Bulgaria Away - 6th June 2009

[Paddser]

Sligo Hornet is a Watford fan. Watford and Luton are rivals so its just a little dig against his rivals. Its meant to be a kip and Sligo's picture was meant to be funny :)

Ah right!! :) Was beginning to panic!

Booked into the Rodina Hotel in Sofia. Anyone else staying here? 500+ rooms!! Seems to be very central though and an air-conditioned twin room is €85 a night.

[Sligo Hornet]

Ah right!! :) Was beginning to panic!

Booked into the Rodina Hotel in Sofia. Anyone else staying here? 500+ rooms!! Seems to be very central though and an air-conditioned twin room is €85 a night.

Didn't mean to scare you Paddser about Luton:p......but it really is a kip!!

There are some others booked into your Hotel (look further back on this thread).....the bad news AidoM (he who goes to bed with the Foot.ie Flag ) and Beareleven:eek: are amongst them!

[Paddser]

Didn't mean to scare you Paddser about Luton:p......but it really is a kip!!

There are some others booked into your Hotel (look further back on this thread).....the bad news AidoM (he who goes to bed with the Foot.ie Flag ) and Beareleven:eek: are amongst them!

I dont doubt it Hornet, and I promise not to set foot outside the Airport door on the strength of your recommendation! :D

AidoM and Beareleven...lookin forward to a few in the Hotel Bar. We'll be there from Thursday night.

[humpmeister7]

I think you'd be wise not to go anywhere near that place. The airport is bad enough!!

Ever wondered where SARS came from...:D

[razorb]

did you check out trip advisor before you booked the Rodina. Apparently the sell rooms by the Hour! Quality place.

Ah right!! :) Was beginning to panic!

Booked into the Rodina Hotel in Sofia. Anyone else staying here? 500+ rooms!! Seems to be very central though and an air-conditioned twin room is €85 a night.

[Paddser]

:D Compared to some of the places iv stayed in, and considering its central location, i'd say it'll be grand. id rather take my chances with a hotel, rather than take my chances in a taxi to get me to a hotel 8km from Town after a day of "sight-seeing".

[Babysis]

Myself and Green Tribe got a bargain today on flights. We are booked with Easy Jet Gatwick - Sofia (They released the flights today), going on the Thursday coming back on the Sunday €70 return inc all taxes.:D

Green Tribe may have already mentioned but we got booked into an apartment for €20 per night. :)

[Green Tribe]

Yeah 237 is not bad value but you have 7 nights to stay so what you save on aircosts you lose out on hotel and spending money and Annual Leave etc. However if you are a layabout like Green Tribe you are grand.

fooking TRAMP!!:mad:

ah we got a great bargain with greasyjet. And booked into allabin apartments, 20 € pp per night sweet!!!!!!!!!!

bang in centre!
whoop!! whoop!!
k spain don't blank me this time in yer interview:eek::D

[NeilMcD]

you should not have told me where you are staying girls.

[Paulie]

For anybody who is travelling on Czech Air to Sofia, they are pulling out of Dublin in early to mid January. I rang them this morning after one of the lads in our group read about it in the paper over the weekend. They told me that the options I had were to either accept a full refund or they would find an alternative route. We are now flying on Air france via Paris. The only bad thing about it is that we now get in to Sofia quite late (about 10pm), so the first day of the trip is pretty much gone. Other than that the flight times are fine with no long stop overs and no early morning starts. All in all, it could have ended up much worse. For anybody who is in a similar situation you can get the Czech Air helpdesk at 0818 200 014 (I don't know what rate this line is charged at, so be careful). They were very helpful and it was a pretty painless process to change the flights. I think that the Air france flights, were you to go in and buy them now, would cost you about 320 Euros. If you were one of the people (thankfully I wasn't) that paid the guts of 600 Euros for the flights, I don't know if you have any chance of getting the difference back. If you were one of these people, you could just accept the offer of the refund and so get your full amount back, and then just go on to the Air France website and book the new flights yourself while they are still at 320 Euros.

[Babysis]

you should not have told me where you are staying girls.

Ah no worries, we wont be wearing green wigs this time, it will be a different disguise, you will only know its us if we ask you "Sheep or Dog?":D

[NeilMcD]

Don't be so harsh on yourself, I would never say you were a sheep and GT was a dog.:)

[eaststand85]

For anybody who is travelling on Czech Air to Sofia, they are pulling out of Dublin in early to mid January. I rang them this morning after one of the lads in our group read about it in the paper over the weekend. They told me that the options I had were to either accept a full refund or they would find an alternative route. We are now flying on Air france via Paris. The only bad thing about it is that we now get in to Sofia quite late (about 10pm), so the first day of the trip is pretty much gone. Other than that the flight times are fine with no long stop overs and no early morning starts. All in all, it could have ended up much worse. For anybody who is in a similar situation you can get the Czech Air helpdesk at 0818 200 014 (I don't know what rate this line is charged at, so be careful). They were very helpful and it was a pretty painless process to change the flights. I think that the Air france flights, were you to go in and buy them now, would cost you about 320 Euros. If you were one of the people (thankfully I wasn't) that paid the guts of 600 Euros for the flights, I don't know if you have any chance of getting the difference back. If you were one of these people, you could just accept the offer of the refund and so get your full amount back, and then just go on to the Air France website and book the new flights yourself while they are still at 320 Euros.

Problem with the new Czech Air flights is it's now three flights each way rather than two and first day is a waste as you don't get in to airport until 10.55pm (click on image below to see itinerary) so it'll be after midnight by time you get to hotel. Did they offer you any alternatives Paulie? They told us it was pretty much this or a refund so think we're going to look at going via London instead.

1244

[NeilMcD]

Just realised its three flights rather than two. I think I will go for the full refund.

[Sligo Hornet]

Don't be so harsh on yourself, I would never say you were a sheep and GT was a dog.:)

So is it the other way round?.......wouldn't want to upset anyone next time I meet them?

[Paulie]

We are now flying on Air france via Paris.

Czech Air will not be flying out from Dublin after January. They have put us on to an Air France flight from Dublin to Sofia via Paris. Two flights going over and two flights coming back.

The flight times are:

Depart Dublin on June 4th at 14:20, arrive Paris at 17:20

Depart Paris at 18:30, arrive Sofia at 22:15

Depart Sofia on June 7th at 14:45, arrive Paris at 16:40

Depart Paris at 18:45, arrive Dublin at 19:45

I know the connection time in Paris on the way over is short but the booking is on the one airline so that means you're covered in the eventuality of your first flight being delayed.

[eaststand85]

Czech Air will not be flying out from Dublin after January. They have put us on to an Air France flight from Dublin to Sofia via Paris. Two flights going over and two flights coming back.

The flight times are:

Depart Dublin on June 4th at 14:20, arrive Paris at 17:20

Depart Paris at 18:30, arrive Sofia at 22:15

Depart Sofia on June 7th at 14:45, arrive Paris at 16:40

Depart Paris at 18:45, arrive Dublin at 19:45

I know the connection time in Paris on the way over is short but the booking is on the one airline so that means you're covered in the eventuality of your first flight being delayed.


Thanks Paulie. We asked them if we could fly all the way with Air France but they said it wasn't an option! Going to ring again and try and sort this out.

[Newryrep]

For anybody who is travelling on Czech Air to Sofia, they are pulling out of Dublin in early to mid January ...........the new flights yourself while they are still at 320 Euros.

Bad news in general not just for this particular game, they seemed consistantly lower than most national carriers out of Dublin.:( and a halfway house between the budget carriers and the expensive carriers

[Paulie]

Thanks Paulie. We asked them if we could fly all the way with Air France but they said it wasn't an option! Going to ring again and try and sort this out.


No bother. Let me know how you get on. It seems odd that they did it for me but not for you.

[offaly16]

We got caught the same with the flights, now flying via paris and on to sofia. But we had also booked Cyprus via prague and now have to fly Dublin - Paris - Paris - Prague - Prague - Larnaca. Disaster will spend all day flying there and all day getting back

[eaststand85]

No bother. Let me know how you get on. It seems odd that they did it for me but not for you.

Just been on to them again and once I mentioned that I knew someone else had gotten this option there was no problem and they offered me the choice of flying these flights and times on the Thursday (4th) or the Friday (5th) so just waiting on one of the lads to decide before confirming. Seems to depend on who you talk to there!

In fairness though they're also allowing us to do different things with the three tickets we booked on the one reservation if we want (one refund, one fly Thursday, one fly Friday for example).

[Paulie]

As far as I remember the earliest Air France will get you in to Sofia for is 22:15. Assuming you're coming home on Sunday, that would only give you one full day there if you went over on the Friday. I'd go with a Thursday departure if I were you.

Anyway, glad to hear that they sorted you out.

[NeilMcD]

Yeah I am booked on the Thursday flight. Simple enough change too. Quick enough changeover in Paris, so it will be a flight full of drink and singing and I am sure we can all share a cab into town and be in the pub for 11.30

[Paulie]

Absolutely! All we need to do is ask at the hotel where the nearest pub that serves until about 6am is, and we're sorted.

[eaststand85]

Sounds good, am going with the Thursday departure!

[mypost]

As far as I remember the earliest Air France will get you in to Sofia for is 22:15. Assuming you're coming home on Sunday, that would only give you one full day there if you went over on the Friday. I'd go with a Thursday departure if I were you.

Anyway, glad to hear that they sorted you out.

Lads, the game is on the bank holiday weekend, so you can stay an extra day. ;)

[Greenforever]

Lads, the game is on the bank holiday weekend, so you can stay an extra day. ;)




It's not, the bank holiday is June 1st, previous week.

[EastTerracer]

Absolutely! All we need to do is ask at the hotel where the nearest pub that serves until about 6am is, and we're sorted.

I did some work in Sofia a few years ago and one of the better pubs is JJ Murphys. http://www.jjmurphys.com/

There are some good Bulgarian bars as well but language can be a problem so if in doubt try this.....

Edna golyama Zagorka molya = a large Zagorka beer please.

[NeilMcD]

It's not, the bank holiday is June 1st, previous week.

Lads I think the way they have been behaving the last 2 years the banks have been on holiday.

[Saint Tom]

booked out with wizzair from Luton on wednesday night (get in to sofia at 23.00) and back with easyjet to Gatwick on sunday lunchtime. Then add ryanair connections on to Dublin and the total comes to about €130 inc tax which im happy with. Connection times look ok too, bout two hours each way.

losing the czech connection is a blow, because i have found them brilliant for non direct routes and very competitive on price.

[Babysis]

Ah but Saint Tom on the bright side you get the company of me and Green Tribe on the journey back now:) I have to say this is so far working out to be one of the easier (and cheaper) trips to organise. We just need to book our connection to Gatwick, so hopefully there will be a sale on flights from shannon in the new year.

[Moscow Mule]

booked out with wizzair from Luton on wednesday night (get in to sofia at 23.00) and back with easyjet to Gatwick on sunday lunchtime. Then add ryanair connections on to Dublin and the total comes to about €130 inc tax which im happy with. Connection times look ok too, bout two hours each way.

losing the czech connection is a blow, because i have found them brilliant for non direct routes and very competitive on price.


Well done Tom and since when did you worry about price. Has the dreaded crunch got you?

[gspain]

I've got my e-mail confirmation now that I'm moved to Cityjet/Air France from Czech Airlines.

I opted for the 3 hour connection in Paris on the way over. It's probably overkill and they will probably hold the plane rather than put up a group of Irish fans for the night. However CDG is a nightmare for changing planes and it means peace of mind. Both flights depart/arrive from Terminal 2 so it shouldn't be too bad.

Be careful if called, a friend was called on saturday and offered a refund only. He then called me, I explained re offer of re-route. He called them back within 5 minutes but was told it was too late. It has now cost him over €100 extra to book through Frankfurt.

[Saint Tom]

Well done Tom and since when did you worry about price. Has the dreaded crunch got you?

Well with Italy having to be booked around the same time given the uncertainty on venue i thought i'd chance it with the ahem budget airlines. The other option is www.air.bg/en who had good deals from London Heathrow and Gatwick and also Manchester but crap times coming back on Sunday early am (Manchester is lunchtime but quite a bit more expensive). But considering the time of the easy jet flight on the sunday lunchtime which is perfect, and getting all day Thursday in Sofia by arriving at 11.00pm on wednesday night I think its a result.

Also, tonnes of connections to Luton and Gatwick from Dublin

The crunch has got me by the balls alright :)

[Paddser]

For any Dubs or Meath people, dont forget, like I did, that Meath play Dublin on the Sunday. I have Wizzair booked for the flight back on Sunday, which gets into Luton at 12.30 or so. There is a Luton to Dub flight at 13.10, but im guessing even being checked in online, its a no hoper to make that connection?? I'm booked on the 16.20 flight as it is.

The Air Bulgaria flight at stupid o'clock in the morning is only €45, so think ill book that instead.

[SuperDub]

For any Dubs or Meath people, dont forget, like I did, that Meath play Dublin on the Sunday. I have Wizzair booked for the flight back on Sunday, which gets into Luton at 12.30 or so. There is a Luton to Dub flight at 13.10, but im guessing even being checked in online, its a no hoper to make that connection?? I'm booked on the 16.20 flight as it is.

The Air Bulgaria flight at stupid o'clock in the morning is only €45, so think ill book that instead.

I only realised this after we had booked our flights. This is one dub who will have to rely on text updates as we will be in frankfurt waiting on a connection on the way home

[aidz1]

For any Dubs or Meath people, dont forget, like I did, that Meath play Dublin on the Sunday. I have Wizzair booked for the flight back on Sunday, which gets into Luton at 12.30 or so. There is a Luton to Dub flight at 13.10, but im guessing even being checked in online, its a no hoper to make that connection?? I'm booked on the 16.20 flight as it is.

The Air Bulgaria flight at stupid o'clock in the morning is only €45, so think ill book that instead.

couldnt find a air bulgaria flight one way back for less than €125...which flight is that one for that amount??

[Green Tribe]

couldnt find a air bulgaria flight one way back for less than €125...which flight is that one for that amount??

that's prob the one from SOFto LGW leaving at 7am (think)might have gone up in price now mind you:confused:

[Paddser]

couldnt find a air bulgaria flight one way back for less than €125...which flight is that one for that amount??

Its the 7.45 am Air Bulgaria Sofia to Gatwick flight on the Sun. I booked it this morn for 89.99 BGN which equates to €46.

Its now 185.84 BGN though (€95)

[kevh]

I've got my e-mail confirmation now that I'm moved to Cityjet/Air France from Czech Airlines.

I opted for the 3 hour connection in Paris on the way over. It's probably overkill and they will probably hold the plane rather than put up a group of Irish fans for the night. However CDG is a nightmare for changing planes and it means peace of mind. Both flights depart/arrive from Terminal 2 so it shouldn't be too bad.

Be careful if called, a friend was called on saturday and offered a refund only. He then called me, I explained re offer of re-route. He called them back within 5 minutes but was told it was too late. It has now cost him over €100 extra to book through Frankfurt.

I just changed my flight today, going out thursday now instead of friday and coming back sunday with Air France.

Didnt get charged any extra to do it

[eaststand85]

I just changed my flight today, going out thursday now instead of friday and coming back sunday with Air France.

Didnt get charged any extra to do it

Hey kevh, I did the same last week but have yet to receive a confirmation e-mail (although when I called back to check they confirmed the changes had been made). Just wondering if you or anyone else who's made this change got the confirmation e-mail yet?

[kevh]

Hey kevh, I did the same last week but have yet to receive a confirmation e-mail (although when I called back to check they confirmed the changes had been made). Just wondering if you or anyone else who's made this change got the confirmation e-mail yet?

Ye I got an email straight away from the call centre with the new times, but I havent got the eticket yet

[eaststand85]

Just rang and got it sorted. I see now what gspain was talking about. That's a tight turn around time in Paris, 50 mins between flights. Hope I don't spill my beer running between planes! :D

[aidz1]

Just rang and got it sorted. I see now what gspain was talking about. That's a tight turn around time in Paris, 50 mins between flights. Hope I don't spill my beer running between planes! :D

knowing you, i hope the planes arent parked too far apart...the rate you move, 50 minutes is a short time ;)

[eaststand85]

knowing you, i hope the planes arent parked too far apart...the rate you move, 50 minutes is a short time ;)

Like Andy Reid my positional sense and passing ability compensates for my lack of mobility. I've probably as much chance of playing in the Bulgaria game as he has too! :D

[MariborKev]

British Airways out of Heathrow and back on the Sunday is available for £120 return inc tax. Just booked it there, having seen how the Air Bulgaria flights had soared.

[Claret Murph]

At last I have managed to book this one .
Shannon to Gatwick on Ryan air but have to over night at a friends place .
Then Easy jet out to Sofia in the early morning .

I booked the 1 cent flights for me and Mrs Claret out of Shannon so total cost of flights would be 4 cent which as we all know is never the case and we ended up paying 208 Euro for the two of us , you have to laugh at times don't you .

[Sligo Hornet]

At last I have managed to book this one .
Shannon to Gatwick on Ryan air but have to over night at a friends place .
Then Easy jet out to Sofia in the early morning .

I booked the 1 cent flights for me and Mrs Claret out of Shannon so total cost of flights would be 4 cent which as we all know is never the case and we ended up paying 208 Euro for the two of us , you have to laugh at times don't you .


Not always the case Murph.......I booked Ryanscare Luton/Dublin return, for Georgia home game......3 of us....£6 TOTAL (inc tax):)

[Claret Murph]

Not always the case Murph.......I booked Ryanscare Luton/Dublin return, for Georgia home game......3 of us....£6 TOTAL (inc tax):)

I tip my hat to you Hornet ......

[Cowboy]

Booked Lufthansa Dublin via Frankfurt at decent times for 338 . This hotel looks decent at the price too http://www.rodina.bg/Sofia/Accommodation.aspx