Titan Travel
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Essence of Japan - nice holiday, BUT.…
We mostly enjoyed our Titan Essence of Japan holiday, with a few exceptions. The long wait for our room on the first day. The sake sampling in Takayama, which just involved being given two samples to taste in a very crowded shop – no explanation as to how it was made, what we were actually drinking , vintages, what to look out for etc., so pretty much a non–event. Our last night’s stay at Tokyo’s Skyfront Tokyu Rei hotel – a ghastly place with an “industrial chic” theme that made it look unfinished. Bare concrete and pipes everywhere, including the small rooms. However, unlike the experience of some reviewers, our tour manager and Japanese guide were both very good and worked hard to make the tour enjoyable. So why the one star? Titan admin. and customer service..........(or lack of it). Seven months before departure, I contacted Titan to see if I could purchase extra legroom seats in one of the exit rows on our BA flights. After more than nine weeks and much reminding, their mysterious “Aviation Team” released the news that this was not possible. Ok – so what about Premium Economy seats? Two weeks later, somebody got back to me to tell me that only two were still available on our flights – for an additional amount equivalent to nearly two-thirds of the total cost of the holiday, (i.e. more than £4K each!). I declined. Moving forward to a few weeks before the holiday, the final details e-mail appeared with pick up times – but no BA flight booking reference (PNR) number. Without this, you cannot check-in 24 hours in advance like most of the passengers - so when you finally get to check-in at the airport, only the seating “dregs” are left on a busy flight. Titan’s phone rep. told me that no reference number was available, so I contacted British Airways. They promptly found our names, our flights and “that” number – but they couldn’t disclose it because of data protection laws. It HAS to come from Titan. So back to Titan customer services, with e-mails sent 14 and 2 days before departure to – again – request the BA flight booking reference number. No reply received to either e-mail. My partner and I ended up seated apart and next to total strangers for a 14 hour flight. My partner chose Titan for Japan because of their itinerary, but I’m afaid that I have vowed never to use them again – they broke numerous promises to get back to me or just ignored me altogether. Japan and its people are lovely and we would happily go back there, but next time we would choose a company that at least APPEARS to give a damn.