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Messages - Mike G

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31
Holiday Companies / Re: Have Olympic lost the plot
« on: October 26, 2015, 02:44:54 PM »
I put a comment on Olympic's Facebook page about their late start to holidays from Gatwick unless you want to pay for a taxi. I received the following reply.

For the last few years our own ''charter flight'' programme commenced mid -late May. We have always sold holidays that commence earlier in the month (or even in April) by using 3rd party party airlines (Easyjet/ Thomas Cook etc) and combining them with our own accommodation and coach/ taxi transfers. My advice would therefore be to book the holiday without the taxi transfers. By next May, there will be a shuttle bus/ transfer service available at a much lower cost than the taxi fare that you quote above. Any assistance, please call us on 0208 492 6868 and we will also quote the lowest possible cost.

I intend to follow this up with them.

Mike

32
Holiday Companies / Re: Olympic/Germania cancelled flight(s)
« on: August 28, 2015, 02:19:18 PM »
Why not try going independently Mike?
I've been to Plakias a dozen times over the past six years and never travelled with Olympic.
Mainly the cost Bertie. Last time I costed it (admittedly when the £ was a bit weaker against the € last year) it came in at about £900 for 2 weeks independently versus the £340 I paid Olympic. If ever I decided to do as you suggest I would go to my other favourite resort, Tingaki on Kos, which is close to the airport, making a taxi transfer much cheaper.

The difference for couples is less marked but for those going singly it is a massive difference. There was a thread on this forum a few years ago when all the costs of Olympic versus independent were gone into ad infinitum.

33
Holiday Companies / Re: Olympic/Germania cancelled flight(s)
« on: August 27, 2015, 01:41:12 PM »
Following on from this, for 2016 Olympic's Gatwick flights (they did not seem to know if this would be Germania or Small Planet) don't start until May 24, which will be too late for some at it will clash with the schools' half-terms. Bristol and Birmingham flights start earlier. Similarly I think they finish earlier than previous years although I can't give you the exact dates. Similar things are happening with Olympic flights to Kos.

Sadly for Dora and her studios, you can't book before May 24th. Olympic will allow Gatwick travellers to go to other accommodations from May 10th on either Thomas Cook or Thomson flights, but £206 will be added to the basic cost to cover taxi transfers.

I have holidayed in Plakias with Olympic for many years now in the middle two weeks of May and many others have as well and will be as disappointed as I am. I'm sure many with businesses in Plakias supporting the holiday trade would like an extension to the season rather than a reduction.

Olympic has told me that they may reconsider if they get enough requests from people wanting to go earlier. It may also be that Olympic will extend the season through easyJet when their summer schedule is released.

Altogether not good news.


34
Plakias / Re: Taking Currency for holiday
« on: July 28, 2015, 02:00:29 PM »
Where the VAT has increased from 13% to 23% this should result in an 8.8% price increase (i.e. 123 divided by 113). The cynic in me expects that most will round this up rather than down as happened in the UK on decimalisation (for those old enough to remember) and also when the € was introduced.


35
Holiday Companies / Re: Have Olympic lost the plot
« on: July 24, 2015, 02:27:08 PM »
I spoke to Olympic on the phone yesterday re. booking for 2016.

1. The Dora contract currently does not start until May 24th, although some of the properties are available from the 10th. This could change but no guarantees.

2. The Germania daytime flights from Gatwick start on May 24th. If you go before then they will book you Thomas Cook or AN Other but there will be no transfer. They can book this for you at a cost of £103 per journey (even though they would presumably put at least 3 people in it).

3. Going on May 24th would be £120 more than I paid in 2015 for a date that is less attractive to me even though the £ is much stronger against the €.

4. The website booking system is undergoing an upgrade and won't be available until the end of August.

So, with all the problems that the businesses in Plakias have to put up with, Olympic are shortening their season and aren't offering holidays when I and many of my friends of several years standing in Plakias like to go. The good news is that I have £8 in loyalty payment as a reward for 2 Olympic holidays pa for many years.

Mike

36
Gossip / Re: Tourist numbers
« on: June 16, 2015, 12:57:24 PM »
I usually visit in the middle two weeks of May. This year I thought it was as busy as I had seen it at this time of year, including the far end.

A large proportion of Plakias visitors are regulars who are unlikely to be put off by the constant stream of negative comments about Greece in UK media.

37
Plakias / Re: Major fire in Plakias
« on: May 28, 2015, 02:02:56 PM »
I have just returned after 2 weeks in the town. Everything on the sea side of the road from Argo to Ostraco was lost. On May 12 all were open. By about May 20 all had new concrete bases. Muses will in future be slightly narrower and Ostraco slightly wider but there will now be a gap between them. The footprint of the others will be unchanged. The road is now slightly wider.

I was told they hope to complete the rebuilding of some, if not all, by the end of June. I was told the fire was caused by an electrical fault although more than half of those I spoke to believed it was started deliberately. The owner I spoke to had no insurance.

I have to say that if the enterprise, determination to overcome an awful situation, and hard work shown by the owners and staff were replicated over Greece as a whole, then that country would be out of its economic problems very soon.

I hope many will support these businesses through a tragic and difficult time.

Mike

38
Plakias / Re: Taking Currency for holiday
« on: May 06, 2015, 11:03:14 AM »
I have just heard from a friend who is currently on Kos (on the list) who reports that prices are unchanged from last year.

39
Plakias / Re: Taking Currency for holiday
« on: April 28, 2015, 01:16:00 PM »
A salutary warning John. For the first years of my Greek holidays (80s and early 90s) the worry was tensions with Turkey. Nowadays, as you say, it is worry that the financial situation will worsen or that Greece will leave the €, which many think is inevitable with Greek debt being so high.

Personally I never rely on the Plakias ATMs as there have been many posts over the years re. their unreliability.

I wonder if new drachmae have been printed in secret to be used if the worst happens.

Mike

40
Gossip / Re: Cheaper Holidays?
« on: March 03, 2015, 01:15:53 PM »
It might be once you get there, The holiday itself will cost you a lot more if you book now. Olympic are milking the exchange rate this year with their prices. No January sale, and still showing over £700 per head from Leeds Bradford to Kostas in June
That's odd as I'm paying significantly less for both my Olympic holidays this year than last (one to Plakias, one to Tingaki). Knowing when to book to get good prices is becoming increasingly difficult with Olympic.

Mike

41
PlakChat / Re: A very wet start to the year?
« on: February 23, 2015, 02:35:34 PM »
I think I am correct in saying that all parts of Greece have higher annual rainfall than London. It is distributed differently over the year though (i.e. less in summer).

42
Gossip / Re: Far end
« on: February 19, 2015, 09:25:00 AM »
Well it's one way to pass the time whilst we all count down the hrs/days/weeks/months till we enjoy the Plakias sunshine again I suppose!
 I like checking the webcam personally however.
Continue with the riddles and poetry if you must.
And don't forget to put your dates in the calendar folks - that will take a few minutes!!
Whats the local brew in Lesvos by the way (other than the raki)??? Amstel, Mythos, Alpha, Fix
I've been to Greek islands other than Crete many times (including Lesvos) and have never seen "homemade" raki like you get in Crete. In Lesvos you can get tsipouro (see Wikipedia) but it is a commercial product at a similar price to ouzo.

Like you I always check out the webcam. They have had some lovely days but also some dreadful ones this winter.

Mike

43
Where to go / Re: Food For Thought
« on: November 17, 2014, 02:13:27 PM »
Got the times wrong as it's more like one and three quarters of an hour, but this is still well below the three hour journeys many people have in Turkey for instance. Plakias will change, that much is inevitable - I think it was the 1961 census that had five people living there? Hapimag seems quite successful, so it's certainly been done before, but I hope that the rise in tourist numbers would possibly be achieved by turning Greece into a year round destination using the facilities already there. I live in hope.
The Olympic coach seems to average 3 hours approx so I think what you are quoting is a taxi ride or hire car.

Greece will never become an all year round holiday area unless the climate changes radically. Even Rhodes (the driest area of Greece) has much more winter rainfall than SE England where I live, although, of course, it would be rather less cold.

Mike

44
Where to go / Re: Food For Thought
« on: November 11, 2014, 01:43:15 PM »
It's difficult to see where all the people to bring about this expansion are going to come from. Eurozone growth is sluggish and will probably remain so for some time and the increased numbers from eastern Europe are already coming.

It has been said several times on this forum (and I agree) that the distance of Plakias from airports probably stops it becoming over commercialised.

Long may Plakias remain as it is!.

Mike

45
Where to eat...or not! / Re: Gorgona
« on: October 17, 2014, 02:38:56 PM »
I think most people agree that the general standard of food is very good in Plakias tavernas, the portions are large, and the prices reasonable. In fact, bearing in mind how much more expensive food in the supermarkets is than in the UK, I don't know how they do it for the price.

Mike

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