We were on Symi in June and arranged the flights and the hotel ourselves. I find that this is a good way to do it although it takes a lot more work than booking through a booking company such as Olympic or Thompson. That's my experience anyway.
However, the only slight snag here is that once we left the boat, we headed for the taxi area where people were milling around trying to flag a taxi. I must say at this point before someone criticises that this is where people that book through an agency actually win because they are taken care by the rep and escorted to their coaches.
Anyway back to my point...Trying to flag a taxi at this location is easier said than done. When a taxi turns up and we are at the front of the queue one would expect to be able to hire it only to find that he is looking for someone who has previously booked and refuses to take us or says that he will return. Sadly they don't!
The other scenario is where someone who is Greek just opens the door and sits next to the driver and waits for a herd of people laden with cases, loads them into the boot and hey presto off the go even when they know that they are not next in the queue. This happened to me and when I complained to the driver he just put his hands over his ears and then gesticulated to me. He was completely at a loss to know what to do. So finally the person who pushed in one the day.
We spoke to a German couple who were just behind us who were just as exasperated and agreed that we would team up as we were going to the same hotel which was the Hotel Hermes for our overnight stay before leaving next morning for the airport.
We still had an altercation with a group of young Greek people that were well behind us who tried to commandeer the taxi. The taxi driver was completely unbothered until I flashed some euros at him which gave us the upper hand.
Fortunately all went well. However I found that people do book a taxi beforehand so that when they get off the boat they wait for the taxi who says your name and away you go.
Can someone give me the email address and telephone number so I can eleviate this from happening again please?
Phil