Hi Monty

Looking at the departure dates for this holiday there is only one date, 2nd June, that is showing "only 10 places left", does this mean the other dates are not doing very well at the moment?  Bearing in mind there are 25 places on this holiday "only 10 places left", according to my calculation, means there are only 15 people booked for June on what used to be a very popular holiday and, what appears to be, even less for the other dates.

I really wanted to go to Calabria this year, but, due to the departure dates for 2016 not being published until the January brochure came out because of the changeover to Stansted it has made it really difficult for me to fit around the dates.  What is the position regarding dates, are they selling?

Also, in the past we have had a brochure come out in September with the holiday dates for the following year, and that is when I usually start making my plans as things have to be put in place as early as possible.  Will we be getting a new brochure in September this year or are we going to have to wait until January again? I hope not!

Could you also please tell me how many weeks before a departure date holidays and flights are kept open?  I am currently looking at 12th May but it will  possibly be another 3 weeks before I know things are clear for me to book.

Many thanks

Avocet

Hi Avocet,

I did this holiday in 2013 and it was great.  I was seriously thinking about going back because I loved it so much, but Stansted made it difficult, then I saw it was Ryanair - that completely ruled it out for me.

Hope you find a way to go though - it really is worth while, if only for the hotel.

Sylvia

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I am pleased that you like the idea.

The countdown begins when it’s down to 15 places left, regardless of whether its cleared or not.

One thing to bare in mind is that when we add more availability to a tour, the date will return back to 'available'. A perfect example of this is the King Richard III's experience weekend. At one point we only had 8 spaces left, but we have added more spaces so it now shows up as 'available'. All in all, the countdown is there to guide you, but don't solely rely on this feature to see what is popular and what isn't.

I hope that makes sense.

Kindest regards,

Monty

Thanks for pointing out the availability feature, it's something that had completely passed me by, it was just by chance I happened to look to see if any of the holiday dates for Calabria had been cancelled or sold out, I didn't look at anything else.

I think it's a great idea, I had a quick flick through some of the holidays just to see how they were selling, interesting to see what appears to be popular at the moment and what is not, I will certainly be keeping an eye on holidays that are of interest to me in the future. Looking at how some of them have completely sold out on all dates is even more reason why I would like to see the September brochure brought back.

Just a couple of questions, do the numbers have to reach a certain level before they show up and, when they do, is it an indication that the holiday has been cleared to run?

Many thanks

Avocet

That's correct - there are 15 travellers booked on the 2nd June departure and it has been cleared to operate with a group of this size.

As you may know, we decided to include the availability feature on the website because of the feedback on the community and I really hope you find it informative. Quite recently, we have noticed a trend in that our solo travellers tend be booking closer to the date of the departure, so we certainly aren't worried about the availability of this tour. The patterns of which holidays fill up faster than others, naturally varies every year and Italy is a country that is popular with a large amount of our customers.

We are still planning our September brochure and nothing is set in stone at the moment. I know that a lot of you have mentioned you missed the September brochure - so its something we are really looking in to!

I would recommend giving our Holiday Advisors a call to see what we can do as our hotels availability can very.

Kindest regards,

Monty

Looking at the departure dates for this holiday there is only one date, 2nd June, that is showing "only 10 places left", does this mean the other dates are not doing very well at the moment? Bearing in mind there are 25 places on this holiday "only 10 places left", according to my calculation, means there are only 15 people booked for June on what used to be a very popular holiday and, what appears to be, even less for the other dates.

I really wanted to go to Calabria this year, but, due to the departure dates for 2016 not being published until the January brochure came out because of the changeover to Stansted it has made it really difficult for me to fit around the dates. What is the position regarding dates, are they selling?

Also, in the past we have had a brochure come out in September with the holiday dates for the following year, and that is when I usually start making my plans as things have to be put in place as early as possible. Will we be getting a new brochure in September this year or are we going to have to wait until January again? I hope not!

Could you also please tell me how many weeks before a departure date holidays and flights are kept open? I am currently looking at 12th May but it will possibly be another 3 weeks before I know things are clear for me to book.

Many thanks

Avocet