Plakias Forums
Plakias => PlakChat => Topic started by: Alex&fran G on January 08, 2007, 12:27:24 PM
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Hi All, I am just about to book for August I wondered if anyone knew of any special flight deals on at the moment. Regards Alex G
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Hi All, I am just about to book for August I wondered if anyone knew of any special flight deals on at the moment. Regards Alex G
Yep, me too. If I get there this year, it will be privately!!
Nothing wrong with the holiday companies, but if you are a single, your very limited and it's expensive!
george g...
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Yep, me too. If I get there this year, it will be privately!!
Nothing wrong with the holiday companies, but if you are a single, your very limited and it's expensive!
george g...
Hello George,
Best of luck with this. If you manage to get a deal that, even with the ca. £100 return taxi fare to and from the airport, is cheaper I'll be interested to hear about it. I think Olympic are much better for accommodating singles than Kosmar.
Mike
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Yep, me too. If I get there this year, it will be privately!!
Nothing wrong with the holiday companies, but if you are a single, your very limited and it's expensive!
george g...
Hello George,
Best of luck with this. If you manage to get a deal that, even with the ca. £100 return taxi fare to and from the airport, is cheaper I'll be interested to hear about it. I think Olympic are much better for accommodating singles than Kosmar.
Mike
Hi Mike
I always hire a car for about 10-12 days when I'm there so I'd get one delivered to the airport. An extra couple of days aren't going to break me.
Agree about Olympic, as I said there's nothong, whoops, last year on the beach came to mind then, nothing wrong with the holiday companies, Olympic have been good, but the supplements are always there, and Kosmar won't even consider a long term single booking, I've already called them.
If you want to go tomorrow your in basically.
Got some good room prices though, 38 euros for a double with no under occupancy charges or a single for 30 euros. When I've booked it I'll let you all know. .
Tend to find that it's cheaper to fly from Gatwick to Chania than Heraklion, average is about £20 difference.
I'm still looking
george g...
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Hi All, I am just about to book for August I wondered if anyone knew of any special flight deals on at the moment. Regards Alex G
If it is just a flight that you want then try British Airways here http://www.britishairways.com/travel/home/public/en_gb (http://www.britishairways.com/travel/home/public/en_gb)
We have just booked to fly from Manchester on 15th May to 15th June for £139.30 return each........very good value . It is cheaper still from Gatwick
John
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Hi All, I am just about to book for August I wondered if anyone knew of any special flight deals on at the moment. Regards Alex G
If it is just a flight that you want then try British Airways here [url]http://www.britishairways.com/travel/home/public/en_gb[/url] ([url]http://www.britishairways.com/travel/home/public/en_gb[/url])
We have just booked to fly from Manchester on 15th May to 15th June for £139.30 return each........very good value . It is cheaper still from Gatwick
John
Thanks John
£245 return incl. in August, best one so far.
It's the first time I've done this, I'm usually a lazy B****** and leave it all to the holiday companies.
But being a single I'm getting a bit peeved at paying all the excesses.
Thanks again
george g...
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Hi All, I am just about to book for August I wondered if anyone knew of any special flight deals on at the moment. Regards Alex G
If it is just a flight that you want then try British Airways here [url]http://www.britishairways.com/travel/home/public/en_gb[/url] ([url]http://www.britishairways.com/travel/home/public/en_gb[/url])
We have just booked to fly from Manchester on 15th May to 15th June for £139.30 return each........very good value . It is cheaper still from Gatwick
John
Thanks John
£245 return incl. in August, best one so far.
It's the first time I've done this, I'm usually a lazy B****** and leave it all to the holiday companies.
But being a single I'm getting a bit peeved at paying all the excesses.
Thanks again
george g...
I am astonished at the vast difference in the cost of flights for August. We are going to Plakias again on 5th September for a month when the cost of a return flight drops to a more reasonable £155. I can well understand your frustration about all the single supplements.....it is so unfair. We used to go to Plakias with First Choice but always dreaded the bus transfer from the airport. We took the plunge a few years back and booked the flight ourselves and now would not have it any other way especially when we can extend our stay .
John
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Hi All, I am just about to book for August I wondered if anyone knew of any special flight deals on at the moment. Regards Alex G
If it is just a flight that you want then try British Airways here [url]http://www.britishairways.com/travel/home/public/en_gb[/url] ([url]http://www.britishairways.com/travel/home/public/en_gb[/url])
We have just booked to fly from Manchester on 15th May to 15th June for £139.30 return each........very good value . It is cheaper still from Gatwick
John
Thanks John
£245 return incl. in August, best one so far.
It's the first time I've done this, I'm usually a lazy B****** and leave it all to the holiday companies.
But being a single I'm getting a bit peeved at paying all the excesses.
Thanks again
george g...
I am astonished at the vast difference in the cost of flights for August. We are going to Plakias again on 5th September for a month when the cost of a return flight drops to a more reasonable £155. I can well understand your frustration about all the single supplements.....it is so unfair. We used to go to Plakias with First Choice but always dreaded the bus transfer from the airport. We took the plunge a few years back and booked the flight ourselves and now would not have it any other way especially when we can extend our stay .
John
Hi John, I tried B.A for August it would cost me £198 from Manchester, as it happens I can fly from Glasgow with XL for £240,so taking into account my drive from Dunkeld to Manchester approx 300 miles it is probably about the same with petrol costs etc, so up to now XL seems my best option unless anyone comes up with something better tonight. thanks to everyone for your help. Alex
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Yep, me too. If I get there this year, it will be privately!!
Nothing wrong with the holiday companies, but if you are a single, your very limited and it's expensive!
george g...
Hello George,
Best of luck with this. If you manage to get a deal that, even with the ca. £100 return taxi fare to and from the airport, is cheaper I'll be interested to hear about it. I think Olympic are much better for accommodating singles than Kosmar.
Mike
Hi Mike
I always hire a car for about 10-12 days when I'm there so I'd get one delivered to the airport. An extra couple of days aren't going to break me.
Agree about Olympic, as I said there's nothong, whoops, last year on the beach came to mind then, nothing wrong with the holiday companies, Olympic have been good, but the supplements are always there, and Kosmar won't even consider a long term single booking, I've already called them.
If you want to go tomorrow your in basically.
Got some good room prices though, 38 euros for a double with no under occupancy charges or a single for 30 euros. When I've booked it I'll let you all know. .
Tend to find that it's cheaper to fly from Gatwick to Chania than Heraklion, average is about £20 difference.
I'm still looking
george g...
Hi George,Well thats me booked I got the 10th August flying with XL from Glasgow at £240, and booked in with Marcus at Stella Studios at 25 euros a night including breakfast, and my taxi with Zak for 70 euros
hope you get yourself sorted. Regards Alex G
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If you live anywhere near Gatwick or Manchester then BA is by far the cheapest. We booked ours with BA in early Jan 2007 for Manchester (we have to drive from Coventry) and peak season is £210 return per person.
Cheapest other carriers are a minimum of £60-£70 more for the same period.
It is cheaper to park the car at Manchester £64 for two weeks than Gatwick (twice the price).
Steve
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If you live anywhere near Gatwick or Manchester then BA is by far the cheapest. We booked ours with BA in early Jan 2007 for Manchester (we have to drive from Coventry) and peak season is £210 return per person.
Cheapest other carriers are a minimum of £60-£70 more for the same period.
It is cheaper to park the car at Manchester £64 for two weeks than Gatwick (twice the price).
Steve
BA are not only cheaper Steve but you get extra leg room...very important if you are 6ft and above like me.
Also if you collect Tesco clubcard vouchers you can redeem these for 4 times their face value to use as car parking at most airports. I have just redeemed £30 in vouchers and have obtained 31 days airport car parking for our holiday in May/June.
John
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BA are not only cheaper Steve but you get extra leg room...very important if you are 6ft and above like me.
Also if you collect Tesco clubcard vouchers you can redeem these for 4 times their face value to use as car parking at most airports. I have just redeemed £30 in vouchers and have obtained 31 days airport car parking for our holiday in May/June.
John
I have used the Tesco clubcard voucher scheme for parking (Gatwick) and it is excellent, although a bit cumbersome to book. Unfortunately the Tesco website now says that you have to exchange the Tesco vouchers for parking tokens and booked it by the end of April, which presumably means Tesco is pulling out of the scheme. That is disappointing if true.
Click here (http://www.tesco.com/clubcard/deals/search.aspx?Ntt=purple+parking&VSI=17&Ntk=primary&Nty=1&Ntx=mode%2Bmatchall)
Mike
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I have used the Tesco clubcard voucher scheme for parking (Gatwick) and it is excellent, although a bit cumbersome to book. Unfortunately the Tesco website now says that you have to exchange the Tesco vouchers for parking tokens and booked it by the end of April, which presumably means Tesco is pulling out of the scheme. That is disappointing if true.
Mike
That looks very disappointing. I've taken advantage of this offer for some years now. Looks as if this year will be the last. It also puts a different complexion on our use of cheap BA flights from Manchester if next year we have to "pay" for parking there. Our neighbours will take us for free to/from our local airport at Newcastle.
John R
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We have just booked our flights with BA from Gatwick and although not as cheap as they were at the beginning of Jan they are still £100 cheaper than First Choice who we normally book with. They fly at the same time i.e. 7.15am so we are in the resort by mid afternoon. This gives us plenty of time to unpack, stock up on essentials and have that longed for first beer
Susan
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i wish i could get these cheap BA flights, the best i could do for may was around £550 for the pair of us and the flight times were awful
as usual i've gone for a package deal ( with Olympic) , with good flights and a base for 14 nights. I have also booked my car through them as well, as it was cheaper than holiday autos
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We have gone back to Olympic this year, with decent flight times and we are able to fly from our region, B.A.
just did not come up with good flight times and a long drag to Gatwick!
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We have gone back to Olympic this year, with decent flight times and we are able to fly from our region, B.A.
just did not come up with good flight times and a long drag to Gatwick!
For anyone who hasn't come across them we have found some good deals with
http://www.travelrepublic.co.uk/ (http://www.travelrepublic.co.uk/) over the last few years.
Stuart.
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We have gone back to Olympic this year, with decent flight times and we are able to fly from our region, B.A.
just did not come up with good flight times and a long drag to Gatwick!
If you have the good fortune to live in Scotia, flights to Iraklio and Chania are MUCH more expensive than flying from Mchr/Gtw/Luton etc but we did get a reasonable flight from Glasgow for 3 weeks from 12th June to Iraklio until I start adding in the privilege of a seat next to my Partner, a meal, and for a bloke 6'4" with a Partner blonde bright and 5' Perfect" still recovering from a head on RTA we had in 2004, extra leg room, I guess we will be paying c.£ 600 with XL.com from Glasgow. Small price though for the pleasures of Crete.
BUT, the developments in Plakias in front of the villa we have taken for the last few years have prompted us to look for pastures new. We both LOVE Plakias but there are areas we haven't formed connections with which may? fill the void of a departure from Plakias at least for 2007 while we test the waters! We always spend part of the holiday exploring anyway but now, gorge walking gives way to chilling out by the pool on beaches like Shinaria, Ag Pavlos, Likres etc. although Ag. Pavlos is a challenge too far for now! and just watching the world go by over an ouzo or a "a sex on the beach" watching the sun set ovr Plakias Bay.
So wonderful Plakiots (?), and Plakiotophiles, while recovering from a bout of flu which poleaxed me for the first time since a serious illness in 1991, I spent the miserable days planning our 2007 break and now, we are in a villa near Kalives on the North coast for a week and a villa near Ag. Galini for a couple of weeks for the rest of our 2007 visit . But, I'll miss Plakias big time! My heart's still there.
Incredibly though, three weeks accommodation in private villas with pools in 2007 rented direct from owners will cost less than we paid for one week's villa rental in Plakis/Lefkogia via an agency in 2006!
So while the developments will not affect the spirit of Plakias for newcomers, it has steered us away to look at other areas of Crete where one day we may put down some roots.
Best wishes for a happy and prosperous future and a fantastic 2007 from Maree and me
Doggie
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i wish i could get these cheap BA flights, the best i could do for may was around £550 for the pair of us and the flight times were awful
as usual i've gone for a package deal ( with Olympic) , with good flights and a base for 14 nights. I have also booked my car through them as well, as it was cheaper than holiday autos
I've just had a look at the BA flights from Manchester on your dates and they now come to £397. The Tuesday you return seems to be expensive (well booked ??) as it is nearly double their other Tuesday return fight costs (previous and next Tuesdays) so you just seem to be unlucky on that one Tuesday you return. Any other pairs of Tuesdays would have cost you only £263 or to stay say for one week longer would have been £263. That is £263 for both of you - not each. A cost of £550 for BA flights from Manchester seemed very steep out of season
John R
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as you say John, it was the return flight that was the trouble, on our systems we can see it was close to being closed and i had to make a choice, we also looked at travelling at the weekend but again it just didn't make sense also we need the bank holiday to stretch out our weeks
two other things came into my thinking, first was the cost of accomodation, if we booked flight only, we would have to pay as and where we stayed, ( not the cheapest way of doing it) and working within our budget it would be tight. the other was the times of the flight, arriving so late in heraklion would have meant a night drive to Plakias ( or where ever) with the chance of delays etc, that would have started the holiday with stress that i don't need! then a night flight back..
as it stands now, i've used 2/3rds of our budget for flights, accomodation and car hire... so i'm happy with that, but mandy will be working some overtime before May
Doggie!
sorry to hear of your misfortunes and i hope you and Maree will both will enjoy Kalives, i still remember your story about your steaks and midnight swim!!! tell us about it when you return
cheers
chris
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as you say John, it was the return flight that was the trouble, on our systems we can see it was close to being closed and i had to make a choice, we also looked at travelling at the weekend but again it just didn't make sense also we need the bank holiday to stretch out our weeks
two other things came into my thinking, first was the cost of accomodation, if we booked flight only, we would have to pay as and where we stayed,
I had forgotten about the bank holiday - which will be the reason for that high return price. I do agree that even with BA at it's cheapest it is more expensive to take a standard break going independent that with a well managed / negotiated package deal - at least at the times we go. Many of our mutual friends who come at the same time as us had spent less with Olympic or Kosmar. When I used to go with packages many people told me it was more expensive to do it that way. My third time this year going independent tells me otherwise.
Re driving from Heraklion at night. Last year we set off from there at about 10:00pm and found it quite advantagious in that there was zero traffic over the whole route and had a wonderful journey. That bit was in fact a major plus.
This year we will be driving at night (late evening) from Chania - anybody any good directions from Chania airport to the main east / west highway for strangers in the dark ??
Joihn R
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roughly...
out of the airport gates to a small junction and it's left there ( sign-posted Xania, but don't follow anymore)
you pretty much follow the road but IIRC there's a left turn that leads you down towards Souda, what you don't want to do is follow any Xania signs after that, look for Rethymo. you get to the Souda Junction, and you're on the national road
someone else may want to look at this as it's been a few years since i've flown in to Chq
btw it's not the driving at night that bothered me, it was arriving at the accommodation in the middle of the night
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btw it's not the driving at night that bothered me, it was arriving at the accommodation in the middle of the night
Thanks for the directions - will note and further investigate.
If booked at Stella then arriving in the middle of the night poses no problems. We were greeted even after midnight and they reliably leave the keys in the door if very late. See your point though if you haven't been to the accommodation before and don't know your way around. We know Stella very well and can grope around in the dark with remarkable success
John
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we are in a villa near Kalives on the North coast for a week
Doggie
I think you will like Kalives although it doesn't have a decent "far-enders" beach. It has decent tavernas. If that English couple are still doing their free guided walks around the area they are really worth it.
Mike
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We know Stella very well and can grope around in the dark with remarkable success
John
please don't rise to him........ it just not worth it
just had a look at the map and i'm reasonably happy with my description
We have gone back to Olympic this year, with decent flight times and we are able to fly from our region, B.A.
just did not come up with good flight times and a long drag to Gatwick!
where and when are you staying Daisy?
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the left turn, probably better described as a fork is around number 3 marker, if you don't take that, you'll end up in Xania
Thanks very much for all that effort - will study carefully. Pity that in car Satnav maps are not available for Crete !!
John
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no problem, as i remember the roads are all have lights and are reasonably good ( for Crete)
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Well done Chris, got the big 1000 at last!!
george g...
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Well done Chris, got the big 1000 at last!!
george g...
and about 50 made sense!
here's me celebrating
(http://harribobs.smugmug.com/photos/72662059-M.jpg)