PAOK away travel thread

[cazzyy]

46 minutes ago, Tynie724 said:

how are you getting to Sofia?

 

You can get a bus there for about £10 but it's a 5 hour journey.

[Shaggy2]

45 minutes ago, FionaHmfc said:

Seen a few people on Twitter saying they booked a package with loveholidays (our sponsor) who promptly cancelled their flights and asked them to rebook at a much higher price. Chancers. Just a warning for anyone thinking of booking with a 3rd party. Always book directly with the airlines if you can 

You’ve probably read me today. 😂

What a shambles. How can our football club associate themselves with a travel company that requires up to 72 hours to confirm a booking? I used them last night because they are club partners as I’m sure was their aim when signing up with Hearts. Hotel and transfer was confirmed instantly but they had to confirm the flights. I slept about 4 hours then chased them up this morning. They got in touch saying they couldn’t confirm the booking unless I paid another £230 because the flights had jumped overnight. 
Waiting up to 3 days is no use to anyone far less the modern football fan who often has less than a week between European matches. 
Why oh why didn’t we just finish third and this stress could have been avoided? 😂

[PapaShango]

35 minutes ago, Shaggy2 said:

You’ve probably read me today. 😂

What a shambles. How can our football club associate themselves with a travel company that requires up to 72 hours to confirm a booking? I used them last night because they are club partners as I’m sure was their aim when signing up with Hearts. Hotel and transfer was confirmed instantly but they had to confirm the flights. I slept about 4 hours then chased them up this morning. They got in touch saying they couldn’t confirm the booking unless I paid another £230 because the flights had jumped overnight. 
Waiting up to 3 days is no use to anyone far less the modern football fan who often has less than a week between European matches. 
Why oh why didn’t we just finish third and this stress could have been avoided? 😂

I booked via Skyscanner this morning and flight out was easyJet from Manchester but couldn’t get on the return flight. I booked coming back via Rome with Aegean from Greece and Jet2 from Rome. All for £350 which was best I could find. Jet2 then emailed me about 3 hours later to cancel my flight from Rome to Manchester and Aegean refused me a refund on the first connecting flight. So I had to book another route home and I’ve lost £120 on my first flight. 

[braveheart]

Flights from Leeds/Bradford are still much the same as when I booked them.tues to friday.jet2 direct on way there.ryanair to Corfu on way back, pleasant day there then back with jet 2 in evening.flights around £260/70.on Skyscanner.

 

[Diadora Van Basten]

9 hours ago, Tynie724 said:

how are you getting to Sofia?

Getting the train on the Friday

[Shaggy2]

1 hour ago, PapaShango said:

I booked via Skyscanner this morning and flight out was easyJet from Manchester but couldn’t get on the return flight. I booked coming back via Rome with Aegean from Greece and Jet2 from Rome. All for £350 which was best I could find. Jet2 then emailed me about 3 hours later to cancel my flight from Rome to Manchester and Aegean refused me a refund on the first connecting flight. So I had to book another route home and I’ve lost £120 on my first flight. 

Yeah, I read your earlier post. These airlines are taking liberties these days but seriously, what can you do? It’s an absolute disgrace. I’m learning slowly but now I’ll only take one flight where possible. 

[PapaShango]

38 minutes ago, Shaggy2 said:

Yeah, I read your earlier post. These airlines are taking liberties these days but seriously, what can you do? It’s an absolute disgrace. I’m learning slowly but now I’ll only take one flight where possible. 

When I was booking with easyJet back to Manchester the flight was full but once my flight was cancelled there were spaces but at ridiculous prices. Didn’t really have a choice but to pay it! Better be a good trip after that 😆

[The Real Maroonblood]

11 hours ago, FionaHmfc said:

Seen a few people on Twitter saying they booked a package with loveholidays (our sponsor) who promptly cancelled their flights and asked them to rebook at a much higher price. Chancers. Just a warning for anyone thinking of booking with a 3rd party. Always book directly with the airlines if you can 

That’s ridiculous.

 

[cazzyy]

1 hour ago, braveheart said:

Flights from Leeds/Bradford are still much the same as when I booked them.tues to friday.jet2 direct on way there.ryanair to Corfu on way back, pleasant day there then back with jet 2 in evening.flights around £260/70.on Skyscanner.

 

 

That's decent but the early start and long day on the Friday after a few celebratory sherbets on the Thursday night would worry me.

[ecky92]

Got 2 tickets flying from Birmingham 7 o’clock the Wednesday morning via Düsseldorf. Return leaving at 10.30pm on the Friday direct to Birmingham. 
£330pp. 
plus the name change price. 
 

[PapaShango]

Anyone know what time you can usually get into the airport at or is it 24/7? Flight is 6am from Manchester and plan to drive down the night before around 11.30 and just go to the airport.

[ecky92]

1 minute ago, PapaShango said:

Anyone know what time you can usually get into the airport at or is it 24/7? Flight is 6am from Manchester and plan to drive down the night before around 11.30 and just go to the airport.

Bar opens at 4am 

[PapaShango]

5 minutes ago, ecky92 said:

Bar opens at 4am 

Great will make sure I’m there for it opening! 

[Ari Gold]

11 minutes ago, PapaShango said:

Anyone know what time you can usually get into the airport at or is it 24/7? Flight is 6am from Manchester and plan to drive down the night before around 11.30 and just go to the airport.

24/7, there are people that stay over if they've got an overnight layover so you should be all good to turn up whenever you want.

Edited August 19, 2023 by Ari Gold

[Ford Prentice]

Booked flights.

 

Now for the usual panic about when tickets will be released, how many points you need and will they all be snapped up by people just to get loyalty points.

[ScandinavianJambo]

19 hours ago, FionaHmfc said:

Festival is on and Aston Villa fans going to be staying in town the night before. Wouldn’t like to be them forking out the prices for hotel rooms next week!

Indeed. It is not a cheap city our beloved Edinburgh. Especially not in August! 

[Gorgi1874]

16 hours ago, Wee Mikey said:

 

Jeeez!!!! I'm hoping that you're gonna have a bit of a holiday as well. That sounds horrific.

 

Ps ... please tell us that you're going 1st class. 😁

I wish! It was the best deal on Skyscanner for minimal travel time. Might not even get tickets as I'm on 60 loyalty points but sod it, my boy and me could do with a holiday. 

[OTT]

16 hours ago, FionaHmfc said:

Seen a few people on Twitter saying they booked a package with loveholidays (our sponsor) who promptly cancelled their flights and asked them to rebook at a much higher price. Chancers. Just a warning for anyone thinking of booking with a 3rd party. Always book directly with the airlines if you can 

 

The clubs has done an excellent job in avoiding dodgy sponsors, wondering if this might be worth an email to the club. Might sound a bit daft, but that sounds extremely unethical and I assume the club have put a lot of effort into making sure we're not aligning ourselves with shysters (like Hibs jumping into bed with the dodgy cryptocurrency stuff). 

[Italian Lambretta]

1 hour ago, Ford Prentice said:

Booked flights.

 

Now for the usual panic about when tickets will be released, how many points you need and will they all be snapped up by people just to get loyalty points.

It’ll be fine I doubt there will be more than a 1000 at the game.

[The Real Maroonblood]

1 hour ago, ecky92 said:

Bar opens at 4am 

Nothing like an early start.

🍺🍺🍺🍺

[Italian Lambretta]

Anyone else booked Edin to Thessaloniki via Frankfurt Tuesday morning at 6am?

Returning Sat on Swiss air via Zurich.

We paid £1046 for me and Cameron and we have 4 nights in the Holiday Inn for £309

[PapaShango]

1 hour ago, Ford Prentice said:

Booked flights.

 

Now for the usual panic about when tickets will be released, how many points you need and will they all be snapped up by people just to get loyalty points.

I’ll be amazed if there isn’t enough to go round. Stadium holds over 28,000 not sure how many we are entitled to but probably be lucky if we take anymore than 1,000 with the flight costs and logistics of getting there and back. 

[PapaShango]

42 minutes ago, Gorgi1874 said:

I wish! It was the best deal on Skyscanner for minimal travel time. Might not even get tickets as I'm on 60 loyalty points but sod it, my boy and me could do with a holiday. 

I’m on 57 but as above post there will be enough tickets for everyone that is travelling I’m sure.

[Jarhead]

6 hours ago, Diadora Van Basten said:

Getting the train on the Friday

The bus is 3 hours quicker 🤷‍♂️

 

Wanted to do this trip but cost ended up prohibitive for me ☹️

[Jack Torrance]

16 hours ago, Wee Mikey said:

 

Good thinking.

 

A holiday with a Hearts away game into the bargain.

 

I may be tempted, although my gal might not be best pleased. 🤭

It'll either be a week of fun in the sun or drowning the sorrows in 30 degrees, Mikey.

 

Looking forward to your next installment of holiday pics fella 😄

[Gorgi1874]

20 minutes ago, PapaShango said:

I’m on 57 but as above post there will be enough tickets for everyone that is travelling I’m sure.

Hope so pal, can't wait 

[Ford Prentice]

1 hour ago, Italian Lambretta said:

It’ll be fine I doubt there will be more than a 1000 at the game.

 

33 minutes ago, PapaShango said:

I’ll be amazed if there isn’t enough to go round. Stadium holds over 28,000 not sure how many we are entitled to but probably be lucky if we take anymore than 1,000 with the flight costs and logistics of getting there and back. 

 

I appeciate the reassurances and I'm sure there will be tickets. Was at Riga and half of us had two tickets, one from the club and one from RFS. Was also in Istanbul and tickets were no problem.

 

However I'll still be nervous until the ticket is in my hand (or email folder).

Edited August 19, 2023 by Ford Prentice

[Veonms]

Just booked the flight out and thought I would share for anyone else looking in. Best we could find was to fly (Wednesday 30th) over to Kavala (city along from Thessaloniki) from Glasgow with a layover in Frankfurt for £225/person. You can then get the bus from Kavala to Thessaloniki that evening, for £14/person, which gets you in around 2130.
 

Getting back we’re getting the Friday morning train from Thessaloniki to Athens and then flying back, though it’s around £550-600/person this way. There might be cheaper options for the return but that was the best for us weighing up the cost and times.

[Jamhammer]

On 18/08/2023 at 09:30, GinRummy said:

Athens a hole? I mean they’ve got a bit of a graffiti problem but some beautiful parts of the city 

It’s a good few years since I was there

i love Greece but was really disappointed 

[Bazzas right boot]

18 hours ago, cazzyy said:

 

You can get a bus there for about £10 but it's a 5 hour journey.

 

Bit like the 44?

[makie]

On 18/08/2023 at 14:36, FionaHmfc said:

What have people booked as a route home? Really toiling to find something. Got a route for going out but struggling to find a way home 

Going to Gatwick then flight up to Edinburgh

[Wee Mikey]

4 hours ago, Jack Torrance said:

It'll either be a week of fun in the sun or drowning the sorrows in 30 degrees, Mikey.

 

Looking forward to your next installment of holiday pics fella 😄

 

I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for a hot Nana Mouskouri look-alike.

 

Plus, especially for @JudyJudyJudy, a sultry Demis Roussos Greek God.

 

 

[JudyJudyJudy]

12 minutes ago, Wee Mikey said:

 

I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for a hot Nana Mouskouri look-alike.

 

Plus, especially for @JudyJudyJudy, a sultry Demis Roussos Greek God.

 

 

Rather meet Nana that Denis tbf lol too hirsute 

[Wee Mikey]

2 minutes ago, JudyJudyJudy said:

Rather meet Nana that Denis tbf lol too hirsute 

 

Agreed. I remember being baffled as to my dearly departed dad's 'thing' for Nana Mouskouri, what with my eyes being turned by the likes of Debbie Harry.

 

Now? I've seen the light. Swoon, etc. 🙃

[The Hogfather]

53 minutes ago, Veonms said:

Just booked the flight out and thought I would share for anyone else looking in. Best we could find was to fly (Wednesday 30th) over to Kavala (city along from Thessaloniki) from Glasgow with a layover in Frankfurt for £225/person. You can then get the bus from Kavala to Thessaloniki that evening, for £14/person, which gets you in around 2130.
 

Getting back we’re getting the Friday morning train from Thessaloniki to Athens and then flying back, though it’s around £550-600/person this way. There might be cheaper options for the return but that was the best for us weighing up the cost and times.

 

Thessaloniki to Dusseldorf on the 1st and then Dusseldorf to Edinburgh on the 2nd works out at around half that.

[Wee Mikey]

45 minutes ago, Bazzas right boot said:

Bit like the 44?

 

A bit like getting the bus to Dingwall via Inverness more like.

 

I'm honestly contemplating a stop-over on 30th Sept.

 

The journey is doable in one day, but it's a long 'un.

[kila]

1 hour ago, Bazzas right boot said:

 

Bit like the 44?

As long as someone rings the bell the right amount of times or we’ll lose

[stirlingshirejambo]

I’ve had to convince the wife to allow me to spend a day (and night) of our silver wedding holiday flying from Rome to the game

can get an early flight direct,  but fly back to Rome via Milan with a long stopover overnight back in time for 9 the Friday morning for the last day of our holiday 

Return flights £260 no hotel required

[Wee Mikey]

8 minutes ago, stirlingshirejambo said:

I’ve had to convince the wife to allow me to spend a day (and night) of our silver wedding holiday flying from Rome to the game

can get an early flight direct,  but fly back to Rome via Milan with a long stopover overnight back in time for 9 the Friday morning for the last day of our holiday 

Return flights £260 no hotel required

 

You've hit the jackpot. Well done. 👏

[rory78]

7 hours ago, PapaShango said:

Great will make sure I’m there for it opening! 

He'd need to be through security etc by then anyway 👍

[Wee Mikey]

12 minutes ago, kila said:

As long as someone rings the bell the right amount of times or we’ll lose

 

That ☝️ is properly cryptic. Almost surreal.

[gorgierulesapply88]

Getting there is the easy part, coming back the hard part(expensive). Anybody found anything decent or able to help me to return Friday night? I can be late for my nightshift!

[gorgierulesapply88]

 

£180 to get there. Arrive 23.48 Wednesday night. 

 

Coming back the hard part!

[Veonms]

2 hours ago, The Hogfather said:

 

Thessaloniki to Dusseldorf on the 1st and then Dusseldorf to Edinburgh on the 2nd works out at around half that.

 

Cheers! Aye, I knew that there’s cheaper options but we’re wanting to get back on the Friday. 

The original price for the flights was £450ish but once we went through to pay they shot up to ~£550 in typical fashion and we decided just to pay it for our convenience. We were nearly caught out with missing the connecting flights when going to Riga and Zurich last year, so we try to avoid short layovers these days incase of delays and try to limit the number of connections.

As I said, coming back isn’t the cheapest option, (IIRC Krakow was another option we were considering that was cheaper but later) but it suited us the most 🙂

[FionaHmfc]

1 hour ago, gorgierulesapply88 said:

Getting there is the easy part, coming back the hard part(expensive). Anybody found anything decent or able to help me to return Friday night? I can be late for my nightshift!

Thessaloniki- Dusseldorf - Edinburgh is your best bet but it’s about £400! Gets you into Edinburgh for 2pm. Or there’s a Krakow flight about the price that would get you in for 11pm which is maybe too late for you. Berlin the same that gets you in at 7pm. Bear in mind some of these are self transfers so if you are checking a suitcase in you probably wouldn’t make the connection. 
 

Another thing you could do is go on skyscanner and type in one way flights from Thessaloniki to “everywhere” and it’ll give you a list of places you could fly to from there on a specific day and you can sort it by price. Then you could see if any of those places offer direct flights to Edinburgh or are within distance of another airport that would take you home. Also try look at Kavala airport which isn’t far from Thessaloniki. 

[Don corleone]

7 hours ago, Italian Lambretta said:

Anyone else booked Edin to Thessaloniki via Frankfurt Tuesday morning at 6am?

Returning Sat on Swiss air via Zurich.

We paid £1046 for me and Cameron and we have 4 nights in the Holiday Inn for £309

we booked same route out on the Monday, back on Friday night same route reversed. Great looking hotel too, about £1,200 all in. Not cheap, but a 5 day holiday with a great match thrown in...

[PapaShango]

Onto the important stuff anyone know how much a pints sets you back over there?

[heartsfc_fan]

15 minutes ago, PapaShango said:

Onto the important stuff anyone know how much a pints sets you back over there?

It's Greece so cheaper than here!

[PapaShango]

Just now, heartsfc_fan said:

It's Greece so cheaper than here!

That’s what I thought and cheaper than Norway! 

[Thunder and Lightning]

9 hours ago, OTT said:

 

The clubs has done an excellent job in avoiding dodgy sponsors, wondering if this might be worth an email to the club. Might sound a bit daft, but that sounds extremely unethical and I assume the club have put a lot of effort into making sure we're not aligning ourselves with shysters (like Hibs jumping into bed with the dodgy cryptocurrency stuff). 

I was going to post the same thing. The club should be informed of this nonsense.