Hi Will/Ben
Over the past few weeks, there has been a lot of discussion on this board about the availability of JY holidays with direct flights from various regional airports to the holiday location. It’s great that you’ve been able to increase the number of holidays flying from Manchester, so thanks for your efforts on this topic. Also can I just say “thank you” for the time/effort you both put in to answer the huge range of queries that we come up with.
There are many “International” airports in the UK, and like everyone else I would love to be able to fly direct from my local airport direct to the holiday destination of my choice. This is of course, totally silly, as it’s highly unlikely that there would be sufficient of your customers who want to do this, and it does depend on the availability of flights on the appropriate time/day.
Many travel companies offer “land only” prices, where I make my own way to the destination, and meet up at the hotel used at an appropriate time. To me, this is a perfect solution to the numerous people who feel that there should be more holidays from a particular airport, as it enables me to travel from any airport, when I want, and also gives me flexibility to do other things in the country visited outside of the actual JY holiday.
I’m sure that this is something that appeals to increasing numbers of your customers. I was thus surprised to be told by your call centre that Page & Moy/JY don’t offer a land only option. Maybe you could shed some light on this policy?
I was also told that you can look at altering the flights associated with a holiday, but that you make a £25 up front charge to look into this. I totally accept that if you change the flight associated with a holiday you will charge, but I have to say that I was shocked that you charge to tell me if something is possible and how expensive it will be. It’s like going into a supermarket and seeing that they only have small cans of beans on the shelf, then asking if they have larger ones, and what the price is, then being told they charge to go and find out!
You’ve mentioned before that (for whatever reasons) many of the budget airlines won’t deal with JY. Increasingly budget airlines are becoming the cheapest way of travelling around large countries, especially as they cover many routes not offered by the larger providers. It’s thus more than likely, that I can book a route not available to you, or at a more convenient time, or at a cheaper price than you, but this flexibility is something that you’re not willing to offer as even an option with your holidays.
I understand that some of your customers would be very unhappy to sort out their own travel arrangements, and 100% want to do the holiday exactly as listed, and this is fine, but there are also many, many people who are more than happy to fix things like flights themselves, and I would guess that this is a growing part of the single holiday market.
Again, your comments would be welcome.
Thanks
Stuart