Olympic 2019

[Mike G]

I phoned to enquire why I couldn't find any holidays to Plakias from Gatwick with a transfer. I was told that Olympic will not have any charter flights from Gatwick in 2019 to any airport and will only use carriers such as Thomas Cook and easyJet. With these, Olympic will book a taxi transfer for you but at a price far in excess of the going rate. The only airport with an Olympic charter to Heraklion for 2019 (and thus a coach transfer included) is Manchester.   

I still live in hope that another Tour Operator may start to feature Plakias and offer what Olympic is unwilling to.

[JackieatUrbanAgenda]

Brexit kicking in by any chance ?

[Davos]

Hi.
Have you not tried booking it yourselves?
We  have not used a holiday company for the last 15 years. Cheaper and you get what you want.
Even book our own Plakias based taxi.
Give it a go.

Davos

[Barny]

I've done this for many years, it's ideal, give it a go.
   Barny.

[TonyH]

We have had the same problem with Olympic, no transfers flying from LBA, so we are going independent next year its so easy and works out cheaper should have done it before but better late than never.

[Mike G]

We have had the same problem with Olympic, no transfers flying from LBA, so we are going independent next year its so easy and works out cheaper should have done it before but better late than never.

If you travel as a single it is miles more expensive to book independently, although admittedly there are some advantages with the independent route.

For 2018 I booked 6 months in advance for June with Olympic and paid about £375 with transfers included. Booking independently I would have paid more than this for the accommodation alone.

If I go in 2019 I will have to book the taxi transfer myself which I would be prepared to do to get back to Plakias.

The economics of Olympic vs. independent were debated in length on this forum a few years ago.

[JackieatUrbanAgenda]

Booked from Bristol for Sept 2019 but no transfers (we'll call on Takis for these) and an extra £58 each for hold luggage - so much for a 'package' holiday ! Talking to our travel agents they were hinting that all the holiday firms are worried at the moment so they are withdrawing from anything that might cause them a problem and that includes certain flights, charters, transfers and some accommodation........Brexit has a lot to answer for as I am sure some of the hosts won't trust the UK to honour its commitments post 29th March.

Personally I fully intend to be in Plakias next year even if I have to spend a little more to do it as I have local friends and businesses to support !

[Bertie]

Regarding transfers, what's wrong with the bus? Cheap and reliable.
And as for luggage - it's a beach holiday! What is there to take other than a carry-on case?

[Richard]

I had a look at the Olympic site earlier this year (I think) and the charge for a taxi transfer was easily 50% more than the rate charged by the local firms in Plakias.

Also, even the cost of the 'basic' accommodation seemed to have multiplied.
In response to a previous poster, I like the idea of taking the bus a lot, and making it a part of the holiday, but I'm a little awkward on my feet at the moment, so that's not for everyone.

The last few years we've used BA scheduled flights to Heraklion, but that does get expensive. Luckily I had some airmiles to use, but that won't be the case next year.

I really hope that we can still all get to Plakias. Sorry to be melodramatic, but it would break my heart otherwise.

[Arnaki]

I have been a loyal Olympic customer, ever since Kosmar/Excel sadly went bust.  Flying from Manchester, we've been lucky enough to continue to get transfers when they have been dropped for other airports. However, for 2019 there are no transfers to Plakias from Manchester.  This made me look again at costing up independent travel (which had always been more expensive in the past when you factored in travelling to and from the airport).

So in August, for a bit less than the price for 14 nights with Olympic (including taxis booked locally, not the ridiculous price offered by Olympic), I have booked independently a 17 night holiday flying Jet2 to Chania, two nights in Chania, bus to Sougia for 4 nights and 11 in Plakias (at Manolis), taking the ferry from Sougia to Chora Sfakion and a taxi to Plakias, and taxi from Plakias to the airport at the end. Before you tell me buses are fine and cheaper, I'm disabled and would prefer to make life a bit easier for myself in my advancing years.

If Olympic unravels its package much more, then people will explore other options.  Part of me wants to continue to support them, as Olympic has the small-scale accommodation that others don't, not to mention the lively Les and the lovely Elspeth as recent and current reps.

[triton]

Nice to see Jet2 flying into Chania from Leeds/Bradford next year.
Ok, the flight times are not as good as Ryanair but nearly £200 cheaper !
So there it is-----   bye bye Ryanair and thanks Jet2. Nice to see some competition.

[TonyH]

I understand through a Plakias Facebook page, that Elspeth (Olympic rep) will not be in Plakias next season.  It seems that Olympic have decided that Plakias does not warrant a permanent rep.  The rep service will be handled from the head office Reythimno? And if needed urgently needed customers will have to ring up?  This seems to be a way of cutting costs.  So, what will be next?? A worrying situation.

[JBMouse]

This is the way it is going now, for all tour companies, and especially if you are visiting smaller, more out of the way places. The telephone contact should, hopefully work with Olympic, and you will get to speak to someone in Rethymno, or maybe try Anso travel, as Elspeth did some of her paperwork in there, and they may help in an emergency. Let's hope it doesn't get like Thomas Cook, who have a telephone help line, but this June, when I was questioning the delayed flight from Kalamata, I discovered I was talking to someone on Majorca! Not even in Greece!
Sad to see Elspeth go, let's hope for her sake, that Olympic don't put someone else in Plakias, when Elspeth would obviously have liked to carry on, and put her hard earned local knowledge to use.
We have already booked for next October at KC!!!! (Lesvos in June

[Mike G]

I understand through a Plakias Facebook page, that Elspeth (Olympic rep) will not be in Plakias next season.  It seems that Olympic have decided that Plakias does not warrant a permanent rep.  The rep service will be handled from the head office Reythimno? And if needed urgently needed customers will have to ring up?  This seems to be a way of cutting costs.  So, what will be next?? A worrying situation.

It's true. I quote below what Elspeth told me. So, no rep to show newcomers to their accommodation, rubbish flight times and no transfers from Gatwick. Olympic really knows how to make their clients welcome.

Elspeth told me:

Yes it's true Michael I am sad to say. They are only employing drivers to cover larger areas, and introducing an in-resort app.
I do not know whether it will be appointment service only, or if the Rep will be in Plakias maybe a couple of days a week to see guests.
Perhaps it might work!
As a non-driver I no longer have a job with Olympic as even admin staff (my previous role) need to be drivers!
So if you see me in Plakias I will be there as a holidaymaker not as your Rep....

[Mike G]

The welcome pack Olympic gave me on my arrival at Dora Studios said that the rep service was now described as "Tailor Made" which meant there were no rep visits, no Welcome meeting and if you needed to contact the rep there was a phone no given. If you didn't have a phone I guess it was "tough". Their wording implied this was a big improvement in the service when in fact it is the opposite. Also you were only met at the airport if you had booked the taxi transfer (at, as a previous contributor says, 50% more that the local firms charge). I was fine with all this as have been many times but would not have been if it was my first visit.

I used a local taxi booked online and it worked fine. €110 each way although I was told at least one of the locals was quoting €100. Interestingly the taxi meter read about €170.

My feeling was that there were few LGW Olympic clients there owing to the lack of transfer. Manchester clients had a transfer; whether this continues in 2020 remains to be seen.

The place was  very quiet with only Kri Kri, Gorgona, and to some extent Manousssis (next to Medusa) doing decent trade that |I saw. Far end very quiet, although all the umbrellas were installed.

Annoyingly the winter storms had thrown up a line of stones as you entered the sea for almost the whole of the far end which made getting into the sea difficult for those of a certain age.

I wonder how much longer Olympic will feature Plakias. I'm told Love Holidays go there (and no it isn't a "swingers" holiday company).

Still a great place to be though.