Ray Treacy travel to close

**pineapple stu** · 05/10/2009, 2:33 PM

Ray's retiring at the end of the month, according to RTE. Be interesting to hear some of the comments here!

**NeilMcD** · 05/10/2009, 3:12 PM

Think it will be a big loss to fans who cannot do the DIY package themselves.

**tiktok** · 05/10/2009, 3:20 PM

Oh No! Who's going to overcharge me now?

**Green Tribe** · 05/10/2009, 3:24 PM

i'm sure there will be another to take his place....

**NeilMcD** · 05/10/2009, 4:01 PM

Originally Posted by tiktok

Oh No! Who's going to overcharge me now?

Its ok for people who are able to do the DIY way. But Ray Treacy does or did provide a service to those that are not so luck and able to do it the DIY way.

**paul_oshea** · 05/10/2009, 4:20 PM

Originally Posted by NeilMcD

Its ok for people who are able to do the DIY way. But Ray Treacy does or did provide a service to those that are not so luck and able to do it the DIY way.

RIP Ray Treacy

No seriouslly i agree with the overall point Neil is making, but wouldn'd call it luck. Id call it a lost generation. THere are many people well into their 50s and even 60s who have been using this route for years, ive met many on trips abroad, they all speak highly of him, even if he was making money at their expense that they never realised. I mean it would have been very difficult for some to get to Iran etc and those sorta places. But more importantly many of his customers were older generation people hwo computers etc etc wouldn't be there forte and hte hassle that they will now endure might stop them getting to games completely. I remember one lovely woman i met from wicklow, blessington i think, same age as my mother and i could not see her being the most computer literate, not sure of her circumstance if htere is others to help her out, but she had been travelling with this crowd for 16 years nearly. What is she expected to do?

Fair enough he was a rip off, but hte FAI were looking after their own here, which wasn't such a bad thing in a way. He was in turn providing a service to those woh could obvoiuslly afford it but may not have had an alternative, or were unaware of the alternative or unable to use the alternative. So at the end of the day there will be a few genuine supporters at a loss.

reder · 05/10/2009, 4:21 PM

He catered for the higer end of the market and people who were willing to pay a few hundred quid extra for an away game. The celtic tiger is gone now and the volumes who paid that kind of money to travel to games are no longer around.

**MariborKev** · 05/10/2009, 6:24 PM

Reder,

Totally disagree. Treacy dealt with an older crowd and was very selective in the people who travelled with him. The people who can pay that money are still very much around.

We'd run in to him from time to time on trip, most recently in Bari when we ended up staying in same hotel as the team. He knew me da through the Derry City connections and his words were "McDaid, how the feck did you get to stay here"

He hates flying, which is a drawback when you are a travel agent. I would have thought his daugher would have taken over the running of the business.

**NeilMcD** · 05/10/2009, 6:25 PM

Lads have you ever thought of someone who has a disability and needs to use people like Ray Treacy. That is who I was talking about

**SuperDub** · 05/10/2009, 7:07 PM

Originally Posted by NeilMcD

Lads have you ever thought of someone who has a disability and needs to use people like Ray Treacy. That is who I was talking to.

I actually know someone that travelled with Ray Tracey for that very reason that he has mobility problems. I am not sure there are any other travel agents in the market that could accommodate his needs.

**paul_oshea** · 05/10/2009, 7:07 PM

Originally Posted by NeilMcD

Lads have you ever thought of someone who has a disability and needs to use people like Ray Treacy. That is who I was talking to.

SOrry neil it was something i overlooked. Good point.

**Greenforever** · 05/10/2009, 9:27 PM

Ray is an absoloute gentleman, and while the only time i ever travelled with his was as an innocent 19yr old whom he gave a free bus trip from Amsterdam to Rotterdam in 82 I think as I was making my own way to the game, I know he gave his cleints value for money. While his trips were expensive he always provided a 5 star service unlike some other operators.

Enjoy your retirement Ray..

**gspain** · 05/10/2009, 9:31 PM

In fairness to Treacy he did look after his customers. They all speak highly of him although they did pay through the nose. I won a free trip to Liechtenstein in 96 with Treacy. Some of the regulars were wealthy but I reckon some are just saving for their trips but happy to have somebody to do everything for them. My abiding memory is me chastising him for his comments about Tirana 3 years earlier. It was supposed to be a hellhole and really dangerous. I pointed out that he people were lovely and the city was fine and they could have done with 3,000 visitors rather than 300. "Where are you from? Limerick isn't it!!! Hey this guy thinks Tirana is great. Well compared to Limerick it probably is but compared to anywhere else it's a ****hole!!!!!"

A friend very nearly came to blows with a Treacy regular in Tehran. It shows the loyalty to him. He is the only Travel agent that did and could sort out his customers for tickets. He knew how to screw them though.

**tiktok** · 06/10/2009, 9:44 AM

Originally Posted by NeilMcD

Lads have you ever thought of someone who has a disability and needs to use people like Ray Treacy. That is who I was talking about

Fair point and one I didn't consider but I still think he was way too expensive.

**Mad Moose** · 06/10/2009, 12:06 PM

I can hear the jingle of a Joe Duffy special on it.

**lopez** · 07/10/2009, 1:57 PM

I travelled once with him when his firm, JWT and Irish Travel combined to take a Jubo to Moscow in 1985. It cost £500 for three nights which might sound a lot back then, but considering that a return flight to Dublin from London without a Saturday night was over £200, this was quite good. The trip was excellent and the bloke - an ex international who I remember as a kid with West Brom - was charming.

Then he got greedy. And the reason he managed to stay afloat for so many years was that he had a deal with the FAI for getting tickets. Had we been carrying along with the numbers that were at Ireland games before 12th June 1988, I'd be writing a better career obit of the man than I am.

For most people, that was the reason to go with him. Guaranteed tickets, helped by the FAI refusing to do anything to bring in a fairer distribution plan for away games, such as along the lines of the SFA model. I don't think that being computer illiterate, handicapped or just bone idle, was a factor. With the exception of number three, any visit to a travel agent and a phone call to a country's tourism office would have sorted out a trip. Certainly I knew two lads who travelled by train and boat from Dublin to Bern in 1985 in wheelchairs, so we can discount Ray Treacy Travel as some sort of Red Cross cum SAGA Holiday outfit.

**John83** · 07/10/2009, 2:04 PM

Originally Posted by MariborKev

... I would have thought his daugher would have taken over the running of the business.

He said in one of the papers that the business isn't making money at the moment, so it looked like a good time to fold it away neatly.

**gspain** · 07/10/2009, 3:24 PM

Originally Posted by lopez

I travelled once with him when his firm, JWT and Irish Travel combined to take a Jubo to Moscow in 1985. It cost £500 for three nights which might sound a lot back then, but considering that a return flight to Dublin from London without a Saturday night was over £200, this was quite good. The trip was excellent and the bloke - an ex international who I remember as a kid with West Brom - was charming.

Then he got greedy. And the reason he managed to stay afloat for so many years was that he had a deal with the FAI for getting tickets. Had we been carrying along with the numbers that were at Ireland games before 12th June 1988, I'd be writing a better career obit of the man than I am.

For most people, that was the reason to go with him. Guaranteed tickets, helped by the FAI refusing to do anything to bring in a fairer distribution plan for away games, such as along the lines of the SFA model. I don't think that being computer illiterate, handicapped or just bone idle, was a factor. With the exception of number three, any visit to a travel agent and a phone call to a country's tourism office would have sorted out a trip. Certainly I knew two lads who travelled by train and boat from Dublin to Bern in 1985 in wheelchairs, so we can discount Ray Treacy Travel as some sort of Red Cross cum SAGA Holiday outfit.

He didn't take over as official FAI travel agent until into the 90's I think. Certainly Irish Travel and Ms. Chisholm were there in 89 (remember her from Budapest) and I think for at least Italia 90.

I think it is more than tickets although they were a factor. It's the

1) I'm travelling with the team.

2) everything is done for you

My big gripe always was that the margins on these trips were always huge. They were far far higher than your average package holiday where you can still probably get as good a deal from a Travel Agent as you would doing the legwork yourself.

In fairness to Treacy he did look after his customers well. I don't believe he ever did deals with places miles away and then had his customers on buses for hours upon hours.

**soccerc** · 07/10/2009, 3:31 PM

I'll be eternally grateful to Ray for a very personal reason.

He went out of his way and beyond and managed to make appropriate arrangements at very short notice.

When I tried to pay for the service I was told, No charge, get me a drink sometime.

**Greenforever** · 07/10/2009, 4:42 PM

Originally Posted by lopez

I travelled once with him when his firm, JWT and Irish Travel combined to take a Jubo to Moscow in 1985. It cost £500 for three nights which might sound a lot back then, but considering that a return flight to Dublin from London without a Saturday night was over £200, this was quite good. The trip was excellent and the bloke - an ex international who I remember as a kid with West Brom - was charming.

Then he got greedy. And the reason he managed to stay afloat for so many years was that he had a deal with the FAI for getting tickets. Had we been carrying along with the numbers that were at Ireland games before 12th June 1988, I'd be writing a better career obit of the man than I am.

For most people, that was the reason to go with him. Guaranteed tickets, helped by the FAI refusing to do anything to bring in a fairer distribution plan for away games, such as along the lines of the SFA model. I don't think that being computer illiterate, handicapped or just bone idle, was a factor. With the exception of number three, any visit to a travel agent and a phone call to a country's tourism office would have sorted out a trip. Certainly I knew two lads who travelled by train and boat from Dublin to Bern in 1985 in wheelchairs, so we can discount Ray Treacy Travel as some sort of Red Cross cum SAGA Holiday outfit.

I can't agree with you on this, having attended my first away match in 1980 I have rarely ever had problems getting tickets for away games, and cant remember too many away matches that tickets were a problem.

While Ray was expensive he always provided a 5 star service and nothing was a problem for his clients.

I say this and I never went with him but have met many of his regulars over the years. Also as pointed out the Irish Travel agency in Dolier St were official FAI agents until the eaqrly 90s if I remember right and they sold tickets for home games from there offices.