Trailfinders vs. Travel-Nation

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michael190202
michael190202

Hi all, new to the boards here so go easy on me ;-)

I'm in the process of planning a 4 month trip to SE Asia / Oz / New Zealand. I'm very close to booking my flights. Problem is I have two offers from two good companies that I can't choose between. Here they are:

Trailfinders:

London to Singapore (via Dubai with Emirates)

Singapore to Melbourne (Emirates)

Brisbane to Auckland (Virgin Australia)

Christchurch to London (via Sydney and Dubai with Emirates)

Total = £1142

Travel-Nation (not sure of the airline, think it's Singapore Air, apart from Oz to NZ leg which is Virgin again):

London to Bangkok

Singapore to Melbourne

Brisbane to Auckland

Christchurch to London (via Sydney)

Total = £1280

Now I know, Trailfinders is £140 odd cheaper for what's essentially the same route apart from London to Singapore rather than Bangkok. Would you say this makes much of a difference. I will be going back on myself a little with the Trailfinders route but in your opinion is this worth paying £140 extra for?

For me, customer service is also important. In fairness both companies have been great in helping me out. Travel-Nation perhaps has the edge in this department in my opinion. But is it worth the extra money, especially given I'll still probably be getting good service with Trailfinders?

Also, the flights with Trailfinders seem to be split into a good few more legs than Travel-Nation's. Would this make much difference to you and is it worth paying extra for?

Overall, I think they are almost equal deals. Which would you choose? Thanks in advance

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libbyh
libbyh

So it seems to come down to whether you want the extra stop in Bangkok or not? If you are planning to go to Thailand and/or Laos/Cambodia, it would probably save you some time to do that one.

But what did you mean by Trailfinders seem to be split into a good few more legs? From what you said, it's only the extra stop in Bangkok?

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michael190202
michael190202

Hi, thanks for the reply.

Yes, I'm travelling round SE Asia, so Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos all included.

Well, for example, with Trailfinders, the flight to Singapore is via a 3 hour stop off in Dubai whereas with Travel Nation it's direct to Bangkok.

Do you think the Trailfinders route would waste much time? Bear in mind I'll be in SE Asia for 2 months anyway....

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lucapal
lucapal

I'd do the cheaper one..its quite a big difference in price,and very little difference in time or destinations...

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michael190202
michael190202

That's true - £140 is a fair amount, especially in SE Asia.

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michael190202
michael190202

Would anyone choose either company over the other or are they pretty much even in terms of customer service? My dealings with both have been fine but it can be a whole different story when they have your money....

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lucapal
lucapal

Trailfinders are absolutely fine...I've used them a number of times without problems,though now that nearly everything can be done on the web I don't use them so often.

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toadoftoadhall
toadoftoadhall
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From what I understand you are planning on travelling around SEAsia. Also the Trailfinder's routes include more legs between destinations than the Travel NAtion one.

Based on these two things I'd would go with Travel Nation despite the extra £140. If you went with the cheaper trailfinder's you'd have to backtrack up through Malaysia and Southern Thailand (whilst you can do this without revisiting places it does add a lot of travel which is not necessary, also the cost of transport will very quickly add up to £140 (even if travel around here isn't very expensive).

As for the extra legs - whilst it's not a big deal having to transit via Dubai for 3hrs, if there are a number of extra flights like this, I think it's worth £140 for the ease of travel.

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lucapal
lucapal

You could easily go up one coast of Malaysia/Thailand and down the other...not really backtracking...

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lucapal
lucapal

BTW hi Toad...I haven't seen you on here for quite some time.

Where you waiting for the return of this branch?

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