Travel City Direct or Book Seperately

[angel659]

Hi

Having a bit a problem about booking our October 2005 holiday.

We have had a quote for Port Orleans for 14 nights including car
£3749.00

To book it seperataly on this years prices as we can not get
scheduled prices yet is £2510.50 for BA (16 nights)

or a charter flight for next year £2275.00.

All Star Movies £784.00 14 nights
All Star Movies £896.00 16 nights

Now the problem is it will be term time that we will need to go for and we do not have the funds to book a flight yet. We need to pay it all upfront and we dont have the means yet.

We have never flown with Travel City Direct only Thomson, My Travel or Thomas Cook.

What are they like? Do they have seat back TV's on all seats? We can not upgrade as children are too young?

My hubby has a fear of flighing anyway and wanted to go with BA or Virgin for seatback TV's.

I am so worried it will get all booked up, at the same time dont want to miss out on BA when it seems to be only a couple of hundred pounds more and the flight must be better coz its BA.

Advice needed thanks.

Regards
Michelle

:thewave: :thewave: :thewave: :thewave:

 

[rhysd2]

im actually flying with travel city for the first time october 30th. they sent me a whole bunch of blurb when i first booked. they actually have their own fleet of jumbos now which should be nice. from what i understand theres 1 inch room all around more than virgins standard seats. seatback tv's as standard etc

it looks very nice. give em a call im sure they will be happy to impart info. they were amazing when i booked. i was going to go to the wyndham on I-Drive and the guy asked why then commented there was a better hotel close by for a cheaper price. saved me £400. and it does look like a nicer hotel!

didnt have to pay upfront either. £220 deposit and rest X number of weeks before the holiday.

**edit** heres the blurb from their site

introducing TRAVEL CITY DIRECT FLIGHTS!
From May 2004 in addition to our current Air Atlanta Europe 747 flight’s Travel City Direct will commence flying with our own branded 747 jumbo jet services to Florida. Travel City Direct flights will still offer our renowned ‘Sunshine Economy Cabin’ but will have the additional benefit of leather seats in all cabins, new menu’s and complementary news paper before take off.

Flying our Jumbo!
Travel City Direct 747 jumbo jet services offer you comfortable seating with a minimum 32 inch seat pitch as standard, That’s as good as you’ll find on many scheduled flights including those flights from World famous airlines such as British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, and a lot more generous than the 29 inch industry average seat pitch found on most other charter airlines to Florida.

When you choose to fly on Travel City Directs own 747 jumbo jet service or Air Atlanta Europe 747 Jumbo service you can be rest assured you will be looked after by friendly experienced cabin crew who will be only too happy to make your flight a more memorable one!

I'm FREE!.
Items which have also been taken out or charged extra for on most other charter and low cost airlines these day's are still FREE when you choose to fly on Travel City Direct Flight’s or Air Atlanta Europe 747 services, Saving you even more money! All you have to do is sit back, relax and enjoy all the benefits below.

•FREE Alcoholic & Soft Drinks
•FREE Meals
•FREE Headsets
•FREE in-flight Entertainment

 

[allie5]

Hiya Michelle

I went through this a few months ago when I booked for next October 05. TCD sent a brochure and the prices seemed very good...Animal Kingdom Lodge for £554 for 2 weeks! Anyway, when I got the quote they were only £100 cheaper than the quote I had with Virgin!! I picked the Virgin quote as we are Frequent Virgins we get free upgrade on the car which is worth it for us. The point Im making is that it is possible to get cheaper packages, even from the big guns.

That quote for Port Orleans sounds too much. I got 2 weeks at AKL for less than that (Oct 14th-28th) flying Virgin, with car hire and all insurances, 2 adults 2 kids..£3480. That was booked direct with Virgin Holidays....something I rarely do as I usually find a better deal elsewhere!

It IS cheaper to book DIY, but as you know you have to pay most of the costs up front. To guarantee those half term dates, I think you will have to buy a package. Dont rule out the high st Travel Agents when booking this far ahead. They are desperate for business, so play them all off against each other, as they all offer price matches. Spend an afternoon shopping around and see what they turn up. Also, have you tried Bon Voyage travel? They offer good deals on Virgin fly drives and I THINK you only need pay a deposit. www.bon-voyage.co.uk

As far as the flight goes, Im also not a good flyer and I have flown with lots of the transatlantic carriers over the years (Virgin, BA, Travel City, My Travel etc). I dont really rate any of them as far superior to any of the others. In fact, the best flight I had was probably with My Travel who had a lovely new plane, with every gadget known to man at your disposal! Even Travel City's new planes have seat back TVs so dont fret too much about that.

Hope you get something sorted.
Allie

 

[angel659]

Hi

Thanks for the advice.

I forgot to mention that it will be 2 adults and 3 children going.

Will have a look on Bon Voyage when the boys go for thier afternoon nap.

Thanks again,

Michelle

 

[DisneyBB]

Also try Funways, we booked with them next year and the fly drives were a really good price.

 

[juliebro]

If you want scheduled flights, try www.airline-network.co.uk

We have booked with them for next Easter - flights with BMI - stopover in Washington DC - car hire - and only had to pay a deposit.

Previously we used Expedia but had to pay upfront.

Julie

 

[lisagirlyUK]

Hi,
from my own personal experience recently, I wouldn't fly with Travel City Direct. Both our flights were on their Air Atlanta planes - and both were heavily delayed due to technical faults. You get one screen at the front of the cabin so it depends on where you sit if you can watch the movies. The food was okay - nothing special, but they advertise free food, drink and entertainment - well on both flights it was a feat in itself trying to get hold of a steward for us to get a drink! Plus on the flight home, there was no entertainment - when my husband asked for some headphones to listen to some music, the air steward said that they do not provide entertainment on their overnight flights as they presume everyone would be asleep!!

If I go back to Florida again, I think I would go with Virgin

Hope this helps

 

[angel659]

Hi

Thanks for all your input it has really helped.

We have decided to still book it seperately and look out for some cheap flights or somewhere that will offer us a deposit based flight. We want to fly with BA or Virgin. They offer better children changing facilities. We are taking 23 month old twin boys aswell as a 5 yr old. We are brave lol......

Thanks again

If you see any other websites, please let me know.

Thanks

Michelle

 

[poet123]

just an idea which you may/may not like.... we managed to save over £1500 by booking and paying upfront with Virgin Atlantic for july 2005 flights. We did have the money available but if we had not I would have considered a nil interest CC with the longest period available (Barclays is doing 14 months ) and used that to take advantage of the lower prices.
If you want a contact name for VA pm me
Just an thought.....

 

[juliebro]

Michelle,

Don't rule out the other scheduled airlines. We've flown with US Airways three times and they were excellent. Trying BMI next March after good feedback on these boards.

Not everyone rates Virgin and BA as the best.

Julie

 

[angel659]

Hi

Just been looking around. Now thinking a fly drive with Virgin so we can get book it at a deposit based.

The flights are around £2300 for 2 adults and 3 children.

Thanks again for you help

Regards
Michelle

:space:

 

[poet123]

Michelle ,
the flights we have booked with VA direct were £1950 same fkights with virgin holidays fly drive £2,600, it is worth checking out