In the "Group Bookings" thread there is a mention that JY offer a discount to groups.

I have to say I'm really surprised if this is the case, as it seems to me to go 110% against the "single traveller/holidays for people who choose to travel on their own" ethos which I thought was central to a company like Just You.

I've started a new thread for this, as I don't want it to "disappear" in the other thread, given the clear strength of feeling expressed in that thread about holidays being "spolit" by groups of people travelling together.

Can I please ask either Julia or Will to clarify the situaition regarding group discounts, and if they are offered by JY, to explain how this ties in with the "single traveller specialist" phrase that JY proudly display on their webite and literature.

Thanks.

Stuart

I've spoken to my colleague in the Groups department specifically about discounting and she has said that the group discount does not apply to Just You bookings on brochured holidays. Solus, group, Just You departures are tailor-made and by the very nature of them are costed individually.

To emphasise the point about mentioning groups at all, by including this in the brochure we do hope to identify groups that want the solo traveller experience so that we are able to cater for them without it impacting on our other solo travellers.

The team try to avoid putting large groups on brochured dates but if we have a small group of solos wishing to book, by going through our groups team, we are able to notify the individuals already booked on that date to see if they are ok with it. If they are, we also stress to the group organiser that because it’s a singles holiday they must ensure that their group integrates with the rest of the party and doesn’t expect special treatment.

However (and this is a huge however), the majority of groups’ Just You business is tailor-made or exclusive departures for solus groups that do not have any impact on those that are booking our brochure tours.

The biggest problem that we have, is that travellers aren't always using this facility, they book individually and we are therefore unaware of travellers that do/don't know each other on a holiday.

I hope this information helps.

Kindest regards,

Julia

I'm sorry but I don't understand part of your reply.

If a number of people who know each other, book a JY holiday individually, I totally accept that there is nothing JY can do about this, as it has no way of connecting the bookings.

But, if I go on a JY holiday as an individual, and book at the "normal" price, is it possible that there will be a "group" of people who booked as a group and because of this got a "group discount" on the same holiday ?

Thanks.

Stuart

To put it simply, the answer is no....

To expand... On the rare occasions that a small group are added to a Just You tour (and we have discussed this with other travellers in the group) they will pay the same 'from' price as the other travellers in the group (as with individual bookings, prices vary if you fly from a different airport or buy additional excursions etc). The group will not receive a discount.

Kindest regards,

Julia

I'm a little confused by your reply too, this is the actual wording quoted in the back of the latest JY brochure:

'We are able to offer reductions for groups of 10 or more people on most of the holidays in our brochures' - so my understanding of that would be a group of 10 people or more would get a reduction in the price of their holiday.

I agree with Stu151, allowing any kind of group booking goes totally against what JY is all about - fair enough if friends book separately then JY can't control this, but if they contact the groups department and are allowed to book, that shouldn't be happening on any JY holiday. Furthermore, if most holidays have say 15-40 travellers individually booked on them, why can't we have a discount too bearing in mind the same total number of people are booked on the tour?

Can I also clarify that if a member of the group bookings team rang me to say there was a group of 10 or more booked on a holiday I was already booked on, would I have the option to change or cancel my booking at no cost to myself, as I may not feel comfortable travelling with a group.

I have raised the issues of the wording in the brochure with relevant people in the business and they will be looking to change this in future brochures to clarify that there are no group reductions on advertised Just You holidays.

I have to stress, that groups do NOT get a discount if they are booked on a holiday date featured in the brochure as we are not able to discount these trips. We are able to help larger groups by re-creating our holidays for their own departure date by using the relationships we have with agents on our holidays than if they were to do it all themselves.

I must also emphasise a point made in my first response in that the majority of groups’ business is tailor-made or exclusive departures for solus groups that do not have any impact on those that are booking our brochure tours and we do appreciate that people may not feel comfortable travelling with a group which is why individual travellers are consulted before a group is booked on to the same trip.

You final comment only re-iterates the importance of us mentioning the group team in the brochure at all (albeit with revised wording on future editions). If a group books their holiday through our specialist team we can offer an alternative holiday solution or (for smaller groups) consult with existing travellers. If a group books individually, and we do not know that travellers know each other, then we are not able ensure that you have the solo traveller experience that you were expecting.

Kindest regards,

Julia

To add even more confusion, I just got a confirmation invoice from JY for my next trip and after my name is the letter L - when I queried this, JY said this incidates I am the 'lead traveller' - which again implies that groups are booking these trips.

I too would not be happy travelling with a group of 10 or more and not sure if you answered magpie 10's query re cancelling booking at no cost to the 'single' traveller if we were told beforehand a group was going on a trip. I fear these threads may put more and more people off travelling with what is supposed to a company geared towards people travelling on their own. I don't mind if small groups are on a trip, as long as they mix (which in my experience has happened most of the time), but it may be daunting to a first -time traveller.

To add even more confusion, I just got a confirmation invoice from JY for my next trip and after my name is the letter L - when I queried this, JY said this incidates I am the 'lead traveller' - which again implies that groups are booking these trips.

Hi Asti,

our reservation system puts an L after the name of the lead passenger for each booking. Because we use the same reservation system as Travelsphere, there is usually more than one passenger and so it is just a way of noting who actually made the booking. Obviously with Just You there is only one passenger so you automatically get the L after your name.

Just regarding the whole topic of taking group bookings, I think people are worrying unnecessarily. The number of times we book a group onto a normal departure date is absolutely tiny, I can only remember one or two in the whole of the last year.

I too would not be happy travelling with a group of 10 or more and not sure if you answered magpie 10's query re cancelling booking at no cost to the 'single' traveller if we were told beforehand a group was going on a trip. I fear these threads may put more and more people off travelling with what is supposed to a company geared towards people travelling on their own. I don't mind if small groups are on a trip, as long as they mix (which in my experience has happened most of the time), but it may be daunting to a first -time traveller.

To add even more confusion, I just got a confirmation invoice from JY for my next trip and after my name is the letter L - when I queried this, JY said this incidates I am the 'lead traveller' - which again implies that groups are booking these trips.

Hi Asti,

our reservation system puts an L after the name of the lead passenger for each booking. Because we use the same reservation system as Travelsphere, there is usually more than one passenger and so it is just a way of noting who actually made the booking. Obviously with Just You there is only one passenger so you automatically get the L after your name.

Just regarding the whole topic of taking group bookings, I think people are worrying unnecessarily. The number of times we book a group onto a normal departure date is absolutely tiny, I can only remember one or two in the whole of the last year.

Your last sentence is reassuring to know Will, lets hope it stays that way in the future. The way I look at it is, it defeats the whole object of a JY holiday if you go in a group. We are always trying to convince people to take that first step on their own. It takes courage to pick up the phone and book a holiday. I takes courage to travel on your own to the airport and probably stay overnight in a hotel. It takes courage to check in and then walk around departures on your own looking for JY labels on the luggage of complete and total strangers, who you then have to take the first 2 or 3 days of your holiday to bond with. With 15 holidays already behind me I still find myself taking a deep breath and telling myself "you can do it", but a least I know that the majority of my fellow travellers are in the same situation. I'm sure, or at least I hope, JY will keep monitoring the situation of groups to the best of their ability.

If, on the exceptionally rare occasion that our customer service team were to contact you and ask if you were happy for a group booking of single travellers to join the tour, you would have the option of transferring your holiday to a different date or tour if you were not happy to contunie to travel on the original date.

If you do continue to travel with a group booking we will of course make sure our tour manager makes every effort to help introduce you to the rest of the group and hopefully make some new friends along the way.

As Julia has already said that is on the basis that we know it is a group booking but if groups of friends book their own bookings this is often difficult for us to know about.

Kindest Regards

James

I too would not be happy travelling with a group of 10 or more and not sure if you answered magpie 10's query re cancelling booking at no cost to the 'single' traveller if we were told beforehand a group was going on a trip. I fear these threads may put more and more people off travelling with what is supposed to a company geared towards people travelling on their own. I don't mind if small groups are on a trip, as long as they mix (which in my experience has happened most of the time), but it may be daunting to a first -time traveller.

To add even more confusion, I just got a confirmation invoice from JY for my next trip and after my name is the letter L - when I queried this, JY said this incidates I am the 'lead traveller' - which again implies that groups are booking these trips.

Hi Asti,

our reservation system puts an L after the name of the lead passenger for each booking. Because we use the same reservation system as Travelsphere, there is usually more than one passenger and so it is just a way of noting who actually made the booking. Obviously with Just You there is only one passenger so you automatically get the L after your name.

Just regarding the whole topic of taking group bookings, I think people are worrying unnecessarily. The number of times we book a group onto a normal departure date is absolutely tiny, I can only remember one or two in the whole of the last year.

Your last sentence is reassuring to know Will, lets hope it stays that way in the future. The way I look at it is, it defeats the whole object of a JY holiday if you go in a group. We are always trying to convince people to take that first step on their own. It takes courage to pick up the phone and book a holiday. I takes courage to travel on your own to the airport and probably stay overnight in a hotel. It takes courage to check in and then walk around departures on your own looking for JY labels on the luggage of complete and total strangers, who you then have to take the first 2 or 3 days of your holiday to bond with. With 15 holidays already behind me I still find myself taking a deep breath and telling myself "you can do it", but a least I know that the majority of my fellow travellers are in the same situation. I'm sure, or at least I hope, JY will keep monitoring the situation of groups to the best of their ability.

I couldn't agree more, and that is why I think threads like this could really unsettle a first time booker needlessly.

thanks for your reply.

Will