for the past 6 or 7 years ive allways done the diy booking my hols which in general was a lot cheaper than package hols, but the last few years ive noticed the no frills airlines are adding a lot of frills such as baggage, online checkin etc. bringing the price up to nearer the package deals.

we had a thread before christmas chatting about the best time to book, and i usually book for my main hols in feb, as a result of the banter i started looking at this years hols and fancied a hotel in tenerife and the price looked really good so i decided to book with thompsons, ive just checked the prices and cant believe the same holiday as increased by £800, so the motto must be book early.

9 times out of 10 we do a diy,unless going to greece as we can't seem to beat the package price.bearing in mind that flights to zante/crete average £200-£250 from cardiff/bristol,so you are looking at £500 before you price apt/hotel,baggage,transfers.
last june we paid £420 for a weeks b&b with local flights to zante for 2 people,couldn't get anywhere near it with a diy.
yet we have done a 6 night diy to ca'n picafort in june and another 6 night diy to the sol mirlos in oct,just goes to show yuo need to be flexible.
busy looking for a week to greece with local flights last week aug/first week sept atm

Yeah I've been finding that the only way DIY wins now is if you are going for an odd duration like a long weekend.
We are going to Tobago PN 31 March - 5 April, 5 nights HB, worked out at £188 each (inc a car) done that DIY, but for the Oct meet up Thomsons have done a 2 week all inc deal inc transfers and extra leg room and extra baggage for £495 each. Daft.

wow great bargain mark for oct

MMMMMMMMmmm been watching Marks Holidays and looking at various sites and the package has been just as good lately.
I say this because we have to go in the summer months with our little girl being off school. Last year was the most expensive holiday ever
for Magalluf and I was gutted I could not beat it. I wont pay it again for Maga it was a last minute decision. Looking for something else this year.

BUT HAVE STILL BOOKED FOR THE OCTOBER MEET UP

Too good a bargain to turn down Mark at that price. :-bd:

Another factor to consider is your accommodation depending on how fussy you are.Our recent diy holiday was mid Feb to Marbella.I booked the Hotel Fuerte online through Thomson Accommodation Only who were cheaper than Travel Republic and Booking.com.Didn't fancy the Thomson flight to Malaga departing Manchester 6am so booked EZY from Liverpool departing mid-afternoon.Fussy again.

We liked it (actually MrsWS liked the hotel and Marbella very much)so we decided to go again for a week at end June.Couldn't find the hotel or its partner Hotel Fuerte Miramar Spa-both 4* and highly rated on TA- in a package holiday,not even with Thomson/TUI.So I booked the Hotel FMS through Travel Republic on 28 Feb the final day of their sale and got £100 off, net cost £500 for 7 nights BB for the 2 of us.Flights with Jet2 which wouldn't be anywhere near my first preference but (EVEN INCLUDING A £20 EACH FUEL SUPPLEMENT ) at £154 each including all the add-ons they were much cheaper than easyJet,Ryanair and Monarch who all fly the route from Manchester or Liverpool.As somebody mentioned on the forum recently you can't call them low-cost airlines any longer-no frills yes.

Cost of flights and accommodation therefore £404 each. Return transfers are 36 euros each. Take it from me even if a package was available for an hotel of that calibre end June in Marbella it would cost a lot more than £435 each.

Yeah, the two week deal I got isn't even wholly October either, - it's 23 Sep to 7 Oct. The last week of Sep is normally still at high summer prices.
Hotel Tropico Playa it is, it's the first year that they've done all inc, but the TA reviews are good, the food seems to be highly rated too. Whether that will continue now under the all inc banner remains to be seen.
But £495, take away the flight cost and extras, and the transfers... I doubt it's substantially any more than SC let alone HB so can't go wrong really

Is that Cleveland, North England or Ohio, The US of A?

I think it isn't England Mick....just going by the little clue in the title.........!

Was said tongue in cheek, as I thought he was a Spammer.

I thought that Cleveland Hopkins International Airport was in fact the English name for Newcastle Airport or Teeside Airport Beeech?

could have been - we have Birmingham International......

I have put a temporary ban on the member until things are sort out

Like many of you I have been booking holiday independently for some time now, mostly because we can tailor our holiday to suit us. My main problem is the lack of flights from Aberdeen since the demise of Globespan so am forced to book charter flights with Thomson/Europa. Having said that if we book early enough the flight prices with Thomson are not too bad.

Its is winter holidays that we find almost impossible for DIY to compete with package holidays. Our last 4 winter holidays have been package holidays and have been very good value. Last October we booked Tenerife for January and the price we got with First Choice was amazing, but the prices did shoot back up again not long after we booked. WE had to travel to Glasgow to fly but next year there is a direct flight from Aberdeen in January. I have looked at the options and DIY is coming out cheapest just now but the holiday companies may well offer discounts at some stage and be the cheaper option.

this junes holiday to ca'n picafort was a diy,we paid approx £500 for the two of us,6 nights h/b,transfers,local flights and baggage.
the same deal with thompson's for 7 nights was nearly £1000.

we are usually frequent,out of season weekend travelers,only done one in feb this year due to work commitments but looking for a little break in nov/dec,even thinking of trying ryanair for the 1st time.

must say though that some of thompson's last minute deals look good,easy for us as it's only us two and we can go at the drop of a hat.

have also been thinking of a winter sun holiday in jan/feb,either the canaries or maybe a cruise.been reading up on some of the thompson's cruises and they are quite tempting,not too bothered about doing all the daytime excursions but the evening entertainment looks superb.

will ask our very own cruise expert (ws) nearer the time though

Well the last 2 times for us its been Jet2 package deals ,nothing comes close to them, my Tenerife holiday had been booked with these with free transfers we also got allocted seats this year the first time ever and its still worked out cheaper than the rest. Easyjet do package deals as well now but dont come anywhere near Jet2, well from Newcastle anyway. The other thing is if the flights are cancelled then the whole holiday will be so no loss of money, I cant believe the way its changed, mind our 3 night October holiday is still DIY.