Cheap Holidays

Making it easier for you to find Cheap Holidays is what this site is all about, more or less.

TC Holidays is a general holidays/vacation site, we look at the “how to” of cheap holidays, the “where” of cheap holidays, the “who” of cheap holidays, and the “when” and “why”.

I started building this site because I wanted to find the cheapest ways of going on holidays for myself and my family…things are getting tight for everyone, right!

 

The Criteria

My search criteria has always been to spend as little as possible, have as much fun as possible, see new things or ‘old’ things (as in antiquities), bring back great memories, and not spend too much…yeah, I said it twice…getting value for my Euro is very important for me!  I get to spend much more quality time with my family when I spend a little bit of time searching for bargains and cutting out the silly extras.

 

The Equation

I would rather go on two vacations a year that one, I would rather go on holidays three or more times a year if I can arrange everything so the family are all free at the same time.

So it’s an easy equation…I have only X amount of money to do this, so I can spend all of X at once or I can spread it over 2 or 3 holidays: 1X=2X or 1X=3X…depending on the variables…simple!

So, without further ado, here are a couple of ways I use to get the latter model…1X=3X.

 

Spanish Paddy or Irish Pedro

I spend a lot of my time travelling between Ireland and Spain, soon to be the other way around because I’m making the move permanently, mostly because I have family living in Spain and my son is studying in Galway.

I have family to rely on when I want a bed, or at least floor-space, in either location, so for me it’s always the cost of the flights, if I’m going to get free taxes, whether the taxes are going to be more expensive than the actual flights, how much am I going to be robbed out of for baggage charges etc.

 

The Low Cost Option

For the flights to Spain I always go to either Ryanair or EasyJet directly because I know I’m going to get the best deals with those companies … more than likely I choose Ryanair because they provide the most flights to and from Ireland.

I used to take a Ryanair flight from Shannon airport directly to either Murcia airport or Alicante but those flights were stopped, so now I have to go through Dublin with a train journey from the West to factor into the pricing.

Another option, which is sometimes a lot cheaper, is to fly to the UK…Gatwick or Stansted, with a connecting flight to Espana.

Anyway, I know I’m going to get the best savings with Ryanair so I’ll always go directly to their website.

Going to other destinations is a different story altogether, one of the best places to go for the cheapest flights is Skyscanner where you’ll find all kinds of deals sorted by price, airport, and airline amongst others.

 

Choose a Debit Card

If you’re flying with Ryanair, you can save money by using a debit card … I think it’s MasterCard debit card with Ryanair, I’m not sure … just go to the site and check it out … it means that you don’t have to pay in the credit card charges which can add up to about €10 per flights per person.

 

Pack your Belongings Sparingly

Another way to save money is to just take your bags as carry-on luggage, don’t check any baggage because this is going to add a bundle of currency to your overall cost … watch this great video, funny and very practical, on how to pack a suitcase like a pro.

 

Bring it from Home

Take a sandwich and drink with you from home…I know this sounds incredibly cheap but hey…we want to save money where we can don’t we…it all adds up.

I’m not a health nut, far from it, but I’m also not an idiot … I like to try and eat food once in a while.

In-flight food (should we really be calling it that)  is full of additives including chemicals to make the food taste better, look better, and smell better ….Yummy!

For a fraction of the cost I can bring my own healthy sandwiches and snacks, I know exactly what’s gone into making them, a bit of fruit perhaps, maybe a couple of chocolate bars, and a bottle or two of water that I have bought once I have been groped by security for the fourth time this year, must be the bald head…I’m not trying to look like a skinhead, I am actually quite bald…thanks Dad.

 

Simple Measures Equals Big Savings

These things are very simple to do and can save you a small fortune… if you are travelling with a party of four people, you could save about €350 on a return flight, that amount of money that will buy you another return flight for your entire family… think about it!

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to saving money on your holidays … check out some of the articles below and have a scoot through the categories on the left hand side of this page for more info.

Also, give a little click to the Facebook like thumb at the top right hand side, I’m always on  the lookout for good deals and competitions that you can take advantage of…you’ll find them there…that’s also the place where you’ll find the latest travel alerts.

Cheap Holidays

Travel House

 

Name of Travel Company

Travel House is known as The Original Travel House Ltd

Location of Head Office

Lower Ground Floor
Exchange Buildings
Adelaide Street
SWANSEA
West Glamorgan
SA1 1SE
Part of:
MORGANS HOTELS LIMITED,
SOMERSET PLACE
SWANSEA
SA1 1RR

Contact Details

Telephone: 01792 483962
Fax: 01792 463595

Abta Number

J5567 & W9186

Founded

Registration date: 5th September 2001

Also Trading As

The Travel House

Previous Company Names

Jaxx Travel Ltd

Type of Website

This is a high street travel agent for various travel companies including Thomson, Virgin, Thomas Cook, Superbreaks, and Butlins.

Ease of Use

Easy enough website to use although a bit confusing.

Layout

You have the contact info front and center…the phone number.
The menu at the top of the page gives you a number of choices from Brochure selection…taking you to the online brochures of the holiday companies mentioned above. You can view holiday offers, with very little information without calling the company. Holiday extras brings you to outside links. The competition link brings to a chance to win a fifty quid holiday voucher (worth something a hundred years ago I would think!). You can also find your local branch, contact the company through a generic contact form, or get a quote by filling out another generic contact form.

Additional Features

No additional features.

Standout/Novelty Features

No Standout/Novelty Features.

Interesting Tools

No Interesting Tools.

Booking Options

Call the phone number

Payment Options

Pay by credit card with a 2.5% surcharge. I presume you can also pay with cash at one of the offices.

Customer Support

According to reviews the support is very good as is often the case with high street travel agents.

Ease of Contact

Phone or contact form.

Cancellation

It is going to cost you at least 70% of the cost of your holiday if more than 21 days prior to departure.

Guarantees

None.

Awards

None.

Standout News

None.

General Public Impression

According to the review center (http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews68576.html), the company gets a 3.1 out of a possible 5, with almost 60% of their readers recommending the company.
At the time of writing, the top review gave 5 out of 5 and said the following:
“I found Travel House through Google search and rang Travel House to enquire about the flights to India and SriLanka. Max, the travel consultant provided an excellent wonderful professional service and helped to find the best flights at a good price for our holiday with good connections.

Max was confident, courteous and a friendly person who gave consideration to all our needs when booking the flights. He was very prompt on sending emails to confirm details and suggested the best method of payment which I found was secure and satisfactory.

I am so happy that I found the right Travel Company to book my flights and Max represented the company very well.

I should congratulate Max on his performance!! We will definitely use Travel House for any future bookings.

Many thanks for your services and well appriciated!!”

Overall Opinion

The site is general run of the mill, nothing special. No way of booking online. They have links to a blog (last updated in October 200?), they seem to have a few facebook pages, and twitter is used to give exchange rate info.

Travel House