Woohoo! They paid up!
It's a relief - I'm not very good at boycotting. Back when I was at school, it was all about boycotting L'Oreal due to their testing of products on animals. It was easy enough until I started dying my hair and found a magnetic pull towards their Feria range. More recently, I've read several articles urging me to boycott Nestle, due to their unethical advertising of formula milk in developing countries, as well as numerous other unethical practices. Much as I agreed with the idea in principle, I was honest with myself from the start - I like Mint Aeros and Nestle Clusters just too much.
I should probably add that I refused to book with British Airways again many years ago, after their air miles turned out to be rather a swizz - we flew to Benidorm with them in 2013 and were very impressed, and we've booked with them again this year!
So was I really going to be able to boycott Thomas Cook forever? If there's anything I like 'just too much', it's got to be holidays. And while we may have been able to get this October's trip to Tenerife for a fraction of the price we'd have paid with Thomas Cook, the same can't usually be said for long-haul destinations. In a couple of years from now, if we found the perfect Caribbean break with Thomas Cook, can I really say I'd have been able to pass it up and pay more to a different company on a point of principle? Hmmmm, I don't think the odds are good. When it comes to holidays (and chocolate), my integrity is sadly lacking.
Still, it doesn't matter. Thomas Cook paid the money they owed me, as I asked. They apologised, as I asked. I have no idea whether they've reviewed their computer systems, as I asked, but they did at least promise me they had sent my email to the relevant departments. Much as I was unimpressed at the inconveniences we experienced, they responded (slowly and with a bit of pushing) as I wanted them to. I am officially allowed to book with Thomas Cook again, if I should so want. Phew!
Tuesday, 24 February 2015
Monday, 9 February 2015
Seashells Scarborough - Australia Part 1
It's now six months since our Australian adventure, and I'm slightly ashamed that I've not yet put any hotel reviews on here. The worst bit about that is the fact that I've forgotten lots of the finer details, so my reviews won't be quite as helpful as they could have been. (It's been a nice trip down memory lane watching my videos, mind you, and it's reminded me of things I'd otherwise have forgotten.) Anyway, hopefully the reviews will still be useful for anyone considering a trip to Australia, particularly with family, and I plan to upload some more videos and reviews over the coming weeks.
I'll begin with my usual Trip Advisor cut-and-paste review of the Seashells apartments in Scarborough. Scarborough is a small town/village about fifteen minutes away from Perth in Western Australia. The apartments are situated across from the beach, with amazing views, and I can wholeheartedly recommend the three-bedroom Sandcastles apartments for families.
We stayed at Seashells in August 2014, so my memory may be a little hazy on some aspects! We arrived late at night, and had already been given a key code in advance to access our room key from a little box outside reception, which is closed at night. There are plenty of parking spaces opposite the apartments to enable you to visit reception, and we had no trouble finding the apartments or accessing our room package. We were allocated a parking space (possibly two?) in the underground car park, and I believe there was a key or code access to the car park to make it secure. From there, there was a lift up to the apartments. We had booked a superior two-bedroom apartment, but we found out on arrival that we'd been upgraded to a three-bed Sandcastles apartment. I was slightly apprehensive, as I had a feeling that I'd read that the Sandcastles were lower starred than the superior two-bed, but I needn't have worried, as we really couldn't have asked for anything more.
As a Brit, used to fairly cramped hotel rooms, the spaciousness of the apartment was the most striking thing. We had three bedrooms (obviously), which meant the children could have their own rooms. The main bedroom had a large en-suite bathroom with corner jacuzzi bath, while there was another good-sized shower room/toilet nearer the boys' bedrooms. There was a large living/dining area and a reasonable-sized kitchen. Overall, the apartment was bigger than plenty of family homes in the UK. It was also well-equipped - free Wi-Fi, washing machine, tumble dryer, dishwasher, microwave, TV & DVD player, CD player, safe, iron & ironing board, etc. Toiletries and plenty of towels were included, and extras in the kitchen, such as dishwasher liquid, milk, sugar and salt & pepper, made life easier.
I believe that the apartments are all individually owned, so the decor and level of upkeep differs. I can't speak for the other apartments, but we certainly had no complaints about this one. Yes, if you want to be picky, it is not brand spanking new - there was a crack in the bath and there were the odd chips or marks in the paintwork. But it certainly didn't look shabby and it was all very clean and comfortable, which was good enough for us.
The apartments are located directly opposite a beautiful beach, and the views from the lovely large balcony were amazing. Sadly, because we were there in winter, we couldn't take advantage of the balcony, although I'd imagine it would be lovely to sit out there for breakfast. Similarly, there was an outdoor pool, sauna and BBQ equipment, but it wasn't the weather to be able to use these.
There is not too much to Scarborough itself, but it is only a short drive to Fremantle or Perth city centre. The main attraction of Scarborough is the beautiful beach, but there is also a big supermarket next to the apartments, and several restaurants within easy walking distance (I'd recommend the Wild Fig Café or Grill'd).
The apartments were very quiet - we couldn't hear our neighbours and only rarely heard people walking past the front door. We had to call in at reception the morning after arrival (can't remember why - think we needed to check in properly or something), and they were very friendly. All in all, the apartments felt like a real home-from-home, and would be an excellent base for a long stay in the area. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them.
If you'd like a little tour of our apartment, you can watch the YouTube video below. You can also visit my YouTube channel (Holiday Obsessive) for more holiday videos (with more to come soon).
I'll begin with my usual Trip Advisor cut-and-paste review of the Seashells apartments in Scarborough. Scarborough is a small town/village about fifteen minutes away from Perth in Western Australia. The apartments are situated across from the beach, with amazing views, and I can wholeheartedly recommend the three-bedroom Sandcastles apartments for families.
We stayed at Seashells in August 2014, so my memory may be a little hazy on some aspects! We arrived late at night, and had already been given a key code in advance to access our room key from a little box outside reception, which is closed at night. There are plenty of parking spaces opposite the apartments to enable you to visit reception, and we had no trouble finding the apartments or accessing our room package. We were allocated a parking space (possibly two?) in the underground car park, and I believe there was a key or code access to the car park to make it secure. From there, there was a lift up to the apartments. We had booked a superior two-bedroom apartment, but we found out on arrival that we'd been upgraded to a three-bed Sandcastles apartment. I was slightly apprehensive, as I had a feeling that I'd read that the Sandcastles were lower starred than the superior two-bed, but I needn't have worried, as we really couldn't have asked for anything more.
As a Brit, used to fairly cramped hotel rooms, the spaciousness of the apartment was the most striking thing. We had three bedrooms (obviously), which meant the children could have their own rooms. The main bedroom had a large en-suite bathroom with corner jacuzzi bath, while there was another good-sized shower room/toilet nearer the boys' bedrooms. There was a large living/dining area and a reasonable-sized kitchen. Overall, the apartment was bigger than plenty of family homes in the UK. It was also well-equipped - free Wi-Fi, washing machine, tumble dryer, dishwasher, microwave, TV & DVD player, CD player, safe, iron & ironing board, etc. Toiletries and plenty of towels were included, and extras in the kitchen, such as dishwasher liquid, milk, sugar and salt & pepper, made life easier.
I believe that the apartments are all individually owned, so the decor and level of upkeep differs. I can't speak for the other apartments, but we certainly had no complaints about this one. Yes, if you want to be picky, it is not brand spanking new - there was a crack in the bath and there were the odd chips or marks in the paintwork. But it certainly didn't look shabby and it was all very clean and comfortable, which was good enough for us.
The apartments are located directly opposite a beautiful beach, and the views from the lovely large balcony were amazing. Sadly, because we were there in winter, we couldn't take advantage of the balcony, although I'd imagine it would be lovely to sit out there for breakfast. Similarly, there was an outdoor pool, sauna and BBQ equipment, but it wasn't the weather to be able to use these.
There is not too much to Scarborough itself, but it is only a short drive to Fremantle or Perth city centre. The main attraction of Scarborough is the beautiful beach, but there is also a big supermarket next to the apartments, and several restaurants within easy walking distance (I'd recommend the Wild Fig Café or Grill'd).
The apartments were very quiet - we couldn't hear our neighbours and only rarely heard people walking past the front door. We had to call in at reception the morning after arrival (can't remember why - think we needed to check in properly or something), and they were very friendly. All in all, the apartments felt like a real home-from-home, and would be an excellent base for a long stay in the area. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them.
If you'd like a little tour of our apartment, you can watch the YouTube video below. You can also visit my YouTube channel (Holiday Obsessive) for more holiday videos (with more to come soon).
Monday, 2 February 2015
Don't accept anything less - persistence pays off (part 2)
So, I gave up on my £50. And soon enough it was time for our holiday. I checked in for our outbound flights online, and seats together were allocated. Then the screen asked me if I'd like to check in for our inbound flights as well. I was a bit surprised, as you normally can't do this until 24/48 hours beforehand. Still, I clicked on 'yes', thinking it would save us time and hassle on holiday - how wrong could I be? My husband and I were allocated seats next to the window. My five-year-old was allocated an aisle seat in the row in front (so not even directly in front of us). And my eight-year-old wasn't allocated a seat at all! I was confused (as you would be) - the seat next to us was showing as available (as most of them were, over a week in advance) so why had they left it empty and put my youngest son in the row in front? And why on earth hadn't they given a seat to my eldest?! I tried to change the seats around, but it was impossible without paying the fee for pre-booking seats - and yes, I would have had to pay simply to put my other son on the plane at all! Eventually, I decided it must have been a computer glitch and left it. When I tried to print our boarding cards for our outbound flights, it printed them in one long line so that they went across sheets of paper, reaffirming my assumption that they were having computer problems (and somewhat defeating the object of checking in online, as we still had to queue at the airport to get some usable boarding cards). And off we went for a lovely week in Tenerife.
The niggling doubt kicked in on the transfer to the airport at the end of our holiday - should we have spoken to our rep about our check-in problem? But surely, as the website had obviously been having problems, it would all be irrelevant? We joined a nice long check-in queue and looked enviously at the almost non-existent queue for people who'd already checked in - maybe we should have tried to check in again from the hotel. At the front of the queue, the lady told us we'd already checked in. I explained what had happened, pointing out that we would never have chosen those seats ourselves and that our eldest son hadn't been checked in at all. She shrugged her shoulders and told us she couldn't change our seats now and the only spare seat for our son was 13 rows back. We were understandably horrified but she told us there was nothing she could do. Now, I appreciate that most of the seats may well have been allocated at that point, and she may have been unable to change the seats of people who'd already gone through into the departure lounge; however, I wish she'd told us that instead of giving us some cock-and-bull story about 85% of people having already checked in online - one glance at the relevant check-in queue told us that was a load of rubbish. Either way, she told us our only option was to ask the cabin crew if they could rearrange people. Cue a rather stressful two hours in the departure lounge, wondering where we were going to end up sitting. Obviously, my husband or I would have sat in the seat 13 rows back rather than our son, but that in itself caused problems because of how we'd organised our hand luggage, not to mention our lunch (it's hard to share with someone not sitting nearby). The bigger problem was how distraught the boys were, knowing that one of them was going to have to sit on their own in the row in front, next to strangers. None of this would have been quite such a problem if the flight had been shorter, but it was over four hours - a long time for a little boy to sit on his own. I would also have accepted it if it had happened simply because we arrived late at the airport and they were the only seats left. But I was pretty angry that we were in this situation due to a fault in Thomas Cook's online check-in system.
Once on the plane, we explained the situation to the cabin crew, who, luckily, were very helpful. They suggested we sit in our allocated seats while they tried to sort it out, and the very nice man sitting next to me offered to swap with our son in front if they couldn't sort it out. Eventually, the cabin crew managed to swap our seats with some people at the back so that we could all sit with my husband. I thanked the people who were moving, and they looked at me blankly. I later found out from my husband that they had been none too keen on moving, asking what was in it for them and saying they'd think about it. Jeez, how about just a warm glow from knowing they'd helped two young boys to sit with their family?!
Well, that's the long and short of our problems with Thomas Cook - nothing dreadful, but something that wasn't our fault and should have been avoidable. Thinking back to the £50 we never received, I decided to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard). And this is where I come back to making a reasonable request - what did I actually want? What would be fair? Well, I wanted an apology, because our airport experience had been pretty stressful through no fault of our own, and it hadn't been dealt with very well (cabin crew not included). I wanted them to look at their computer systems - after all, we had had two problems due to their website, and surely we weren't the only ones? And I wanted my £50 - as I had been promised. I didn't ask for £300 or a free holiday to make up for what we'd experienced - after all, it really wasn't that bad and it's important to be realistic (although we'll never know if I'd have got more if I'd asked for it!). I just wanted what I felt we were entitled to. So that's what I asked for. I had to fill in a form on the Thomas Cook website and immediately received a template email letting me know I could expect my problem to be resolved within 28 days.
Several days later, I received an email from someone saying they would be dealing with my case - but first, could I please let them know whether I booked my holiday online or in store. Hmmmm, let me think about this. I went into a store, asked them if I could borrow their computer to book my holiday and didn't think to ask them about the £50 offer that flashed up on the screen. Good to know she'd read my email thoroughly. I replied politely (but still pointed out that it should have been obvious from my original email that I'd booked online). And then I waited. After a month and a half, I emailed again, noting that I could now add 'not dealing with complaints effectively' to my list of grievances - 28 days my foot. Finally, 2 months after her last correspondence, and just as I was considering Facebook or Twitter as a more public way to get a response, I received an email from the same lady. She apologised for taking so long to reply, but she had been waiting on a response from her manager - okay, thanks for the apology, but an interim email to explain might have been nice - 2 months with nothing?! She also apologised for the stress we'd experienced at the airport but pointed out they can't guarantee seats unless we pay to pre-book - okay, thanks for the apology again, but she's kind of missing the point. The seat issue was down to a computer problem and not our failure to pre-book (not to mention, in over 20 years of flying, I've never once paid to pre-book and I've never had a problem). Finally, she was very happy to send me a £50 holiday voucher as a full and final settlement.
Hold on a minute? A £50 voucher? That's not the same as £50 in currency! The voucher assumes that I'm actually going to book a Thomas Cook holiday again; if I don't, I lose my £50 and if I do, Thomas Cook gains the money I wouldn't have otherwise spent. Who's the winner here? And, let's be honest, £50 doesn't go a long way towards the cost of a holiday - given that they regularly offer £100 or even £150 off the price of a holiday if you book on a specific weekend, I didn't exactly feel sufficiently compensated. (I could add here that we've booked to go to the same hotel this October - we've booked directly with the hotel, which entitles us to a taxi transfer to/from the airport, and we've booked flights with BA, saving us approximately £1,000 in comparison to the same holiday with Thomas Cook - but that's another issue...) As a final insult, no voucher was attached to the email and, as over a week has since passed, I assume no voucher was put in the post, either. This was the point last week at which I was going to publicise my Thomas Cook battle, perhaps putting a link to my blog on their Facebook page. Still, in the meantime, I wrote back, explaining exactly why I didn't consider a voucher to be a full and final settlement in any way. And within literally five minutes, I got a grovelling email back, apologising profusely and asking for my details so that they could transfer the £50 to my bank account.
So what's the moral to this? Persistence is key - I suspect they'd hoped I would have simply settled for the voucher I was offered, and lots of people probably would have. Hey, if I'd intended to book a Thomas Cook holiday, I might have settled too. But I think it's important to have realistic and fair expectations, state them clearly and don't accept anything less. £50 isn't a fortune, but it's what I asked for, and I'm happy. Mind you, I'm still waiting for it to go into my account, so there may still be a Part 3 to this story...!
The niggling doubt kicked in on the transfer to the airport at the end of our holiday - should we have spoken to our rep about our check-in problem? But surely, as the website had obviously been having problems, it would all be irrelevant? We joined a nice long check-in queue and looked enviously at the almost non-existent queue for people who'd already checked in - maybe we should have tried to check in again from the hotel. At the front of the queue, the lady told us we'd already checked in. I explained what had happened, pointing out that we would never have chosen those seats ourselves and that our eldest son hadn't been checked in at all. She shrugged her shoulders and told us she couldn't change our seats now and the only spare seat for our son was 13 rows back. We were understandably horrified but she told us there was nothing she could do. Now, I appreciate that most of the seats may well have been allocated at that point, and she may have been unable to change the seats of people who'd already gone through into the departure lounge; however, I wish she'd told us that instead of giving us some cock-and-bull story about 85% of people having already checked in online - one glance at the relevant check-in queue told us that was a load of rubbish. Either way, she told us our only option was to ask the cabin crew if they could rearrange people. Cue a rather stressful two hours in the departure lounge, wondering where we were going to end up sitting. Obviously, my husband or I would have sat in the seat 13 rows back rather than our son, but that in itself caused problems because of how we'd organised our hand luggage, not to mention our lunch (it's hard to share with someone not sitting nearby). The bigger problem was how distraught the boys were, knowing that one of them was going to have to sit on their own in the row in front, next to strangers. None of this would have been quite such a problem if the flight had been shorter, but it was over four hours - a long time for a little boy to sit on his own. I would also have accepted it if it had happened simply because we arrived late at the airport and they were the only seats left. But I was pretty angry that we were in this situation due to a fault in Thomas Cook's online check-in system.
Once on the plane, we explained the situation to the cabin crew, who, luckily, were very helpful. They suggested we sit in our allocated seats while they tried to sort it out, and the very nice man sitting next to me offered to swap with our son in front if they couldn't sort it out. Eventually, the cabin crew managed to swap our seats with some people at the back so that we could all sit with my husband. I thanked the people who were moving, and they looked at me blankly. I later found out from my husband that they had been none too keen on moving, asking what was in it for them and saying they'd think about it. Jeez, how about just a warm glow from knowing they'd helped two young boys to sit with their family?!
Well, that's the long and short of our problems with Thomas Cook - nothing dreadful, but something that wasn't our fault and should have been avoidable. Thinking back to the £50 we never received, I decided to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard). And this is where I come back to making a reasonable request - what did I actually want? What would be fair? Well, I wanted an apology, because our airport experience had been pretty stressful through no fault of our own, and it hadn't been dealt with very well (cabin crew not included). I wanted them to look at their computer systems - after all, we had had two problems due to their website, and surely we weren't the only ones? And I wanted my £50 - as I had been promised. I didn't ask for £300 or a free holiday to make up for what we'd experienced - after all, it really wasn't that bad and it's important to be realistic (although we'll never know if I'd have got more if I'd asked for it!). I just wanted what I felt we were entitled to. So that's what I asked for. I had to fill in a form on the Thomas Cook website and immediately received a template email letting me know I could expect my problem to be resolved within 28 days.
Several days later, I received an email from someone saying they would be dealing with my case - but first, could I please let them know whether I booked my holiday online or in store. Hmmmm, let me think about this. I went into a store, asked them if I could borrow their computer to book my holiday and didn't think to ask them about the £50 offer that flashed up on the screen. Good to know she'd read my email thoroughly. I replied politely (but still pointed out that it should have been obvious from my original email that I'd booked online). And then I waited. After a month and a half, I emailed again, noting that I could now add 'not dealing with complaints effectively' to my list of grievances - 28 days my foot. Finally, 2 months after her last correspondence, and just as I was considering Facebook or Twitter as a more public way to get a response, I received an email from the same lady. She apologised for taking so long to reply, but she had been waiting on a response from her manager - okay, thanks for the apology, but an interim email to explain might have been nice - 2 months with nothing?! She also apologised for the stress we'd experienced at the airport but pointed out they can't guarantee seats unless we pay to pre-book - okay, thanks for the apology again, but she's kind of missing the point. The seat issue was down to a computer problem and not our failure to pre-book (not to mention, in over 20 years of flying, I've never once paid to pre-book and I've never had a problem). Finally, she was very happy to send me a £50 holiday voucher as a full and final settlement.
Hold on a minute? A £50 voucher? That's not the same as £50 in currency! The voucher assumes that I'm actually going to book a Thomas Cook holiday again; if I don't, I lose my £50 and if I do, Thomas Cook gains the money I wouldn't have otherwise spent. Who's the winner here? And, let's be honest, £50 doesn't go a long way towards the cost of a holiday - given that they regularly offer £100 or even £150 off the price of a holiday if you book on a specific weekend, I didn't exactly feel sufficiently compensated. (I could add here that we've booked to go to the same hotel this October - we've booked directly with the hotel, which entitles us to a taxi transfer to/from the airport, and we've booked flights with BA, saving us approximately £1,000 in comparison to the same holiday with Thomas Cook - but that's another issue...) As a final insult, no voucher was attached to the email and, as over a week has since passed, I assume no voucher was put in the post, either. This was the point last week at which I was going to publicise my Thomas Cook battle, perhaps putting a link to my blog on their Facebook page. Still, in the meantime, I wrote back, explaining exactly why I didn't consider a voucher to be a full and final settlement in any way. And within literally five minutes, I got a grovelling email back, apologising profusely and asking for my details so that they could transfer the £50 to my bank account.
So what's the moral to this? Persistence is key - I suspect they'd hoped I would have simply settled for the voucher I was offered, and lots of people probably would have. Hey, if I'd intended to book a Thomas Cook holiday, I might have settled too. But I think it's important to have realistic and fair expectations, state them clearly and don't accept anything less. £50 isn't a fortune, but it's what I asked for, and I'm happy. Mind you, I'm still waiting for it to go into my account, so there may still be a Part 3 to this story...!
Monday, 26 January 2015
Don't accept anything less - persistence pays off (part 1)
This Blog post was initially going to be entitled 'Why I won't be booking with Thomas Cook again' (I know, snappy, right?). I'm glad to say I've had cause to amend it before I even started writing it, so perhaps instead this post can serve as a case study for similar situations. I should probably start by saying that, believe it or not, I'm not a complainer. If you pop across to Trip Advisor and look at my reviews (vix17 - very original!), you'll see that they're mostly very positive and, I believe, fair. I think to a large extent that life is what you make it, and a positive attitude goes a long way towards making that life a happy one. Is it really worth spoiling a holiday by concentrating on the small patch of damp in the corner of the bathroom? I think not. However, when you genuinely have something to complain about, particularly when that thing should have been avoidable, I think you are well within your rights to expect an apology, a refund or whatever else may fit that particular situation. I don't like it when I perceive things as being unfair - when you don't get what you have been promised, for example, or if people in the same situation are treated differently. These are the sorts of situations where I feel the urge to put pen to paper - and once I get started, I have trouble stopping. But it really is worth doing - I have found that a carefully-worded letter, a reasonable request and the refusal to accept anything less then what you are asking for usually gets the results you're after. Take Thomas Cook, for example...
Back in the olden days, before the internet and before I got travel-savvy, we always booked our holidays through tour operators. We continued to do this when the children were babies - the services of a rep felt reassuring somehow, and it was good to know we weren't on our own if something happened. Our favourite was always Thomas Cook, as they usually worked out cheaper; we were also very pleased with the way in which they handled the ash cloud crisis back in 2010. We were staying in Lanzarote at the time, and ended up stuck there for nearly a week longer. I say 'stuck', but it certainly didn't feel like that - we were able to stay on at our hotel on the same board (AI, thankfully) plus miss a week of work, so we actually enjoyed the whole experience. The rep worked tirelessly, keeping everyone at the hotel up-to-date and dealing professionally with the moaners - we really couldn't fault Thomas Cook at all. In fact, so pleased were we that I sent them a letter of thanks - after all, people are always quick to put pen to paper to complain, and I felt it was important to redress that balance. Over the years, however, as the children increased in age and we increased in confidence in our ability to look after ourselves, we realised just how much cheaper it is to book holidays independently. We booked flights and hotels separately and dispensed with the services of reps and tour operators. However, last year we found ourselves going back to Thomas Cook for a holiday to Tenerife.
I booked the holiday online some time ahead. After confirming the price and inputting my details, I was given two payment options: either pay a small deposit and the rest nearer the time, or pay the balance in full straightaway and receive a bonus £50 in local currency. Now, if you have enough money in your account, this is a no-brainer (as it would also be, to be fair, if you didn't have enough money in your account). Normally, I'd just pay the deposit and leave the rest in my account to gather a teeny bit of interest. However, it would have had to be a bloody amazing holiday to gather enough interest to beat the £50 offer, so I opted to pay in full. I added my card details, went through to the confirmation page and looked to see how to claim my £50. And then I looked a bit harder. No, nothing. No mention whatsoever of my £50. It did, however, say that my travel documents would be emailed to me, so I assumed (optimistically) that my £50 would arrive at the same time. Shortly afterwards, I got a receipt emailed to me with a promise of my e-tickets within 48 hours. But no £50. It'll come with the e-tickets, I thought. Eventually, after about a week, I got another email - another receipt. Er, where were my tickets? And, more importantly, where was my £50?! I went on to the website and found that getting hold of customer services was a lengthy process - I could fill in an essay-length email form or spend a fortune (in time as well as money) on the phone. But then I spotted the chat option. I found myself chatting online to a helpful lady who was able to send me the e-tickets I should have already received. However, she knew nothing about the £50 - she didn't know anything about the offer nor how I could claim it. It seems the chat people are limited in their powers to actually do anything - she suggested I phoned them. 'Is it a freephone number?' I asked. Er, no. Then wouldn't it slightly defeat the object to spend money on a phone call for the sake of claiming money? Her only other suggestion was to call into my nearest branch and see if they could sort it out. I finished the chat feeling somewhat dejected. It wasn't exactly convenient to go into the branch. And I hadn't actually got any proof of the offer - an offer that the chat lady had no idea about. I did still plan to go in and try to claim what was rightfully mine, but I didn't get a chance for a while. And then I forgot. And then, by the time I remembered, I felt that too much time had passed. Yup, Miss Complain-when-something-isn't-fair gave up. But that was just the first part of this story...
Back in the olden days, before the internet and before I got travel-savvy, we always booked our holidays through tour operators. We continued to do this when the children were babies - the services of a rep felt reassuring somehow, and it was good to know we weren't on our own if something happened. Our favourite was always Thomas Cook, as they usually worked out cheaper; we were also very pleased with the way in which they handled the ash cloud crisis back in 2010. We were staying in Lanzarote at the time, and ended up stuck there for nearly a week longer. I say 'stuck', but it certainly didn't feel like that - we were able to stay on at our hotel on the same board (AI, thankfully) plus miss a week of work, so we actually enjoyed the whole experience. The rep worked tirelessly, keeping everyone at the hotel up-to-date and dealing professionally with the moaners - we really couldn't fault Thomas Cook at all. In fact, so pleased were we that I sent them a letter of thanks - after all, people are always quick to put pen to paper to complain, and I felt it was important to redress that balance. Over the years, however, as the children increased in age and we increased in confidence in our ability to look after ourselves, we realised just how much cheaper it is to book holidays independently. We booked flights and hotels separately and dispensed with the services of reps and tour operators. However, last year we found ourselves going back to Thomas Cook for a holiday to Tenerife.
I booked the holiday online some time ahead. After confirming the price and inputting my details, I was given two payment options: either pay a small deposit and the rest nearer the time, or pay the balance in full straightaway and receive a bonus £50 in local currency. Now, if you have enough money in your account, this is a no-brainer (as it would also be, to be fair, if you didn't have enough money in your account). Normally, I'd just pay the deposit and leave the rest in my account to gather a teeny bit of interest. However, it would have had to be a bloody amazing holiday to gather enough interest to beat the £50 offer, so I opted to pay in full. I added my card details, went through to the confirmation page and looked to see how to claim my £50. And then I looked a bit harder. No, nothing. No mention whatsoever of my £50. It did, however, say that my travel documents would be emailed to me, so I assumed (optimistically) that my £50 would arrive at the same time. Shortly afterwards, I got a receipt emailed to me with a promise of my e-tickets within 48 hours. But no £50. It'll come with the e-tickets, I thought. Eventually, after about a week, I got another email - another receipt. Er, where were my tickets? And, more importantly, where was my £50?! I went on to the website and found that getting hold of customer services was a lengthy process - I could fill in an essay-length email form or spend a fortune (in time as well as money) on the phone. But then I spotted the chat option. I found myself chatting online to a helpful lady who was able to send me the e-tickets I should have already received. However, she knew nothing about the £50 - she didn't know anything about the offer nor how I could claim it. It seems the chat people are limited in their powers to actually do anything - she suggested I phoned them. 'Is it a freephone number?' I asked. Er, no. Then wouldn't it slightly defeat the object to spend money on a phone call for the sake of claiming money? Her only other suggestion was to call into my nearest branch and see if they could sort it out. I finished the chat feeling somewhat dejected. It wasn't exactly convenient to go into the branch. And I hadn't actually got any proof of the offer - an offer that the chat lady had no idea about. I did still plan to go in and try to claim what was rightfully mine, but I didn't get a chance for a while. And then I forgot. And then, by the time I remembered, I felt that too much time had passed. Yup, Miss Complain-when-something-isn't-fair gave up. But that was just the first part of this story...
Wednesday, 14 January 2015
Beautiful Bruges - and the Novotel Brugge Centrum
As per my last blog, we had a weekend in Bruges just before Christmas, and I'd recommend it as a mini-break destination, especially at this time of year. It's much closer than you imagine it to be - just over an hour's drive from Calais. And it really is a beautiful destination - amazing architecture, lovely canals, museums and medieval buildings.
We managed to fit in a visit to the Historium, the Salvador Dali exhibition, the chocolate museum and the cathedral, as well as a boat trip on the canals and a large amount of exploring. There's lots more for families to do that we didn't have time to fit in - plus, of course, hundreds of different beers to drink (and don't get me started on the chocolate...).
And while the December weather limits you slightly, it also brings with it Christmas markets, an ice rink in the main square and beautiful Christmas lights and decorations everywhere.
If you fancy trying Bruges and are looking for somewhere to stay (particularly as a family), then I'd definitely recommend the Novotel Brugge Centrum, where we stayed. Here's my cut-and-paste review from Trip Advisor:
We stayed as a family of four in the Novotel for a weekend break in December, and I really can't fault it. Firstly, hotel prices in Bruges are not cheap - and while the prices at this hotel might not be cheap in themselves, they certainly represent good value for Bruges, particularly when booking far enough in advance. The children stayed free in a superior room and had breakfast free if the adults paid for it, which made the hotel particularly good value for families. The location is very good - in the centre of town and an easy walk to the bell tower and the other sights, and probably a ten-minute walk to the train station. If coming by car, it is easy to find and there is an underground public car park right next to the hotel, where parking costs 8 or 9 Euros a day. The room is a reasonable size, and we found the beds perfectly comfortable. The toilet is separate from the bathroom, and there are toiletries, a hairdryer, TV, mini-bar (which just contained water) and a free safe. There is also free Wi-Fi throughout the hotel, which was a bonus. There is a door between the bedroom and the hall area outside the bathroom, which means that parents have somewhere to sit other than the bathroom once the children are in bed! The breakfast offered plenty of choice (hot and continental) and was all very nice. We also ate dinner in the hotel restaurant one evening, and the food was delicious. The staff were really what made the hotel - everyone was very friendly, both at reception and in the restaurant - and made us feel welcome as a family. You can often be made to feel uncomfortable bringing children to a city hotel, but the children were given a gift at check-in and again at dinner, and there was an area for children to play in the reception (and also outdoors, but it was too cold!), with an impressive computer 'table' and an X-Box. We would certainly stay in this hotel again, and would wholeheartedly recommend it to other families looking for a hotel in Bruges.
Here's a video of our room in the Novotel Brugge Centrum. You can visit my YouTube channel (Holiday Obsessive) for more holiday-related videos (with more to be uploaded soon...).
And while the December weather limits you slightly, it also brings with it Christmas markets, an ice rink in the main square and beautiful Christmas lights and decorations everywhere.
If you fancy trying Bruges and are looking for somewhere to stay (particularly as a family), then I'd definitely recommend the Novotel Brugge Centrum, where we stayed. Here's my cut-and-paste review from Trip Advisor:
We stayed as a family of four in the Novotel for a weekend break in December, and I really can't fault it. Firstly, hotel prices in Bruges are not cheap - and while the prices at this hotel might not be cheap in themselves, they certainly represent good value for Bruges, particularly when booking far enough in advance. The children stayed free in a superior room and had breakfast free if the adults paid for it, which made the hotel particularly good value for families. The location is very good - in the centre of town and an easy walk to the bell tower and the other sights, and probably a ten-minute walk to the train station. If coming by car, it is easy to find and there is an underground public car park right next to the hotel, where parking costs 8 or 9 Euros a day. The room is a reasonable size, and we found the beds perfectly comfortable. The toilet is separate from the bathroom, and there are toiletries, a hairdryer, TV, mini-bar (which just contained water) and a free safe. There is also free Wi-Fi throughout the hotel, which was a bonus. There is a door between the bedroom and the hall area outside the bathroom, which means that parents have somewhere to sit other than the bathroom once the children are in bed! The breakfast offered plenty of choice (hot and continental) and was all very nice. We also ate dinner in the hotel restaurant one evening, and the food was delicious. The staff were really what made the hotel - everyone was very friendly, both at reception and in the restaurant - and made us feel welcome as a family. You can often be made to feel uncomfortable bringing children to a city hotel, but the children were given a gift at check-in and again at dinner, and there was an area for children to play in the reception (and also outdoors, but it was too cold!), with an impressive computer 'table' and an X-Box. We would certainly stay in this hotel again, and would wholeheartedly recommend it to other families looking for a hotel in Bruges.
Here's a video of our room in the Novotel Brugge Centrum. You can visit my YouTube channel (Holiday Obsessive) for more holiday-related videos (with more to be uploaded soon...).
Wednesday, 7 January 2015
Location, location, location
I like where I live. For those that don't know me personally, that's in a little village in Kent in the south-east of England. I don't just like the village itself - although I do like it, very much - I like the actual position of the village. I'm surrounded by beautiful countryside, much of it walkable from my front door, yet a main town - well, city, actually - is just a couple of miles away (also walkable if I had to!). If I go north, east or south, I'll reach a coastline - I have the choice of sand or pebbles, plus some beautiful white-chalk cliffs. And if I go west - north-west to be precise - just 60 miles away are all the sights and sounds of London. Okay, so we haven't got moors or mountains, but we have got the best of most worlds. A stroll through fields to a country pub? Check. Day at the beach, building sandcastles? Check. Quick visit to town for some shopping? Check. Bracing cliff-top walk? Check. Castles and cathedrals, museums and monuments, woods and wildlife parks, cinemas and soft-play - most things that you want can be found within a 20-mile radius of where I live. Living close to our capital city also brings a host of benefits - just a relatively short drive or less than an hour on the fast train means that it's easy to pop to London for the day or for the weekend. It's easy for us to see all the tourist sites and then some. It's also easy to see a West End show or a concert at one of the wide variety of venues London has to offer. And have I mentioned the weather? Generally speaking, the south-east is pretty lucky - we're in a little pocket that usually gets ignored when bad weather hits the rest of the UK. Obviously we don't always get off scot-free - we had some 'interesting' flooding last year. But we are usually warmer than a lot of the country - right now, it's a beautiful sunny day, while large amounts of the country are covered in snow.
So how does this relate to holidays? If I like where I live so much, why do I keep escaping it? Well, that's another reason I like it so much. I've already mentioned the ease of a short break in London. It's also simple to get to Sussex, one of my favourite UK counties - lots of beautiful coast and tons to do for children. Admittedly it's not best-located for most of the rest of the UK; to get out of Kent, hitting the M25 is almost unavoidable - and anyone who's been on the M25 knows it's akin to sitting in your driveway with the engine running for an hour. But outside the UK? Well, that's a different story. We have five airports within relatively easy reach. Sadly, none of them are that close (RIP the so-convenient-but-never-quite-took-off Manston Airport), but Gatwick and Stansted are both just over an hour away. We also have Heathrow or Luton not too much further (depending on the state of the M25, of course) or the as-yet-untested-but-may-be-useful-one-day London City. The joy of this is that we can go pretty much anywhere we want without having to worry about connecting flights, and we get far more choice over flight times and prices. Often, one airport works out cheaper than the others or has better flight times, and lots of airlines (budget ones in particular), only fly to/from certain airports or only to limited destinations from some of these airports. Having Heathrow, the country's main airport, nearby is particularly useful for long-haul destinations, as flying from many other UK airports would involve a domestic flight to Heathrow first.
But the real pull of our location is our proximity to France; we're less than half an hour away from Dover, and it's only 20 miles from there to Calais. Admittedly, that's still an hour and a half on the ferry, but that's not so much different to getting the (slow) train to London. It's a much easier way to go abroad than flying - no parking problems, quick check-in, no hanging around, and it's much quicker to get to Dover than Gatwick. The Eurotunnel is even quicker, and the Eurostar quicker still - although the prices increase accordingly. Still, it's pretty amazing to be able to get on a train in Ashford and be in Paris a couple of hours later! But back to the ferries - we're lucky enough to be fairly frequent winners of ferry tickets (and there's another blog story), which means the ferry is usually our transport of choice. And, once in France, the rest of Europe is easily reachable - less than an hour to Belgium, and the Netherlands aren't much further. The ability to pop across to the continent for the day or a weekend is a pretty good one to have. Recently, we realised we had a few ferry vouchers to use up before they expired, so we scheduled in a day-trip to Boulogne, managing a visit to Nausicaa, lunch, a play on the beach and a walk around town, and were still home for dinner. A couple of weeks later we went to Bruges for a lovely Christmassy weekend. I feel so lucky that such trips are relatively easy for us to do. We're also lucky enough to usually have the time over the summer to drive down to Spain, taking our time by stopping frequently throughout France - and Monaco, Andorra, Luxembourg... Of course, you could do it much more quickly if you had less time, and you'd save an absolute fortune on flights.
This summer, we're planning to capitalise on our location and head to France again, probably driving down to Spain and perhaps even visiting Italy. And in the meantime, just a stone's throw away, we have Canterbury - famous for its cathedral; Dover - famous for its castle and white cliffs; Margate - famous for its sandy beaches; Whitstable - famous for its oysters... Living here, I really do feel that the world is my oyster.
So how does this relate to holidays? If I like where I live so much, why do I keep escaping it? Well, that's another reason I like it so much. I've already mentioned the ease of a short break in London. It's also simple to get to Sussex, one of my favourite UK counties - lots of beautiful coast and tons to do for children. Admittedly it's not best-located for most of the rest of the UK; to get out of Kent, hitting the M25 is almost unavoidable - and anyone who's been on the M25 knows it's akin to sitting in your driveway with the engine running for an hour. But outside the UK? Well, that's a different story. We have five airports within relatively easy reach. Sadly, none of them are that close (RIP the so-convenient-but-never-quite-took-off Manston Airport), but Gatwick and Stansted are both just over an hour away. We also have Heathrow or Luton not too much further (depending on the state of the M25, of course) or the as-yet-untested-but-may-be-useful-one-day London City. The joy of this is that we can go pretty much anywhere we want without having to worry about connecting flights, and we get far more choice over flight times and prices. Often, one airport works out cheaper than the others or has better flight times, and lots of airlines (budget ones in particular), only fly to/from certain airports or only to limited destinations from some of these airports. Having Heathrow, the country's main airport, nearby is particularly useful for long-haul destinations, as flying from many other UK airports would involve a domestic flight to Heathrow first.
This summer, we're planning to capitalise on our location and head to France again, probably driving down to Spain and perhaps even visiting Italy. And in the meantime, just a stone's throw away, we have Canterbury - famous for its cathedral; Dover - famous for its castle and white cliffs; Margate - famous for its sandy beaches; Whitstable - famous for its oysters... Living here, I really do feel that the world is my oyster.
Friday, 12 December 2014
Persistence pays off
After our holiday to the lovely Bitacora in Tenerife, we decided we wanted to go back next October. As anyone with children will know - as will teachers - going away in the school holidays costs a fortune. Tour operators hike their prices up to more than double sometimes, and we have long since accepted that our holidays will always cost a bomb compared to those out of school holiday periods. However, airlines and a lot of hotels don't seem to be quite as bad as tour operators, and you can often save a lot of money booking your holiday independently, especially if you do it early. So that was my plan. I waited until the flights for British Airways were displayed for the correct outgoing date (355 days in advance), I winced at the fact that the price was higher than for the week before, and then I waited for the return flights to be displayed. And when I looked back in a week or so, ready to book, I was horrified that the flights were no longer one hundred and something - they were now £228. Each way. Yes, over £450 for a return flight to Tenerife. I hesitated, as you would. I double-checked easyJet but they only displayed flights up until next September, and October flights wouldn't be available until April. The chances are they'd be cheaper, but only if I booked them as soon as they became available - but dare I risk booking the hotel and then not being able to get flights? Or leaving it until April, only to find the hotel was full? Decisions, decisions. I checked Thomson and Thomas Cook - still more expensive than booking independently. I checked Monarch - almost the same ridiculous price as BA but horrible flight times. Reluctantly, I checked Ryanair - outbound flights were available (and very cheap) but returning flights wouldn't be available for months. I almost considered booking one way and crossing fingers I could get return flights later. In the end, I gritted my teeth and decided to book with BA... only to find that the flights had gone up to £323. Yes, each way. Yes, £656 for one return flight to Tenerife. Yes, I could fly to New York or Hong Kong for less. What was going on? I checked again later to make sure I hadn't imagined it. I checked Monarch, and their prices had also gone up - so had the package prices with Thomas Cook and Thomson. Clearly, everyone had decided that Tenerife is the place to be next October, and the airlines and tour operators were responding accordingly. Sadly, we had to decide Tenerife was not the place for us to be after all - no matter how nice the hotel was, we couldn't justify spending that sort of ridiculous money. Maybe we'd try easyJet next year and see what happened.
But the thing is, I don't give up easily. A couple of days later, I checked BA again, just in case - still £323. I checked again a few more days later - still £323. This went on and on - I'm not really sure why I kept trying, because it was clear the price wasn't going to change. But then it did! After over a month of trying, I checked again and the price had gone down to £169! I had to double-check to make sure I hadn't put in the wrong date, but it was real! I didn't know why. I didn't care why. I know for anyone who holidays at other times of year this is still expensive, but after £323, this was cheap!!!I booked the flights there and then.
And the moral? Keep trying. Shop around, keep checking the websites and don't give up. Holiday prices change all the time and sometimes the most unlikely tour operators end up being the cheapest. Cinderella, you WILL go on that holiday!
But the thing is, I don't give up easily. A couple of days later, I checked BA again, just in case - still £323. I checked again a few more days later - still £323. This went on and on - I'm not really sure why I kept trying, because it was clear the price wasn't going to change. But then it did! After over a month of trying, I checked again and the price had gone down to £169! I had to double-check to make sure I hadn't put in the wrong date, but it was real! I didn't know why. I didn't care why. I know for anyone who holidays at other times of year this is still expensive, but after £323, this was cheap!!!I booked the flights there and then.
And the moral? Keep trying. Shop around, keep checking the websites and don't give up. Holiday prices change all the time and sometimes the most unlikely tour operators end up being the cheapest. Cinderella, you WILL go on that holiday!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)