When to book trips?

Hi everyone, my fiancee and I will be in Phuket for our first time for a week in December. Back in January, we got our plane tickets and made a hotel reservation. SInce then, we%26#39;ve read some travel books and I%26#39;ve read this board a couple times a week. We have a good idea of what we want to do and see.

My question is this: when should I look into booking trips? We want to do the John Gray Starlight tour, visit the elephant/gibbon rehab center and maybe do some fishing.

I sent Mr. Mor an email yesterday to check on his availability, but that is the extent of our planning.

We are staying at the JW Marriott and since it%26#39;s far away from most everything, is it a good idea to get our trips booked before we arrive? I%26#39;m sure the hotel could do this for us, but I%26#39;d rather not pay its serivce fee for something I can do myself.

Thanks for the advice. I%26#39;ve really enjoyed reading the posts here over the last few months.

Doug

When to book trips?

Hi Doug

I have just returned from Phuket but having only been once I am by no means an expert.

The prices I saw when looking on the internet etc appeared to me to be far more expensive than what you find when you get there.

It is very easy to book your trips when you are there and you would only have to give a day or twos notice, I would get to one of the hubs (Patong, Kata etc) and book your day trips like John Gray Starlight Tour from the tour desks you see everywhere.

As for Mr Mor, we didn%26#39;t give enough notice to get him and that was in the off season so you may want to organise him very early. I would imagine he will be able to take you to the elephant/gibbon rehab centre as well as all the normal things to see on the island.

I hope this helps.

When to book trips?

Before anyone else jumps in and makes a great song and dance about it, please bear in mind that the Elephant trekking, sometimes known as Baan Chang, at Kata Viewpoint is not an official rehabilitation centre for either elephants or Gibbons. It does have an excellent elephant trekking operation, and the gibbons are a delight. There is more info on this at the phuketalternative tours website.

With regards to booking tours, there are a number of scams which affect both the price, the quality and the suitablity of the product you buy. People talk about getting tours at half price, this is only because the tour was advertised at an inflated price in the first place. Some tour providors pay up to to 70% commission to agents to sell their tours, some operators pay direct kickbacks to agency staff, in addition to the commission. Some agents virtually shanghai tourists on their way to their hotel from the airport, with the connivance of taxi drivers who also get a share of the commission, and have them taken to their offices to buy tours. In bound tour operators will arrange to have their travel consultants visit you in your hotel, on your first day in Thailand, to help ';manage'; your stay in Thailand.

And guess who pays for all of this?

So, where do you start? I suggest you decide which tours you want to do, and check here in this forum to see what other pople have paid, and what they recommend. Then if you can get the tour you want through a website, at the price you think is fair, go ahead and book. If you wait until you are here to book, in the middle of the high season, you are going to get a lot of disappointments.

With products such as fantasea, I suggest you could probably book that once you are here as they have huge capacity. For small, quality operators you definately need to book ahead. When booking here you get the best deal from the small tour agencies you see all over the place. You are usually dealing with the owner and they will be more inclined to sell you a quality product, as they want to see you come back again.

Good luck,

Mark.

Heck, I missed both of the previous postings. What happened?

Mark.

I missed them, too. Wonder what they were?

I do appreciate the other two posts, though. Personally, I%26#39;d be most comfortable having my tours/trips scheduled when I arrive in Phuket so there are no surprises, so that%26#39;s what I%26#39;ll do. I%26#39;m a planner, what can I say?

Now, if anyone knows of a reputable tailor in the northern part of Phuket, preferrably near the JW Marriott, I%26#39;d love to know.