Such is consumer loyalty these days that even the promise of a free holiday could not lure a steadfast queuer away from another January night outside his favoured travel agent.
One man queueing outside Budget Travel in Dublin yesterday was asked by a rival travel agent to queue outside his shop instead, in return for a free holiday.
Mr Seamus Carr from Baldoyle, Co Dublin, had been camped outside the Baggot Street branch of Budget Travel since Tuesday morning, in anticipation of the start of its summer holiday '99 seat sale today.
Yesterday morning, as he sat in several layers of clothing, warming himself with a flask of steaming tea, he was approached by a man from Panorama Holidays, in College Green.
Panorama hoped to entice him to be photographed queueing outside its office, in exchange for a free holiday for two in Portugal.
Mr Niall McDonnell, chief executive of Panorama, confirmed the offer.
"We had a holiday for two in Portugal to give away," he told The Irish Times, "and as he was the first person in the queue who wanted to go there, he was offered it." The picture was to have appeared in today's Irish edition of the Sun.
Initially, said Mr McDonnell, Mr Carr had been glad to accept. "Some debate ensued with the others in the queue," he added, "and then someone from Budget came out and guaranteed to match the offer if he stayed outside their shop."
Mr Paul Ryan from Clondalkin, who headed the Budget queue yesterday, said he and other queuers sought to keep Mr Carr loyal to Budget.
Panorama and the Sun then offered a holiday for four, in a five-star hotel and all expenses paid, if he would defect.
"Then the others in the queue started going on about loyalty," said a Sun reporter, Mr Gary O'Shea, "and Mr Carr came up to us at the end and said, `Look, I must be nuts, but I'm going to stay out here for another night'."
Mr Carr told The Irish Times that he hoped he would be "rewarded" this morning.
Budget Travel's holiday sale begins today at 9 a.m. Falcon Holidays began its summer '99 seats sale at the end of August, though a spokeswoman said there were still discounted offers available. Club Med is offering 25 per cent off the woman's fare for honeymooners' holidays, and 10 per cent off the price of a holiday to some destinations where three share a room.
Met Eireann says it is impossible to predict the weather this summer. It said the best summer since the turn of the century was that of 1995, which is described in its annual summary as "dry, sunny and very warm". Since then the summers have become progressively worse, being described as "warm and mostly sunny but wet in places" in 1996 and "warm but mostly dull and very wet" in 1997, while the summer just passed is summed up as "dull and wet".
