Teresa - new policy

[Waspman]

Look my my reply below Jonny Rebel, I think you will see that booking privately is the way to go.
"Can't fault Thomson", I think many others will disagree!!

[loftyscot]

Excellent feedback everyone, thanks for sharing it all.

This is Loftyscot reporting from a part of the country that doesn't do low cost carriers to Corfu. Everybody say awwwww!

Now, if I want to go to the Canaries, that's a different story.

Happy New Year.

[Gavlah1973]

Hi Waspman

Thinking back to last year at the Romanza....the cost was around £1100 for 2 of us for 2 weeks on a B&B basis. That was for the last week in August/1st week Sept

You do seem to have got it at a great price

[loftyscot]

Yes indeed, we book directly too but unfortuantely need to fly from either Glasgow, Edinburgh or Newcastle.

We booked our Thomson flights for this year on the 1st Aug 2010 and paid about £950 for three people. We had a nosy at the Manchester easyjet flight for the same dates when they first come out for curiousity and were surprised that that it was still going to cost about £700. Therefore the trade-off for us is whether to do the 400 mile return journey to save £250. We have done it before to when flying to other destinations but it does take the polish of the holiday feeling especially when you are coming home. On the plus side the Thomson flight times from Glasgow and Edinburgh are perfect being in the early morning whereas early morning from Manchester means leaving the night before.

The point I'm making about Thomson is that it is an easy target for criticism (and believe me I have criticised them in the past) but when it's published accounts show it makes c£400m profit from roughly 20m customers then even if it adopted charitable status and refunded the profits we would only receive on average £20 each! As I say that's on average, however there will be winners like Waspman and others like myself where the saving is marginal.

And unbelievably we've met people in SS and other resorts where it is cheaper for them to book with the tour operator - usually larger families jumping on the free child places which as we know don't appear with the budget carriers. In fact it happened to us when we went to Fuerteventura last October.

So as we all agree, you do your own research and then you pick the horse for your course

Yammas, preggo, slanje etc 

[Rover]

Waspman, I have no doubt that you are doing the right thing for you!
Re horses and courses, Johnny Rebel is looking good as well?
Once again, enjoy your holiday and Mythos!

[tonyco1]

Hi guys
Thomson's prices are going higher each time I check now, and the difference between this and last year is considerable.
Thomson has also been re-organising this year, shedding thousands of staff and paying out redundancies,
closing call centres and getting existing First Choice and Thomson shops to deal with phone call sales.
Therefore a lot of profit was spent shedding staff, but watch next years profits go up.
Less tourists - yes, but a slimmed down Thomson is earning well, 400 million is not small change, unless you are microsoft!

Anyway - not a lot we can do I suppose, except vote with our feet if we don't like it.

I had to book Thomson's this year for many reasons, but the price shocked me a touch.

Never mind - See you Guys in August in S S.

[Gavlah1973]

Just been looking at 11 nights in Egypt again for April. I've won the holiday raffle at work so thanks to the closeness of the bank hols and the royal wedding I only need 3 days hols from work!!

Now the hotel we were looking at is one of the best in Sharm, rated at number 4 on Trip Advisor.....however the price through Thomsons comes out circa £3300 for 2 of us for 11 nights!! I might have to set my sights lower! I do believe that foreign holidays are fast becoming a luxury that few can afford! I get paid a good wage, have a company expensed vehicle and I can only afford nice hols when I earn a decent yearly bonus!

[Waspman]

I don't know about The Reef Oasis Blue Bay Resort but my wife and I went to the sister hotel Reef Oasis Beach Resort with Thomas Cook in November 2010 and it was fantastic.  

One of the best things was the snorkelling but 4 weeks after we returned the shark attacks took place so Sharm would still be on our list but the snorkelling would be definitely off.  By the way the fatal shark attack took place at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, the hotel next to The Reef Oasis Blue Bay Resort

So if you go Gav, stay out of the water!!

[Gavlah1973]

Yeah it was the blue bay we were looking at. I'll check out the other one you suggest. Last year we went with a company called Red Sea Holidays. We stayed at Ghazala Gardens in a suite and it cost £1200. The only problem is they only do 7/14 nights.
I only went for a paddle last time and I was put off by seeing a massive sea snake lurking in the shallows......I did a double check to make sure it wasn't wearing Tonys wristband!!

[sunshine]

Hi All. We travelled independently last year to San Stef and were going to do the same again this year but unfortunatly Thomsons flight prices from Cardiff are ridiculous over £700 for the 2 of us then accomadation and transfers so looked up thomsons package hols and booked 2 wks at the Barras for under £1,000 in August.

[Bristle Boy]

Hi all - haven't posted for a while. as i posted a couple of months ago we're not going to SS this year - off to Fueterventura for a week in June with the lad and his girlfriend, plus the grandson. Booked a villa privately for £350, plus 4 Ejet flights from BTL for £75 each.

However, looking at Teresas prices for 2012 quite steep for SS for 2 weeks - 600 euros s.c. We paid a lot less at Fedra Mare in June 2010 that's for sure. we're lucky in that we can fly Ejet to Corfu from BTL, paid £175 each last year.
I think the trick with Thomsons, and a number have mentioned on here before, you have to try and book in July/August when the following year's hols come out. We paid about £850 for 2 weeks B&B at Teresas in 2009 with Thomsons incl. flights and transfers, so if you take Teresas price of 600 euros + flights with Ejet from BTL, plus taxi fare in Corfu it don't seem that cheap to me.
Cheers

[Jimbo]

waspman - that's not a fair comparison because:

Thomson's luggage allocation for packages is 20KG, not 15
Transfers are included for packages and you've made them separate

This is not the best time of the year to book. Middle of May the prices drop significantly. For late holidays, end of August.

A lot depends upon where you live. If you live near a low-cost airline airport it's an easy equation - but it's harder if you have to drive or train one or two hundred miles, and possibly have to pay for an overnight hotel. I'd actually like to support Thomson flying from Doncaster because it's an easy 45 minutes on the motorway. Before, we've had to go to Manchester or Gatwick - add at least 3 hours travel time and maybe a hotel plus supper etc. Extra travel time depletes the relaxation of the holiday. It's great to be home within an hour.

I have had the lecture on the "give the money to the locals" subject from various people, and I accept that. However, the locals would not be in the position they are without the promotion of the travel companies. That's a simple fact of life. If Thomson pulled out of SS the place would be a ghost village within a couple of years. So, in my view, a balanced scenario is good. Let those who want to go it alone do that, and those who will pay a couple of hundred quid more to let the tour operator take the strain do that.   

[Waspman]

I’m surprised that you haven’t done your homework on this Jimbo.  

If you check Thomson website  (I compared today) you’ll find that of the eleven accommodations listed, four have a standard allowance of 20Kg luggage (including the one that you use) whilst the other seven have a standard luggage allowance of only 15Kg (including the accommodation that I used in my comparison).

Accommodation with 20 Kg luggage allowance = Nafsika, Little Prince, Barras and Stamatis.
Accommodation with only 15Kg luggage allowance = Athina, Teresa, Romanza, Thomas Bay, Olga, Tsaros and Voula.
The Thomson brochure shows 20Kg for all accommodation.

Another advantage of EasyJet over Thomson is that hand luggage weight is unrestricted (but you have to be able the lift it into the overhead lockers) whereas Thomson limit is 5Kg.  Therefore I’ll have more room for my jars of Kumquat Jam (don’t tell me, I know that jam is classed as a liquid and is not permissible in hand luggage).  

Your statement that “Transfers are included for packages and you've made them separate” is correct but to have a true comparison you have to compare like for like and as EasyJet don’t offer a coach transfer I opted for the taxi transfer which is common to both Thomson and a private booking.
I could, if I wish, arrive by EasyJet and transfer to San Stefanos by public service vehicle (local bus) and then would have an additional saving on taxi fares of an extra £85-£90 making it even better value than booking with Thomson and as the Thomson transfer takes up to four and a half hours (see previous postings) I could be in resort drinking my Mythos far earlier than the Thomson guests!!

So, in contrast to you, I believe that this is a totally fair comparison.

As for “the locals not being in the position they are without the promotion of the travel companies”, this would be the case for almost all resorts worldwide and “If Thomson pulled out of SS the place would be a ghost village within a couple of years”,  I very much doubt it as another tour operators would be quick to exploit such a beautiful place without the monopoly of Thomson.

You’re correct in saying that “if you live near a low-cost airline airport it's an easy equation” and I’m one of the lucky ones that live close enough to Gatwick (still 100 miles away though).  

You’re also correct in saying that “this is not the best time of the year to book”, I’ve noticed how prices have fluctuated throughout the last few months and even over the last couple of days.  As you suggest others who cannot fly with a budget carrier have little option than to go with Thomson, but they need to ensure they book at the best (and cheapest) time of year.

If those living close to low cost airline airports wish to continue to line Thomsons golden pockets that’s up to them but I would prefer to give my money to the hard working hoteliers (who, on average, receive about 8-9 Euros per day, per guest (for b&b) from Thomson) and I would also be contributing far more to the Greek economy.

At the end of the day you pay your money and take your choice, my opinion only!!




 

[Jimbo]

Fair enough on some points.

The "up to four and half hours" is ludicrous. A taxi transfer could be up to 48 hours if there were to be a major fire or crash on the road. The longest we've had is one hour fifty minutes. "Up to" is a very dangerous and misleading term, and should be avoided.

The 15KG limit on some apartments (the cheaper ones) may be a "catch-up" or an error. The central problem is that the Thomson website is very flaky. For example, it won't let you book for 21 days now, though we managed that last year.

I maintain that quoting a transfer charge when that is included is not "fair." I also think that all you need on a plane is a book, so who gives a stuff if you can have 97 kilos of locker space?

Do not get the impression that I'm working for the Thomson PR department. Over the last decade we've seen the demolition of some excellent operators like Laskarina and Kosmar. I really mourn those little companies with a careful choice of venues. For work purposes I've flown over quite a lot of the world, but to "take the strain" for holidays I've always liked to book a package and have somebody else to blame or sort it out.

It's a complicated set of choices. Local airport is a major plus. You can't really sort the world out into those who are close to Easyjet and those who aren't and then assume that you are, because there are additional costs. I few years ago I wouldn't have even looked at Thomson as a choice. But, as it happens, they are currently the best option for us, even if the reps in SS are a bit challenged in the charm area.

You're costings are extremely valuable, and I'm grateful for all effort. Thanks!

[Waspman]

You’re getting a bit desperate now Jimbo, clutching at straws to try to redeem yourself with fictitious and derisory statements such as “97 kilos of locker space, transfers up to 48 hours, major fires and crashes on the road”

As you posted on September 4th 2010 “The thing is - before pointing fingers it's wise to do a bit of research”, which clearly you didn’t on the luggage allowance issue.

Over four hours on a Thomson transfer from Corfu to Archaravi (which is a lesser distance than San Stefanos) was quoted by Swedebasher on August 9th 2010, so not as ludicrous as you suggest, so your words of “up to is a very dangerous and misleading term and should be avoided” are not relevant in this instance.

Are you also suggesting that the cheaper hotels/apartments (with the 15Kg luggage allowance) are The Athina and The Thomas Bay and the dearer hotels/apartments, (with the 20 Kg allowance) are Barras and Stamatis?  I don’t think that you will endear yourself to some hotel guests with remarks like that!

My reference of unlimited weight restrictions on hand luggage with EasyJet was not suggesting that you only take items for use on the aircraft, you can also take heavier items for use on holiday i.e. cameras, chargers, lap top, beard trimmer etc, but if you want to take “just a book” then as you say “who gives a stuff?”

By the way, I’m not the sure it’s the Thomson website that’s “very flaky, playing catch up and making errors”

I have given what I believe to be a fair and honest like for like comparison between a package holiday and a private booking, if you don’t accept it that’s fine by me.