Hi all. Agree that "Add ons" are a great idea. It may be that you want to extend a tour to go to more places or indeed another country or at the end of a very busy tour just having a few days by the beach etc would be nice.

Maggie

Hi Mick,

I did Canyons, Parks and Little Big Horn a few years ago and by the time we got to Vegas I was ready for home, 1 night was enough, its a great tour and you will probably be glad of only 1 night, but who knows.

I agree with you about Alcatraz it should be added as an optional tour and I would appreciate any feed back you have on Route 66 as that is one tour I want to do and soon.

Martin

Must agree i think some of the long haul are a bit short in length, when you consider the amount of time travelling.

I've done 3 long haul with JY (All to America) and this is my thoughts on them trips :-

Americas Golden West (12days, 10 nights) - An extra day/nght in San Francisco would be good, could include Alcatraz as an optional tour as most people seem to want to do this.

Parks & Canyons (10days, 8 nights) - Definately needs a couple of extra nights probably around Zion/Bryce/Grand Canyon.

Route 66 (16days, 14nights) - Probably long enough for most people but i'd have liked an extra day in Chicago.

Later this year I'm doing the longer Parks & Canyons (mount rushmore & little big horn) and its long 17 days, 15 nights but I'm slightly dissapointed we finish with only one night in Vegas, perhaps this would be ideal for a optional extension.

Hi Stuart,

if you read my reply again you'll see that I said that companies such as those often use basic accomodation, not always! I've had a good look at their websites and the set up doesn't really appeal to me. Also on the Wanderlust forum I did a search for "best safari companies" and there were quite a number of comments from users criticising both Exodus and Explore regarding poor tour managers and disappointing safaris. I suppose it's like looking at TripAdvisor, there will always be differing views on the same experiences!

All the best,

Bob

All I want to add is everyone has a choice with whom they travel. If they feel other companies are cheaper and better then there is nothing to stop them booking a holiday with that company! Every one has different opinions and experiences.

Regards

Jaya

Bob

I surprised to see your comment that the likes of Explore, Exodus & The Adventure Companies offer only basic accommodation.

If you look at their websites, you'll see that for any particular type of holiday, say wildlife holidays in Africa, they offer a big range of holiday accommodation/prices for the same country. Thus you can do a very low price holiday using campsites, or go to the other extreme and stay in up very market accommodation located in the National Parks, including things like an allocated butler/staff member to each room, Also there is a lot of choice at either end of the accommodation scale plus range of dates, much more so that JY or Travelsphere.

In my experience they also tend to have smaller groups than JY, which with holidays like this is clearly an advantage.

I'm sure as you say, that you get what you pay for, but personally I think JY holidays are becoming very expensive for what you get, and I feel that unless they are careful, they will only appeal to a tiny part of the potential market that can afford the prices, and isn't restricted by annual leave limits.

If you look at the JY holidays that have been discontinued over the last couple of years, it's isn't those at the cheaper/shorter end, and while I accept there can be factors other than lack of demand, I suspect this is by far the biggest factor in stopping particlar holidays.

Stuart

Hello everybody

I have read all the comments with great interest. I think the best option is to offer an 'add on' as an option, then it is up to the individual as to whether or not to take up the offer. Sometimes it is nice to have a couple of extra days at the end of the tour to sit back and relax before coming back. I took up the add on option when I went to Jordan and am glad I did. We had 3 days to relax at the Dead Sea Marriott and it was wonderful - swim, use the jacuzzi, steam room, sauna (these were all free) and to have a couple of treatments at an extra cost but well worth it. I was also going to take up the add on offer for Sharm el Sheikh at the end of the Nile Cruise in April which unfortunately I had to cancel. Sincerely hope this will still be on offer when I am able to rebook. Add ons are the best option as it gives people a choice. Personally I would not mind if the main tours are also extended by a couple of days so you can do the excursions at a bit of relaxed pace instead of having a hectic itinerary.

Jaya

Hi I think that with a lot of those other holiday companies like Explore, Exodus etc who offer mainly activity holidays, the accomodation is often VERY basic and they regularly use public transport or other lower grade coaches etc. At the end of the day, you get what you pay for....

Cheers,

Bob

The add on option to have a few days to relax after a hectic tour is good and it still gives you the option to go exploring on your own if you don't want to sit on a beach every day, I did the add on in Malaysia and wished I had chosen that option in Kenya

Ben/Will

An interesting debate.

Personally I feel that a lot of the long haul holidays have become so expensive, that if they were to be any longer, and thus more expensive, they would appeal to only a very, very tiny minority of people who are able to spend £4/5,000 plus on a single holiday, and do so every year, or even more frequently.

As has been suggested above it may be possible to offer more add-ons to existing holidays, but the issue with this is exactly what these involve in terms of planned activities, availbility of a Tour Manager etc, Also the more that this part of the holiday is organised for you, the more expensive it becomes, so that we rapidly would reach in excess of £1500 or so per week, especially one assumes, if only a small number of people booked the add on.

Because JY offer a certain amount of flexibility on flights, it's possible to stay on in a location if people wish to do so. This is of course, without a Tour Manager, and "under your own steam", but even a single room/food in a big city is not cheap. It may be possible to offer more flexibilty around the planned holiday, but JY have gone away from this recently by no longer offering "land only" prices, interestingly an option many of their competitors still offer.

When looking at holidays, I tend to look not only at companies like JY and Solos, but also at the numerous activity based holidays, or interest based holidays, which by their nature attract a high percentage of single people, and in some cases make certain dates singles only. I have to say that such holidays are often substantially cheaper than JY, and in many cases, don't offer any less meals/included activities, or use cheaper hotels. OK, many of JY's potential customers may not find these "interest" holidays meet their needs, but an awful lot do.

Unless JY want to define their market exclusively in terms of very wealthy, retired people, who aren't limited either by annual holiday leave or money, then I feel that to increase the length/price of holidays would be to lose a very substantial part of their market, and would be a gift to the growing number of competitors in the specialist holiday market

Stuart

Bob

I am so with you on your thinking, but like you say,people that work the holiday amount of days, might just be to much and the £££££ would come into the equation as well but the option would be nice, either to chillax or to do a little more exploring. For me the chillax option appeals LOL...

Cindy