Portland Direct

Advantages: Good Prices
Disadvantages: Only Book Direct

...likes a Thomson holiday as Portland is part of the Thomson/Tui group - so your getting the same as you would get travelling with Thomson. How to book ----------------- You can only book by telephone or internet. If you book online on the internet they normally give online discounts - look out for special online booking offers. Their website is completley secure so you can feel safe using your credit/debit card to pay. If you pay a deposit you can ...
...hehe. Choice ---------- Portland offer most major desitinations - from Spain, Turkey, Greece, Cyprus to Florida, Mexico, Dominican Republic.... They offer something for all - families - groups - couples - singles - young at heart - young & lively.... You can choose accommodations of all sorts - All inclusive,Bed & breakfast, Half Board, Full Board, Self catering apartments, bungalows, villas, they even do Thomason Cruise!!! Accommodations come ... Read review

Advantages: Everything can be done on-line, Subsidiary company of Thomsons
Disadvantages: None that I am aware of yet. but if you know of any let me know before I book

...customer from hell'. PORTLAND DIRECT This company, as you may already be aware, are the direct arm of Thomsons, and therefore you fly on the same planes, eat the same food, stay in the same accommodation and get the services of the same rep, just as if you were travelling with Thomsons or Skytours, although I haven't been on a Portland holiday, yet, I hasten to add, I assume you would get the same good service you get from their other companies, ...
...You can now book Portland holidays over the internet at http://www.portland-direct.co.uk Using their on-line search facility you input the following details: * Holidays, Price breakers or Late deals * You chose the date you want to travel right up until October 2002. * You must select an airport * You select duration - i.e. 7, 10/11 or 14 nights * You indicate the size of your party (up to 9 people) * You can select any destination, or a specific ... Read review

Advantages: Reasonable Prices
Disadvantages: None that i can think of

Portland Direct, This is a great online travel agent, we have used this method of booking holidays for some time, and have never found it to be a problem, it is very easy and simple to use. Firstly you have to decided where you would like to go, and when, after that it is all plain sailing, you just enter the details of the country you would like to visit, for example in our case Ibiza, then enter a resort in that area example Santa Eulialia (think ...
...them about changes. Also Portland holidays are a subsidiary of Thomson holidays, so you can always see how much you are saving by checking both sites for the same holiday, we did that his time and we found that by booking through Portland instead of Thomson we saved over £300, ok its not a lot of money, but its better off used as spending money. Overall I would recommend this company to all others who want to save themselves £'s on holidays, ok ... Read review

Advantages: N/A
Disadvantages: N/A

The holiday was booked with Portland Direct, which is owned by Thomson Holidays. In February 1999 we visited the one bedroomed apartments at Dunas Club, Corralejo, Fuerteventura. They came with the following facilities : microwave, toaster, kettle & fridge, telephone, TV, hairdryer, iron & ironing board. For our sixth visit to Fuerteventura we booked a week in a one bedroomed apartment at Dunas Club. On arrival at Fuerteventura Airport on 17th March ...
...Dunas Club was overbooked we would be staying in a one bedroomed apartment at Sol Las Olas, some 3km away from where we wanted to be. When we protested that Sol Las Olas did not have the facilities we had booked, Judie told us that was not a problem as they would be supplied. It was all lies!!! We ended up in a Studio, pic at http://members.aol.com/portlanddirect/view.jpg Thomson defence called this a garden view! The next day we were transferred ... Read review

Advantages: Exciting, Simple, Easy, Exciting
Disadvantages: Read the Holiday Invoice

I have used PORTLAND a couple of times now and find them simple and easy. I say an advantage is that it is EXCITING, becaused when you've finished you know, it wont be long before your going on your jolly hollidays - just like I am in a few weeks. So booking on line is easy, Portland-direct.co.uk takes you to the distinctive purple site, and they are consitent with the colouring right through to the invoiceing and tickets. When you've decided your ...
...Booking a holiday through Portland Direct is a really relaxing experience. It is so easy, quick and simple. The pages load relatively quickly (compared to some of the other sites I've looked at) and the holiday prices are very reasonable. I love booking holidays, I wish I could book a new one for us all every week. ... Read review

Advantages: Competitively priced and generally honest brochures
Disadvantages: Beware last minute hitches on early bookins

...and her friend on what is traditionally the cheapest week of the year to travel, before Christmas - total cost with Portland (Direct arm of Thomsons) - £644, cost with Airtours - £1,200 - I know where I will be putting my money. ACCOMMODATION Thomsons generally tend to have a monopoly on accommodation located near to resort centres, which as a 'townie' I appreciate. (I have found First Choice, JMC and Airtours have a large percentage of their accommodation away from the resort). I am also always amazed when reading descriptions on the same accommodation from a variety of tour operators to find that the same beach and resort centre can be anything from 400m to 1km away. BRITANNIA Their airline 'Britannia' to be comparable to any scheduled airline (see separate opinion under airlines). On the one occasion we found the holiday did... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Some nice apartments, reasonable food, plenty of swimming pools, a village in its own right
Disadvantages: pools not heated in winter, some terrible apartments

...I am going to take you on a little journey to a medium sized isle around 100km off the coast of Africa, and a less visited resort, Calete de Fuste, on the least commercialised of the four main Canary Islands, Fuerteventura. Having ‘done’ Lanzarote for the last two years, we decided it was time for a change, and as there are few other destinations with warm temperatures at this time of year sufficiently close enough for a single weeks holiday, Tenerife and Gran Canaria were definitely not on my wish to return list, it was Fuerte or nothing. The holiday was booked through Portland Direct at the not too low amount of £703 for one week’s bed and breakfast, including airport/hotel transfers (although I always drive back to the airport), meals on the plane and insurance. I was therefore extremely peeved to discover that the same holiday... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: I beleive they are still the best at what they do.
Disadvantages: Can be expensive

...it has been excellent. The only exception to that was this year in Mexico when there was a problem with the flight home to Glasgow. However the problem was on the part of MY travel (who operated the flight) and not of Thomson. I feel this has been a little vague at times but I hope it give you a good impression of how good the company is. I will end by giving you some tips. Thomson has a sister company called Portland Direct. They are essentially the same company. The use the same flights, the same holiday reps and in some cases the same hotels. When they do offer the same hotels Portland is almost always cheaper. This is because you can only book direct with them and not via a travel agent. Compare the Thomson prices to those on portland-direct.co.uk and you will see. Good luck and happy holidays.... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful