I have to say that SarahS’s experience sounds absolutely appalling. Am I to believe that it’s beyond JY’s organisational skills to arrange separate airport transfers in circumstances such as these?
A little over 2 years ago I visited Berlin with a competitor and flew out of my local airport (Birmingham). There were also people on a London flight and, to avoid one group having to wait for the later flight, the two groups were transferred to the hotel separately. We then met up that same evening for a welcome meal - no problem. Separate hotel to airport transfers were also arranged for the return flight. Oh, and by the way, I paid £100 less for a 4 night stay (in super hotel) than JY were charging at the time for their 3 night Berlin city break with NO Birmingham flight option!
I’ve long held the belief that JY do not promote regional departures sufficiently, even when they’re available, because it’s more convenient (for them, that is!) to herd everyone together at one airport ie LHR or LGW. Now it would seem that this same ‘herding instinct’ has spread to return transfers as well, judging by SarahS’s experience.
Surely in this particular instance, factors such as the hotel being a mere 15min drive away from the airport, and the fact that it’s only a short holiday anyway, should be taken into consideration. It might seem like a small detail to JY but I can assure you that it’s NOT a small detail to us customers. In fact, simple touches like arranging prompt transfers in these circumstances can make all the difference to a customer’s opinion of a travel company. It would tell me that the company cares about the comfort of its customers, that they want customers to enjoy their holiday to the maximum, and that they pay attention to detail.
To just say that ‘it’s JY policy......’ really isn’t good enough. This is another ‘own goal’ as far as I’m concerned, to rank alongside the brochure fiasco. JY really should be working MUCH harder to retain loyal customers and attract new ones - low deposits really don’t hack it! - rather than seemingly resting on their laurels; a policy which I fear may come back to bite them.
Having done 14 holidays previously with JY I’d like to consider myself a loyal customer and would hope to use them again in the future, but like many others I’m fully prepared to look elsewhere. The current response to AbbaDave’s complaint would seem wholly unsatisfactory and simply reinforces the point made in my previous paragraph. Hopefully common sense will prevail on this issue and in future, customers will be put at the forefront of
JY’s business model.
Cheers
Mike