Showing posts with label cape verde islands. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cape verde islands. Show all posts
15 October 2006
Cape Verde Islands - crime or hassle ?
i had a look at the Bradt guidebook to the cape verde islands ... and it looks like the crime/hassle level might be a bit too high for some of the less robust member of our group ...
14 October 2006
Cape Verde Islands ... how to get there - charter flights - 2nd attempt ...
spoke with Destination Portugal / Witney Travel Ltd ... and they say that the MAN to SID charter is full [where as Cape Verde / Eastgate Travel and teletickettravel say it is available] ... whilst unlike the others, they do have availability [she tried and was given 4 seats] on the LGW to SID charter [departs 09:45 arr 14:40 ; dep 15:40 arr 22:30] ... with a price of 486 gbp
they also quoted me prices including accomodation
they also quoted me prices including accomodation
- Vondel - 3 star - 735 gbp
- Moribezo - 4 star - 997 gbp
12 October 2006
knock - manchester ... to connect with charter to SID ...
another option to get to MAN would be to fly from kNOCk airport [recently rebranded as Ireland West for whatever reason] ... bmibaby fly the route once a day ... the flight out on wed 20th dec is at 14:20 [44 cents], with the return flight on fri 29 dec at 12:30 [68.49 eur plus charges] apparently having just 3 seats left ... don't often look at the bmibaby website - hadn't seen that "remaining seats" feature before ...
the return flight including charges comes to 107.04 eur - considerably more expensive than flying out of DUB ...
the return flight including charges comes to 107.04 eur - considerably more expensive than flying out of DUB ...
dublin - manchester ... to connect with charter to SID ...
with the charter scheduled to depart MAN at 09:45 [and with service not yet having started for the winter, potentially subject to change] on thu 21st dec ... the first flight out of DUB to connect would be 06:30 with either Aer Lingus (EI) or Ryanair (FR) - getting into MAN around 7:30 ... which is probably cutting it too fine ...
that means travelling over the night before ... the last FR flight is at 18:10 [for just 99 cents plus charges], where as the last EI flight is at 20:30 for a very reasonable 1 euro !
the return flight from SID arrives into MAN at 00:45 on fri 29th dec ... so another overnight stay ... EI have flights dep MAN at 08:00 [29 eur], 13:20 [29 eur], 19:10 [15 eur] and 21:50 [5 eur] ... whilst FR have flights at 07:55 [12.99 eur], 13:40 [12.99 eur], 19:30 [9.99 eur] and 22:35 [5.99 eur] ... all prices are excl charges ...
that means travelling over the night before ... the last FR flight is at 18:10 [for just 99 cents plus charges], where as the last EI flight is at 20:30 for a very reasonable 1 euro !
the return flight from SID arrives into MAN at 00:45 on fri 29th dec ... so another overnight stay ... EI have flights dep MAN at 08:00 [29 eur], 13:20 [29 eur], 19:10 [15 eur] and 21:50 [5 eur] ... whilst FR have flights at 07:55 [12.99 eur], 13:40 [12.99 eur], 19:30 [9.99 eur] and 22:35 [5.99 eur] ... all prices are excl charges ...
11 October 2006
Cape Verde Islands ... how to get there - scheduled - 4th attempt
for a laugh, thought i might as well try using my bmi diamond club frequent flyer points ...
unsurprisingly there is no availability on the LON-LIS-SID sectors on 21/22/23 or 24th december ... they do have availability on the return leg, but only in business class - which would cost me 30,000 ...
they do have availability on the LIS-SID sector for the 22nd december [dep 21:50 arr 00:45] - only 2 seats ... with availability on the SID-LIS leg on 30th and 31st december, as well as 1st january [dep 01:55 arr 06:35, or possibly the Sat flight dep 11:55 arr 16:35] - the return in business class [no economy available] would be 45,000 miles
unsurprisingly there is no availability on the LON-LIS-SID sectors on 21/22/23 or 24th december ... they do have availability on the return leg, but only in business class - which would cost me 30,000 ...
they do have availability on the LIS-SID sector for the 22nd december [dep 21:50 arr 00:45] - only 2 seats ... with availability on the SID-LIS leg on 30th and 31st december, as well as 1st january [dep 01:55 arr 06:35, or possibly the Sat flight dep 11:55 arr 16:35] - the return in business class [no economy available] would be 45,000 miles
Cape Verde Islands ... how to get there - scheduled - 3rd attempt
decided to call TACV in Lisbon, and ask about prices and availability ... very pleasant woman spoke a bit of english, and told me that a return for one week would be 559.66 eur ...
sounded great, until i asked about dates "oh no, completely full" ... the latest date in december when they have availability is 8th - not much good for a christmas trip !
sounded great, until i asked about dates "oh no, completely full" ... the latest date in december when they have availability is 8th - not much good for a christmas trip !
Cape Verde Islands ... how to get there - scheduled - 2nd attempt
since it is the LIS-SID-LIS legs that are adding the huge cost [800 gbp], i thought that i would try booking singles - sometimes that turns out cheaper ...
using the TAP website, the LIS-SID sector comes in at 1088.88 eur [approx 740 gpb] ... and they can't even quote for the return sector as a single ... scratch that, just tried again, and they have - 52500 cve [approx 330 gbp] ... and just in case a return ex-SAL might be cheaper, i tried that ... but it comes in at 69100 cve [approx 430 gbp]
ah well, worth a try
using the TAP website, the LIS-SID sector comes in at 1088.88 eur [approx 740 gpb] ... and they can't even quote for the return sector as a single ... scratch that, just tried again, and they have - 52500 cve [approx 330 gbp] ... and just in case a return ex-SAL might be cheaper, i tried that ... but it comes in at 69100 cve [approx 430 gbp]
ah well, worth a try
10 October 2006
Cape Verde Islands ... how to get there - charter flights ...
the only charter flights i can find are with Atraeus, who fly from Gatwick directly to SID (Sal airport) on a Thursday, and from Manchester via Banjul and on to SID, also on a Thursday
using Astraues' partner site Teletickettravel, there wasn't any availability showing for the Gatwick flight, so I phoned up the Cape Verde Travel in Hull - who told me that there are only a few seats left, and they are only being sold for two week trips. btw, Cape Verde Travel's telephone number is 01964 532679 - in case you don't want to use their 0845 number.
the flight from Manchester [dep MAN 09:15 arriving SID 14:35 ; return flight dep SID 15:35 arriving MAN 00:45] is showing on Teletickettravel as being available for 430 gbp - which is starting to look like the best option ... but travel on a Thursday morning is not the most convenient - would prefer to travel on Saturday 23rd ...
another travel agent offering cape verde holidays is Witney Travel Ltd ...
using Astraues' partner site Teletickettravel, there wasn't any availability showing for the Gatwick flight, so I phoned up the Cape Verde Travel in Hull - who told me that there are only a few seats left, and they are only being sold for two week trips. btw, Cape Verde Travel's telephone number is 01964 532679 - in case you don't want to use their 0845 number.
the flight from Manchester [dep MAN 09:15 arriving SID 14:35 ; return flight dep SID 15:35 arriving MAN 00:45] is showing on Teletickettravel as being available for 430 gbp - which is starting to look like the best option ... but travel on a Thursday morning is not the most convenient - would prefer to travel on Saturday 23rd ...
another travel agent offering cape verde holidays is Witney Travel Ltd ...
Cape Verde Islands ... how to get there - scheduled ...
got a bit of a shock looking at the flight prices
with TAP the price ex Gatwick via LISbon to SID [Sal airport] outbound on 23rd Dec and returning on 30the Dec is a jaw dropping 1,070 gbp and that is choosing the cheapest dates around this time, and price is the same ex LHR ...
the price for the LIS-SID leg is the crippling part - 800 quid !
using Amadeus to look at the scheduled flights - the only ones to SID are TAP/TACV and none of the flights to Praia (RAI), via continental europe, seem to go on a Saturday [which would be my preferred day of travel]
none of the main travel websites seem to use Cape Verde Airlines (TACV), so they are relying on TAP, and the TACV website itself seems only interested in US travellers ... so don't know how i can get online prices for TACV ?
the connections in Lisbon are:
LIS-RAI Mon/Tue/Thu/Fri - TACV
LIS-SID (Sal Airport) - M/T/W/T/F/S/S - TAP
and Wed/Sat/Sun - TACV
with TAP the price ex Gatwick via LISbon to SID [Sal airport] outbound on 23rd Dec and returning on 30the Dec is a jaw dropping 1,070 gbp and that is choosing the cheapest dates around this time, and price is the same ex LHR ...
the price for the LIS-SID leg is the crippling part - 800 quid !
using Amadeus to look at the scheduled flights - the only ones to SID are TAP/TACV and none of the flights to Praia (RAI), via continental europe, seem to go on a Saturday [which would be my preferred day of travel]
none of the main travel websites seem to use Cape Verde Airlines (TACV), so they are relying on TAP, and the TACV website itself seems only interested in US travellers ... so don't know how i can get online prices for TACV ?
the connections in Lisbon are:
LIS-RAI Mon/Tue/Thu/Fri - TACV
LIS-SID (Sal Airport) - M/T/W/T/F/S/S - TAP
and Wed/Sat/Sun - TACV
christmas options
have been looking into the following possible destinations
- Mauritius - bit too far from London for a week's holiday, and flights look expensive [over 800 gbp]
- Seychelles - again, too far for just a week, and similarly expensive
- Egypt - bit too unstable for some people
- Madeira - probably not warm enough
- Canary Islands - possibly not warm enough
- Cape Verde Islands - bit difficult to get to
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