Luxury Escapes any feed back please ?

[Misty]

I am considering using this company for a package holiday to Khao Lak in Thailand and I wondered if anyone on here has used them in the past and had as any feedback on if they are reputable, reliable etc. Ordinarily in Europe I book, flights with the airline, hotels direct and car hire or transfers direct. I have investigated this for long haul, but the prices on Luxury Escapes are very competitive, and it seems more straightforward for me to use this company as a kind of one stop shop.

[nectar collector]

Remembered someone else asking about them recently, and getting some positive comments

https://www.headforpoints.com/forums/topic/chat-thread-saturday-2nd-august/

[davefl]

I used them for my Kruger/Victoria Falls/Botswana trip last year. Total shambles when it comes to answering any type of detailed questions, taking weeks to respond to even a simple one as everything had to be relayed to their agents (read local tour company) in South Africa.

1st day everyone was supposed to meet in reception at the Intercontinental at JNB and the Menzies rep was nowhere to be seen. He turned up 50 mins late, no apology and by then 12 strangers had met, bonded and sorted ourselves out.

If you’re going to use them for something basic then yeah they’re reputable, but they’re just resellers of other packages from other companies like every other agency out there and no different to any of them. If you see a decent offer then I’d go for it. I was lured in by the lower price plus the Amex cashbck offer. I’d probably use them again if the same were true.

[Misty]

@nectar-collector Opps I should have done a search first, thanks for the link.

@davefl Sounds a bit of a nightmare. It will defiantly be for something basic, like a fly and flop, as it’s for my OH’s big birthday and we will just want to relax and maybe do a couple of organised day tours into the rainforest, boat trips or similar, but I’m sure any hotel concierge could book that for us.

I’ll keep my eyes open for any offers from them, haven’t checked my Amex offers but I guess they have long since passed.

[davefl]

Misty wrote:

I’ll keep my eyes open for any offers from them, haven’t checked my Amex offers but I guess they have long since passed.

They’ve been coming up once or twice a year. Not seen one for about six months.

[binotsen]

Recently booked and stayed in 2 hotels in Bali through luxury escapes and they were fine.
Cheaper than booking direct or Expedia etc and some added bonuses thrown in too like meals and massages.

I have never booked a Package through them though so don’t know what they are like with flights

[The real Swiss Tony]

I booked a flight & transfer with them (to hit the AMEX spend target). I then cancelled the booking as needed to move to a different hotel because of the location of meetings. Got a full credit for the booking as per the terms.

Landed at the airport to find a driver holding a sign with my name on it. Slightly jet lagged, I just ignored him as he would have taken me to the wrong hotel and it could have become a bit awkward. Then had a couple of calls from a local number, which I assume was the driver wondering where I was. I’m assuming the transfer company still got paid because it was down to LE to cancel that, not me.

So I’d be wary of their back end – it’s clearly not very joined up – but for a hotel only, never had a problem.

[Misty]

thanks @dave I’ve got a gold card and OH the BAPP so I will have a look every now and again, to see if they show up. I’m going to check and see if they are on the BA shopping portal.

@binotsen the hotels seem to be coming up a bit cheaper than Expedia, also as you mentioned they are throwing in a meal package and a reasonably priced transfer.

The flights seem to be with people like Air France, Etihad, Singapore, all the usual suspects really. I’m never sure about booking flights through an agent in case the airlines change things and the package company forgets to pass the information on. Might have to book flights myself and do as you did and just book the hotel through them.

They seem to want me to join something called LuxPlus+ Membership, which costs £129 (?) but then they take that off the final price, not sure what that’s all about, probably data mining.

[Misty]

@The-real-Swiss-Tony Sounds a bii messy, although as it’s a holiday and not work so hopefully we won’t have to change anything, it’s difficult to know what to do for the best, as presumably if I book all three elements with them I would be covered by the package holiday legislation, not that I am expected to need it, but you never know.

[BP]

Be sure to check the terms and conditions carefully and make sure you fully understand them.

Earlier this year I booked a hotel-only deal through a similar provider, Secret Escapes. When the airline changed my flight dates, I needed to adjust the hotel booking by adding an extra night. This meant cancelling the original booking (which incurred a £35 cancellation fee) and rebooking a similar deal at the same hotel using the refund in the form of credits. That part went smoothly, but then the hotel turned out not to be ready for guests, so I had to get a last-minute refund. Because I’d used credits for the rebooking, the refund also came back as credits. Unfortunately, Secret Escapes didn’t have any suitable alternatives, which left me in a tricky situation for our family holiday! Thankfully, their customer service team was excellent and issued a full cash refund, but technically, under their terms and conditions, they weren’t obliged to do so.

[davefl]

Misty wrote:

thanks @dave I’ve got a gold card and OH the BAPP so I will have a look every now and again, to see if they show up. I’m going to check and see if they are on the BA shopping portal.

They’re on TCB and they paid out ok on my trip.