you can eat as much of it and other meats and seafood as you like. The falls are truly amazing. Costa du Sauipe is completely different. The beach is beautiful and you can go for very long walks. The culture there isvery differnt to that of Rio or Iguacu. All this makes Brazil an interesting place to visit. Which hotel will you be staying at in Costa du Sauipe?
Anyway I hope I did not confuse you and was a little helpful.
Funky
No I haven't heard from or know of anyone that has been with First Choice.
I was hoping to hear from someone on this website. I think this season was the first season of the Rio/falls tour for both Thomas Cook and FirstChoice. However, despite it being Thomas Cook's first time, it was still no excuse to get it wrong. I still can't understand how they could change an itinarary and not tell their customers what they had done. It should have been common sense to. I am sure your tour will go smoothly. Just to be on the safe side, when at a Brazilian airport, to fly to Rio from Salvador or to the falls from Rio, just check your plane ticket to make sure that it has the correct destination on it..or atleast the destination you have been told by First Choice. In England, I have never thought to even check the ticket to see if there has been an error with the destination, as a check in over here is for a specific country i.e if you are going to Cuba only people going to cuba will be queuing with you. In Brazil you go to the check in which deals with all internal flights. I hope that makes sense.
You will love Brazil!!!! Rio is beautiful. If you like steak you must go to a steakhouse in Rio. The beef is the best in the world. And you can eat as much of it and other meats and seafood as you like. The falls are truly amazing. Costa du Sauipe is completely different. The beach is beautiful and you can go for very long walks. The culture there isvery differnt to that of Rio or Iguacu. All this makes Brazil an interesting place to visit. Which hotel will you be staying at in Costa du Sauipe?
Anyway I hope I did not confuse you and was a little helpful.
Funky
Hi Funky! 
Thanks for your reply. I will be staying at The Breezes in Costa Do Sauipe. We go to Rio and Falls first, then on to resort afterwards. I am really lookiing forward to it. I hope I get some replies back from people who have done this trip with First Choice. Thanks again for your reply. Take care Dizz xx
Thanks for your reply. I will be staying at The Breezes in Costa Do Sauipe. We go to Rio and Falls first, then on to resort afterwards. I am really lookiing forward to it. I hope I get some replies back from people who have done this trip with First Choice. Thanks again for your reply. Take care Dizz xx
hiya
we were toying with the idea of going to sandals or something for our honeymoon next year but just cannot bear to pay the stupid prices they charge for 2 weeks.
fancy something different and keep flicking back to brazil in the brochures.
first choice and thomas cook both fly from gatwick on friday 25th august which is when we need to go.
we like the look of the iberostar bahia and its coming up at about £1890 with thomas cook and £1970 with first choice (lots dearer with eclipse direct for the same holiday for some strange reason?). then on top of this it is extra for extra leg room seats - £60 each with first choice. and i think it is £70 each with my travel airlines who thomas cook use.
i really fancy doing the rio and iguassa fall trip at the beginning of the holiday.
i rang first choice as you can't book this online and got a price of about £3385 altogether including extra leg room seats (a must, but not stretching to premier as don't think its worth it really - rather spend that on other stuff for the wedding...)
i've just been on the phone with thomas cook and it is £1893 for basic holiday plus £625 each for the tour + £70 each for the extra leg room seats so = £3283
either way whichever holiday we go for either hotel only or with the tour thomas cook is coming in about £100 cheaper.
has anyone else been with thomas cook for the rio/igaussa tour?
has anyone been or know of anyone who's been with first choice?
it just seems such a lot of money to spend for the 6 day tour at £1300
can you book it locally when you get there? anyone with experience of this?
really want to try and make a balanced decision of who to go with.
thanks, claire
we were toying with the idea of going to sandals or something for our honeymoon next year but just cannot bear to pay the stupid prices they charge for 2 weeks.
fancy something different and keep flicking back to brazil in the brochures.
first choice and thomas cook both fly from gatwick on friday 25th august which is when we need to go.
we like the look of the iberostar bahia and its coming up at about £1890 with thomas cook and £1970 with first choice (lots dearer with eclipse direct for the same holiday for some strange reason?). then on top of this it is extra for extra leg room seats - £60 each with first choice. and i think it is £70 each with my travel airlines who thomas cook use.
i really fancy doing the rio and iguassa fall trip at the beginning of the holiday.
i rang first choice as you can't book this online and got a price of about £3385 altogether including extra leg room seats (a must, but not stretching to premier as don't think its worth it really - rather spend that on other stuff for the wedding...)
i've just been on the phone with thomas cook and it is £1893 for basic holiday plus £625 each for the tour + £70 each for the extra leg room seats so = £3283
either way whichever holiday we go for either hotel only or with the tour thomas cook is coming in about £100 cheaper.
has anyone else been with thomas cook for the rio/igaussa tour?
has anyone been or know of anyone who's been with first choice?
it just seems such a lot of money to spend for the 6 day tour at £1300
can you book it locally when you get there? anyone with experience of this?
really want to try and make a balanced decision of who to go with.
thanks, claire
Claire,
We stayed atthe Mariott Hotel in Costa du Sauipe after the 6 day tour with Thomas Cook. The Mariott is a lovely hotel. It was however half board but the food and drink are so cheap out there. It is cheaper to go to the village for drinks in the evenings. The whole package for the beginning of July cost me £1270. I think the price they have told youisterribly expensive. We booked the Thomas Cook package through Thomson. I spent roughly £250 out there which included food on the tour and to go to the Argentian side of the falls, drinks and lunch, treats for myself and presents.
I still have not had any luck with getting a just amount of compensation from Thomas Cook. They have treated us very badly. It is fine if everything goes according to plan but if anything goes wrong, it's like a domino affect. They'd rather save money and have you miss a flight and come back to the airport to go though the whole 2 or more hour wait in the evening, than doing everything in their power, including paying out for another ticket, to completely put an end to the errors which they have made. Good luck with your holiday.
We stayed atthe Mariott Hotel in Costa du Sauipe after the 6 day tour with Thomas Cook. The Mariott is a lovely hotel. It was however half board but the food and drink are so cheap out there. It is cheaper to go to the village for drinks in the evenings. The whole package for the beginning of July cost me £1270. I think the price they have told youisterribly expensive. We booked the Thomas Cook package through Thomson. I spent roughly £250 out there which included food on the tour and to go to the Argentian side of the falls, drinks and lunch, treats for myself and presents.
I still have not had any luck with getting a just amount of compensation from Thomas Cook. They have treated us very badly. It is fine if everything goes according to plan but if anything goes wrong, it's like a domino affect. They'd rather save money and have you miss a flight and come back to the airport to go though the whole 2 or more hour wait in the evening, than doing everything in their power, including paying out for another ticket, to completely put an end to the errors which they have made. Good luck with your holiday.
hiya
thats v interesting about the price. i can't believe you got the tour & hotel in for £1200 each.
did you book last minute or well in advance?
i've checked the thomson & portland direct websites and they've stopped doing holidays to brazil - i read somewhere else on this 'other destinations' part of this forum that they'd stopped going there. which is a real shame.
i'm gonna wait til nearer the time to book and hopefuly get a better deal.
would you just book the accommodation with first choice or thomas cook and then the tours over in brazil? what did other brits do whilst you were there?
i hope you get some compensation sorted, it'll be a long drawn out process though so keep at it as the tour operators will hope you get fed up and drop it!
i'm gonna have a look at travelbag and kuoni too as Fiona the Moderator recommended it on some other part of this forum.
cheers, claire
thats v interesting about the price. i can't believe you got the tour & hotel in for £1200 each.
did you book last minute or well in advance?
i've checked the thomson & portland direct websites and they've stopped doing holidays to brazil - i read somewhere else on this 'other destinations' part of this forum that they'd stopped going there. which is a real shame.
i'm gonna wait til nearer the time to book and hopefuly get a better deal.
would you just book the accommodation with first choice or thomas cook and then the tours over in brazil? what did other brits do whilst you were there?
i hope you get some compensation sorted, it'll be a long drawn out process though so keep at it as the tour operators will hope you get fed up and drop it!
i'm gonna have a look at travelbag and kuoni too as Fiona the Moderator recommended it on some other part of this forum.
cheers, claire
Hi Claire,
I booked way in advance. I looked at all the prices on the internet and found the cheapest which was with Thomas Cook. I then went into my local travel agent told them the package I wanted and asked if they could beat the internet price. They matched it but the price also included insurance. So it was slightly cheaper.
When we were in Brazil, it was far more expensive to pay for the tour in Brazil. If I were to do it all again I would do the tour and hotel again but no way with Thomas Cook.
Originally I wanted to go with Thompson as I liked the look of the resort at the end ofthe tour. But as with this year they only have holidays in the winter season which is a real shame.
HAve you tried looking at the price of other hotels. I can highly recommend the Marriottin Costa du Sauipe. With the Iberostar there is literally nothing else around. Although Pria de Forte is not that far by car.
However, Costa du Sauipe has so much on site. There is a spa, shops, bars, restaurant, horse riding, quad biking, tennis, squash, canoing and other water activities. You are not just stuck in the hotel. All the hotels can use these facilities and they are in the centre of all the hotels. 5 mins max walk. I always like the idea of all inclusive but it is so cheap you can actually get away with half board. Soft drinks are free with breakfast and dinner. And you can go to the village for delicious drinks including caphrinas. Another good thing with Costa du Sauipe, if you want something different that's near you can go to Praia du Forte, which was a nice day out but I am glad we didn't stay there compared to Costa du Sauipe. If you are staying outside Costa you can't get into the resort.
See how much the tour plus the Marriott is. Our room was massive, one of the best rooms. The beach is beautiful and you can walk for miles..There is a fishing village you can walk to, also. You can even eat at the Renaissance in the evening for free as it is a part of the Marriott. So again something different.
Let me know how you get on with the prices for Costa du Sauipe.
I booked way in advance. I looked at all the prices on the internet and found the cheapest which was with Thomas Cook. I then went into my local travel agent told them the package I wanted and asked if they could beat the internet price. They matched it but the price also included insurance. So it was slightly cheaper.
When we were in Brazil, it was far more expensive to pay for the tour in Brazil. If I were to do it all again I would do the tour and hotel again but no way with Thomas Cook.
Originally I wanted to go with Thompson as I liked the look of the resort at the end ofthe tour. But as with this year they only have holidays in the winter season which is a real shame.
HAve you tried looking at the price of other hotels. I can highly recommend the Marriottin Costa du Sauipe. With the Iberostar there is literally nothing else around. Although Pria de Forte is not that far by car.
However, Costa du Sauipe has so much on site. There is a spa, shops, bars, restaurant, horse riding, quad biking, tennis, squash, canoing and other water activities. You are not just stuck in the hotel. All the hotels can use these facilities and they are in the centre of all the hotels. 5 mins max walk. I always like the idea of all inclusive but it is so cheap you can actually get away with half board. Soft drinks are free with breakfast and dinner. And you can go to the village for delicious drinks including caphrinas. Another good thing with Costa du Sauipe, if you want something different that's near you can go to Praia du Forte, which was a nice day out but I am glad we didn't stay there compared to Costa du Sauipe. If you are staying outside Costa you can't get into the resort.
See how much the tour plus the Marriott is. Our room was massive, one of the best rooms. The beach is beautiful and you can walk for miles..There is a fishing village you can walk to, also. You can even eat at the Renaissance in the evening for free as it is a part of the Marriott. So again something different.
Let me know how you get on with the prices for Costa du Sauipe.
Funky
would you be able to write a review for us? I have asked for the Marriott to our Other Destinations review page
Thanks!
would you be able to write a review for us? I have asked for the Marriott to our Other Destinations review page
Thanks!
hiya funky
thanks for this. thats interesting about costa da saupe and definately food for thought.
just done a quick check with thomas cook and its not bringing the marriott up - it has the renaissance with is AI but its £1100+ £625 for tour + £70 for extra leg room = about £3780 ish altogether OMG!
first choice have the renaissance on AI coming up at £850 each + extra leg room. then the tour on top would be about £3300 as before the price they quoted with the Iberostar.
Its just so expensive with the tour. I'm gonna have to wait to see if the prices come down.
Which travel agent did you book with and how many months before - I thought I was being early booking it now so thought i'd get a better deal now :-)
cheers, claire
thanks for this. thats interesting about costa da saupe and definately food for thought.
just done a quick check with thomas cook and its not bringing the marriott up - it has the renaissance with is AI but its £1100+ £625 for tour + £70 for extra leg room = about £3780 ish altogether OMG!
first choice have the renaissance on AI coming up at £850 each + extra leg room. then the tour on top would be about £3300 as before the price they quoted with the Iberostar.
Its just so expensive with the tour. I'm gonna have to wait to see if the prices come down.
Which travel agent did you book with and how many months before - I thought I was being early booking it now so thought i'd get a better deal now :-)
cheers, claire
Hi ya Claire,
I booked in February for my July holiday. I booked it through Thomson. The prices they quoted then are different to those in the brouchure. The tour was £399 and the rest was~ £800 and that was the Thomas Cook package. When I looked up the tour plus hotel on the Thomas Cook website they didn't have both...i.e the hotel with the tour. So I phoned up and she quoted me about £50 more than what I ended up paying. I then went into Thomson and told them about the price and said if they could beat it I would book it through them if not I'll do it online and they got it slightly cheaper with insurance for me. So don't just go by the brochure price. Sometimes in January, February they have deals in the travel agents, so it may be worth trying then.
I know prices go up in August as it is the school holidays. I went just before the schools broke up and it was about £200 less by going then. I can't believe that both First Choice and Thomas Cook are charging so much. It is only their second summer season of having holidays to Brazil. Normally when a country is not quite that populart he prices are extremely cheap in order to encourage people to go there. Look at places like Cuba and Dominican Rep. Also it is winter in Brazil so it's not their peak season, so it should be cheaper in our summer.
Anyway, don't give up. If you have any more questions just ask.
Funky
I booked in February for my July holiday. I booked it through Thomson. The prices they quoted then are different to those in the brouchure. The tour was £399 and the rest was~ £800 and that was the Thomas Cook package. When I looked up the tour plus hotel on the Thomas Cook website they didn't have both...i.e the hotel with the tour. So I phoned up and she quoted me about £50 more than what I ended up paying. I then went into Thomson and told them about the price and said if they could beat it I would book it through them if not I'll do it online and they got it slightly cheaper with insurance for me. So don't just go by the brochure price. Sometimes in January, February they have deals in the travel agents, so it may be worth trying then.
I know prices go up in August as it is the school holidays. I went just before the schools broke up and it was about £200 less by going then. I can't believe that both First Choice and Thomas Cook are charging so much. It is only their second summer season of having holidays to Brazil. Normally when a country is not quite that populart he prices are extremely cheap in order to encourage people to go there. Look at places like Cuba and Dominican Rep. Also it is winter in Brazil so it's not their peak season, so it should be cheaper in our summer.
Anyway, don't give up. If you have any more questions just ask.
Funky
.... what happens to the price and hopefully it'll go down. we really don't want to spend more than £1200/1300 each tops, so i'd imagine the prices will come down to around that. otherwise we'll just book the beach hotel on its own.
cuba and dominican republic are a big no-no in end august/september due to hurricanes - both are places we want to go but we were in a hurricane in mexico 4 years ago in september and its not something i want to repeat - a little scary
what was the renaissance hotel like in costa da saupe? did you say you could eat there - still can't get the marriot coming up, it must be booked up.
cheers, claire
cuba and dominican republic are a big no-no in end august/september due to hurricanes - both are places we want to go but we were in a hurricane in mexico 4 years ago in september and its not something i want to repeat - a little scary
what was the renaissance hotel like in costa da saupe? did you say you could eat there - still can't get the marriot coming up, it must be booked up.
cheers, claire
Hi Claire,
The Renaissance and Marriott are linked. If you stay at the Marriott for example you can not only eat at the resaturants in the Marriott but at the restaurants in the Renaissance. Also you can go to the Renaissance for day activities and evening shows. To be honest I was glad we stayed at the Mariott rather than the Renaissance. It looked nicer and was much quieter. The Renaissance has lots of activities during the day but some of them you can not join in because the staff don't speak much English. Things like bingo and certain competitions. You could join in activities such as football, volleyball. dance classes. Mind you I guess bingo would have been much more fun if you didn't know the numbers in Portuguese.
The Mariott is much quieter but it depends really on what you would like. There are other hotels in Costa du Sauipe. You could try those.
If not Brazil how about going to Cuba or Jamaica? I know you said you were worried about hurricanes, and am sorry you were in Mexico at the time of one of their worst hurricanes, but I have been going to the Caribbean for over 10 years and have never, thank goodness, been there when there was a hurricane. I don't let that put me off at all. And I can only go in July or August. In fact I grew up in Jamaica and after moving to England have spent many a holiday there. I think you were just very unlucky in Mexico. So I would suggest to anyone don't let the hurricane season put you off.
The Renaissance and Marriott are linked. If you stay at the Marriott for example you can not only eat at the resaturants in the Marriott but at the restaurants in the Renaissance. Also you can go to the Renaissance for day activities and evening shows. To be honest I was glad we stayed at the Mariott rather than the Renaissance. It looked nicer and was much quieter. The Renaissance has lots of activities during the day but some of them you can not join in because the staff don't speak much English. Things like bingo and certain competitions. You could join in activities such as football, volleyball. dance classes. Mind you I guess bingo would have been much more fun if you didn't know the numbers in Portuguese.
The Mariott is much quieter but it depends really on what you would like. There are other hotels in Costa du Sauipe. You could try those.
If not Brazil how about going to Cuba or Jamaica? I know you said you were worried about hurricanes, and am sorry you were in Mexico at the time of one of their worst hurricanes, but I have been going to the Caribbean for over 10 years and have never, thank goodness, been there when there was a hurricane. I don't let that put me off at all. And I can only go in July or August. In fact I grew up in Jamaica and after moving to England have spent many a holiday there. I think you were just very unlucky in Mexico. So I would suggest to anyone don't let the hurricane season put you off.
Your holiday sounded like a bit of a nightmare. I am very interested in Brazil particularly Rio and the waterfalls. Would you recommend that I do my travel and hotels separately?
I didnt think you had to pay extra on First Choice long haul flights as their planes have extra legroom anyway.Maybe they are using another airline for their Brazil holidays.
Has anyone ever done Chapada Diamantina in the state of Bahia, Brazil? Unique experience... Nature at its best! There isn't a way to describe it really... It's something like a grand canyon with lots of green, waterfalls, rivers, giant rocks, beautiful landscape... There isn't beach there, it's about 5/6 hours from the coast of Salvador. Recommended for the lovers of nature 
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