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Post by solaria on Apr 4, 2018 2:15:23 GMT
Got our documents and etickets yesterday. When our TA contacted me to say they were ready, she said they have a cabin bag for us. I assumed it would be a satchel type of bag, but no! It is a hard case with telescopic handle, 4 wheels and a combination lock built in. Also a lovely bright teal colour. We don't want to use it as one of our carryons though as I have a useful briefcase style for documents, camera, money etc and Eddie has a backpack for our jackets and raincoats. If I try to pack light this gift would be a good second booked case and easier to transport when we need to get on trains. The other one I bought last trip is similar style just a bit larger. last time Eddie had to make do with one of our older cases, which he wasn't that happy about. NOW I'll have to check through my proposed packing lists and see what I could/would do without.
She also told us that closer to departure Emerites may offer us an upgrade for a good price. If they do, Eddie said we'd take it! So fingers crossed for us please!
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Post by Oz-T on Apr 5, 2018 7:09:20 GMT
Grrrrrr..... the feeling you get when you have a tour cancelled on you. So as you can imagine, considerable time is now being dedicated to working through a solution with only seven weeks left until departure.
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daphne
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Post by daphne on Apr 5, 2018 9:33:44 GMT
What do you mean ? Whose tour cancelled? When? Why?
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Post by Oz-T on Apr 5, 2018 11:05:39 GMT
Mine. It's been five years since our last Trafalgar tour and we finally resumed guided tours now, booking two of them for June. But the dreaded curse of the non-guaranteed departure has finally been visited upon us. Trafalgar didn't have enough numbers so for purely profit enhancing purposes, they've cancelled one tour and are trying to shove the displaced victims onto adjoining tour dates. That might work for some people, but in their infinite 'wisdom', these Einsteins think that it's a clever thing to overlap our two Trafalgar tours. So we're left with their two options: 1. Cut short our first tour in order to make the start of the second; or 2. See out the first tour and miss the start of the second tour. I expect far better from a tour company like Trafalgar. And there will be repercussions because I have some of my own options.
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daphne
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Post by daphne on Apr 5, 2018 11:19:11 GMT
Noooooooo, this is my worst fear!!!!! I really thought any tours in Europe during June/July (peak season) will never ever be cancelled... what a disappointment.. nooooo, I will really cry myself to sleep!! Ok but there must be an alternative... If you miss the start of the second tour... how many days are we talking about and is there any way that you will be able to catch up... we have had people doing that.... shucks... really hope you can sort this out... I know or everybody knows how much excitement it is before the trip... we are also only 3 months away from our 2 trips... be booked once the 2 were definited departures... (I am too scared to go have a look if there is also a non-guaranteed departure somewhere....)
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Post by Oz-T on Apr 5, 2018 12:12:45 GMT
We've always taken our European holidays in the May-July period when the weather is great. And over many years I've observed Trafalgar's itinerary dates (even for tours we're not interested in) to get a bit of an idea of whether any fail to proceed. As a general rule, tours eventually get guaranteed departures at this time because of the benefits of early or mid summer. It's especially attractive to the Australian, NZ and South African customers as we can escape part of winter and head north - as you'd be well familiar with, Daphne. I can't be certain that there's never a cancellation due to low numbers in past years, but I cannot recall ever seeing it. Accordingly, we thought we were reasonably safe booking the tours and fitting everything around it. Unfortunately, that's not worked well this time, and we only learned of it a mere eight weeks before departure. That may be the way Trafalgar operates, but it's pretty lousy. And you don't really think too much of this sort of thing happening at what should be a busy time for tours, so it can catch customers off guard. In effect, we are paying a very high price for booking tours early. That won't ever happen again. Of course, if everyone took the safe option of waiting until they saw a green-tick guaranteed departure, many tours would not proceed, due to a perceived lack of demand. That's got to be a nightmare for tour companies, but one of their own making. Notwithstanding this, I do enjoy solving problems and thinking up creative alternatives to get decent outcomes. My Plan B is almost in place and I'll share this here later if it comes off ok.
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daphne
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Post by daphne on Apr 5, 2018 12:40:56 GMT
Great stuff, as I could gather from all your previous travels/remarks/experiences..... nothing will keep you from making a plan... yes we very much enjoy travelling in July... to get away from the cold and we always book waaaaay beforehand... most of the time the previous year and even make use of the Gold Seal Protection... our flights also booked waaaay back... if I was in another workrelated setup... I would take a chance and book everything 2 months before departure... I see lots of specials and discounts on trips/flights etc. I unfortunately have to find a replacement at work during the beginning of the year... so no chance a quick holiday! Can't wait to see what you have up your sleeve... happy planning!!!!!
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Post by chech on Apr 19, 2018 18:54:17 GMT
So, any word on Plan B? I had to work around a Plan B for my storm chasing.....but a pleasant plan B. I decided to snag a free seat on a second storm chasing tour but there was ten days between the first one and that one. Not only that, but the first tour ends in Oklahoma City and the second starts in Denver. So, what's a girl to do? For the first time ever, I am renting a car and driving to Denver via the canyonlands of Utah. I go from OKC to Albuquerque to Flagstaff to Page to Monument Valley to Moab (x3 nights) and then Denver. I'll see the South Rim for the first time (on Memorial Day of all days) and antelope canyon in Page. I'll be see Monument Valley, Arches and Canyonlands again but will take the time to see more and this time hike to the iconic Delicate Arch. I'll visit other sites en route like Petrified Forest, the crater in Arizona, Horseshoe Bend, Gooseneck and more. I got a Garmin GPS and have already begun to enter in my travel legs. The first one - OKC to Alburquerque - will be the longest (800km) but the rest are not too bad. And to circumvent the crowds on Memorial Day at the South Rim, I'll drive north from Flagstaff early in the morning and go into the park via the east entrance instead of the south one. Hopefully, people will be finishing up their travelling by then, not flocking to the parks. This is exciting.
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Post by Oz-T on Apr 20, 2018 0:57:25 GMT
Sounds like a great holiday, Chech. We purchased a GPS device for use on our self-drive tour of western Europe in 2014. This had world maps so it was up to date and I was able to play with it locally for several weeks to get familiar with the functions before taking it overseas. Glad I did - otherwise I might still be stuck on a roundabout in Belgium.
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Post by Oz-T on Apr 20, 2018 1:36:32 GMT
Well..... an update on our Plan B. I won't go into all the detail as I will do so much later after we've returned from this trip. But in summary, I gave up on Trafalgar's Best of Turkey - they acted badly in several ways and they will hear about it directly from me at a later time, and after I have gathered some information on their competitors. I had to get this itinerary back on track and as neither Trafalgar or my travel agent were acting in my best interests I seized control and fixed it myself. That meant dumping Trafalgar and switching to another travel company. More on this later, but some 'Einstein' at Trafalgar refused to compensate me for being out of pocket by $500 so the cancellation will now cost them $5,000 which they are refunding to us. We've switched to a travel company called Tempo Holidays and they sell both retail and wholesale tours through subcontractor guided tours. The Turkey tour they offer fits our schedule, it goes to the exact same locations, is one day longer, provides more meals, uses same quality hotels and is cheaper than Trafalgar. And importantly, they have guaranteed departures and small groups. In fact, there were only five people booked on this definite departure before we joined the list two weeks ago. The tour provider has plenty of good recommendations from the public so we're hoping we will enjoy it too. If we find the experience equal or better than the Trafalgar service level, I will be having a lot to say about it. Including to Mr Trafalgar himself. So here's how the itinerary looks now: Turkey (15 days) - the itinerary is the same as Best of Turkey, but with one extra day added. One pre-tour day & night in Athens Trafalgar Best of Greece (8 days) Agean Cruise (3 days) - add on to BofG Just got our visas for Turkey yesterday, and our cases have been partially packed for a few months already (we toss things in as we think of them). And in keeping with past tours, we will again be travelling overseas for one month with only cabin luggage. Heh heh - I like causing others to shake their heads in disbelief. As usual, tour paperwork isn't delivered to the travel agent until about three weeks before the flight. There's a bit more than a month until our departure but you all know how that time seems to suddenly disappear.
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taskaz
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Post by taskaz on Apr 20, 2018 9:36:47 GMT
Glad you were able to work it all out Oz T. And great news that the Plan B is cheaper too. We depart for Europe in 2 and a half weeks and we are lucky that our Trafalgar Tour is a guaranteed departure. We had a bad experience with the TD on our UK Trafalgar Tour in 2014. I believe a few others from this trip complained also. Trafalgar actually organised to phone me from their head office in Geneva and were very good. The TD was called in to discuss the issue in London but quit beforehand. We were offered 10% off a further tour and I negotiated the conditions (this was on top of any other applicable discount). It doesn't sound like much on the surface but we are going on the European Supreme so those vouchers have taken a total of $1900 AUD off our trip which is a hefty discount and combined with price matching the early bird discount which was more than the usual 10% and the past traveler discount we have saved a total of almost $5500 AUD so we are thrilled with that. In saying that, if we had not wanted to go on another trip with Trafalgar the vouchers would have been worthless. The UK tours were only about $1800 AUD or so each so we could look at it as though we got one for free I guess. We are hoping that in choosing Trafalgar again (my third trip with them) we won't be disappointed. We're also very open to other companies but may not get the option again as my mother has cancer with metastasis and that will curtail any future travel once we return from this adventure. Will be very interested in hearing about your adventure Oz T, and particularly the Tempo component. We'll have a quick visit to Turkey to see Ephesus and also a few days in the Greek Islands. Hope the weather is good for us all
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daphne
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Post by daphne on Apr 20, 2018 13:30:08 GMT
Oh great stuff Oz-T!!! You have a wonderful time ahead.... just a shame of all the red tape etc.... glad you could pull off Plan B ... sounds if you could start your own Travel Agency....
Looking forward to your pics and travel tales!!!!
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Post by chech on Apr 20, 2018 15:48:31 GMT
Cooool! TT got me started and now I always hunt all possible avenues for tour possibilities. I haven't done a TT since 2015. I've gone with or investigated tours with Globus, Monograms (semi-independent awesomeness), Eldertreks, Tempest Tours, Adventure Canada, Overseas Adventure Travel, Adventures Abroad, Intrepid and more. Still trying to find someone who goes to Tibet.
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Post by Tulips on Apr 20, 2018 20:55:27 GMT
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Post by chech on Apr 20, 2018 23:15:28 GMT
The Exodus one looks pretty good.
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Post by marielouise on Apr 21, 2018 18:25:13 GMT
Well..... an update on our Plan B. I won't go into all the detail as I will do so much later after we've returned from this trip. But in summary, I gave up on Trafalgar's Best of Turkey - they acted badly in several ways and they will hear about it directly from me at a later time, and after I have gathered some information on their competitors. I had to get this itinerary back on track and as neither Trafalgar or my travel agent were acting in my best interests I seized control and fixed it myself. That meant dumping Trafalgar and switching to another travel company. More on this later, but some 'Einstein' at Trafalgar refused to compensate me for being out of pocket by $500 so the cancellation will now cost them $5,000 which they are refunding to us. We've switched to a travel company called Tempo Holidays and they sell both retail and wholesale tours through subcontractor guided tours. The Turkey tour they offer fits our schedule, it goes to the exact same locations, is one day longer, provides more meals, uses same quality hotels and is cheaper than Trafalgar. And importantly, they have guaranteed departures and small groups. In fact, there were only five people booked on this definite departure before we joined the list two weeks ago. The tour provider has plenty of good recommendations from the public so we're hoping we will enjoy it too. If we find the experience equal or better than the Trafalgar service level, I will be having a lot to say about it. Including to Mr Trafalgar himself. So here's how the itinerary looks now: Turkey (15 days) - the itinerary is the same as Best of Turkey, but with one extra day added. One pre-tour day & night in Athens Trafalgar Best of Greece (8 days) Agean Cruise (3 days) - add on to BofG Just got our visas for Turkey yesterday, and our cases have been partially packed for a few months already (we toss things in as we think of them). And in keeping with past tours, we will again be travelling overseas for one month with only cabin luggage. Heh heh - I like causing others to shake their heads in disbelief. As usual, tour paperwork isn't delivered to the travel agent until about three weeks before the flight. There's a bit more than a month until our departure but you all know how that time seems to suddenly disappear. I hope your tour of Turkey is great, I have been twice on Insight's tour which is 1 day longer than Trafalgar and I felt the extra day was needed. Insight and Trafalgar hires I guess Turkish companies to run their tours. I went in 2007 and with my husband in 2010 and I found that there had been a lot of newly built mosques along the route, which the TD confirmed. Both of the TD's were much more informative than on European tours, there was a lot of interesting history.
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Post by marielouise on Apr 21, 2018 18:32:41 GMT
So, any word on Plan B? I had to work around a Plan B for my storm chasing.....but a pleasant plan B. I decided to snag a free seat on a second storm chasing tour but there was ten days between the first one and that one. Not only that, but the first tour ends in Oklahoma City and the second starts in Denver. So, what's a girl to do? For the first time ever, I am renting a car and driving to Denver via the canyonlands of Utah. I go from OKC to Albuquerque to Flagstaff to Page to Monument Valley to Moab (x3 nights) and then Denver. I'll see the South Rim for the first time (on Memorial Day of all days) and antelope canyon in Page. I'll be see Monument Valley, Arches and Canyonlands again but will take the time to see more and this time hike to the iconic Delicate Arch. I'll visit other sites en route like Petrified Forest, the crater in Arizona, Horseshoe Bend, Gooseneck and more. I got a Garmin GPS and have already begun to enter in my travel legs. The first one - OKC to Alburquerque - will be the longest (800km) but the rest are not too bad. And to circumvent the crowds on Memorial Day at the South Rim, I'll drive north from Flagstaff early in the morning and go into the park via the east entrance instead of the south one. Hopefully, people will be finishing up their travelling by then, not flocking to the parks. This is exciting. I haven't been to that area of the States but my son just came back from visiting a little of that area for a week. They flew to Phoenix, rented a car, then headed north to Grand Canyon and Antelope Canyon. I don't remeber where else they went, they had their 3 year old daughter with them and camped for 3 nights. It was chilly in the mornings and evenings. They had a great time.
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Post by chech on Apr 23, 2018 13:37:42 GMT
Yeah, what a great time to visit. No crowds and no heat. When we were in Bryce Canyon in 2011 in June, it was like 2 degrees in the morning but warmed up quick. That's why I need to do the Delicate Arch hike early in the morning. What did they think of Antelope Canyon? I've booked with a company that has sole access to several canyons, so we do two private canyons and then a photography tour of the main one near noon (when it is apparently a madhouse).
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Post by marielouise on Apr 23, 2018 23:47:03 GMT
He thought it was really interesting and impressive. It was quite crowded, they went to the part where everyone goes.
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Post by solaria on May 5, 2018 1:20:26 GMT
12 days to go!
I tried a trial pack this morning and what I want/need to take does fit in the small case Hello World gave us. Rolling my clothes definitely works! I gave now hung my tops together in the closet so on the morning I can pop them in! I left the pants & shoes I'm taking in the case.
Eddie feels a lot better now with the meds he's taking so he's finally looking forward to it as much as I have been. ๐ค
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Post by solaria on May 15, 2018 21:03:57 GMT
well, we are finally on our last day at home! Got email this morning from our TD for the TT Italy trip - Debra Lane, and apparently there will be 48 of us on the tour! Now we just have to trust that the Weather Gods will be kind to us! ๐
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Post by Oz-T on May 16, 2018 12:23:56 GMT
Wow, 48 is a large tour group size, Solaria. I thought the coaches only took about 45. Sounds like it'll be very interesting.
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Post by Oz-T on May 16, 2018 12:27:53 GMT
Well, I've received all my travel doc's and we depart next week for Turkey and Greece. We have our cases packed already (7kg cabin luggage only) and I purchased our currency today. You all know the feeling when you're counting down those last few days to departure!
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Post by solaria on May 16, 2018 19:20:38 GMT
Wow, 48 is a large tour group size, Solaria. I thought the coaches only took about 45. Sounds like it'll be very interesting. Yes its larger than most we've been on but our British/Ireland tour had 51! so they must build bigger coaches these days! I have packed 'lighter' but cannot get it down to only an onboard case. That bag alone has plenty in it - phone, chargers, power pack, documents, Wallets, medicines, glasses (Eddie's and mine), camera, travel journal and a magazine for the crossword puzzles! No room for clothes in that one! However I have got may clothes -and shoes, into a smaller case than I have taken before. ๐
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Post by Oz-T on May 17, 2018 7:20:17 GMT
We managed to take all that stuff too, Solaria; but still got it to 7kg including case. Here's how we do it:
Each case is ultra-light in the first place, weighing just 0.9kg empty (including wheels and extendable handle). So that's a great starting point. Inside, we have light clothing for the European summer, being five days of clothes. We fold garments flat, but might roll items such as underwear, socks etc so they fill any air gaps in the luggage. That almost fills the cases leaving just enough room for phone charger, electric adapter, camera charger, travel doc's, a small umbrella and a few toiletries. Both cases are just under 7kg and will fit together in the plane's overhead locker. And all liquids/gels are 100ml or less.
But that's not enough. We need to augment this with our personal bag we're allowed to also bring into the plane as long as it can be stowed under the seat in front of us. I'll take a laptop bag that will contain a small laptop computer and I can also smuggle in some other stuff, such as my SLR camera with two (detached) lenses. Mrs Oz will take a shoulder bag full of other bits and pieces. I will carry one book (usually overlooked by airport staff) with the rest of my reading material being pdf versions that I will read on my laptop computer.
Whilst they weigh the main cases at check-in, they don't check the weight of the personal bags or us passengers. So a phone will stay inside my back pocket during check-in. We'll also be wearing our jackets, jeans and heaviest shoes instead of subjecting them to the weight check of the cases. When we're sitting in the departure lounge we are past all the checking procedures so we will swap some items around (e.g. putting the heavier shoes into the case, along with the jackets). The camera equipment will be transferred into the main cases in three parts (body + 2 lenses). This way, we will actually enter the plane with cases weighing a bit over 7kg, but nobody's weighing them at this point.
On-board, we have every one of our possessions available for access. We could even completely change our clothes (although that's never been necessary). The airlines we choose have power supplies at each seat so I can use the laptop computer as long as I like without running the battery down. When we arrive at our destination, we bypass the baggage carousel completely and head straight through Customs. And as the cases never leave us, no airline can lose or damage them in handling.
This definitely isn't for everybody. It requires a lot of planning, and a significant shift in mindset to determine what your really do need for an overseas trip. Hotels have shampoos, soaps and hairdryers so these don't have to be packed. We take nylon waterproof jackets with hoods which protect against rain and also cold winds. On most tour days we wash clothes at the bathroom basin soon after getting to our hotel room so we aren't carrying dirty clothes around. Squeezed tight, then rolled into a hotel towel and squeezed again, there's little moisture left and that dries off overnight if left to hang in the closet. Any traces of moisture next morning are removed with a brief use of the hairdryer. We tend to not buy many items on our holidays, so we can get away with already reaching the space and weight limits. If that ever changed, we would probably buy a very cheap case just for checking in for the trip home.
So it can be done, even though it's usually not a priority for most people. I badly damaged my back once on a trip, and one of several causes was the heavy bags. While it's not the only reason we now choose to travel light, it definitely suits us.
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Post by tassiedevil on May 29, 2018 8:02:23 GMT
You will have left by now Oz, but Iโm glad it has worked out for you.
I used Tempo in 2010 for parts of my trip in Egypt and Jordan. We got them to organise a car and driver as well as an itinerary based on our budget and interests. Havenโt used them for a group tour.
I would love to be able to travel with just cabin luggage, but with the medical supplies I now need to travel with they alone put me over the limit on a long trip.
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Post by Oz-T on Jun 1, 2018 3:54:15 GMT
Well, more than a week into this tour of Turkey and it"s going really well.... ... apart from the entire country being infested with damn cats....
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Post by travelbird on Jun 1, 2018 9:33:21 GMT
Well, more than a week into this tour of Turkey and it"s going really well.... ... apart from the entire country being infested with damn cats....
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Post by travelbird on Jun 1, 2018 9:39:50 GMT
Looking forward to hear about your trip to Turkey. I visited Turkey on a 15 day trip with Insight back in 2007. Sad but I just noticed that Insight is no longer offering the trip that included Antalya. It was only $100 more than the Trafalgar trip and with the limit of 40 persons and the additional day, I thought it was quite a bargain. The only other trips that I opted for Insight over Trafalgar was to Egypt because the trip included Mt. Sinai at the time and a 17 day trip to Spain, Portugal and Morocco. Similar to the Insight trip to Turkey the trip to Spain, Portugal and Morocco was one day longer than the Trafalgar offered trip and the cost was only $100 more after I took into account my discounts.
Insight still offers a Spain, Portugal and Morocco trip but I can't believe how much prices have risen since 2007.
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Post by chech on Jun 1, 2018 20:09:51 GMT
Well, more than a week into this tour of Turkey and it"s going really well.... ... apart from the entire country being infested with damn cats....
SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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