Laskarina

by **Kojak** » 10 Jul 2009, 18:42

Thompsons are really taking advantage here!

by **Oor Willie** » 10 Jul 2009, 20:11

I agree Kojak, but even the Monarch prices though they seem to be about the lowest abvailable are a lot higher than the old excel rates, only last year I got both of us to Rhodes from Glasgow in June for �400 and the year before it was �380, this year with Thomas Cook it was just over �600. God you would think I was an Aberdonian the way I'm going on, Oops sorry to our Doric posters for that non PC remark, I'll need to be careful as I'm up in the Granite City for a couple of days next week.

by **Allan** » 10 Jul 2009, 20:35

It's a shame you're going so late in the year Willie. Jet2 still have flights from Newcastle in September that will get you there and back for around �450 depending on the dates.

Their flights stop in early October so they are no help for this year but they might be worth considering for next year?

If you book early enough there are some real bargains to be had.

by **Oor Willie** » 11 Jul 2009, 00:51

Hi Allan, we were intending to come out on our usual late Sept dates but a friend is getting married 1st weekend in October and the stag and hen nights are at the end of Sept then Heather could not get holidays early in Sept or before 17th October so we end up with limited flight choices but we will definitely look at Jet2 for next June

by **snoopy2** » 11 Jul 2009, 09:30

Thank you for the apology Ooor Willie and yes shame on you for spouting the old chesnut about Aberdonians. Hope you have a welcoming, friendly and generous stay in the granite city.

by **maziemoo** » 11 Jul 2009, 10:22

Good old Easyjet tend to do very reasonably priced flights but they only seem to go from London Gatwick, not a lot of help to our friends further up north and by the time you've taken an overnight stay in a hotel into consideration either near Gatwick or in Rhodes because it's arrival is too late for the evening ferry, it does bump up the price somewhat.

When I first entered the realms of booking independently (demise of Laskarina), I always found Monarch to be the most expensive and interestingly it was Monarch that Laskarina used so you can maybe understand why their profit margins became so tight.

by **Kojak** » 11 Jul 2009, 10:40

Olympic use Monarch, from Manchester at least, Mazie. I'd say generally that profit margins per person are fairly tight across all the package companies. Laskarina, being much smaller, got much less income. I remember Ian Murdoch saying that Laskarina were suffering because of increased market pressure from the larger travel companies. Also I think his health wasn't so good and of course, with the sad death of Kate, he didn't have the heart to carry on.

by **Oor Willie** » 11 Jul 2009, 11:34

Hi Mazie, we used Easy Jet last September from Gatwick and the price was quite good but then you add on the Glasgow / Gatwick flights,ouch! Because of the timings we had 4 hours in Gatwick on the way out not a problem it was daytime and everything was open we had a stroll round the shops and a nice meal, but coming back it was 7 hours in the middle of the night everything was shut we lay on the benches and ate sandwiches,ouch again ! We needed an overnight in Rhodes on the way out but thanks to Travel Republic that was very cheap at less than 20 Euros, coming back we got the late Dodecanese walked straight into the old town complete with cases had a meal taxi to airport checked in and off we went, great timing at that end pity about the 7 hours at Gatwick

by **Ozzie Geoff** » 11 Jul 2009, 11:57

Try 5hrs at Belgrade airport...I could write a short story on it.
A dozen or so gypsies that had been "living" there for weeks. A bloke wanting to buy my sneakers as half his foot was chopped off and wanted my sneakers to cut to fit the foot.
If I had a spare pair I would have given them to him...

by **maziemoo** » 11 Jul 2009, 12:35

I'm sure you're right Kojak and I suspect there's a lot of pressure from on high to keep prices up

to take into consideration the impact on the environment from flying.

I remember that Willie, that holiday was the first time I met you and the lovely Heather and enjoyed some pleasant conversation and :geek:

together

!

My trip out is always a lot longer than my trip home and can be by as much as 10 hours!

by **peterv** » 12 Jul 2009, 13:06

if you book easyjet from Gatwick early enough the prices are not that bad. I am using them again in September ( twice last year and in May). I agree aboput the hotel price of about �20 in rhodes. The problem is when you get back to the UK.

According to the Telegraph there is a Yo! hotel there nowthaat charges by the 4 hours, so you could think about that as an option.

In May I manged to get the Hilton for �49.00 through Last minute... That price and cheap rail travel made it cheaper than any other alternative to get home!

by **Eleanor** » 12 Jul 2009, 15:46

We have booked with Olympic for next June already and got a really good deal. After reading Adrianas post re Olympic bookings for next year Im glad we booked as soon as we got back only about 50wks to go

by **Eleanor** » 12 Jul 2009, 22:12

no[quote="MrsMcS"]

Eleanor you must be rich, we have always found Olympic to be quite expensive!

Certainly what they were charging to stay at the Nireus this year was ridiculous.

The demise of Excel/Kosmar has certainly been a blow to us. Having said that the last twice we have travelled with Manos as they were very competitively priced and offered day flights from Glasgow. They have now been taken over by Thomas Cook, so not sure how long they will remain competitively priced!! We certainly seem to have got a very good deal this year through Manos/Thomas Cook (will have to wait and see how it pans out), although booked it at the time of the demise of Excel so are flying from Manchester as the scottish flights had not been sorted out at that time.
As Adriana says us Scots don't get cheap flights to Rhodes and if it wasn't for package deals Findlay and I certainly wouldn't be able to visit Symi. Here's hoping none of the other package companies go bust as I couldn't bear the thought of not seeing Symi again :cry:

!!
[/quote]

by **Eleanor** » 12 Jul 2009, 22:26

oops dont know what happened there. meant to say to Mrs McS I wish I was rich then I could afford to stay at Nireus but I must say I love my 100 steps and the climb up to my lovely studio with the view . So even if I were rich I wouldnt swap my place .... well maybe for the Aliki (whats it like these days)

by **MrsMcS** » 14 Jul 2009, 14:44

Hi Eleanor, You are quite right to stick to your apartment with a view. It sounds lovely. We were just lucky to stay at the Nireus a couple of times and it was lovely to have that wonderful view. Before then we always stayed at the Maravelias studios which are very handy for everything, but have no view. This year we are in an apartment, but alas once again have no view as we are at the back of the square somewhere, I think! Never mind it will be lovely to be back on Symi again. Only 9 weeks to go :idea:

Are you going back in September?

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