Thomson Holidays

Why Thomson Platinum? ===============
Until a few months ago, I had not even heard of Thomson Platinum. A friend of mine recommended Gran Canaria as a potential holiday destination and I started doing some research on the net for suitable accommodation.

One of the main criteria for finding a hotel was Air Conditioning, the thought of going on holiday and not being able to sleep due to the heat did not appeal to me or my travelling companion. With this and a specific budget in mind, I discovered a few hotels that matched our requirements. In the end, we decided to go for one of the hotels in the Thomson Platinum collection, mainly because it was one of the cheapest but also had very good review online.

So .... what is Thomson Platinum? ===========================
Essentially a collection of "affordable holiday packages featuring 4T and 5T hotels" (T is Thomson's scale for grading hotels). At the time of writing, these hotels are exclusive to Thomson and not available through any other UK tour operator. The best of Thomson Platinum holidays is not just the quality of the accommodation but the range of other travel benefits that come for free as part of the package.

Getting there
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Thomson offer free prebookable seats to certain destinations when travelling on Britannia airways. This is particularly useful when travelling in a group of people, as it ensures that they are all sat together. Unfortunately this doesn't apply to all destinations so you may have to pay for the privilege (e.g. when travelling to Gran Canaria) or show up early at the airport to avoid disappointment, which is what we did :o)

Thomson Platinum Transfer
For those people who cannot wait to start their holiday this is a fantastic benefit. Thomson guarantee 1st or 2nd stop transfers from the airport to the hotel and vice versa for Platinum customers. This allows you to enjoy the holiday for longer as it means arriving to the hotel sooner and leaving later than any other hotels. For example, there were people on the transfer bus not staying at a Thomson Platinum accommodation that had to put up with stopping 4-5 times before getting to their hotel or apartment, as opposed to our 25 minute transfer.

While on holiday
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So you've reached your hotel, unpacked and are ready to have fun. What can Thomson do for you? They can help/support you in a few ways:

Platinum Service Lounge
This is where you can book your excursions and read comments left by previous guests at the hotel about excursions, restaurants, sights, do's and don'ts. This is important as you get to benefit from the experiences of previous guests. The lounge is usually staffed in the morning and evening by at least one dedicated Thomson Platinum rep (or 3, in our case).

In addition to this, there is 24 hour Thomson helpline at the resort. This is not just for emergencies, but for any question you may have ... or as our rep put it ... "if you don't know where to find a kebab shop at 4 o'clock in the morning, give us a call".

Getting back
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Having enjoyed your holiday and relaxed, it's that time where you'll have to pack your bags and go the airport queue for a long time before getting back home ... not with Thomson Platinum. From most resorts, if flying on a Britannia airways flight you can check in at the hotel. This is very quick and easy, leave luggage and pick boarding passes at the hotel.

Sounds great but ...
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"What's the catch?" I hear you say. Well, Thomson Platinum holidays are not cheap. So if you are looking for a £200 holiday for two weeks ... look elsewhere. However, they are good value. The standard of accommodation is very good to excellent and the other travel benefits make getting to your resort and back a lot easier. And I'm glad to say that in our case, all the benefits described above were offered during our holiday, so it wasn't just hype :-)

So how do I book a Thomson Platinum holiday? ========================
You can pick a Thomson Platinum brochure from most high street travel agents, who will also be more than happy to book a holiday for you. You can also do it online at www.thomson.co.uk

Enjoy your holiday :-)

Copyright Steveuk 2003