Arillas Forum

Dimitris,
This is excellent news hopefully their fares will be reasonable and then we can keep coming 12months a year.
Hope you and your family are all well.

Lynette

I am hoping that the service proves itself so popular and is so well used that GB Airways will consider extending the flying schedule right through the winter months.  Who knows perhaps in future they may even extend the service to regional U.K airports.

I emailed GB airways on both counts last week, but as yet have not received a reply. :-(

Quote from: dimitris on October 09, 2006, 03:50:16 PM
I think before you book you holiday for next year it is worthy taking a look at http://www.gbairways.com/where-we-fly/schedules GB airways website and maybe it is time that you booked your own Holiday and let the local people to arrange your transfer, welcome you with a smile and enjoy a lot more comforts and benefits of the independent traveler.

Ill be back with more news as soon as I have,
Best regards,

Dimitris

Here, here, well said Dimitris, let the locals take charge of their own holiday market instead of the big Tour Operators!

Eileenx

Eileen,

Great minds think a like about the 12months a year!

Lynette
ps let us know when you get a reply

Ive had a quick squiz at the site, for 2 people flying 21st May next year for a week its £251 including all taxes etc, is this good or bad??

I just typed in that date cos thats when im going.

Bearing in mind we booked with Corfuescape, flights, accomadation and transfers was £189 each so £378 altogether for the 2 of us.

I'll let you know if I hear anything Lynette.  They have not even acknowledged my query yet, in fact I think I will email them again right now just to remind them.

Eileen

Smiffy,

I have now just looked at Thomson flights from Stansted same time as you did they are 408.00 for two for a week (flights only) so yours is good. Stansted and Thomsons always expensive I no but I only live ten mins away from airport!

Lynette

Hi Lynette,

I used to only live 10 mins from Stansted up until 6 months ago, whereabouts are you??

So do you think £251 is good??  It just seems alot for just a flight for 2 when i got everything for 2 for £378 with Corfuescape.

Smiffy,

Live Braintree side of Great Dunmow, spooky that when I see your profile I wondered if we lived near each other. It is handy being near stansted but Thomsons are so over priced its unreal in August we paid 360.00 each for flight only I flew to Dubai in January with United Emirates for that! the only good thing is living near Stansted you don't get stressed with traffic jams so suppose you have to pay the price. I am now waying it up if its better to go from gatwick as its so much cheaper!

Ps where are you living now
Lynette

Yeah i know, i used to live in Bishops Stortford for 10 years, now in Romford, places you go for love ay haha!!!  My Grandad is in Felsted and my aunt and uncle are on Hatfield Heath so im always up there now and again, i do miss it if im honest!

The flights from Gatwick are so much cheaper, it is then a case of weighing it all up, because of the cost youd spend getting to gatwick and back you could probably go from Stansted, but i agree with you that they are more expensive from Stansted.

Whats the picture of on your profile??

Smiffy,
When you go to Felsted stop at the Carpet Shop in the High Street at Gt Dunmow, I am the manager there.
The picture is of a place called 'Heaven' - only joking its a Bedouin Tent (thats what they call em but not really a tent as you and I no one) in the middle of the Desert in Dubai, we went there in January for my Special Birthday it was the only place I have ever been where the brochure pics are exactly the same as the place, its called the Al Maha Desert and Resort Spa and if you go on the web site you will see the same picture only minus a male lying on the sun bed with a cushion on his head don't like his picture being taken

Might think about Gatwick if I get a mate to take us

Lynette

I certainly will do the next time im up that way, be good to meet!

Are you booked for next year yet??

How lovely being in the Dubai desert, id love to go there too, so many places to go in this world!!

the site redirects you to british airways,they don't fly to corfu yet according to their destination guide,i tried and got kapodistras or summit like that when i inputted corfu,anyway flying from gatwick would either involve a flight from newcastle or an overnight stay for me,here's hoping queasy jet or ryanair will take up these routes sometime in the future,unless corfu escape can add newcastle to their routes,meanwhile it's either excel or tom cook for me :(

Quote from: burger on October 10, 2006, 03:52:28 AM
the site redirects you to british airways,they don't fly to corfu yet according to their destination guide,i tried and got kapodistras or summit like that when i inputted corfu,

Hello Burger,
I have checked the redirection and now I changed the link of 
GB airways website (http://www.gbairways.com/news-and-offers/latest-news/news-archive/index.php?newsID=598&b=617/),
It shows you now the official announcement for the new flights.!
OH!! Kapodistrias IS the official name of Corfu Airport so do not be confused if you see it anywhere listed.

Kalimera,

Dimitris

Quote from: dimitris on October 10, 2006, 09:53:55 AM
OH!! Kapodistrias IS the official name of Corfu Airport so do not be confused if you see it anywhere listed.

Interesting. That's the surname of the Greek family we know living in Corfu town. Or is it a common surname ?

I saw some flights for May 07 leaving from Newcastle before we went to Arillas a couple of weeks ago, for me Mick and Calum it came to £330.  I've now returned home and thought right book up and yes you guessed it flights have gone up by over £100.  Back to the drawing board, might have to wait for a last minute bargain.

Jill

Mick & Gill   or a diff place. Happy hols.

Hi all,
long time since I've been on!!!   seasons greetings to everyone.
had to reply to this topic as its a start in having direct flights etc, and I happened to see
in the paper an advert from ba.com for world offers and one was for Corfu and the price
advertised was 'from £60' I say from!!!!!!!! the only downside its from 'Gatwick'.
I will check it out later, as for the last three visits to Corfu we have found our own flights
and local accomadation, rather than give tour operators money.
speak soon.

      Paul /Deb5 

I have noticed that most tour ops are listing flights from £55.00 one way on the initial web page,but then they add taxes & so on which is more that the flight itself.
we have just booked flight only from Mancester in May   Cost £159 return per person ...no meals no prebooked seats & no transfer to resort.We could have booked 2 weeks in Hotel in Arillas for another £45.00...(same company same flight!) this obviousley reflects the stingy payments the ops are passing on to ther hotel owners.
Seems rediculouse when there is now going to be flight from manchester to kuala lumpa for £49.00....some one somewhere is taking the mick!!!!!
As they say ther are winners/losers and then there are the  Travel companies!!!!
Roll on easy jet.........................

We booked with GB Airlines for the last 2 weeks of May. £180 pounds ish each.

They did however change the flight times the day after.

I guess they will settle in to it.

Does anybody know of a £15 promo code for XL at the moment. I cant seem to find more than £5. (Telegraph)

  If you quote 'tesco' you might get £10.00 discount. I checked last
  night and it worked. Don't know any others, sorry. A tenners better
  than a fiver off tho!!!!

Not wishing to cause any issues or start any arguments here (I'm on your side) but I have noticed a lot of bad feelings towards the big Tour Operators. I only work with the guys who fly the plane but this does get me involved with other aspects of the business so I do from time to time get to see the inner workings and the people do work hard to give everyone a really good end product.

A lot of the visitors to this forum (including myself) are seasoned travellers and confident about going abroad, thus we prefer to make our own travel arrangements and rightly so. There are a considerably larger group of people though who are less confident and have very little understanding of what is involved. To these passengers they expect to pay the money and have everything done for them and this is where the big four tour operators come in (well perhaps soon to be 3 but I didn't just say that). These people do not have the time or simply don't want to go through all the effort of booking the components separately or independently. To be honest when I visit my Mum in summer I will book through Thomas Cook, as it is often the cheapest and safest option. I am guaranteed to get to Corfu and back whatever happens, my transfers are included and I have the services of a Rep if something goes wrong. I also know if something goes wrong with the holiday or flights I will be looked after until I get home. The last thing in the world I would want to happen is to be left to struggle to get home by myself in a foreign country, just read the papers it does unfortunately happen.

I know things go wrong (I see the complaints), in what business do they not and ours is especially volatile but some of my best friends here are employed to make things better and improve things. Companies such as ours often seem like big faceless entities (a name I was called recently) just trying to suck in people's money. Yes we are a business and there are tight margins to meet but this is not at people's expense.

Getting back on track seeing I was drifting off topic there I really believe for what is provided to the average holidaymaker in taking a package holiday the price is very reasonable, margins are so tight these days that holidays are even being sold at a loss, I can see on the computers plenty of holidays to Corfu for a week under £200, flights, meals, taxes and transfers included for less than the price of an Ipod, if someone is making serious profit out of all this its not the big travel companies. Perhaps the local hoteliers could make more money selling the rooms independently but the tour operators guarantee to fill the rooms all summer so if the room sits empty they will still get a set rate for it, in this way income is assured and all the advertising is done for them.

Just to reiterate I'm not getting at any one post I'm just playing Devils Advocate as I do see what happens on the other side. I am under no illusions the big companies always get it right but I do believe they supply a good and needed product.

Hoping I've not upset anyone and seeing this thread is called "cheap flights" and not "Joe goes off on one" if anybody has dates they want me to check, much like last year the offers still open and if I have time I will run the numbers and see if I can find you any good flight deals.

Happy holidays
Joe

Thanks Maggie!

Any advance on £10? There is usually a £15 floating around somewhere.

As a party of 6 it pays for my Prawn Saginaki habit!

Regards

A great post Joe and I have to tell you that I LOVE Thomas Cook and we have absolutely no gripes about them.  It was TC who introduced us to Arillas when we couldn't find a holiday in Greece with anyone else!!  It was all down to their link with HSBC.

We have had many holidays with them which we have loved.  With regard to TC flights to Corfu, I found a return flight last year for £45, with no extra charges.  I just couldn't believe it but sadly couldn't take advantage of it due to work and having no holiday allowance left!!  Not long to retirement when I shall snap up all the bargains!!  It costs me that much in petrol to visit my daughter near Bristol.

However, I think TC have three properties in Arillas and there are so many more offering equivalent standards of hospitality and, dare I say it, some offering higher standards.  When you find somewhere that you love and it is not with a tour operator what do you do?  There is no choice, but to book your own flights - which airline you choose usually comes down to whichever one is offering the best price - and your selected accommodation.  Sure, the security of a big tour operator is great, but I know that the owners of Arillas accommodation are also there to help whenever they can and, linked with good insurance, lets hope that those of us who now choose to "go it alone" never come "unstuck"!!

By not choosing to use a big tour company, I am probably paying more than I would for a package holiday.  I would certainly recommend TC to anyone and indeed have already introduced quite a few people to Arillas via TC.

Fiona

Thanks Fiona, perhaps we should offer you a job :-)

Hi Joe

Yes, that would be an excellent plan!!  I'd be happy to fly the flag for TC.  Often fancied being a rep, but think I'm too old for it now - I know they work really, really hard.  However, when I'm in Arillas for six months of the year I might be looking for something part-time!!

Fiona

Agreed ,,we have flew last 3 yrs with TC and apart from the coach tx problems a couple of years ago (which now seems to have been reslolved) they are now on my favourites list.

Quote from: Fiona on January 08, 2007, 08:30:25 PM
Hi Joe

Yes, that would be an excellent plan!!  I'd be happy to fly the flag for TC.  Often fancied being a rep, but think I'm too old for it now - I know they work really, really hard.  However, when I'm in Arillas for six months of the year I might be looking for something part-time!!

Fiona

You can actually get cash in hand from some of the smaller independent travel companies by going on the minibus to meet the arriving passengers and bringing them back, it helps out as the usually they only have small numbers of Reps on the island. All you need is a friendly smile and a good knowledge of Arillas, I'm sure you'd get that job :-)

I've just been looking through our summer flying program and we have reduced our flights to Corfu from Manchester, we used to have one on a Monday morning, a very late Monday and a late Friday becoming two flights in the middle of summer. The early Monday flight is no more, it left Manchester at 9am and so was fantastically timed, we now have no early flights from Manchester to Corfu, this scuppers my weekend plans to see my Mum as I have to take two days off now. I don't believe taking this flight out reflects the popularity of travel to Corfu as we have bought some seats on the Monday morning Monarch flight, it seems to be because we now longer have the aircraft that used to operate this route. It's a shame though, I liked that flight.

Joe
Gizza Job Eh!! - I think I may have to talk to you about that sometime as well.
Look out Fiona - You may have competition.
( Excellent Xmas Pics and Mon Amour posting by the way - Thanks for taking the time to share )
Negg

I enjoyed writing about it, it reminded me how much of a good time it was. I just hope it encourages more people to take the risk and travel out there in Winter even if only for a few days.

No problem Negg, perhaps we could set up a little business!! Anything cash in hand sounds a good plan!
By the time I get there (2009) you'll probably have got it all sorted so I'll be coming to see you!!

Fiona

I'm planning on booking flights from Belfast to Corfu on xl.com and was just wondering if I used the 'Tesco' promotion code, do I have to show anything at the airport like a tesco receipt or something like that because I used the code. What I mean is that, is it part of a promotion whereby you need to do something or spend so much in store to qualify to use the promotional code.  Just don't want to arrive at the airport and not be allowed to fly because I shouldn't have used it.

Hi Jenna,

I have used the Tesco code for many trips over to Corfu the last couple of years with no problem.  I've also used the code Telegraph, it was giving quite a good deal last year, but I'm not sure that this code is better than Tescos for this year. It's worthwhile giving it a try, but irrespective of which code used you will be able to board your flight. :-)

This year I have exchanged my Tesco 'points' for XL vouchers.  Every £2.50 in Tesco points can be exchanged for £10 XL vouchers, that gives me a whopping £250 off my flights.  Mind you that is 2 years worth of Tesco points!

Eileenx

I think the 'TESCO' Code is dead ie. Promotion code is oversubscribed

:(

Used it about a week ago, THAT WAS LUCKY ;)

Compared to the last few years there is much reduced capacity to Corfu this summer, Tour Operator cost cutting I'm afraid. Unfortunately less flights means higher demand and inflated prices, I have had a quick look and this does seem to be the trend. The best prices at the moment are GB/BA flights from LGW that Dimitris (congratulations by the way) mentioned in his post, whether these are the standard or introductory fares I have no idea but for a direct scheduled they are pretty good.

Has anyone seen the news about My Travel this morning?

Oh Jenna it looks like you will have to use the Telegraph code for a teeny weeny discount :-(

Well done Justlookin for getting in their at the last minute! :-)

Yes Joe I read on Teletext this morning about the Thomas Cook/My Travel merger.  Fingers crossed your job is safe as the news on tv is reporting that there could be redundancies...which of course  the newly merged company 'Thomas Cook Group' will vehemently deny. (for the moment anyway but just how are they going to make £75m savingss.)

Eileenx

There is a lot of overlap between the companies, High Street shops for example. It is a worrying time for some but due to the nature of the business it was a necessary step. I work for the airline and my role has its own niche so its doubtful there will be any duplication here. on the plus side we will inherit all of Airtours properties, do they have any in Arillas?

Quote from: Joe on February 12, 2007, 03:29:07 PM
. I work for the airline and my role has its own niche so its doubtful there will be any duplication here. on the plus side we will inherit all of Airtours properties, do they have any in Arillas?

Thats good news Joe, I'm glad to hear that your job should be safe...just what would we do without all your 'inside' information!

I'm not 100% sure but are Airtours properties not mainly based on the East Coast?

I have no idea but I'm sure they must have a presence, perhaps in Sidari, I'll have a look. By the way a this merger will also push prices of flights up, wow I'm full of good news today.

Quote from: Joe on February 12, 2007, 03:52:06 PM
By the way a this merger will also push prices of flights up, wow I'm full of good news today.

Well theres a surprise!  Sorry Joe I don't mean to be facetious but I suppose it was to be expected! 

Right now Joe listen here..I think it's about time you gave us some good news...even although you've got to make it up! :-)

Airtours seem to have a big selection of properties in Roda & Gouvia

The good news is that I have no more bad news........yet!

Mmmm the 'yet' just seemed to spoil that sentence slightly haha :-D !!

Now thats strange.....the Tesco promo code is working again tonight.

Here is another code in case it's not working again...'mod'

Eileenx

Well Im not getting much luck with finding flights for june they have gone up a bit, best I can get is £360 for 2 from birmingham, I should have booked them last year but wasnt sure if we could make june then, I am going to book something this week all promos codes etc welcome we will fly from either b'ingham,bristol or cardiff at a real push heathrow
Ang

It's not looking good for cheap flights to Corfu this year, everybody has pulled flights or downsized aircraft as there were quite a few empty seats last year, shame! From what I can see £150 return is shaping up to a very good deal (compared to last years, £70), I can even see a lot of £200+ fares, there doesn't seem to be any lates at all in May, hanging on till the last minute may not work this year as demand is going to be constantly high, thanks goodness I can use the spare seat in the front, great legroom and a lovely view :-)

I know I have said this before but the BA charter from LGW is a good option (cheap, good legroom, free food & drink) and very reachable from most regional airports.

Hello Joe
I'm used to paying about £220 return flight only, around June, so London/Gatwick looks a good alternative. How much of a bashing do you think Tour Operators would take, on Package Deals , if the likes of Easyjet get into the action? Would more people go for finding their own accomadation or prefer to have all their I's dotted and T's crossed.
Telli

  In case anyone needs it, the tesco code still gets you £20
  off on the xl website.It's handy to try if like me you live at
  totally the wrong end of the country to get to London cheap!!

Hey Telli,

One unfortunate problem with Corfu Airport is that is very unlikely to attract any of the British based low cost carriers, Jet 2, Easyjet, Ryanair, etc. As we all know these airlines make their money by being on the ground for as short time as possible and avoiding having any form of overseas representation, this as a business model works very well in most cases and I appreciate the service they provide and accept it for what it is. However Corfu Airport has its far share of problems, its either busy (very busy) or very quiet so meaning resources are over worked or not available, its also in a terrible position, pilots have to be specially rated to fly in, only captains can take off easterly as there is a massive mountain with a big radio antenna right where the emergency turn should be, it is a haven for birds and is constantly effected by environmental factors. Don't get me wrong, it's perfectly safe (many airports have similar issues) but it takes extra effort and training (therefore money) to get in there. All his coupled with just one runway and no taxiway, the planes turn round at the bottom and come back up the runway means there is no provision for any difficulties, compounded by the problems suffered last year with the actual runway surface.

A charter or scheduled airline with +1hr turnaround and overseas staff can absorb these potential problems and budget carrier with 20 minutes ground time simply cannot. Think how many times at Corfu airport you have seen the delay signs, problems like this will quickly make a route unprofitable for these companies who can be making as little as 5p per seat. Until the infrastructure improves at the airport I can't see how low-cost airlines can operate and make a profit, this is exactly why BA are trialling the route.

I'm sure one of you clever forumites (good word) will point out that Aegean are a low cost carrier and they operate into Corfu which is very true, however Corfu is a hub of theirs so they do have staff working there and if a problem occurs they are less than 1 hour from Athens their main base, not 3+. It's exactly the same reason you don't see Aegean aircraft in our airspace.

Wow, I've put some information in the post that perhaps I shouldn't, oh well its to late now, just wanted to give a good idea of why Corfu does seem more expensive to fly to even though it is one of the least profitable routes for us, unfortunately its not another case of being ripped off. Its also totally safe to land into, hope I've not worried anyone. One last little point the landing taxes are also high into Corfu so you'll probably notice that when booking flights the price tends to go up drastically when all the extras are added in....................oh well, its worth it when you get there :-)

Hi Joe

Thanks for that very informative post.  I had heard that Pilots had to be specially trained to use Corfu Airport, and I must say I have never felt more scared than I usually do.  My husband says he had heard that the Cyprus airline
were going to drop off Corfu passengers on their way to Cyprus. ( not literally).  Have you heard of this?

I sometimes wonder why travel companies don't do more packages with terrestrial travel, or a bit of both.  I know most holiday makers want to get there quickly, but I know I wouldn't mind and extra half day or so to get a good package to somewhere wonderful.  Then there are those who wouldn't set foot in a plane if you paid them, look what they are missing out on.  I remember Cosmos, many years ago did a lot of non flying packages, We went to Spain by ferry coach and train and really enjoyed the journey, we didn't have to handle our luggage either.  We handed it over at the port and didn't see it again till we arrived at our hotel. it was cheaper than air travel too then.

Thats progress though.  The only non flying holidays cost a fortune with very 'Highfalutin' (?) companies, and even some of them fly you to the continent.

What about cheap air  packages to a port with a ferry place at the end.  I'd be up for it even if it was only out of season.

Thanks anyway Joe

Marie

Hi Marie,

I forgot all about the once upon a time 'non-flying' packages!

I think you are right about an alternative means of getting to Corfu, I am quite sure there are a few people of there who would like to take a more leisurely trip to Corfu or wherever without the hassle of driving themselves.

Of course it is always possible to do the journey by train, but then for anyone who is not too hot with a computer it could take ages to put the itinery together.

There are cheap flights available to Venice/Ancona/Bari or Brinidisi which all have ferry terminals with crossings to Corfu. Ferry timetables can be found here;
http://www.paleologos.gr or http://www.viamare.com/

Last September we flew cheaps as chips to Rome with Easyjet, spent a few days sightseeing and then caught a train to Bari for the ferry crossing to Corfu. The cost in total was certainly not any less expensive than a return flight to Corfu, but we wanted to do something different!

The subject of UK to Corfu without flying came up on another forum recently...
http://www.agni.gr/message_boards/display_topic_threads.asp?ForumID=2&TopicID=24053&PagePosition=0

Eileenx

"

Quote from: Joe on February 28, 2007, 11:26:20 AMWow, I've put some information in the post that perhaps I shouldn't.

Dont worry Joe about the slip up, I wouldnt know which bit was supposed to be there or not.

When we first went to Corfu two years ago we had read and seen a photo of the airport so we were prepared for a hair raising landing.  It wasnt too bad, I thought the pilot wants to land safely too and get home so he will be "very careful".
I mentioned before in another posting that our first flight to Corfu was a nightmare.  It took over 5 hours, we were circling for ages, nearly out of fuel, 1/2 hr dash to Brindisi for refuelling where it was raining, so I thought it would be raining in Corfu, not a good start!
Then back to Corfu another circle and landed.  Took ages then we had the fun part of finding our cases at the airport. But at least I thought we might think about a flight to Brindisi with Ryanair and then a ferry to Corfu.  Would never have known that otherwise.

Another scary landing strip is Zante.... they have to land between two mountains and the turn is like a white knuckle ride... I swear I could see people waving to me on their boats it was so close to the sea.

Quote from: mumsy2 on February 28, 2007, 01:06:19 PM
Hi Joe

Thanks for that very informative post.  I had heard that Pilots had to be specially trained to use Corfu Airport, and I must say I have never felt more scared than I usually do.  My husband says he had heard that the Cyprus airline
were going to drop off Corfu passengers on their way to Cyprus. ( not literally).  Have you heard of this?

It's not uncommon for aircraft to double drop, we do it ourselves at the start and end of the season as the first flight out in May will return empty, no passengers to bring back, seat only for that flight is £0.00 plus taxes at the moment so a bargain if anyone needs to come home, you'll be the only passenger though, how surreal :-) One of our double drops is MAN-CFU-AYT(Antalya)-MAN, it only operates a few times a year thankfully. As you can imagine flights like this aren't popular by the crew or passengers and they are more expensive with the increased fuel use during the extra take-off and landing fees for two airports. There will be the odd occasion when it makes good commercial sense to do this, our Cuba flight makes two stops but its 10 hours away, otherwise aircraft will rarely operate a double drop or 'W' pattern (for those who like to know) flight. Also a flight operating MAN-CFU-AYT-MAN is still classed as direct even though you travel to another airport, it's only classed as indirect when you physically deplane, this tends to create a lot of animosity on W-Pattern routes as the passengers are expecting a direct flight which may be true by the letter of the law, however very misleading.

If you fancy a scary landing try Innsbruck or Funchal. Innsbruck is in a valley with mountains on all side, the aircraft has to literally drop power and fall, when you land you can see people above you looking down from the hillside homes, the pilots use a church steeple as a visual waypoint when doing the landing turn, that shows close to the ground you are,cool, whereas Funchal (Maderia) is on the edge of a very steep cliff which the pilots aim for only pulling up at the last minute to avoid wind shear, its living flying onto a brick wall and during taxi it is possible for the front of the aircraft to be stuck out over the edge as the wheels are behind them, also very cool. Compare this to Manchester where the aircraft will land itself and taxi onto stand without any human intervention. I love flying. :-)

Quote from: Joe on February 28, 2007, 02:59:15 PM

.....If you fancy a scary landing try Innsbruck or Funchal.

I can well and truly say thats Innsbruck and Funchal well scored of my places to visit list!    NO WAY HOSEY!!


Eileenxx

Corfu is quite similar to Innsbruck apart from having mountains on 2 sides compared to all 4, still one of the most impressive visual landings I have seen.

Thanx for all that info Joe, now i understand a few things better.

Im like you Eileen, you wont catch me making a flight to either of them!!  I absolutely love flying, love everything about it, but that didnt sound pleasnt to experience!

To feel as if you are falling out of the sky like that must feel horrible even if it was intended..

I love flying too!  I have never done a long haul flight though.  We have friends emigrating to Australia July 3rd this year, while we are in Arillas, which I am very sad about but we are thinking of visiting next year, if we do we wont be able to get to Arillas as well.  Its a long flight which I dont think I would like much, I get cabin fever after 4 hours tops.  Might have to have sleeping tablets to sleep all the way, but cant go for years without seeing them and the children (our "adopted grandchildren") grow up.

  That was very interesting joe. I must say tho, whilst it's nice to think
   a bargain may be had, I never think that flights to corfu are very cheap
   and now I know why. I am always happy if I can fly out for less than
   £200 and fully expect to pay more. I don't ever really expect a low
   price airline to do flights there, and I don't mind cos that means it wont
   become overcrowded. (selfish person that i am)!!!!!!lol.

   P.S. I don't care how much i have to pay to get there, it will always
   be my favourite place!!!!

Quote from: Maggie on February 28, 2007, 11:06:17 PM

   P.S. I don't care how much i have to pay to get there, it will always
   be my favourite place!!!!

Eileenxx

Tidying up my Bookmarks folder this morning I came across the following website for travelling by train between London and Corfu as well as other European destinations.

http://www.seat61.com/Greece.htm

Eileenxxx

I really fancied the idea of the train.  Looks great and you can move about more, stay overnight on the train, see more of the scenery.  If only I can work out the cost, it looks a bit complicated and would need some time sorting out.  It would work out more than a package deal I think but it would be something entirely different. Great website, I will put that in my favourites for a longer look later.  Thanks eileen

Quote from: blondegirl on March 01, 2007, 02:05:39 PM
I really fancied the idea of the train.  Looks great and you can move about more, stay overnight on the train, see more of the scenery.  If only I can work out the cost, it looks a bit complicated and would need some time sorting out.  It would work out more than a package deal I think but it would be something entirely different. Great website, I will put that in my favourites for a longer look later.  Thanks eileen

Your welcome :-)

For the Rome-Bari trip it took me ages to find my way about the Italian rail network website last year (http://www.trenitalia.com/en/index.html)
Anyway after all the palaver and faffing around the whole thing was so much easier to arrange than I imagined.  In fact once I sussed out the timetable and could see there were so many journeys a day there was nothing to arrange...we just turned up at Rome Termini on the day to purchase our tickets!
Unless travelling in high season there is no need to book ferry tickets which is great as it means your trip can be as flexible as you wish it to be.  Tickets are easily purchased at the ferry terminal, but unlike flights there are no last minute bargains! Worth bearing in mind is that some of the smaller ferry terminals will only accept cash, we were well caught out with that and had to back track into town to find a cash machine. Not easy on a Saturday night in an Italian port when an Ideal Home type exhibition was on, the police were directing traffic but it was still chaos...Keith's mood was rather grim to say the least! :-(

Maybe easy for nonchalant old me to say but sometimes we worry about details too much and forget that the world is a smaller place nowadays and travelling throughout Europe is so easy.

Eileenxx

Hi there,
            Someone was asking if Airtours had any properties in Arillas.  It may not be obvious but Airtours own Panorama holidays which in turn own Manos, who have many properties in Arillas such as The Rainbow complex ( Dionosys 1 and 2 and Nafsika), Tri adelphia,  Leonidas, The bakery apartments, Makris, Kokinnoss etc.
Regards
John

and we have just merged with My Travel/Airtours, might be a good news situation after all.....

Quote from: Joe on March 01, 2007, 06:33:13 PM
and we have just merged with My Travel/Airtours, might be a good news situation after all.....

As customers can this really be good for us Joe?  Correct me if I'm wrong but I always believed that competition was healthy and helped stabilize if not keep prices down.

I wonder how many individual flight operators are actually flying to Corfu nowadays.  I can only think of Thomas Cook, Xl, TUI and thank goodness for the latest on the block GB airways...anyone know anymore?

Eileenxx

Quote from: Eileen on March 01, 2007, 09:19:33 PM

Quote from: Joe on March 01, 2007, 06:33:13 PM
and we have just merged with My Travel/Airtours, might be a good news situation after all.....

As customers can this really be good for us Joe?  Correct me if I'm wrong but I always believed that competition was healthy and helped stabilize if not keep prices down.

I wonder how many individual flight operators are actually flying to Corfu nowadays.  I can only think of Thomas Cook, Xl, TUI and thank goodness for the latest on the block GB airways...anyone know anymore?

Eileenxx

To be fair that comment came from a purely selfish point of view, if Manos comes into our envelope then we will have more flights and accommodation in Arillas so it will be easier to get to see my Mum and my discounts, sorry. We won't be able to keep all the properties though as I'm sure the Monopolies & Mergers Commission will have something to say about it.

At first I felt the same as you about prices and yes less choice is bad for the customer but the fact is the short haul market couldn't support 4 major players and consolidation had been on the cards for the past year. There are still 2 other large operators and all the independents to compete with as well as Jet 2 who are starting package holidays soon. Our prices are also driven by demand which is almost impossible to manipulate so I doubt we will start to see unnaturally high prices coupled with the fact that 2 separate companies will now be operating as one will lead to reduced overheads, I think it will all balance out in the end, one thing I'm sure though the public will get a better more varied product now this has happened There does seem to be a lot of experience and knowledge being brought together. In truth I can't see the Airtours name disappearing.

Prices will rise (they always do) but I don't think the jumps will be anymore than we expect year in year out. There are some great deals to Corfu this year, unfortunately as mentioned in this thread flights are not going to be cheap, with Fuel Tax, APD and reduced capacity but that should just be for the early part of the year, once July August kicks in the holidays go up in price but the seat only's will fall when extra aircraft are thrown onto the routes.

There you go I have answered your question with a "yes" and a "no" how helpful :-)

Quote from: Joe on March 02, 2007, 11:31:14 AM
[

To be fair that comment came from a purely selfish point of view, if Manos comes into our envelope then we will have more flights and accommodation in Arillas so it will be easier to get to see my Mum and my discounts, sorry.

No problem with that whatsoever I'm sure we would all feel the same! :-)  I know that I would!

I understand what you are saying, of course I am not saying that Thomas Cook are guilty of this, but all the operators are surely not driven by demand.  If so then we would not have family/friends or colleagues who try to book a package holiday to Corfu to be told that there is no availability and they are then pointed towards other destinations ie. Bulgaria.
There is demand there but sadly the fact is that for many tour ops the lure of bigger profits in emerging holiday markets is too strong.

Thats good new about Jet2. :-)  Rome is the nearest destination to Corfu that they fly to...but who knows they might decide to fly further East towards our favourite place!

Eileenx

The process to a great extent is driven by demand but yes of course this does need to be pre-empted. Properties have to be bought before the summer and filled, even with the best-laid plans mistakes can be made and gaps need to be plugged. I was probably speaking a little to generally my comment was aimed more towards Corfu which has always been effected in this way, the massively varying priced that people have mentioned paying on this forum are a testament to that.

Looking through the screens now I can see the same properties in Arillas with the same flights £250 more expensive one week than the next. Compared to previous years there is not a lot of availability in Corfu this year, last year did not perform well so it may be difficult to get holidays at certain times. In the busy months there will be options in other properties (Galini??) so if it looks like extra capacity is needed there is a backup but having empty rooms just doesn't seem to be an option at the moment. I will agree this may 'manufacture' the prices a little but so far things do not look any more expensive on the package front anyway as Thomas Cook is pretty dominant in Arillas and the prices always seemed quite reasonable. Just to re-iterate I don't work for the holiday's part so I'm not on a sales pitch, my involvement with people's holidays ends when they step onto the tarmac at Corfu Airport.

I mentioned above that Corfu didn't have a brilliant year, however Arillas, San Stef (just) and Sidari were all up so I hope that lifts the doom and gloom a little. I'm sure San George did well to but that's Thomson's territory. Kavos had a shocker and a lot was shut by September, before we all jump for joy we need to remember that the type of holiday that Kavos provides brings in a lot of money to the economy and if its suffers its not good for anyone.

As in past years, accommodation wise that is, there will be a lot of property available in Corfu this year , the problem is the cut backs that have been made to the actual flights going in.  That of course has the knock on effect of the on screen availability looking tight, but in all reality it's only because there are less flights to go around for us punters. :-(

No matter what marketing strategy anxious independent apartment owners think up they are up against the lack of/expense of flights for diy travellers.

Despite it's notoriety it's a shame to hear about Kavos, the youngsters keep bums on seats and increases the demand for flights to Corfu.  But it was always bound to happen, as with pubs & nightclubs here at home there comes a time when the young set get bored with a scene and move on elsewhere.

Theres only one thing for it Joe...get together with Nancy at Corfuescape and use both your expertises to create an  inbetweeny service for the packagers and the peeps who cannot be bothered with the hassle of full blown diy holidays!  In fact going back to previous postings on this thread, maybe Corfu regulars and diehards would maybe happy for someone to organise an alternative route to Corfu via Italy or wherever for a short stay thus adding a bit more adventure & flavour to the year in year out holiday in Corfu.

Another thing to consider is the hassle of getting there 'out of season'.  What we need is someone who has a good knowledge of airports etc and can collate all the information on the various routes and methods of getting to Corfu from all points in the U.K!

In between times you could maybe still earn your bread and butter at TC, but it would not leave much time for your own hols!...then again you would have to do a lot of out on the field or should it be up in the air research!

Eileenxx

Quote from: Eileen on March 02, 2007, 01:05:36 PM
No matter what marketing strategy anxious independent apartment owners think up they are up against the lack of/expense of flights for diy travellers.
Eileenxx

I know nothing is ever easy but Corfu has a good seat-only market being so close to home and the LGW flights is only going to help with this

Quote from: Eileen on March 02, 2007, 01:05:36 PM

In between times you could maybe still earn your bread and butter at TC, but it would not leave much time for your own hols!...then again you would have to do a lot of out on the field or should it be up in the air research!

Oh god, don't give me anything else to do I'm still trying to write that damn FAQ yet achieving very little.

LGW new route will certainly help the market, or at least help fill the space left by flights taken off the route by other airlines. Hopefully it will be well used in order for BA to justify operating a reduced service out of the summer season.  I for one would certainly consider using it for out of season trips to Corfu.


Up here in Scotland we are not very well served with flights to Corfu, indeed to Greece in general.  Up here we have to travel to Glasgow, or down to Newcastle, not really a problem for me as it's the same journey whichever way I go!

LOL, I wondered what happened to your FAQ, I thought that perhaps once you thought about it the list of FAQ's just got longer and longer.:-)

Eileenxx

This morning I checked the price for 2 tickets for my daughter and grandson flying with XL using the Tesco code.
A couple of hours later when I got around to booking the tickets it turned out the the Tesco code was oversubscribed.  I did have the option of holding off until tomorrow or monday when the code would more than likely be available again, but as there are only a few seats left I decided to book today.  However I did a little googling around first and found another code, this time it is MOD which gives a discount of £10 each.  O.K not as good as Tesco's £15 but still it leaves a bit more in your pocket! :-)

Eileenxx

I received an email yesterday or friday from Lovecorfu.It seems a new Matlese Airline will be operating all year round flights from the UK to Corfu for a return of 120 euros have just pasted the post.                                                                                                                                               We would also like to take this opportunity to tell you about a new Maltese airline that we hope will fly direct to Corfu from the UK and also from many other European airports.  The cost of this flight will be approximately 120 euros return with a service both winter and summer.  In order for this airline to operate we require some guarantee that seats will be booked, how many passengers would travel and how many times per year this service would be used.  If you are interested please send an email to Harry's secretary at the address below.

If you would like to receive a free copy of the newspaper please can you email your postal address to luvcorfu_angela@yahoo.com

Harry Tsoukalas – Hilary Paipeti

Company Directors

Luvcorfu Properties

sent mine Harold,sound good if it takes off. Viv

Sent mine to Harold.
I've met Harry T a few times in the past. He seems very passionate about Corfu and it's people.
Also I believe they both have a large say in the production of the Corfiot amongst other interests.
(It's his family on "Rick Steins Corfu Escape" to be televised later in the year)
Negg

Hi,  I've e-mailed too.  Hope we manage to do the trick!.  Marie.

I will make sure to send an email later today, I would like nothing better than the above to be true.

The only thing that concerns me is the stated price of €120 (£90) return, no matter how I look at that when taking into account, taxes, landing fees, APD and fuel charges this airline would be operating at a major loss, even selling the first 5 seats at this price would make the whole route unprofitable and the a/c would need to be full on every flight. Of course I could be completely wrong and I'm sure people better placed (and on higher wages) than me are working this out but the whole Corfu flight situation is difficult. Believe it or not the route is already overloaded in Summer and when we do the winter Ad-hoc's filling four Christmas flights proves difficult and expensive.

I'm not trying to put a negative spin on this, I more than anyone want these flights to become a reality and would give them my full support but I know what a pain in the a#@e this route is. Eileen mentioned previously about aircraft double dropping, the figures for this on a Corfu route may have made it commercially viable on a limited basis, I can't wait to see how this turns out and I do wish them all the best.

I have to go to Glasgow Airport with work tonight, I'm flying out of here this evening with Aldo the Cuban pilot (lovely guy). It just struck me that I'm 30 in April and I've never been to Scotland yet I've lived in the north of England all my life, it better be nice :-)

Joe

It would be great if this comes about, ive emailed also.

Ive never been to Scotland either actually, i would like to go at some point, let me know what its like Joe, you and Aldo have a fab time together.

Hi Joe

Hope you enjoy Scotland.  My son was at Aberdeen Uni and later at Edinburgh.  Edinburgh is a lovely City.  We made our first visit to Glasgow during that time.  We parked our car, got out and the first person we 'bumped' into was a roaring old drunk.  Considering Glasgows reputation. we had a good laugh about that.  That too was a very interesting city, especially the market which ran under the railway arches, and the good were just thrown on the floor.

  Hi Joe, Welcome to Scotland. I hope you have a good visit.
  I read in the paper that Glasgow is the most polite city!!!!
  Personally, I think you'd like Edinburgh better, but I live there
  so I would think that!!!!

Well let's hope the Holiday Inn is up to scratch :-) unfortunately I doubt I'll be seeing anything else!

Joe

If I have to stay in a UK hotel and a Holiday Inn is an option it is always my first choice for good value!!  I've always found the rooms to be clean, spacious and well equipped with comfortable beds.  Holiday Inn Express even throw in breakfast!  When we drove down to Heathrow recently before flying to Corfu for the wonderful wedding, we stayed at a Holiday Inn and, as we had time to waste, they allowed us to use the lounge after checking out of the room and gave us a free-of-charge ticket to stay in the hotel car park as long as we wanted.  Very friendly!

Have a good stay!
Fiona

Thanks Fiona, thats very good to know (nice picture by the way). As long as there is somewhere to eat and a nice bar, I'll be happy, doesn't take much does it??

I emailed that link, has anyone got a reply yet?

  Joe, If it's the Holiday Inn at glasgow airport, I think you should
  find it's o.k.  We stayed there once before going to Corfu on an
  early flight.

It is indeed.

Dimitris,

The time of the Monday flight to Corfu from Gatwick with GB AIrways has changed from 07:30 to something like 17:20