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2006 Scottish American Society Tour of Scotland Click here.
Arrangements for the Scottish American Society tour were made through Alex J. Hood of Scottish Highland Trails. He
came to us highly recommended and certainly lived up to our expectations. Click on the link below for more information
on this service. Alex will now give a 7.5% discount on Scottish travel arrangements made through his firm by registered
members of the Scottish American Society.
Scottish Highland Trails
SCOTTISH HIGHLAND TRAILS 7 Dalmahoy Crescent, Balerno EH14 7DF Scotland Telephone: +44 (0) 131 449 9500 Fax:
+44 (0) 131 449 9501 E-mail: enquiries@highlandtrails.com
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Ryanair strikes again:
27 February 2009
"Ryanair’s chief executive said Europe’s largest budget carrier might start charging passengers for using
the toilet while flying, but his spokesman cautioned Michael O’Leary often just made things up at will.
“One thing we have looked at in the past and are looking at again is the possibility of maybe putting a coin slot on the toilet door so that people might actually
have to spend a pound ($1.43) to spend a penny in future,” O’Leary told BBC television.
He said this would not inconvenience passengers
traveling without cash. “I don't think there is anybody in history that has got on board a Ryanair aircraft with less than a pound.”
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So one more caution, folks. If you fly Ryanair, use the facility in the airport
before boarding.
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BEWARE RYANAIR
After now having recently traveled on Ryanair, I can only verify that they are worse than even I had anticipated.
If you are considering them - please make other travel plans. In mentioning our plans with various folks living in Great
Britain the response was uniform - don't do it. Make other plans. Pay any price or swim the Irish Sea with your
luggage on your back (now there's an image) - but above all - fly by another carrier. Any other carrier. Or take
the ferry.
One of my objectives in this section is to help as much as I can with folks who are planning travel primarily
throughout the British Isles and Ireland. We recently ran into a travel scam perpetrated by the venerable Ryanair. Since I
know many of you have used this airline in the past and so have we, this seems particularly relevant to our readers. I
won't go into great detail here, but I did want you to know that they have a cute little trick they pull. (If you would like
to read the specific correspondence, contact me via e-mail and I will happily forward it to you.)
After you make an online booking you must pay for it before they allow you to verify the details. This
is, of course, unlike online purchases made through most any reputable firm. If you find a mistake - even if it is instantly
recognized - you must pay an additional and exorbitant amount to correct it. We ran into this, unfortunately. We had to use
our tickets - they were non-refundable. But I will never again deal with them.
It would have been far cheaper to fly almost any other airline and there are many that fly from Scotland to
Ireland and elsewhere. Depending upon your destination, you can check with Aer Lingus, Obodo, Aer Arann, Airborne Direct,
Airline Network (British Airways), and Easy Travel. Any of these fly out of more convenient airports than Prestwick (Ryanair
only uses this airport) which is not Glasgow, even though they say it is. It's at least an hour south of the city.
You have to arrange transportation into Glasgow on your own.
Here's a good web site to check: http://www.cheapflights.co.uk/flights/Dublin/Scotland/
Make no mistake about it, folks, these are not your much adored, laid back, leprechaun loving, Guiness gulping genial Irish.
This firm is run by a devious hard bitten businessmen out to make a deceitful profit from the traveling public. Deal with
them if you feel you must, but be very aware that you may get taken. It can be well worth paying a little more to travel via
a more reputable carrier.
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WARNING
Some people have had extremely unpleasant experiences with overseas tour arrangments. If you are
planning to take a group to Scotland, we suggest you check thoroughly on the reputation of the operators before doing business
with them.
One group you might like to contact is the Clan Cunningham Society of America. You may e-mail them at query@clancunningham.us
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