Using UK Travel Agents

willis

Hi,

My parents are looking into going to Egypt in April. Got offered a package for €2,050 total for 2weeks.
However the same package, going from London Gatwick with thomsonholidays.co.uk is £1300, which at todays rate is roughly €1400.
Flights then to gatwick for both total €150, with a couple of hours between check-ins etc.

The way it works is that Thomson take 10% deposit now, and the rest in march. The way sterling is going/ and predicted to go worse vs euro, this holiday will be a lot cheaper than budget.

Can anyone see any problems with doing this? Should I just go ahead and book it for them?

Thanks

kingofburt

I did it afew years back, booked a first choice holiday with Merrion Travel, luckily got a cracking rate on stg at the time and sorted out my flights to Manchester with aer lingus. Your only problem is stg but I'd imagine thompson would take full payment before march if you think stg is going to gain on the euro.

thewools

I travelled last year with a British Travel agent (Markstravel) via Gatwick Airport.

Found them very good and their communication was great!

Olny hassle we had was that we missed our flight home in Gatwick due to a delayed flight from Male.

You should have no hassle with them what so ever I would say!!

Fratton Fred

willis wrote: »

Hi,

My parents are looking into going to Egypt in April. Got offered a package for €2,050 total for 2weeks.
However the same package, going from London Gatwick with thomsonholidays.co.uk is £1300, which at todays rate is roughly €1400.
Flights then to gatwick for both total €150, with a couple of hours between check-ins etc.

The way it works is that Thomson take 10% deposit now, and the rest in march. The way sterling is going/ and predicted to go worse vs euro, this holiday will be a lot cheaper than budget.

Can anyone see any problems with doing this? Should I just go ahead and book it for them?

Thanks

I've done it several times, the only thing you need to watch is the flight back from Gatwick. I booked Ryanair because it was £80 cheaper then BA and then ended up paying £95 in excess baggage:mad:

Falcon and First Choice are the same company so if you want to check exactly like for like check out them both. They both do a lot to Egypt.

jebusmusic

I was going to post up a thread about sterling bargains with UK tour operators, but I'll just do it here.

I just booked a holiday to Egypt yesterday with Thomsontv.com, going in February. You have to ring them to book as the postcode requirement means u cant book it online, but they can sort it out on the phone.

Total cost, just over €900 for two, for one week, all-inclusive, here; http://www1.hilton.com/en_US/hi/hotel/NUWHITW-Hilton-Nuweiba-Coral-Resort/index.do

Add flights to gatwick and a night in the Yotel either side (flight times didnt match up) and its about €600 each,still a bargain!

shrapnel222

i do it all the time also , either via ther UK or France and save a lot of money. The only downside is the extra travel to and from there. Be careful you don't book your flights too soon to the UK as charters are prone to time changes. either that or leave a large gap for travel before/after your charter

Fratton Fred

shrapnel222 wrote: »

i do it all the time also , either via ther UK or France and save a lot of money. The only downside is the extra travel to and from there. Be careful you don't book your flights too soon to the UK as charters are prone to time changes. either that or leave a large gap for travel before/after your charter

or travel from Belfast, although you are limied with the destinations then.

big b

I've done it many times, no trouble at all.

Kuoni, for one, will often thrown in a Dublin- LHR or Manchester return at a pretty good price too. Which usually means your bags will be checked straight through.

fullirish

was looking at using a UK travel agent myself - the savings just get better each week with the fx rate but has anybody considered what would happen if the travel agent goes belly up - to quote from a UK travel agent website in relation to ATOL protection: "..........This ensures that in the very unlikely event of our insolvency you will be able to continue with your holiday as planned (if already abroad) or be refunded in full (if travel has not already commenced). ATOL protection extends primarily to customers who book and pay in the UK."

Am I worrying too much - probably going to spend around 3,000 - a lot to risk ?

Does anybody know the exact situation ? (I rang a UK travel agent and they said I would be covered - but they would say that wouldn't they!)
cheers