# the travel department



## hopalong (6 Apr 2010)

has anyone used these for escorted tours in europe,have heard they are very good.are all travel costs included?


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## MANTO (6 Apr 2010)

The OH's mother uses them a lot and thinks they are great. She has never had an issues with them.


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## Locke (6 Apr 2010)

I used them for F1. Going again with them in May to Barca GP.

Find them very good, although for Monza a few years back they landed us 3 hours outside hotel so we were on a bus in the italian heat of September for 3 hours!

Make sure you look at where they fly into for things like this.

But I would recommend them, they take the thinking out of the holiday for you.

Example for Barca GP.

Fly to Barca, bus to hotel. Bus to GP and back Sat & Sun. Bus to airport on Monday. All your travel worries taken care of so you can relax.

Depending on holiday you might be able to do it for less. Barca is costing 850 including tax and General Admission ticket for 3 nights.

But some of there trips are great. Doing Garda or Como with them in September. I never had a problem with them.


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## Graham_07 (6 Apr 2010)

Went with them to Italy few yrs ago. Did Rome, Pompeii, Capri etc. was a good trip but quite tiring. Something on each day and some early starts and long bus trips. However saw a lot which might not have manged in the time otherwise. Hotel was good, food fine ( as long as you liked pasta! ) and everything ran well on time. All transfers and guides were included and entry to different places. Would have no problem going with them again.


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## Grizzly (6 Apr 2010)

In the early days before our DIY holidays we used them. We have had mixed trips. Some dreadful. The USA one to New England was the worst holiday we ever had. Their Lake Garda one was good as was one based in Cannes.  We have found that we can do almost identical holiday ourselves for half the cost and we don't have to stay in out of the way hotels. We can also control our own timetable and not be herded like cattle.


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## shesells (7 Apr 2010)

Try a search on here, there was a long thread a while back.


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## battyee (7 Apr 2010)

Would agree with everything Grizzly says. We used them several times & found they "did what it said on the tin" but we were put into hotels that were sometimes out of town & a bit run down particularly in Riva del Garda & Tuscany (Cinciamo Therme). We prefer not to be herded out of the hotel at 8 a.m. & found it better & cheaper to organise our own itinerary.That way we don't have to sit on a bus for 30 mins. waiting for stragglers to come back. Credit where due however so I must say that the local guides were helpful & knowledgeable.


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## redchariot (7 Apr 2010)

I had a look at some of their trips in the RTE Guide and they do seem decent alright albeit a bit on the expensive side.

It would be grand for somewhere like Cuba which would be harder to organise your own way (although I did manage this feat myself with a lot of hassle) but for a trip to the USA, you would be better just booking your own flights, accommodation, car hire etc; it would work out much cheaper especially if there was three of you together.


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## johnd (8 Apr 2010)

hopalong said:


> has anyone used these for escorted tours in europe,have heard they are very good.are all travel costs included?




We have used them several times and found them very good. Not everyone likes driving abroad or organising trips so for these people they are great. We also found quite a few single people on all the trips we made who otherwise would not have travelled alone. You don't have to go on any of the day trips if you don't want to just let the guide know in advance. Its no problem.


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## BOXtheFOX (8 Apr 2010)

johnd said:


> We have used them several times and found them very good.


 
I found that a complaint that I made to them wasn't dealt with at all. I got a standard reply to my written complaint and my follow up letter was completly ignored.
Over a period of a few trips with them the negatives outweighed the positives so I stopped doing business with them.
A certain type of person likes what they offer, I found that practically all of the tours were outsourced to the local on the ground operator with no Travel Department employee ever accompanying us on the trip.


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## hopalong (1 May 2010)

ive just booked with them and am having some problems with e mail replies.they are telling me there must be a problem with my e mail,(which is not the case)and after several calls and mails they eventually sent me the booking info.lets hope things will improve.


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## WaterWater (2 May 2010)

They used to have their office in Ranelagh but moved to the Westland Row area. They never sealed up their letter box. I remember paying a booking deposit on a holiday with them and dropped in the balance one evening to their now defunct letterbox. They never contacted me to let me know that they had moved office. It was only some time later when I contacted them about tickets etc that they said they had not received the balance. Apparently my cheque was still sitting uncollected in their old letterbox.


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## sue_flaherty (2 May 2010)

I went on a few trips with them and so far had no problems - am heading off next week with them to Jordan and Israel.  I go on these trips solo so like organised trips rather then travelling complely alone.   I used to go on ones with Slatterys before but they closed last year so will probably use travel department more often now.  Know there are lots of english companies doing the same type of thing but to like to to travel with irish companies


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## hopalong (7 Jun 2010)

back from lake garda with the travel dept.lovely place,good tours,but bad food in hotel,


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## Tintagel (7 Jun 2010)

Was it the hotel Liberty by any chance?  Stayed there with the Travel Department. Food looked like it had just come from a packet and heated up. Also forced to share a table with someone who sat back and picked his teeth and blew his nose after every meal. Some nice tours around the lake but I reckon I could do it for half the cost that we were charged.


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## hopalong (22 Jun 2010)

no,not the liberty,but the gardesana.the ants were in the liberty according to fellow travallers.but the food was not good.i mailed the travel dept on return,and they said they had good deals with the hotel,and were using them for many years.


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## kbie (23 Jun 2010)

hopalong said:


> no,not the liberty,but the gardesana.the ants were in the liberty according to fellow travallers.but the food was not good i mailed the travel dept on return,and they said they had good deals with the hotel,and were using them for many years.


 
Stayed in the Liberty Hotel, Lake Garda twice and both times disappointed with the rooms. Food was just Ok but would not share table as requested with other couple. Also were on 3 day trip to Paris with Travel Department and could not get it cheaper than was charged by TD.


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## Slim (23 Jun 2010)

kbie said:


> Food was just Ok but would not share table as requested with other couple.


 
What was wrong with the other couple? Slim


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## PaddyBloggit (23 Jun 2010)

Perhaps they wanted a bit of 'quiet time' to themselves rather than have to chit chat with strangers.


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## Bue5Off (23 Jun 2010)

Some of my family went on trips with them. New England, Lake Garda and the Lake District to mention but a few and they found them great. No problems at all. As it is an escorted tour you are obviously going to be herded to an extent. What would you expect on an "escorted" tour? I would say you could organise things cheaper yourself but then your holiday would not be "escorted"!


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## kbie (26 Jun 2010)

Slim said:


> What was wrong with the other couple? Slim


 
Possibly nothing, but this was your table and your company at meals for the week. I would rather be independent and pick my own company if I needed any.


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## BOXtheFOX (29 Jun 2010)

kbie said:


> Possibly nothing, but this was your table and your company at meals for the week. I would rather be independent and pick my own company if I needed any.


This is the problem. You have paid full price for your tour but you are not treated as independent travellers. You have to share a table and be stuck with these people for a week. People should be allowed choose their own company.


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