I too have the same problem. I have been looking into the various options of traveling down to Gatwick. All of which are not easy and would involve having to stay overnight in an hotel. So more flights from MANCHESTER would help, and please not on only one date.

Two options I would like to see :-

1.More "Add ons" to make the holidays longer especially on some of the touring holidays I've done. I know you do one with New York as a option and there are add ons on the Australia & New Zealand trips available.

2. Would like to see 2 week options on some of the European holidays. I know at least one of your rival companies offer this option at a reasonable cost difference (obviously flights, transfers, etc are only needed once). I did this to Crete last year and found it great as i could alternate days between doing excurrsions and chilling out days. A weeks holiday I tend to do all the excurrsions so get very little free time to explore myself.

Mick

Will,

Two options I would like to see :-

1.More "Add ons" to make the holidays longer especially on some of the touring holidays I've done. I know you do one with New York as a option and there are add ons on the Australia & New Zealand trips available.

2. Would like to see 2 week options on some of the European holidays. I know at least one of your rival companies offer this option at a reasonable cost difference (obviously flights, transfers, etc are only needed once). I did this to Crete last year and found it great as i could alternate days between doing excurrsions and chilling out days. A weeks holiday I tend to do all the excurrsions so get very little free time to explore myself.

Mick

Hi Mick,

I agree about add-ons. I am going with a rival company to the Austrian Tyrol this year for two reasons. One is that JY don't go there at a convenient time, and secondly I have the option to leave the group at the end of the week, make my own way to Vienna, stay for a week and the company have arranged my flights back. I got an allowance on the return flight from the Tyrol and had to pay the difference from Vienna. The only condition was that it had to be BA flights, which presented no problem for me at all.

Regarding two weeks in Europe, again I would like this but would prefer a leisurely two-centre holiday, rather than rushing round one area. Prague, Vienna, Budapest sounds good, but too much travelling and rushing round in the time.

This thread had rather been hijacked hasn't it?

Regards

Sylvia

You are right we have certainly hijacked this thread but think of it as moving the discussion on, lol.

Like the two centre holiday idea, i've been independantly to Budapest and really enjoyed it, Prague and Vienna are on my bucket list. I often use BA because have plenty of Avios points, doing a short break in Barcelona at end of feb with them.

Enjoy Austrian Tyrol heard very good reports.

Mick

You will love Austrian Tyrol. I have been there plenty of times, always during summer months and love the region. It is so pretty and there are plenty of walks.

Jaya

. Unfortuneatly my local airport is Bristol and very few trips go from there, and those that do start at silly o/clock. If I need to go from Gatwick is at least a 4hour train journey. All these problems severely limit our choice of holidays especially if funds are limited.

Hi It seems we all have the same problem. I live in Wales and wanted to do the Costa de la Luz trip but the flight back was too late, then I thought of the Bodrum trip but opposite problem, too early to make it worth booking a hotel the night before

. Unfortuneatly my local airport is Bristol and very few trips go from there, and those that do start at silly o/clock. If I need to go from Gatwick is at least a 4hour train journey. All these problems severely limit our choice of holidays especially if funds are limited.

Hi, My local aiport is Bristol too, and I find it an annoying place with limited choice and awful departure/arrical times. Also, it can be a nightmare getting across the City to it, taking almost as long as getting a coach to Heathrow! Bristol is well known for having the worst congestion outside of London, I find it easier and calmer to travel to Heathrow or Gatwick to start a holiday.

I would like to go to Germany this year and considered Berlin, or the rail Ahr Valley walking trip. The latter means an overnight London hotel which pushes the price up for a short break, and Berlin with a Heathrow 06.55 flight is a non starter as it means very little sleep and spending the first day in a daze. As it's a short break with only 2 days in Berlin, that's half the holiday. Ryan Air has afternoon flights to Berlin from Stansted which would make the holiday far more attractive.

Gatwick is of course the preferred airport for many, but not for others. I may be incorrect, but my impression looking at the brochure is that there is an increasing tendency for holidays to be Gatwick with very early starts.

I've just come across this thread and have to agree with most of the comments I've read so far. Most holiday companies offer flights from other airports, and I don't understand why JY can't do this, and without charging extra for the privilege. I think these trips are getting very expensive now, especially when there seems to be less and less included in the cost of the holiday - I've noticed the number of optional excursions and cost of them are increasing year on year, this is before you even start on the price of the holiday. I really begrudge having to go via Heathrow when I can get a direct flight from my local airport to Europe (I don't mind for long-haul). I, like a few who have already posted, am seriously looking at all options when it comes to which company I use to go on holiday with, and will probably start using other companies in future if I feel they can offer me a better holiday package than JY.

Hi Magpie,

I completely agree with you regarding the cost of optional excursions putting up the cost of the holiday, to keep the headline price down. In one case the headline price was £899. A room upgrade , (and if they are offered they are usually necessary) and optional excursions added another £300. The excuse was it is an "Escape" break. However, with the hotel a good half an hour from the town you either have to pay to get into town or stay put in the hotel.

I recently went with a rival company to Lake Garda at Christmas and apart from souvenirs, my expenses were two snack lunches, total €17, (so much food was provided lunch time was the time to cut back) and my bar bill, €35 for 6 nights, because wine was provided every evening with dinner. OK, at first glance the headline price appeared to be high. When you went into detail and saw what was provided you soon realised that you were not going to need very much when you got there. Room upgrades were not offered, nor necessary.

Sometimes you get what you pay for.

Sylvia

Living in Scotland I always have to fly down to either Heathrow or Gatwick as there are very limited JY holidays that fly from Glasgow - it's a fact of life, and I'm used to it now. Some people have mentioned how expensive hotels are at Heathrow and Gatwick. I always use the Premier Inn (there are 2 in Bath Road, the Terminal 5 one is minutes from the terminal by Hoppa bus). If you book well in advance you can get a room for as little as £29! Obviously rates depend on time of year/day of week etc. but I think the most I have paid is £79. Premier Inn also do exceptionally good breakfasts! Hope this helps. I look at a night at Heathrow or Gatwick as part of the holiday.

Cheers,

Hils

As somebody pointed out, competitors do plenty of Manchester departures. I prefer JY but there comes a point when the extra travel costs can't be justified.

Jaya