Package holidays ?

Emp_Fab

When you go abroad for a week in the sun, what do you do about booking it ?  Do you sort out flights & hotel separately or go with a package operator ?  How do you search for it and how much do you spend on it ?

I've done the DIY route a few times but 90% of the time, a package is cheaper.  This year, the prices seem very high - brexit vote / exchange rate slump maybe ?  I usually budget around a max of £350-ish per person for a week in Greece or Spain, but everything is at least £100 more this year.  My original budget is giving me very few options outside of the lager-lout nests of Malia, Faliraki, Laganas, Kavos, Magaluf, etc.

What do you do when you want a week in the sun ?

Sporky

Emp_Fab said:

What do you do when you want a week in the sun ?

I remind myself that if sunburning ever becomes an Olympic event I'm a shoe-in for the British team.

Also I go through enough airports for work, so I have my holidays in Blighty.

stickyfiddle

Always separate. MrsF is awesome at planning. 

boogieman

I don't do traditional package holidays these days tbh, sitting by a pool or beach for more than a few hours bores me rigid. When my kids were little though I'd book through the usual suspects: Thompsons, Portland, Cosmos etc. 

EricTheWeary

I haven't done a package holiday in years or tried to put the equivalent together.  Admittedly some of our holidays have been things like cottages in Scotland but we've gone to Australia and bits of Europe without needing a package deal or any desire to  stay in a hotel. If I could afford luxury hotels maybe I'd do that but package deals at my price level aren't very inviting. 
The ones we did were when the kids were little. With older children or no children I don't see the attraction. I think the last one we had was a short break to Benidorm (which we had almost free). Nothing wrong with it,  even Benidorm was nicer than I'd have thought but I  was bored by about lunchtime. 

menamestom

We always book separate.  Just got back from a tour of Europe in the car for 3 weeks.  3200 miles through France and to the South Coast of Spain. Cost a fortune but saw loads. 

I've only been on one package holiday for our honeymoon which was amazing, but very expensive.  I guess there are package holidays and there are package holidays, but going to an apartment block with a load of Brits and a communal pool does not appeal so much.

Snap

I haven't booked a package holiday for maybe 15 years. Many reasons, but mostly because I don't want to spend my holiday with other people.

I do it all independently. Find a place to stay, ideally private with own pool, and sort the flights out, car hire etc. We are all quite happy chilling out in an evening, BBQ, few drinks, bothered by no-one.

However, I know we are fortunate enough to be able to afford to do it, and it does usually cost more than a package. Having said that, there are some cracking places to be found on AirBNB for not silly amounts, and cost come down a chunk if you are outside of holidays.

If you are after cheap, have a look at Turkey. Flights are plummeting and accommodation is at a surplus due to recent terror activity in Ankara/Istanbul and a lack of RUssian tourists. IMO flying to Dalaman will be fine security wise, and there are lots of nice places to be rented in places like Dalyan (20 mins from airport) and Kalkan (2 hours from airport). Exchange rate means Turkey is v v cheap when you are there too.

I use holidaylettings for places as its all protected (fraudwise) and owned by Tripadvisor. Never gone wrong.

Transfers - book them online, or I hire a car if we are going to be somewhere for a while

Flights - use kayak.co.uk and I use hotels.com for accomodation if its for a short break.

I'd do a package if it meant we could stay in something other than a hotel, if it was somthing where you can self cater and have privacy, own pool, or only shared with a few people, and you got left in peace. I stay in hotels a fair bit with work, so don't enjoy doing it on hols.

CabbageCat

Never a "package" but I do the modular flight+hotel at Expedia or equivalent about half the time if I find a convenient and inexpensive hotel or it's a cheap enough holiday that shopping around isn't worth it. The other half it's flight and hotel separately. Or flight and Airbnb nowadays.

Edit: But I haven't done "sun holidays" since the 90s. It's mostly city breaks or country apartments. I don't think I would be able to enjoy a beachside hotel in Cyprus for more than a day. 

Snap

WHere I do use a package, is sometimes for short breaks. BA, or Expedia/lastminute/kayak etc can do some pretty unbeatbable deals on flights+hotels, depending on where you are going.

ESBlonde

I don't like the sit by a pool/on a beach for 6 days holidays. Did them a couple of times when the kids were real young and with an all in deal thats good. Now justy the two of us so we book late and do our own arrangements. Hire some wheels and take in the flavour of the locals.

Moe_Zambeek

Package holidays in Greece, Spain and other 'safe' places have got expensive because demand has skyrocketed, as people avoid the 'unsafe' places like Turkey, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia etc. 

Conversely, you could probably hire an entire hotel in Tunisia for a very reasonable sum at the moment...though many british operators no longer fly to these places.

France is getting cheaper as tourist rates are significantly down, but France isn't renowned for it's package deals...however Ryanair fly to lots of great little sheds / airports in France close to excellent campsites / caravan sites or places with holiday chalets to rent.

I always DIY it, to be honest, that way I can ensure the accomodation isn't completely sh*t and I always give myself options for getting out an about in the area we're visiting. I hate the claustrophobic nature of package holidays. 

Teetonetal

I worked for Inghams and Tui for 5 years. Dealing with the aftermarth of that Icelandic Volcano, I would say that in the advent of any kind of serious disruption you are much better off with a package, especially if going anywhere even remotely out of the way. A package can also be seriously cheaper if you are able to get a last min deal. 

I've been away a few times with Neilson to Greece as we love the sport packages they do, particularly the windsuf tuition etc. Hassle free and no hidden cost, leads to a more relaxing time.

That said anywhere in western Europe for a sight seeing or beech relaxing holiday I would always do it myself if booking well in advance.

Snap

As for where is safe or not, I'd judge that myself. I wouldn't go to Egypt or Tunisia, and possibly not Morrocco. I would go to Turkey though without worry at all. You are probably more at risk of terrorism in central London than anywhere else really. Its all relative.

Emp_Fab

Wow.... I'm surprised so many of you (all of you ?) do it independently.  How much would you budget for that then ?  You must be spending over a grand per person for 7 nights surely ?

Snap

dunno emp. not that much, all depends really on the flights.

As an example, Dalyan, Turkey. Nice place. Hired a 3 bed villa, with big private pool, very new, v nice, air con all mod cons, for about 580 for a week. 10 minutes level walk from main centre, but very quiet. This was in May a couple of years ago, but would be staggered if it was more now tbh.

Then your other big variable is flights - could be anything upto 400 quid each, but easily could be less, quuck look online is showing cheapest from london as 205 each. That's going on 17th Sept for a week.

Car hire, maybe 140 for the week, less depending on car. Or cheap cab easy enough. We wanted a car to be able to get around to various places, but its not essential really, not there.

just found the company that did the house rentals:

www.dalyanvillas.com.tr

Dealt with an American fella, all v good and reliable.

Teetonetal

Emp_Fab said:

Wow.... I'm surprised so many of you (all of you ?) do it independently.  How much would you budget for that then ?  You must be spending over a grand per person for 7 nights surely ?

Whaaaaaat!! Are you always booking peak times, far in advance?

Outside of my 6 week long honeymoon to Asia, I've never spent that much on a holiday ever, regardless of the method of booking. My budget is normally £800 for 2 weeks for 2 people (not been away since having a daughter, shortly to be 3)

bobblehat

Depends on how long I'm going for .If its less than a week then I book independently eg. Travel republic,easyjet,ryanair etc. as its pretty cheap and you can get some great hotels at bargain prices.
If I'm going for 7 days then a package always works out cheaper.

This year the prices have stayed high. I was looking for a cheap week away in September this year but there's just nothing decent around for much less than £600 each for a week.
   

capo4th

Egypt could provide you with some good value. 

capo4th

Central Italy also has good availability and Turkey could also be what you are looking for.

stickyfiddle

We do spend more than a grand for a week, but that's by choice more than necessity.  

HAL9000

We pretty much always book accommodation, flights, etc separately. Every now and then we buy a package, and it generally reminds us why we normally book separates.