I would receommend Portalnd Holidays Direct to anyone who doesnt mind booking their holiday direct and anyone who 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
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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
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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 ... .../>
Choice
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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 ... more
I would receommend Portalnd Holidays Direct to anyone who doesnt mind booking their holiday direct and anyone who 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 pay additional amounts by telephone to their dedicated after sales team.
If you book by telephone there is a dedicated call centre waiting to take your call - in my experiences they have always been really friendly and helpful and give honest opinions. I have never felt pressured into booking anything that I dont want to book - and I personally feel better speaking to someone over the telephone rather than booking it online...so I can blame someone else if they make a mistake 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 in all standards - you can have basic budget to elegant luxury.
Price ------- It is amazing to see the difference in price of a Portalnd holiday to a Thomson one. Sometimes you can get the exact same holiday booking it under the Portland brand for hundreds of pounds cheaper. They offer several units that also feature in Thomson brochures so its always good to compare the price of both to find out where your getting the best deal.
Prices are worked out the same way as all the major tour companies - you take the price in the costing pannel - add on flight supplements - fuel supplements - tax - room supplements -meals on flight and transfers if applicable....however how much easier is it to just log online to get a total cost or easier still - pick up the phone and they'll work out the price for you!
How to view holidays ----------------------------- You can call Portand direct and order a brochure in which they will send direct to your door at no cost or you can go online and view an online brochure or read online descriptions.
Flights ---------- Portland use the same flights as Thomson - so most will be Thomson flights. When your travelling your travelling under the Tui group. Thomson flights are Britannia flights which are well known for their punctuallity, comfort and overally good service.
Reps -------- You will have your own Portland rep in every Portland unit in resort. They are employed by Tui so again same standards set as a Thomson rep would be.
Disadvantages --------------------- You will never see anyone from Portland face to face until you arrive at your resort airport. You cannot book in any travel agent as they only deal direct. You cannot pay by cash - only credit/debit card or cheque. Only have 2 brochures - summer & winter
Overall ----------- I honestly cannot think of many disadvantages - aslong as you dont mind booking direct then Portland is the ideal company you should be looking to book with. I trust them 100% and know that they will take the best of care of me when im on my holiday. The fact that they are part of Tui gives me peace of mind that im going to get a fantastic holiday for my money - and its amazing that i can get the same holiday for cheaper just by booking with Portland rather than Thomson.
I have travelled with Portland serveral times and always look at what they have to offer when considering my future holidays. I book on value for money & budget - Portland gives me this and guaranteed good standard.
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 ...
sue.51 09.06.2001 (29.05.2002)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Portland Direct
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 ...
gollum3273 14.01.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Portland Direct
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 ...
Richard207 10.10.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Portland Direct
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. ...
alli_beer 30.09.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Portland Direct
Advantages: Convenient booking, friendly helpful staff Disadvantages: As with all tour operators - they are out to make money!
...have booked two holidays with Portland now, both to the Canaries and have been impressed with the friendly efficient service. Our last holiday was to one of the Princess Hotels in Tenerife and we saved about £80 each off the Princess Hotels brochure by booking with Portland. Once you have booked there is a careline which you can ring. The staff on this are very helpful, even when you ask very dumb questions which I am prone to doing! In resort the ... ...The second time we had Thomson reps who were also excellent. The only criticism I have of the second holiday was that we booked a taxi transfer to and from the airport. Coming from the airport was fine, but going back (at 4.30am...ugh) a minibus arrived...we thought this was a bit ott for two of us...it then proceeded to go all round the backstreets of Las Americas finally stopping at another hotel to pick up a family with a disabled granny. From ...
Alison28 16.07.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Portland Direct
Value for Money
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Advantages: so easy, they do it all for you Disadvantages: the holiday has to end!
I booked with Thompson as I have used them before, and they have always been satisfactory. They dealt with everything, from flights, transport to and from the hotel, accustoming you to the hotel, you could book trips through them as well. my husban had a slight acident whilst in the hotel,and they dealt with that very well. The Hotel we stayed at was outstanding, so clean, the food excellent, the holiday rep was around every day, she saw to everything, even arranged our taxis for us. It was quite a long journey from the airport to the hotel, and she even made that good fun! Some reps I have met on other holidays were useless, in my opinion, just wanted to enjoy themselves and not worried bout you enjoying yourselves. I will never forget the holiday at Hotel Belcekiz, I think Thompsn & PortlandDirect are the only 2 companies you can ...
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 not in ...
sue.51 23.03.2001 (06.05.2002)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Thomson Holidays
Advantages: On-time, Good food, Caring staff, Good aircraft Disadvantages: No leg room
I always Thomson Holidays for my package holidays whenever I possibly can. This includes their direct booking offshoot PortlandDirect.
They generally offer super holidays in good quality accommodation at reasonable prices. They are not the cheapest by quite some way but you always know with Thomson that the holiday will not be in some awful hole! I've tried other tour operators and the same is not true.
Therefore Thomson is the best in my opinion and, if you read all their advertising material, also in their opinion.
Then why don't they do something about 'cattle truck' flights? I accept entirely that Britannia (which is Thomsons Airline) are no worse than all the other charter airlines but why don't they make the Britannia service the best in the market?
The food is ok - standard airline food. The staff are pleasant ...
