Hi Pam,

At the moment all the prices listed on the website are fed from our reservations system which is updated every night. Unfortunately the feed that comes out of our reservations system doesn't include the price information for the optional excursions.

However, we are in the process of re-developing the Just You website and we are hoping to be able to present the price of optional excursions with the rest of the holiday information. Please note that whilst this is on the cards it will be a few months until it is live on the website.

In the meantime - I'm always happy to source this information for our members.

Kindest regards,

Julia

Pam

Can I just say these are optional excursions you do not have to go on them....it's up to you...also some times the reps have sourced out other things to do as well.....it does depend on which tour you have picked some have more optionals than others, if you can I would try and factor doing at least some of them, as they are normally for a reason where you are visiting for you to gain more knowledge etc..

Just be aware there is no pressure for you to do everything and anything it is your holidays and everyone has different budgets.

Cindy

Hi Jan,

Not a problem, and if I can help with anything else please let me know.

Kindest regards,

Julia

Hi Pam, Julia can give you the price of the excursions and a description of them on any of the holidays if you ask. I imagine they don't put the cost in the brochure or on the website as they can vary a bit and depend on what JY are charged by the local companies. I've done 5 JY hols and 1 Travelsphere and I always do the optional excursions - they are always brilliant and I think good value for money. They are usually very reasonably priced and it is only really the "special" trips that are expensive - for example a helicopter/scenic plane flight. Some of the excursions might sound a bit pricey but you'll find that these ones include a meal or some other special experience. I'd say roughly speaking you should allow a couple of hundred extra for the optional excursions, if you decide to do them. Allow more if the tour offers the option of special events like a gourmet dinner or flight. I've found that most of the standard optional excursions are in the range of £25-50 each. As Cindy says, they aren't obligatory and on the tours I've been on most people have done all of them, some have picked the ones they want to do and maybe one or two have chosen not to do the optionals. You almost always have the option of booking them through the tour manager when you are on the holiday, so if you're not sure whether to do a certain excursion or not, you can wait until you're on holiday and quiz the tour manager about what exactly is involved and make your decision then. Of course, if you pre-book at home you can use your credit card and when on holiday you usually have to pay in cash.

Hope this helps!

Bob

Hi Bob/Cindy,

I'm just curious, are you two on some sort of bonus scheme paid by JY 🙂. You are both always straight in there to help people with lots of help and encouragement. I've personally found your posts very useful in helping me make up my mind about stuff, keep up the good work!! Sue

Hi Sue, I wish I was! If JY would like to give me a commission I'm sure we could strike a deal! Many thanks for your kind comments. I always try to be as helpful as I can and we all need a bit of encouragement and a push in the right direction at times! To be honest, one of the main reasons why I post so much is that I am actually very grateful to Just You, as they have opened up a whole new world to me over the last three years. Before I discovered them, I used to go to an apartment in Spain, owned by friends of mine, but I'd been getting very bored of doing that. I wanted to see the world, but didn't want to be possibly the only single traveller on a holiday full of couples, so when I found JY it suited me perfectly and I haven't looked back since! I just really want other people to discover how great the holidays are for themselves and hope they get as much out of them as I do!

Cheers,

Bob

Don't give them ideas Sue! they will be asking us for money!

Sue...

You have really cheered me up today no end.. So thank you for that.

If I was on a bonus scheme just think I could go on more great holidays!!!!...as Bob says no we are NOT on Any kind of bonus system if only!!

I was fortunate enough to be invited with two other JY posters up to London the other year for a very nice day out to be filmed and interviewed so therefor I have been OUT there in the press many times and my video link was on the website and is still on you tube!!!! Oh what fame, it made my children notice me, for me to be on you tube. Also a while back JY took part in presentations at local hotels etc, for the public to attend and get a more hands on approach of what goes on...on a JY holiday and I was invited to attend as a person who had been there and done that so to speak, to stand at the front and have questions fired at me was scary but I and the public survived.

I will always tell the truth I won't gloss over things, as I wouldn't want someone to do that to me...

JY I have found just suits me perfectly, I feel safe and secure I get to see this fantastic world of ours and meet great people along the way...

JY is not perfect but no tour company will ever be that but I think they are very close to it..!!!!!

So thank it once again...

NOW WILL.......now do Bob and myself get this bonus scheme up and running LOL!!!

Xx Cindy

This is a big problem. I am booked on the New Zealand holiday in November and the optional excursions payable to the Tour Manager are nearing £1000! and I am reluctant to carry this amount of Sterling with me.

Hi David,

I can understand your reluctance to carry that amount of cash with you.

I have been informed by one of our overseas team that while the TM is unable to accept card payments, they will accept payment in local currency and sterling. If you would prefer not to take so much in cash, there are a number of opportunities to access ATMs where you would be able to withdraw the money as and when it is required. However, please notify your card provider before you leave the UK so they are aware that withdrawals will be made from abroad.

Kindest regards,

Julia

David

I to had this problem when I was on the HKG - NZ tour, from what I can remember all the hotels had safes, just remember to clear the safe out when you leave. I wanted to do many of the extra optional flights that is why I was carrying that amont of cash, Unfortunatley due to weather conditions I only managed the helicopter flight to Franz Joseph.

I always do carry a credit and or debit card and I do inform the parties concerned where I am going.

When I went the manager also had other things we could do....wine tour, Antarctica experience, I also did sky tower amazing views ...so you might up spending even more!!!!! I just went with the flow I will never go back to NZ so just did all I could ..amazing tour and country have fun.

Cindy

I don't like to carry large amounts of cash so use a Currency Card which many different institutions eg Travelex, Post Office etc. supply. These are preloaded with currency back home and can be topped up online abroad if needed. The benefit over a Credit card is that they are not tied to a bank account so has limited risk if you lose it or it gets stolen. You still use it like a credit card - you can either withdraw cash from an ATM or present it to pay for items. The only thing to be careful of is to cancel it when you return home - some of them charge you after a year.

Hello All,

My last trip 2 years ago and I paid the 2 extra trips before I left. It was easier having learnt from a trip to the Deep South with Thomas Cook and several extras having to be stopped due to Hurricane Ike- trying to get a refund from the TM was horrendous. If you get a chance to go to Lynchburg for Jack Daniels- do not go on a Sunday- no alcohol to be drunk or sold- those who did the tour were bitterly disappointed.

The thought of paying £1000 extra for New Zealand is awful and I would certainly not like to be carrying that amount around with me in case I spent it !

Jan.

I have visited the Jack Daniels distillery and I really enjoyed the tour, it's in a dry state so it doesn't matter what day you go you cannot drink while there. You can buy from the store which I did!!

The amount I took for optional tours was a vast amount,but I Always factor the optional tour prices into the total tour price on any tour as on most tours I shall, not be going back that way again so I try and do all can.

The Newzealand tour was the tour I have taken the most amount of money in cash, at then end of the day anyone can still have a great holiday without doing optional tours on any JY holiday, but sometimes the optional tours are the parts that make the holiday to me...

At he end of the day Every one has a budget, and all the optional tours are a personal choice.

Cindy

I agree Cindy. The extra trips make my holidays. Grand Ol Opry was special, never liked Country music till that night. We missed the swamp tour due to the hurricane, one of the trips that we had to have money back from.

With Just You we had the extra Cliff hangar lunch and Sigurta Gardens on the Lake Garda trip. Not everybody went and they missed some spectacular scenery.

New Zealand is on my list for 2016. I decided to have special birthday trips every 5 years on New Years Eve- my birthday. 45 Paris, 50 New York, 55 Rio and 60 New Zealand. If I could quarantee that Just You will be in New Zealand on NYE then I am booking it now :)

Jan.

This has been a great thread to read.

I hope that I feel like Bob after a few trips. I have done a lot of travelling but ....... it's always been on my own so it was me in a sea of couples. It was OK because I felt that was the only way to get out there and see some of the world. However, I am so looking forward to getting to know JY members because that, to me, will make all the difference on my first holiday (Thailand, November 13), knowing that everyone is in the same boat as me.

Thanks to Cindy as well as Bob ........ if it wasn't for the "regulars" there wouldn't be much communication on here although I realise that I am still working round this community site (I am still working out whether I use the "reply" button or the "new reply" one ......... so apologies if you get messages twice! lol

Sue

I do use a pre-paid currency card, but can only withdraw a maximum of £300 per day and only 4 withdrawals in 5 days, so will still need to take considerable amount of cash with me if I am to avoid costly credit/debit cards.

Hello, David

I use pre-paid currency cards from the Post Office and was never aware that there might be a maximum daily/weekly withdrawal limit. Could you perhaps take another currency card from another supplier as well so that you could alternate them and avoid having to carry cash? Just a thought.

Do have a lovely time in New Zealand. It's somewhere I've always wanted to go but the distance has put me off -the journey to Canada in June was long enough for me.

Best wishes, Ann