Your calls always answered within 5 rings.
Despite request for rooms close together we were about as far away as was possible but Ikos did upgrade us to better rooms for last two nights. However, overall excellent.
Thank you. Five stars
Will continue to book all our flights through DialAFlight. Helen Jones has always given us excellent service over the last 20 years. Her dedication to her customers is the very best.
Small suggestion: Specify if car hire is on airport or another location clearly in the itinerary. Source additional competitive providers for transfers. Overall Jenson is an absolute superstar!
Bradley is a different class - top job from start to finish.
Noah was extremely helpful and informative which was very reassuring throughout the booking process and again during our holiday. Thank you so much - we will definitly recommend DialAFlight to our friends and family.
It all worked out just fine. Many thanks.
Very helpful
You really went above and beyond - thank you
An amazing trip organised by Philippa - quite a task for a family of twelve ranging from 80 years down to 18 months. She organised an unforgettable trip for my husband and I to Croatia so we didn’t think twice about contacting her again for this trip.
Cameron, Gino and Amy are all so excellent in everything they do for us. A fabulous team and experts. We never go anywhere else
When booking flights with kids, would be great if you could make sure that the airline provides child appropriate food. There was no kids food served on the BA flights.
Can not recommend your service too highly. Always excellent. Thank you.
Customer service is excellent - I have been using this company for years
Always first class
As always excellent from Bradley. After having to miss my original trip due to ill health he had it all rearranged within days. Highly recommend.
We have being using DialAFlight for over 20 years and have booked with the same person all that time! Perfect service like this is sadly rare. You can phone up and get answered by a real person! Other companies should take notice of the way DialAFlight operates!
Excellent service. I definitely would recommend. We use DialAFlight all the time when booking a holiday.
After never doing separate flights before I was quite nervous but shouldn't have been. Stan was fantastic, he answered all my many emails to put my mind at ease.
Possibly more information needed regarding likely costs of airport to hotel transfers. Also we were staying 40 mins from town centre and it was not made clear the cost of taxis to go into town
Jason is a superstar
Troy was excellent as usual with top service provided.
Excellent service from Stan's team. This company is very professional and honest - if a problem arises it’s dealt with straight away
Always great service when we speak to anybody at DialAFlight
Gino was fantastic from the start to finish
I have been a DialAFlight customer for many years and I have always received first rate customer service from Marie McKeown
Excellent service as always.
Callum always listens to me and then produces and tweaks if necessary. I wouldn’t use any other company.
Arthur was so helpful. Even when flights went wrong, he was on the airline's case immediately. Great and efficient company.
Charles is amazing.
You'll know the feeling. You wake in a luxurious hotel room, look around, and you could be anywhere. So many look the same but until you venture outside it's often hard to know where you are.
But in Portugal or Spain you can avoid this danger by staying in magnificent pousadas and paradores - partly state-owned castles, palaces, monasteries and mansions offering unique but affordable accommodation with a huge helping of antique style and historic class.
On the way down to breakfast you're likely to come face-to-face with a full suit of armour, pass through ancient cloisters and along ramparts and corridors wide enough to take a coach and horses.
I had already experienced the splendour of the Spanish paradores, but this time I was including Portugal where the pousadas - different name, same concept - cast a similar spell. I travelled around the beautiful Douro Valley and in and out of Porto staying in a 12th century monastery, several palaces and a couple of extraordinary mansions.
They've all been cleverly converted and renovated to provide top class accommodation while retaining their historic charm.
There are many different routes you can take where you stay exclusively at pousadas and paradores. DialAFlight can provide you with all the details necessary and make the arrangements for an unforgettable trip.
I began at a castle near the Spanish border - the Parador de Monterrei, on a hilltop overlooking the town of Verin. It has only 12 rooms but each has a wow factor with views across a lovely valley into Portugal. Strolling around the ramparts before dinner was delightful.
Over the border and next stop was the pousada Barao de Forrester at Alijo - a stately mansion in the heart of town and a great base for seeing the Douro, the 'River of Gold', visiting the famous port and wine estates and stopping at delightful towns such as Pinhao and Lamego.
Next, the majestic Santa Marinha pousada looms large over the lovely city of Guimaraes. From reception to my suite, overlooking the city, took me via stone stairs, hushed cloisters, grand panelled rooms and vast corridors. Meals were taken in an expansive monks' refectory. The gardens and lake were a joy.
From Guimaraes I headed north past Porto to the Pousada Monte de Santa Luzia, above the ocean-side city of Viana do Castelo. From my balcony I looked down on planes taking off from the local airport and watched waves crashing on the rugged Atlantic coast.
I didn't think it could get grander than this, but then I hadn't experienced the Palacio do Freixo, a beautiful pousada on the banks of the Douro and a short walk from the old town of Porto. Built around 1742, the Freixo Palace is a remarkable example of baroque architecture and when you're not walking around marvelling at the place, you can relax in the superb spa or swim in the indoor/outdoor infinity pool.
My next, pousada de Viseu, was an imposing 19th century building, with rooftop statues of Faith, Hope and Charity. It started life as a convent then became a hospital but now the old infirmary and mortuary have given way to a slick spa, roomy restaurant and covered courtyard. The polished cherry wood interiors add extra gloss.
I drove on to the walled city of Braganza, set in rugged countryside, and the stylish, modern pousada Sao Bartolomeu. It's handily placed for walks around the old town and picturesque ravine. The elegant rooms have balconies overlooking a beautiful medieval castle.
My last night was back across the border in Spain, at the Parador de Cervera de Pisuerga in the foothills of the Picos de Europa mountains. It stands in the Fuentes Carrionas Nature Reserve and has a hunting lodge feel, with stone fireplaces and wood panelling. Here I encountered the first snows of winter, making my stay even more magical.
Most towns of interest in Portugal and Spain have a pousada or parador nearby. Fly out, pick up a hire car - and stay somewhere memorable every night.
First published in February 2019
More articles below...
Not quite what you're looking for?
We can easily customise an offer to suit your exact requirements