UNIT 2
1. This Greece Travel Tips page will help you book your trip to Greece and avoid many of the problems that people e-mail about, therefore reducing the number of desperate emails one will receive. Write a summary of the text in Russian.
Matt's Greece Travel Tips
1. The earlier you book your flight the more inexpensive seats will be available.
2. When airlines are short of cash they offer discounted fares, usually in January-February so look for bargains then.
3. Automated On-line Booking sites are useful for researching hotel prices but they give you zero support. A reliable Greek travel agency can give you competitive prices while helping you plan your trip to make the most of your time and money.
4. Booking hotels individually means you are responsible for getting there and to do that you need reliable ferry information often before the ferry companies have even released them. With last-minute cancellation fees for hotels as high as 90 to 100 % this is risky.
5. Hotel websites are not objective. The website will tell you the hotel is the best. A travel agency that knows the hotels will tell you the pros and cons of each.
6. Travel agents make deals with specific hotels for extra low rates in return for the promise of bookings. The rooms are paid for before the season and these are the hotels the agency will have the best prices for.
7. If you come to an agent with a specific hotel you saw that looked good on a website ask if there are hotels of the same category or better for less.
8. The most popular hotels are not always the best but they are generally the most expensive.
9. A good travel agency knows that return customers are his bread and butter and will go out of his way to make sure you are satisfied. When planning your trip express any doubts and don't be afraid to ask questions. If you have problems during your trip, whether it is dissatisfaction with your room or problems with the ferries or a change in the weather contact the agency. Part of their job is solving any problems that may occur for their clients and making sure they return home singing praises of Greece and the agency and return again and again.
10. ATM's are everywhere. Use your credit card to get money but for restaurants and shops it is better to use cash. In fact when you buy from a shop ask if there is a difference in price if you pay in cash instead of with your credit cards.
11. When booking on-line a travel agency will usually ask you for proof that the credit card is yours by having you fax a signed photo-copy. This is to prove that you made the purchase and not someone who has your card number. It is standard procedure.
12. Beware of hustlers. If you are booking as you go and someone approaches you on the street or in your hotel and takes you or sends you to a travel agency to buy ferry tickets to Amorgos and you walk out of the agency with five days on Mykonos and a cruise because they told you the Amorgos ferry was cancelled, then you were just hustled. That does not mean you won't have a good time. It just means someone took advantage of you.
13. You can take the metro or a taxi from your hotel to the port. The hotel concierge can arrange the taxi or point the way to the metro.
14. You can take the metro from the port back to the hotel. But chances are unless you have pre-arranged for a taxi to pick you up at the boat you won't find one. Usually several hundred people disembark and the three or four taxis there are waiting for customers who phoned them in advance.
15. If you have an early morning flight you don't have to stay at the airport or near the airport because the roads are clear of traffic in the morning and you can be at the airport in less than half an hour by taxi.