Travel Company Recommendations

**Plastic Paddy** · 13/01/2006, 10:08 AM

After Eire06's rather unfortunate experience with a certain English midlands-based "travel" company and futile attempts, via this board, to extract recompense, it seems like a good idea for fans to pool knowledge on travel firms for future trips, to have a hassle-free experience, avoid the cowboys and hopefully come home in one piece.

Please therefore use this thread to post your experiences of using different travel firms and any recommendations that you have with contact details where appropriate. Thank you.

PP

**gspain** · 13/01/2006, 11:14 AM

My recommendation is to do your own arrangements. You will do it cheaper and better. Only use travel agents for day trips.

Treacy - easily the best, looks after his regulars with tickets but charges a premium price. Ideal for those who like premuim seats in the new Lansdowne and don't want to travel with the masses. I won a trip with Treacy a few years back and know a couple of his regulars. They are charged through the nose but appear happy to pay it. Does a mean prawn sambo at only �30 a pop.

747 - work on the Irish Catholic principal of only being happy when we make ourselves miserable have something to moan about - only book hotels a minimum of 7 hours coach travel from the stadium - just cancelled their world cup bookings for June so hotels in Kiev are freed up again. Cheaper than Treacy but even less value for money. Funny one in Bursa was the 747 crew
slagging off the Treacy crowd.

E Travel (alias stand up for the boys in green)- see notes on Faroes Trip. - would rather use 747.

Global travel - would rather use E Travel.

London Supporters club - never travelled with them but belive they organise a decent well costed trip for those who like things organised for them. Downside is trip leaves from London for those here in Ireland and don't do prawn sandwiches..

Stephens Green - Did the infamous trip to Skopje in 99 where we spent the day on the runway in Rimini becaus ethey forgot to insure the numbers on the plane. Unfortunately we did eventually get to see the match.

Celtic Horizons - can't comment. reasonably new

for some reason the profit margin on football trips (check out the prices for a night in Manchester/Liverpool to watch Charlton or Portsmouth) is significantly highwer than that of your package holiday in the sun.

And if you think I'm cynical talk to my mate on Travel agents. Got into a major row with one of Treacy's disciples in Tehran. We had booked a day trip to Esfahan via the tourist board for $54 (great deal), Hotel desk were offering the same trip for $100 while Treacy was only charging $200 from a desk yards from the hotel desk. Well Frank (not his real name) proceeded to tell one of Treacy's guys that he had been ripped off and even the desk in his own hotel could do the trip for half price and they were still ripping him off. Frank got a little passionate mentioned that our trip probably cost half of your man's trip questioned the intelligence of those who travel with Treacy and literally had to be pulled away by me.

**pineapple stu** · 13/01/2006, 12:48 PM

Originally Posted by gspain

My recommendation is to do your own arrangements. You will do it cheaper and better. Only use travel agents for day trips.

Seconded. There's nothing travel agents can do now that you can't do yourself with internet access and a credit card, I find.

**Saint Tom** · 13/01/2006, 5:56 PM

agreed with the above posts. where possible go it alone and book in plenty of time

**MickeyT** · 16/01/2006, 9:17 AM

As regards Celtic Horizons, I booked with them for the Faroes trip and found them very good and even managed to re-negotiate a cheaper price than the original price I booked the trip for. However, I did talk to some people in the airport in the Faroes that weren't very happy with the service. It sounded like they took on too many bookings and put some people on a different island away from Torshavn which can't have been good.

Overall though if I was stuck and had to use a travel agent I'd go to Celtic Horizons. The one time I went with Ray Treacy I found it very expensive and a lot of the crowd that went with them were the types that would tell you to sit down and be quiet at a game.

**Dodge** · 16/01/2006, 9:42 AM

Originally Posted by gspain

for some reason the profit margin on football trips (check out the prices for a night in Manchester/Liverpool to watch Charlton or Portsmouth) is significantly highwer than that of your package holiday in the sun

They play on the idea that tickets are unbelievably hard to get and this is your only option

**horney** · 16/01/2006, 11:06 AM

go on your own lads internet credid card the only way i got cyprus for 350 through london most people i met paid about 500 treacy's an extortionist but if some clowns want to pay through the nose let them

**Eire06** · 16/01/2006, 11:20 AM

Originally Posted by horney

go on your own lads internet credid card the only way i got cyprus for 350 through london most people i met paid about 500 treacy's an extortionist but if some clowns want to pay through the nose let them

It wasn't that I was clown

I would normally book myself on the internet but I only decide to go at the last minute and there were no flights left....
Sometimes you just have to use an agent if you want to go on the trip!!

This thread if to advise people on which agents to avoid and which agents are good to work with!! If you don't use and agent or never have used an agent thats great fair play to ya

Anyway avoid Rugeley Global Travel if you are booking through an agent, not worth the hassle if anything goes wrong...

**Peadar** · 16/01/2006, 2:30 PM

Originally Posted by gspain

My recommendation is to do your own arrangements. You will do it cheaper and better.

I support this view but would like to make a distinction between booking something yourself, on the Internet, and using an agent to book something on the Internet.

What I do is book directly with the airline or hotel.
That way you can deal with them directly if there's a problem.

My mate booked our trip to Cyprus and when there was a problem with our hotel, it turned out he'd booked through an Internet agent, based in Holland. This agent had in turn used another agent in Greece. It looked like we were going to be stranded but things worked out in the end. The hotel knew nothing about us and wouldn't deal with us until we got the agent to call them. This is the only time I've ever had a problem like this.

**Dodge** · 16/01/2006, 4:40 PM

On hotels, I've used needahotel.com a few times and never had a problem. I'd always try and book with the hotel dorectly as it'll usually work out cheaper but not always

**NY Hoop** · 17/01/2006, 11:45 AM

Make your own way if possible. Doing day trips to anywhere is daft and you deserve to get ripped off.

Have never used a travel agent for any Ireland games and have been to a fair few at this stage. Even before the net it was possible to do your own thing.

Used www.ryanairhotels.com for Berlin on way to Poland in 2004. When we got there they never heard of us! They had room anyway though........

Its not just the prices its the independence of doing your own thing that's attractive. Being told to be on a coach at a certain time etc especially with the amount of mongs going to Ireland games makes me shudder.

KOH

**horney** · 19/01/2006, 10:57 PM

Originally Posted by Eire06

It wasn't that I was clown

I would normally book myself on the internet but I only decide to go at the last minute and there were no flights left....
Sometimes you just have to use an agent if you want to go on the trip!!

This thread if to advise people on which agents to avoid and which agents are good to work with!! If you don't use and agent or never have used an agent thats great fair play to ya

Anyway avoid Rugeley Global Travel if you are booking through an agent, not worth the hassle if anything goes wrong...

ok eire06 i wasnt slagging ye for using the agents i used to use them myself but we should book early and stop making theose fatcats rich

**drummerboy** · 20/01/2006, 8:09 AM

Here is one I have used and found to be excellent.

http://www.alpharooms.com/

**Colie** · 30/01/2006, 8:55 PM

I got snagged on the accom after the E-Travel fiasco in the Faroes & Steve from Global Travel (in Rudgley wherever that is) sorted me out big time with a pad for well cheap at 1 weeks notice. I saw a comment about Global in the thread & I'd like it be known that he's totally genuine aswell as having a bunch of mates that are some of the best drinkers I've ever met.

I'm not related to him & don't work for him by the way!

**4tothefloor** · 30/01/2006, 9:23 PM

I went to Cyprus with Global, and though it wasn't the best organised trip in the world, I couldn't really complain either. I meet Steve over there as well and he is a genuine and nice guy. Don't know anything about Eire06's incident, can only comment on my own experience with them. I would use Global again for a long distance trip.

**zinedineontour** · 31/01/2006, 9:56 AM

Originally Posted by 4tothefloor

I went to Cyprus with Global, and though it wasn't the best organised trip in the world, I couldn't really complain either. I meet Steve over there as well and he is a genuine and nice guy. Don't know anything about Eire06's incident, can only comment on my own experience with them. I would use Global again for a long distance trip.

oh yeah great lad yeah got a refund ( supposedly ) cause the trip we had booked was all changed .. only got the cheque 3 months late and now its bounced .. the most dishonest person ive ever met and should not be trusted at all .. obviously the above people have some connection with the lad ..

**Eire06** · 31/01/2006, 10:16 AM

Originally Posted by 4tothefloor

I went to Cyprus with Global, and though it wasn't the best organised trip in the world, I couldn't really complain either. I meet Steve over there as well and he is a genuine and nice guy. Don't know anything about Eire06's incident, can only comment on my own experience with them. I would use Global again for a long distance trip...

As I've said before I thought the same as you about him nat first but as soon as I did have hassle I was totally ignored and treated very badly..

And by the way I know if I was paying a travel agent to book a trip for me I would expect it to be organised otherwise why bother with agents at all!!

**paul_oshea** · 31/01/2006, 11:19 AM

i think they may have gone bust. considering i tried to ring a few times just to see and there was no answer. others have also tried ringing. and the fact you got a bounced check really does point to that.

**Reddladd** · 31/01/2006, 12:29 PM

Used Celtic Horizon travel twice and no problems. True colours are only shown in the event of a crisis. Have used 747 in the past but wouldn't do so again after a very long night in Moscow. The agents are there because alot of us only have the bare minimum of time for these trips with work committments etc. If you lose 3/4 hours each way because of flight changes, buses to hotel etc, that could be up to 8 hours from a 3 day trip, then to me it's worth an extra few quid to get to your hotel asap.
I will book direct if I have the time and it's a direct enough route. If it's too much hassle then I'll be talking to Celtic Horison until such time as the s**t hits the fan and their colours are posted to the mast!!

That lad down in Tullamore or where ever sounds ok. Didn't he fly people back from Cyprus for free after a problem with their plane. I read somewhere he organised food and in some cases money. Anyone know his name?

**lopez** · 31/01/2006, 12:56 PM

Originally Posted by gspain

My recommendation is to do your own arrangements. You will do it cheaper and better. Only use travel agents for day trips.

Anyone out there should follow this man's recommendation. Get off your ar*e and organise things yourself. It's cheaper and much more fun. Like NYHoop, even before the internet age you could skirt around the organised rip-off market (travel agents per se were a different matter). Now you can organise it all from the front room.

The only time it pays to use an agent is when there is hassle entering a country. Only time I've done this was for Iran and the Soviet Union match of 1985. Went with Ray 'Crazy Prices' Crazy. Good deal (it was around �400 by an Aer Lingus charter from Dublin then which was cheaper than Aeroflot from London), no prawn sambos, got a free tour of Moscow thrown in.

Originally Posted by gspain

London Supporters club - never travelled with them but belive they organise a decent well costed trip for those who like things organised for them. Downside is trip leaves from London for those here in Ireland and don't do prawn sandwiches.

Sadly, with the bulk of tickets for away games going to the boy Crazy, the RISSC tends to only organise trips to the places not featured in our forthcoming campaign.