On my trip to Tuscany in May there was a group of 12 people who'd met on a holiday the previous year booked on our holiday. Some of them were ok and mixed, but others wouldn't and since they had their own tables for meals we just kept out of their way most of the time.

I did complain to Just You about it but they replied that they didn't know they'd booked it as a group - which is fair enough.

Other than that I've encountered a few sisters, friends, and even a couple on my last holiday, but never more than 2 people so it's never really been much of a problem, and they've always mixed with the rest of the group. The group of 12 may have been a bigger issue had the group been small though.

I notice in the small print at the back of the Just You brochure it states, under 'Group Reductions' - 'we are able to offer reductions for groups of 10 or more people on most of the holidays in our brochures' - it then quotes a telephone number to ring to enquire about group reductions. Can I just ask why this is stated in a Just You brochure? Really a company who specialises in holidays for single travellers (as stated on the front cover of the brochure) shouldn't be encouraging group bookings?

Hi Magpie10,

The reason for including the group bookings section is so that we are potentially able to meet the needs of a group, without it impacting on the single traveller experience for others.

For example if a large group phone up individually and book they could almost take over a holiday and leave remaining passengers isolated which is certainly not what we want. If they call up our groups team - the team may be able to offer an exclusive departure just for them. For smaller groups, we are able to establish how it would impact on the larger group and notify fellow travellers. I think it's also important to mention that when we take a group booking for a Just You holiday - the groups team assess that the group are solo travellers and not best friends/couples so that all individuals on the holiday enjoy the same single traveller experience.

On your Tuscany tour because we weren’t aware of the group booking, we weren’t in a position to assess how the larger Just You group would be affected.

Kindest regards,

Julia

I know this subject comes up time and time again. I met a friend on my 2nd JY tour, and we have now done at least 4 more long haul trips - we do not stick together at all, in fact we actually ask to be in different jeeps/boats etc. as we are both keen photographers. We certainly mix with the rest of the group and it is actually unusual for us to end up sitting at the same table for meals! We both want to see the world, and like having our own rooms, and meeting like-minded travellers. If there is free time and we both want to do the same thing, we do go out together - but with other people too, if they are interested. Having just come back from a safari with 5 couples who I didn't know (a different company!), I do appreciate what it is like to be on your own as the only single, and I really missed JY and the company of other single travellers - the couples formed the cliques and left me out!! Ho hum. Luckily I'm off to Italy and Croatia with JY for Xmas and New Year!

Cheers,

Hils

That is a great idea for a seperate group tour without impacting on the singles tour. The lowest amount was 15 for one of my tours and this worked well. We were all singles and it made it easier to remember everyones name. It is a shame that the group tour has not been widely publicized.

Jan.