ABOUT:
Travel Link Co-ordinators Ltd
Now 'The Holiday Coordinators' !
and 'The Caribbean Coves'
Personal Travel Coordinators. Proud to be ...
Independent but FULLY LINKED to ALL ABTA & ASTA Companies
We act on your behalf. We negotiate with all suppliers, Hotels & Operators .
We look after your interests to obtain quality travel, holiday or wedding event.
We are available for you personally - even should things go wrong ...
You are protected. ALL travel is with ABTA/ASTA with IATA & ATOL supplied
See our new web site: www.travellikco-ordiators.com
How Travel link co-ordinators started
FAQ:
I am tempted to contact you but I know nothing about you.
Read the detailed "about us" pages to learn about our philosophy, our principles and our commitment !
We have many agencies that work with us, who are members of ABTA/ASTA:
(Association of British Travel Agents and American Society of Travel Agents) and are affiliated to the largest travel
agency networks UK and Worldwide – including Kuoni, Travelbag, Trailfinders & Virgin.
We understand that your holiday is one of the most important decisions that you will make during the year and if you
would like further reassurance of our commitment to You, we would encourage you to contact your
Personal Coordinator directly either by e-mail:
Why should I use a travel link coordinator, wouldn't’t I be better off booking direct?
Travel is a complicated, complex and ever changing business. Do you know exactly where you want to stay,
the most efficient way to get there and the best time to visit? Are you aware of the myriad alternative
options available, which operators and airlines are offering the best deals and the differing standards of
accommodation on offer and maybe more important - what is available?
Are you prepared to spend time arranging your own car hire, airport parking, overnight hotels, visas, passports
and insurance? Can you benefit from significant bulk buying and corporate hotel rates and do you appreciate
the limits and the legalities, including having a wedding abroad - whether you wish for a beach wedding
or church wedding. You need financial protection? then you shouldn't be disadvantaged by booking direct by
begining limited to 'High Street" insurance offer ties! Then you should leave it to a professionals -
by the way, we don't do our own plumbing either!
Why can’t I book everything I want online?
There isn't a web site in the world that offers 100% of all travel products and it is a simple fact that we are able
to offer a far, far better choice and range of product than we can place on our website.
Whilst we appreciate that the internet offers a convenience that our opening times cannot,
we still firmly believe in good old-fashioned service - something we don't believe the internet offers.
How can a computer - no matter how well programmed - possibly understand your own personal preferences
and requirements as well as a highly trained professional person! Nonetheless,
we recognise that we can offer a selection of products which we feel you will find useful to have access to via our
website and we do hope that you will enjoy browsing our site. We would, however, urge you to contact us if you
cannot find the product you are looking for - we will be able to find it for you off-line!
What discounts do you offer?
We will always endeavor to remain competitive and match, wherever possible, current market prices.
However, we would urge you to beware the "too good to be true" discount messages -
because they probably are!
We can all load our prices by 50% to discount them by 45%! We were recently asked to book a
basic holiday for four adults with one of the Big Four travel companies.
Our clients had been offered a discount of £356 leaving a net price of say £1,940.
We didn't offer them a discount but we did find them an identical holiday with a different operator -
same flight, same hotel, same dates, same everything - for a total price of just £1,600.
Does that answer your question? Price is not always the main point though ..
our founder Nigel Simpson has a great deal of experience in the leisure industry and is very firm
when it comes to choice, price and quality...
You're only a independent travel coordination company - is this a good thing or a bad thing?
While the large chains continually claim to be the number one travel agent in the UK they use only one criteria -
volume (Package the sheep!). When it comes to value for money, quality of product, original thinking,
innovative ideas and customer satisfaction, they are well down the list of real customer satisfaction.
Mass market companies cannot hope to provide the same expertise and local knowledge as
the specialist travel company, which is why our travel link company always makes YOU top the list ...
Unlike the large, multiple chains, we do not practice directional selling, which means that
we provide you with unbiased advice and a far, far greater choice of travel arrangements that
match your requirements, not ours.
What is the difference between a mass-market operator and a Travel LINK specialist?
Because of their smaller scale of operations, specialist operators can feature individual properties
in intimate resorts which do not lend themselves to mass market tourism.
Quality control is important but probably the main difference is that you are more of
a client and less a number with Travel LINK Co-ordinators and treated with the importance you deserve
and is not just given lip-service.
Do you book the so called "no-frills" or "Low-Cost" airlines?
The simple answer is "yes we do", but ... We have all seen the adverts on the sides of buses
claiming you can fly to the continent for less than a taxi ride into town but remember that these
prices exclude taxes and booking fees etc etc.
Sure, you can pick up these cheap flights if you are lucky and have some flexibility in your dates
(we recently booked some customers from Doncaster to Dublin with a "No frills airline" but they are not always
necessarily the cheapest option. "Traditional" airlines often work out cheaper,
so don't automatically fall for their advertisements!
Can I save money by doing my own "DIY" package by booking flights and accommodation separately?
If you are fortunate enough to be able to take advantage of a cheap flight seat -
with either a low-cost airline or a traditional one - it is very tempting to book accommodation separately to create
your own "package" and, yes, you can occasionally save a small fortune. However, if you "do it yourself"
you will have no consumer protection at all in the event of either the airline or the accommodation provider facing
financial failure (it does happen - and more often than you are probably aware). However - here's the good news!!
If we were to LINK it together for you - at no extra charge - we can provide you with total and complete consumer
protection through our ABTA/ASTA and ATOL centres.
I've heard that some companies have a policy of "Directional Selling" - what does this mean?
The big High Street travel chains are all owned by a tour operator parent company -
for example Lunn Poly is owned by Thomson's, Going Places by Airtours etc.
These agents are under strict head office targets to ensure that wherever possible,
staff should sell one of their own products in preference to that of one of their
competitors. What this means is that around 70% of all holidays sold by these agents are directed
towards their own products - only 1 customer in every 100 who go into a Going Places shop will be sold a
Thomson holiday for example. In 1997 the monopolies and mergers commission ruled that whilst this practice
was not illegal, it did limit consumer choice massively and ruled that customers should be made aware
of all ownership links.
In reality this doesn't happen and is complicated by the fact that these huge conglomerates own several brands.
I need travel insurance!
Travel insurance is essential, particularly if you are travelling anywhere overseas.
Your personal coordinator can provide you with comprehensive travel insurance.
We offer this online because we believe that it is important to discuss your needs and individual
requirements with the specialists to bring important information to your attention.
Please call your coordinator for further details -
all have been fully trained in selling travel insurance and have completed and passed ABTA's
Travel Insurance Training Programme in association with City & Guilds and all our coordinators
continue to gain valuable training with the Travel University ...
What is next? What is planned: So we have finally got contracts , associations
and partnerships with reliable, genuine Chinese Travel Companies
(Most are also now 'tried & tested!) Such as 'Elong', 'Ctrip' and the best CITS...
plus many more contacts throughout China & the near ASIA continent.
Next - another site? Well, tried to get others involved in a full China site (Including BaiDu.cn)
but as usual ... if you want something doing right and on your own - it just takes forever ...
So apart form all that, and Teaching business English in Beijing,
Partnering in a, (Modest) Bar2Club, in Bj -
I am still on track to move into simple yacht charter around 2014...
BACK (Index)
Travel Link Co-ordinators Ltd
Link House:
UK Registered
(Companies House)
21 Bloomsbury Street,
LONDON
WC1B 3XD
Contact: admin@travellinkco-ordinators.com
FAX: 0871 520 6602
Media Messages 0800 10 88 89 1
International: 0845 1661 1279
Free Content & LINKS
for Travel related contacts.
OR Low cost website - with Free Travel & Hotel Function.
N.B. Now includes ALL China Tours, INTERNAL Flights,
tours, river cruises and hotels
FAX 0871 872 733 4642
Links Email: link@travellinkco-ordinators.com
Note Nigel now lives in Beijing
