Italy Away - 1st April 2009

[Green Tribe]

From wikipedia "Villa Grimaldi was a complex of buildings used for the interrogation and torture of political prisoners by DINA, the Chilean secret police, ..."


:D Think i stayed in worse in slovakia:eek: By the way the woman in Villan Grimaldi said if anyone needs more rooms, try http://www.topclassbari.com/Home/tabid/36/Default.aspx
Top Class Bari B+B. Looks Top Class actually:p

Oh and we got arsed about with the Mercure also through bookings.com, saying it was overbooked, but it's been sorted now. God help the Mercure!

[Cowboy]

If you cancel the booking they're off the hook with bookings.com,

Exactly, thats why he asked me and others to do this, no way this guy is getting off lightly

[Cowboy]

Oh and we got arsed about with the Mercure also through bookings.com, saying it was overbooked, but it's been sorted now. God help the Mercure!


Yeah his (the hotels) explanation for that was a "simultaneous cancellation"

[pineapple stu]

Have moved the ticket discussion to a new thread to keep this one on topic.

[Beal Feirste]

Got 'topclassbari B&B' booked (bout 1 mile from stadium & 2.5 mile from bari centre). Very reasonable 520euro for 2 nights B&B for 8 of us all in (65 euro each). Thank god we got that sorted. It is very very hard to get accommodation folks. Good luck. Slan

[SuperDave]

iirc dublin - stansted - brindisi out (tuesday) then bari - pisa - dublin back (thursday) was only about e220 return last week. cheapest of all the two flight ryanair options, and it included a layover of about four or five hours in pisa on the way back.

brindisi is about one hour train ride from bari, and accommodation there on the tuesday night should be no problem. bari on wednesday, of course, remains the issue...

[Claret Murph]

A mate of mine has just got bumped from the Victor Hotel , so many stories so far from the hotels and no doubt more to come .
I think it was staint07 has the right idea about staying up all night and getting the early train back to Rome at 5:30am .

Also just got told that Air Lingus have changed their flight times out from Dublin to heathrow so we are stuffed and had to book new flights but this time from Shannon , well we did manage to get half of the price of the flights back but still lost money :mad:

[eaststand85]

iirc dublin - stansted - brindisi out (tuesday) then bari - pisa - dublin back (thursday) was only about e220 return last week. cheapest of all the two flight ryanair options, and it included a layover of about four or five hours in pisa on the way back.

brindisi is about one hour train ride from bari, and accommodation there on the tuesday night should be no problem. bari on wednesday, of course, remains the issue...

That's a great deal on the flights home compared to some of the other options that are available. Another option on the way over is to fly with Aer Lingus to Milan on the Tuesday, overnight in airport hotel, and get the early easyJet flight to Bari on Wed morning whiich is still available for about €70 all in.

Unfortunately can't make this one so going to have to make do with Sofia for now and keep my cash and holidays for probable/hopeful play off later in the year!

[elroy]

That's a great deal on the flights home compared to some of the other options that are available. Another option on the way over is to fly with Aer Lingus to Milan on the Tuesday, overnight in airport hotel, and get the early easyJet flight to Bari on Wed morning whiich is still available for about €70 all in.

Unfortunately can't make this one so going to have to make do with Sofia for now and keep my cash and holidays for probable/hopeful play off later in the year!

Not very direct but it is still possible to do Dublin - Heathrow - Rome - Bari and return for about €230. Out tues back thurs evening. Arrive in Bari about 6 on the Tuesday so in plenty of time for a session.

[LaoisLads]

just got accommodation sorted out with a B&B halfway between city centre and the stadium. €35 per head per nite, happy days. For anyone still looking i'd recommend bbplanet.it cos it seems like every hotel in the place is booked up solid..Anyone still looking for cheap ways to get there, easyjet do london - naples €70 return & i think its not a bad train journey to bari from there. (not as bad as 7 hours on the train from bologna that 6 of us are facing!)By the way am i right in thinking match tickets will be no bother at all?..

[gspain]

just got accommodation sorted out with a B&B halfway between city centre and the stadium. €35 per head per nite, happy days. For anyone still looking i'd recommend bbplanet.it cos it seems like every hotel in the place is booked up solid..Anyone still looking for cheap ways to get there, easyjet do london - naples €70 return & i think its not a bad train journey to bari from there. (not as bad as 7 hours on the train from bologna that 6 of us are facing!)By the way am i right in thinking match tickets will be no bother at all?..


Hard to know yet.

We have to get a minimum of 6,000 tickets. This might not be enough. However there were 20,000 empty seats at Italy v Scotland in Bari 2 years ago so worst case no problems in the home end. I really can't see this game coming close to a sellout.

The Italians may well give us what we require as well which seems the most sensible thing all round.

[AidoM]

just got accommodation sorted out with a B&B halfway between city centre and the stadium. €35 per head per nite, happy days. For anyone still looking i'd recommend bbplanet.it cos it seems like every hotel in the place is booked up solid..Anyone still looking for cheap ways to get there, easyjet do london - naples €70 return & i think its not a bad train journey to bari from there. (not as bad as 7 hours on the train from bologna that 6 of us are facing!)By the way am i right in thinking match tickets will be no bother at all?..

Best thing to do for tickets is to contact the FAI ticket office by e-mail or phone and ask them to send you an application form for tickets. The application form will be sent out about 3-4 weeks before the match and you must submit it by the due date.

[Nah Nah Nah Nah]

Hard to know yet.

We have to get a minimum of 6,000 tickets. This might not be enough. However there were 20,000 empty seats at Italy v Scotland in Bari 2 years ago so worst case no problems in the home end. I really can't see this game coming close to a sellout.

The Italians may well give us what we require as well which seems the most sensible thing all round.

Well the Scots have managed to obtain 8,000 tickets out of 51,000 for their match in Holland. The FAI should have no problems getting more tickets for this game if they bothered their ass

[Greenforever]

Well the Scots have managed to obtain 8,000 tickets out of 51,000 for their match in Holland. The FAI should have no problems getting more tickets for this game if they bothered their ass

Your comment re the FAI shows you have absoloutely no ideas of the work the FAI do in looking after travelling fans.

[Greenforever]

HI MR

I’M TRYING TO RESOLVE PROBLEM TOGETHER WITH ACCOR.
I MAKE ALL IS POSSIBLE FOR YOUR RESERVATION!
I HOPE TO GIVE YOU A POSITIVE REPLY TO YOUR REQUEST


BEST REGARDS,
GAETANO

[mailto
Inserito: mercoledì 14 gennaio
Inserito in: Commerciale
Conversazione: hotel mercure villa romanazzi - bari-
Oggetto: RE: hotel mercure villa romanazzi - bari-



As Already stated we will be arriving for our confirmed booking, if you have any issues we suggest you take it up with bookings.com

If this is not resolved we will also be writing to the Italian Embassy, the Italian Tourist Board and logging our problem on all web travel advice sites

This is not the treatment one expects from a 4 star hotel

[Cowboy]

Have you been in touch with Stefanie in bookings.com?



[I’M TRYING TO RESOLVE PROBLEM TOGETHER WITH ACCOR.



[

[Greenforever]

Have you been in touch with Stefanie in bookings.com?

Was in touch with somedifferent girl, name is in office, she not a happy camper, she is checking all bookings they have made with the hotel and going to see if any are cancelled and ask why, they dont get commission on cancelled bookings!

[EastTerracer]

HI MR

I’M TRYING TO RESOLVE PROBLEM TOGETHER WITH ACCOR.
I MAKE ALL IS POSSIBLE FOR YOUR RESERVATION!
I HOPE TO GIVE YOU A POSITIVE REPLY TO YOUR REQUEST


BEST REGARDS,
GAETANO



The same buachaill Gaetano has been trying to pawn me off to the Hotel Victor. I've escalated the whole mess to Accor (I booked directly via www.accor.com (http://www.accor.com) ). Hope you have a bit more luck via bookings.com

[aidz1]

Getting the same email but they are trying to fob me off somewhere out of town.
They are wanting me to cancel through booking.com. the other hotel they have recommended are now sending me emails to confirm new booking.
Havent bothered returning any emails to them yet. F4ck if im giving up me leaba to some ray treacy wh0re

[Green Tribe]

Colleague of mine has been bumped from Hotel Victor to some hotel 35 kms out of town. Told them to complain to hoteltravel.com as they were originally booked in Victor as it was central. Happening to a lot of people, seems to be the sneaky italiano hotel sales people :mad:

PS Local Tour operator helped out with hotel queries, if anyone stuck for accomodation;

email Alex - info@adpugliam.com

GT

[Cowboy]

Hes spinning some yarn about computer problems which is hard to believe if you booked directly through Accor.



The same buachaill Gaetano has been trying to pawn me off to the Hotel Victor. I've escalated the whole mess to Accor (I booked directly via www.accor.com (http://www.accor.com) ). Hope you have a bit more luck via bookings.com

[Claret Murph]

Colleague of mine has been bumped from Hotel Victor to some hotel 35 kms out of town. Told them to complain to hoteltravel.com as they were originally booked in Victor as it was central. Happening to a lot of people, seems to be the sneaky italiano hotel sales people :mad:

PS Local Tour operator helped out with hotel queries, if anyone stuck for accomodation;

email Alex - info@adpugliam.com

GT

Funny you should say that Green Tribe as my mate has been given a hotel 35kms out of town also after he was bumped from the Victor . He was booked in the Victor for six nights and now he has 3 different hotels to stay in during that time . What a mess .

[jbyrne]

The FAI should have no problems getting more tickets for this game if they bothered their ass

which they always do for our away fans. 19,000 official away end tickets for paris '04 is proof of that

[DeLorean]

I'll try again!! seriously though...anybody know if there'll be a booze ban on match day or what? :eek:

[Newryrep]

I'll try again!! seriously though...anybody know if there'll be a booze ban on match day or what? :eek:

No , highly unlikely, unenforcable and ignored by fans/police/bar owners alike

[Newryrep]

Well the Scots have managed to obtain 8,000 tickets out of 51,000 for their match in Holland. The FAI should have no problems getting more tickets for this game if they bothered their ass

Think this has to be reciprocated for the return at Hampden although it is less of an issue.

No probs at Croke Park to reciprocate may be an issue if all of Lansdowne was to be BB bar the away allocation.

[DubJohn]

No , highly unlikely, unenforcable and ignored by fans/police/bar owners alike

I read on a tartan army forum that there was a ban in place from 2pm on the day of their game in 2007. It was enforced for about half an hour.

[DubJohn]

Funny you should say that Green Tribe as my mate has been given a hotel 35kms out of town also after he was bumped from the Victor . He was booked in the Victor for six nights and now he has 3 different hotels to stay in during that time . What a mess .

Seems that some people are being bumped TO Victor , some bumped out of it. It's all a bit suss.

[DeLorean]

I read on a tartan army forum that there was a ban in place from 2pm on the day of their game in 2007. It was enforced for about half an hour.

Music to my ears :D

[MariborKev]

Anyone flying Ryanair STN to Bari on the Monday evening.

I got an email about a schedule change, offering a refund etc but I can't see any difference between the original information and the new one

Original

TINERARY/RECEIPT - All times are local.

GOING OUT

From London Stansted (STN) to Bari (BRI)
Mon, 30Mar09 Flight FR1905 Depart STN at 17:15 and arrive BRI at 21:05

Email indicates

Your new flight details are as follows:
GOING OUT
From London Stansted(STN) to Bari(BRI)
Mon, 30/03/2009 Flight 1905 Depart STN at 1715 and arrive BRI at 2105


Anyone else get this?

[Sligo Hornet]

Anyone flying Ryanair STN to Bari on the Monday evening.

I got an email about a schedule change, offering a refund etc but I can't see any difference between the original information and the new one

Original

TINERARY/RECEIPT - All times are local.

GOING OUT

From London Stansted (STN) to Bari (BRI)
Mon, 30Mar09 Flight FR1905 Depart STN at 17:15 and arrive BRI at 21:05

Email indicates

Your new flight details are as follows:
GOING OUT
From London Stansted(STN) to Bari(BRI)
Mon, 30/03/2009 Flight 1905 Depart STN at 1715 and arrive BRI at 2105


Anyone else get this?


They have removed the colons!.......probably due to the credit crunch/recession

[Dr. Ogba]

yeah saw that alright Hornet. couldn't figure that one out meself!

However they have put forward my connecting flight from Dublin by an hour so have only 2 hours in Stansted now, should be grand but they better not do any more tinkering or i'll be fecked!

[gufct]

got the same e mail 6 times as id booked 2 of us :confused:. Were flying sunday and have only a 2 hour stay over in stansted.

[ChrisRed]

Had originally booked returning

Bari-Pisa Thurs 22.40
Pisa-Liverpool Friday 06.45

I've just had my return flight, Pisa to Liverpool, on Friday morning cancelled and been given a Saturday return instead.
Means i'm stuck in Pisa for an extra 31 hours rather then the 6 hours originally!
Gonna have to get a hotel in Pisa!
Turing into a rather expensive trip after all!

[NeilMcD]

Ahhh sure go on the **** in Pisa, not a bad spot not a great town but sure worth a look around.

[DeLorean]

It might turn out to be a blessing. Add an extra day to the holiday instead of hanging round an airport for 6 hrs. I'd have nearly gone with that in the first place!

[Dr. Ogba]

Had originally booked returning

Bari-Pisa

I've just had my return flight, Pisa to Liverpool, on Friday morning cancelled and been given a Saturday return instead.
Means i'm stuck in Pisa for an extra 31 hours rather then the 6 hours originally!
Gonna have to get a hotel in Pisa but my flight

hmm, i have a Pisa to Dublin flight on the Thursday, hope they don't f*ck around with that aswell...

[Sligo Hornet]

hmm, i have a Pisa to Dublin flight on the Thursday, hope they don't f*ck around with that aswell...

You could always share a room with Barelylegal;)

[pineapple stu]

:eek:

Family website!!

[DeLorean]

You could always share a room with Barelylegal;)

No room at the inn:eek:

[Ari Gold]

Looks like I'm going solo to Bari for this trip. 2 of my mates have pulled out due to various reasons but as I have booked everything I am still 100% going.

Flying into Bari on the Tuesday evening from Pisa with Ryanair.

Anyone else travelling out alone?

On the plus side I should have 2 spare tickets to sell in due course.

[blueanto40]

Anyone get their ticket application form for the match from fai yet

[jbyrne]

Anyone get their ticket application form for the match from fai yet

not out yet. email the fai ticket office as per the tickets section of their website and they will respond telling you that you will be added to their list and form will follow

[EastTerracer]

On the plus side I should have 2 spare tickets to sell in due course.

How could you have spare tickets when you haven't even submitted the application form yet? Surely if your mates have dropped out then you will only apply for one ticket :-)

[Greenforever]

How could you have spare tickets when you haven't even submitted the application form yet? Surely if your mates have dropped out then you will only apply for one ticket :-)


Was thinking that myself:confused::confused::confused:

[Ari Gold]

I see....I had assumed the away ticket application was similar to the home block blocking method.

I suppose its best hope the FAI get enough for everyone first and hopefully I can get one for myself.

[Greenforever]

THe FAI are entitled to 10% or just under 6,000 tickets. It is unlikely to sell out based on Italy's last game in Bari which had about 15,000 unsold tickets, and the Scots took their full allocation.

Tickets initially will be a problem, but by the time we leave for BAri everyone should be sorted.

[Saint Tom]

Anyone flying Ryanair STN to Bari on the Monday evening.

I got an email about a schedule change, offering a refund etc but I can't see any difference between the original information and the new one

Original

TINERARY/RECEIPT - All times are local.

GOING OUT

From London Stansted (STN) to Bari (BRI)
Mon, 30Mar09 Flight FR1905 Depart STN at 17:15 and arrive BRI at 21:05

Email indicates

Your new flight details are as follows:
GOING OUT
From London Stansted(STN) to Bari(BRI)
Mon, 30/03/2009 Flight 1905 Depart STN at 1715 and arrive BRI at 2105


Anyone else get this?

I got the same, the itineraries are identical.

[lopez]

Talking to a Scottish supporter I know who was there. He said the booze ban consisted of a directive that 'no alcohol could be served at THE BAR or at TABLES.' The bar owners obviously took this directive at face value and told anyone wanting drinks that they had to sit on the floor. Hence it didn't last too long. A beach party was also organised and with decent weather, no reason why this can't be organised.

My mate also couldn't speak highly of the Bari people or the Bari supporters. He'd been to Milan previously with Scotland and his words about the Milanese were 'they were a bit up their own a*ses.' Can't wait for the meyhem to begin!

[DubJohn]

My mate also couldn't speak highly of the Bari people or the Bari supporters. He'd been to Milan previously with Scotland and his words about the Milanese were 'they were a bit up their own a*ses.' Can't wait for the meyhem to begin!

Couldn't speak highly enough surely? !