Olympic 2018

[TonyH]

Having had to miss our Plakias fix last year,  (due to a tour around Italy)  We have rectified this for 2018.  The special offers from Olympic can be quite good.  So we will return in September flying from Manchester as Olympic seem to have a problem with LBA.  Also new for this year is yet another airline, Air France are the carrier for some flights to Heraklion.  Will be different, possibly moules and frites?? on board. well I can live in hope.
Looking forward to meeting old friends and seeing what is new.

Yammas

Tony

[JBMouse]

Olympic did their '12 islands of Christmas' again this year, so, not wanting to disappoint them, I shook their hand before they sobered up and clinched a great deal to KC for 10 days in October again!
We will be off to Finikounda in the Peloponese in June for the firat time, but will be on the lookout for a bargain deal to Plakias any other time.
Can't wait to get back to Greece, and Plakias especially.

[Noopsy]

Also new for this year is yet another airline, Air France are the carrier for some flights to Heraklion.  Will be different, possibly moules and frites?? on board. well I can live in hope.

Yammas

Tony

Ooooooooo!  Are they flying from Heathrow by any chance?

Noopsy

[Arnaki]

It isn't Air France - it is a charter company ASL France.  My daughter flew with them last year from Manchester to Plakias with no concerns. 

[Mike G]

Olympic did their '12 islands of Christmas' again this year, so, not wanting to disappoint them, I shook their hand before they sobered up and clinched a great deal to KC for 10 days in October again!
We will be off to Finikounda in the Peloponese in June for the firat time, but will be on the lookout for a bargain deal to Plakias any other time.
Can't wait to get back to Greece, and Plakias especially.

I too took advantage of the seasonal offers and booked on Christmas Day. For many years Olympic's Gatwick to Heraklion charter has been on a Tuesday, leaving at around 9am. This year it is a Sat leaving after 3pm (and returning after midnight). Whereas previously I have been in Plakias in either the middle two weeks of May or the last two, I found that the first date that the charter ran was June 2.

Out of curiosity yesterday I checked  to see if the dates had been extended but could find no Olympic charter flights from LGW. On inquiring I was told that they had all sold out as they have had several group bookings.

While only the charter flights come with a transfer, they do offer transfers at extra cost for all the other flights. These are at minimal cost for north coast resorts near Heraklion, but for Plakias they offer a taxi at well over £100 per journey.

Unless Olympic put on extra charter flights a lot of customers wanting to come from LGW will be disappointed.

One good piece of news is that Olympic has increased the "free" luggage allowance to 20 kg on the charter flights, presumably because most, if not all, of the other carriers they use offer 20 kg.

[JackieatUrbanAgenda]

I was checking yesterday.....LGW to Heraklion all 'sold out' (adding a premium to the costs for a different airline) plus no transfers so an additional £292 for that....plus the £180 odd to get from Plymouth to Gatwick making our precious holiday look as though it wasn't going to happen ! Was told it would be on Easy Jet (not my preferred airline) and that there might even be an additional problem with matching the flights, the routes and access to Costa Chrysoulas (how the &^%$ does that happen ?)

Then tried Bristol (cheaper and easier for us) and found a solution as they now fly to Heraklion as well (didn't know that)...so considering that...a bit later than we had hoped but not too far out of our time and price range.

I cannot believe the Olympic attitude. If I ran my business like that I'd be in all sorts of problems. Whatever happened to customer service ? No wonder people moan about holiday companies ! (Sorry Elspeth ...not your fault !).

[Mike G]

I had a call from Olympic today informing me that the Enter Air charter was cancelled and would I accept a Thomas Cook flight a day earlier with similar flight times and a transfer still included.

My room will be still be available on arrival, although quite how this will work out I'm not sure.

Seeing as the EA flight was virtually full they must be distributing the passengers between any carriers they can find.

All adds to the general air of shambles at Olympic.

[Richard]

I had a look at Olympic a few weeks ago, can't remember which airline was on offer but the transfer was a taxi, costing, from memory, GBP150, each way, with no alternative. I booked a BA flight in the end.

I've made my own arrangements in recent years, having been completely hacked off by Olympic's couldn't give a sh#t attitude. It's possible to book a taxi for around 30% less than that - I've used Zak in Plakias and he'll do the trip for EUR105

Are Olympic laying on the 'magical mystery tour' coach transfer again? I don't trust them one little inch either way. Guides who get lost at three in the morning, flights cancelled or delayed at absurdly short notice, etc. I know that it's business and they have the market pretty much cornered, but I don't have to like it.

Rant over.

I suppose that I should try enjoy Plakias, without worrying about these people.

Cheers, Richard

[JackieatUrbanAgenda]

Couldn't find anything with transfers included this year so have decided to use the local services with Takis. We'll get there quicker at least.

I am still expecting my flights from Bristol to be changed - mainly because they are currently extremely convenient times and Olympic always seem to change them at least twice for less convenient times. Still have saved on getting from Plymouth to Gatwick (now a £50 return to Bristol on a luxury coach rather than £180 ish on a crowded train.

Getting there should be stress free and part of the service so not sure which school of tourism Olympic subscribe to as they never seem to get it right.

[conway s]

my wife and I will be arriving on the 10th April don't get in till 2000hrs. I have hired a car which we always do even for the 3 weeks we will be there it is cheaper than a taxi both ways. A friend of ours Barney from Dublin goes to Heraklion for the night and gets on the local bus to Rethymnon and then to Plakias. Last year at same time Olympic didn't even let Dora at her studios know about us coming. We wont arrive in Plakias until late evening this time we are waiting for a right palaver. Hey ho   Olympic wont care.

[Mike G]

I had a look at Olympic a few weeks ago, can't remember which airline was on offer but the transfer was a taxi, costing, from memory, GBP150, each way, with no alternative. I booked a BA flight in the end.

I've made my own arrangements in recent years, having been completely hacked off by Olympic's couldn't give a sh#t attitude. It's possible to book a taxi for around 30% less than that - I've used Zak in Plakias and he'll do the trip for EUR105

Are Olympic laying on the 'magical mystery tour' coach transfer again? I don't trust them one little inch either way. Guides who get lost at three in the morning, flights cancelled or delayed at absurdly short notice, etc. I know that it's business and they have the market pretty much cornered, but I don't have to like it.

Rant over.

I suppose that I should try enjoy Plakias, without worrying about these people.

Cheers, Richard

Much to agree with in your "rant".

Following my flight being changed to Thomas Cook, out of interest I went on to the TC website to see how much they were currently selling my flight for. When I had made all the necessary additions for things like baggage the cost was only about £50 less than my Olympic cost.

The only reason anybody sticks with Olympic is that they can undercut the "independent" route, massively so if you are travelling singly. As you say, you have to be able to put up with the "Magical Mystery Tour" as well.

[Richard]

Thank you, Mike, for your reply.

The thing that really upset me was seeing very elderly people (I'm no spring chicken, but...) 'discharged', like cattle, at Gatwick at 00:30-ish, rather than mid-afternoon, and just told to get on with it. Many of them couldn't walk easily. No trains running at that time of night, no assistance from Olympic staff, what do you do? We're lucky enough to live relatively close to Gatwick, although it did incur an extra day's parking charge.

I wonder what happened to the rest? Olympic had had their money so I don't suppose that they didn't give a you know what.

I travel a lot with work, and when I had a dicky foot at Indianapolis, and then Chicago, airports, the security people couldn't have been kinder. I was trying to use my bag as a crutch - didn't want to make a fuss - but they wouldn't have any of it. They put me in an electric car and sped me through security, and ensured that BA did the same at Heathrow. What a difference from Olympic.

I know that life isn't fair, but deliberate, pre-meditated, unfairness makes my blood boil.

Richard

[Mike G]

Does anyone know if Elspeth is the Olympic rep this year? I thought she was excellent last year.

[JackieatUrbanAgenda]

Yes Mike G ...Elspeth will be there this year.Really looking forward to seeing her again.

[Mike G]

I wonder how many Olympic clients are coming from Gatwick this year as there is no Olympic charter flight from there.