@janisj - well, if that was his intent it worked very badly!

Baolau is a pretty decent agency for train and bus tickets. Recommended by seat61 which is as good a recommendation as one is likely to get. I have used them once or twice myself and they were pretty efficient with reasonable mark ups as I recall. As for overcharging, having visited a couple of their properties, I am much more inclined to believe this is down to Victoria Hotels rather than the agency.

Is the poster advertising? Who knows, it doesn't seem that blatant to me and I would rather give first time posters the benefit of the doubt rather than sling accusations around on their first post. These forums are dying on their feet and could do with some new blood.

Bravo to your last sentence, Crellston!

I think the primary reason "These forums are dying on their feet" is the sheer numbers of spam and advertising posts. IB has a new spam filter, which is certainly helping, but I've seen (and reported) more adverting here in the last couple of weeks than I'd seen in months.