Internet holidays.

[david and julie]

Going to Thailand for Christmas for the third time.

18 days, split between Bangkok, Phuket and Hua Hin. Cost including all flights and accomodation. (air con and pools) and transfers, is about £2300 for the 2 of us, all in.

We again booked everything ourselves on the internet and know 2 of the 3 hotels from last time.

Thai people are really nice and it is very cheap once you are there.

Main holiday providers wanted around £2000 each(14 days) because they charge more at Christmas.

For long haul holidays the big boys are ridiculously overpriced. Most of the main destinations have forums to ask people questions or tips.

I would recommend anyone to try this arranging for themselves, instead of being ripped of.

We have saved enough to cover our spending money and probably got better hotels too.

 

[jasy]

Did our holiday to florida seperate and on line. Flights were scheduled, (more room), done a seperate hire car, (saved about £80) and booked our own accomodation which saved £250 . Much better all round and we never had the wonderful charter flight from Gatwick or Manchester!!

 

[masona]

I did my last 3 holiday online and eventfully you will see travel agent going bust in the future.

 

[masona]

Any good website for booking holiday?, there's always one you never thought of !

 

[david and julie]

We have used these for flights a couple of times without problem. Not tried them for anything else though.They are Preston based so talk in English.

http://www.airline-network.co.uk/

For hotels I usually google a shortlist then find a forum and ask peoples opinions.

Holiday insurance is also half the price online.

As Jasy said you get better flights too, sensible times with more room and usually free drinkies.(although more and more are charging now)

 

[kendor]

I tried this a couple of years ago and i believe it depends on your destination to a degree, I tried to get seperate flight and hotel off the internet the hotel worked out at £500 for 2 weeks full board! although we only wanted half board so that was reasonable the problem came when i tried to get the flight, i spent ages on the internet and the cheapest i could get was more for the flight than the full package of hotel and flight included from the travel agents and that was economy class!

 

[jasy]

Usually long haul to say florida is done on a charter flight for package holidays and that is how they are done cheap. If you can plan in advance there are some pretty good bargains about on sheduled flights. It is not the flight where you can save mate it is more often than not the accomodation.

 

[kendor]

Thats the point i was making it was cheaper to take the package holiday than trying to do it myself, as you commented its long haul and therfore destination that governs the prices i guess thats not to say you can't get cheaper package tours on the internet from the shops on the high street of course you should be able to because of lower running costs, it's when you try to create the package yourself that you come unstuck or at least that was what happened in my case.

 

[david and julie]

It is all about value for money rather than cost.

To get a "cheap" package on the High St or teletext, more often than not you will travel at an ungodly hour, you may get a poor hotel, you will pay extra for almost everything on the flight, The transfers will take hours and go half way round the world. If you have a problem the rep won't want to know, cause she's to busy sc***ing Stavros or WHY. We have all been there.

Or you could go with the above and pick your times and hotels, but will then have to pay their full brochure price.

The online option takes out the middle man and gives you more control, even if it cost the same. You can also tailormake to suit yourself.

I will agree though it is easier to save on longhaul or oddball places, rather than the Med or to a lesser degree Florida.

 

[AdamW]

I have got good deals on my last two holidays.

The first one, was because my mate's parents decided they had too many holidays that year. All we had to do is pay for the flights and hirecar. What made it extra sweet is the fact that his father owns a business travel company. So we got rather cheap flights. In all it cost about £300 for a week in Florida, larging it in a swish apartment in a posh development. And on the flight back we were upgraded so had fold flat beds and a lobster dinner on the plane... I'm allergic, but I had one just to look at!

Then I went to Rome with my (since then) ex. We booked everything through the bargain basement companies. Cost us about £350 for both of us for 3 nights in a nice part of the city. Hotel a few tube stops out from the centre but still very easy. The only problems we had were that the hotel mucked us about a bit. First room the toilet blocked (it couldn't take the strain ). Second room they insisted we had to move again because there was a mix up and it was pre-booked for someone else, third room had a shower cubicle I couldn't physically fit into (is it my fault Italian food is so tasty? ). Fourth room was the charm, but 4 rooms over 3 nights! It was a great holiday, however. Rome in late summer is definitely the place to be for some loving.

I have done some walking and climbing trips in the UK since, also cheapened by booking hotels on the net. But I wouldn't class walking or climbing as a holiday

 

[AdamW]

Oh, I totally missed the point of what I was going to say, d'oh!

When we booked our Rome stuff online, we investigated flying at different times. As it happened, we ended up travelling out at the crack of dawn and coming back in the middle of the night but that was personal choice because we wanted to make the most of it. As it happens, 3 nights, 4 full days, we did as much as you can do on a week long "bargain" package. Being a city holiday that is important, I think. I have been on those ones where you arive about 10pm on the first day so you have wasted one day already. Then on the last day you have to be on a coach by lunch. So another day wasted. 6 nights quickly becomes equivalent to 4.

The price to go at more normal times of the day wasn't really much different. We booked everything about 3 weeks in advance, don't know if that made it any cheaper but it made arranging time off work etc. easier.

But I suppose, the reason the last minute deals are cheap is because they weren't attractive enough at their original price. So you get what you pay for.