Wonderful Saga, so why so many bad reviews?

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★★☆☆☆
2.3
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silversurf1's review of Saga Holidays

“Wonderful Saga, so why so many bad reviews?”

★★★★★

written by silversurf1 on 09/08/2015

I have been travelling with Saga for over 20 years; at least 17 holidays with them, mostly long haul tours, but a couple of short hauls and one hotel based holiday. We don't always use Saga, but they are our first choice when deciding.
PROS:
Free phone calls with no press button menus.
Insurance included. I have a couple of fairly minor medical problems which Saga do not rate me for. Other insurance companies can load my premiums to an extortionate amount, especially for non-European holidays.
Great itineraries, with lots of different experiences, e.g. white water rafting in Borneo, zip-lining in Costa Rica, elephant and camel trekking in Thailand and India. They also look after the less able with great care, ensuring that they gain full enjoyment from their holiday.
Decent hotels, some exceptional such as the Baan Boran in Thailand, Lake Palace in Udaipur and Princess in Skiathos.
Car from home to airport and return on long haul tours.
Porterage of luggage. Much needed on tours when there are multiple hotels, and on Greek Island Hopping, when you are on and off ferries. Leave your luggage your room and find it outside your room at next hotel.
No registration at hotels, Saga organise it all for you.
Included cost of visas.
With only one exception, excellent Folkestone trained Tour Managers, who take really good care of you (essential for some older people) and you feel would be able to organise things in an emergency.
Call centre staff are usually very helpful and will answer even minor queries and requests with politeness and patience.
Many people, I think, have not researched their holiday and have unrealistic expectations. Someone complained that the quality of hotels is going down, but with our economic climate Saga cannot always use top quality hotels without greatly increasing their prices. I consider that their holidays are exceptional value for money, with so much included.

Cons:
This was once a family based company, but since selling out their administration can leave something to be desired, we have had a couple of issues over incorrect information over the last five years, but this has always been sorted out before we travelled.

Comparing Saga with other UK based companies we have always found that the level of service is far superior to most. I cannot speak for the very high end package tours as I haven't used them due to monetary constraints.
We have had a week with Saga in a greek hotel this year and have a tour of Morocco coming up in October. Considering another next year on a motor cruiser along the Croatian coast. Which I am sure we will enjoy.
Never had a bad Sage holiday yet.

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Jeanette321's Response to silversurf1's Review

Written on: 07/06/2016

I think they police themselves and don't publish bad reviews

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