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Original poster

Does anyone else lose the plot trying to book a holiday?

99 replies

TimeforaHol · 13/04/2023 17:22

First world privilege problem I know. Been trying to book a holiday for me, DH & DS (3) for end of August into September . 2-weeks ideally Balearics / med.

I'm finding it a nightmare and have wasted 3 valuable hours googling today! (Self employed 😫).

I'm feeling drained from all the search engines and have found nothing suitable!!!

Does anyone else get a bit control freakish when trying to search for holidays? I find I have a fear of booking something that will turn out to be disappointing (considering the costs involved) so end up scrolling through reviews and checking things on the map to find out everything I can about a place before ruling it out because one aspect doesn't look quite suitable.

I'm shattered and have got precisely nowhere! I'm also frustrated I left it so late to book!

Any tips for more efficient holiday finding?

OP posts:
Meandfour · 13/04/2023 18:18

Oh no, why haven’t you found anything?

Literally go onto the Jet2holidays wen site, put in your criteria, filter in the things you require and it will bring up a list of matching holidays.

DappledThings · 13/04/2023 18:21

Nope. I only ever read TripAdvisor reviews after I've got back to see how many loons are on there complaining about inane shit for my own amusement.

Quick look on map to see if hotel is near enough to an interesting town with things to do/eat and otherwise assume it will be fine. A pool's a pool, a breakfast buffet's a breakfast buffet. Taxis will be available if we want to go further afield.

No sense worrying much more.

Oblomov23 · 13/04/2023 18:40

God I love it. I'm practically Judith Chalmers. I love booking flights, holidays, checking hotels - Reading trip advisor, booking restaurants and activities. I live it all.

Interested in this thread?

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Holidays
Oblomov23 · 13/04/2023 18:44

I start off with jet2, on the beach, travelzoo, holiday deals from facebook. For a complete holiday,

skyscanner for flights.

I find it all easy. I should do it for a job!

SummerSazz · 13/04/2023 18:52

For that sort of holiday I would use on the beach and set all the filters for transfer times, near the beach, kids clubs etc. worked well for us and I hate booking holidays

Yesterday I just went to trailfinders and they booked it all for me, flights with different airlines and 3 different accommodation places. I didn't even look at the hotels she recommended but DD14 has checked them out since and says they look fab. Phew! I have no patience with these things and end up just delaying & delaying and then miss out..... 🤨. More expensive obviously but easy peasy and no stress

WolfFoxHare · 13/04/2023 19:01

Yeah I’m like this. I get mega stressed about whether it’ll be a nice hotel or nice location. I find somewhere that looks perfect then go on Trip Advisor and find awful reviews. PPs are saying go to a travel agent but for our honeymoon we talked to Kuoni (who I thought would be brilliant) and they suggested a couple of places that looked ideal, I googled them when I got home and the one I’d really liked had some dreadful reviews (eg derelict hotel next door infested by rats and rat ran over someone’s foot in the outdoor restaurant, beach is the party beach for visiting cruise ships, all inclusive but hotel ran out of branded stuff on the second day and didn’t go to the cash and carry for another 3 days) so I felt really put off not just that hotel but all of them! I feel paralysed by the choice and the risk of getting it wrong. Yes, I am quite an anxious person! Also I’m picky AF and don’t like roughing it…

I’d let DH book but he refuses in case I don’t like it!

Weirdly though I travel a lot for work and get much less stressed about booking somewhere. Maybe it’s just that I’m scared to waste my money but less bothered about a disappointing place if work is
paying!

SwedishEdith · 13/04/2023 19:10

God I hate it. Get sick of seeing the same old crappy self-catering places you've already discounted on other sites. There needs to be a search feature which is 'Never show me this one again'.

Drywhitefruitycidergin · 13/04/2023 19:12

I love it and hate it in equal measures. I think it took me about 3 months to make a decision for this summer. It'll be first time I've taken my 2 alone & we're not great in the heat pale skin red hair so my heart was saying Greece & my head was saying don't be ridiculous.
Even now it's booked I'm checking reviews & had to mute the fb group for the town.

Yuasa · 13/04/2023 19:22

SwedishEdith · 13/04/2023 19:10

God I hate it. Get sick of seeing the same old crappy self-catering places you've already discounted on other sites. There needs to be a search feature which is 'Never show me this one again'.

I’d also like a ‘never show me an apartment or room with generic Homebase-style stock photo decor’ filter.

I’m probably being really picky, but I’m sick of wading through holiday homes and hotel rooms like this. The pile-of-rocks-against-blue-sky stock photo canvas/print appears to be in 50% of places I look at on booking.com right now and it’s an instant no!

TheChosenTwo · 13/04/2023 19:25

Absolutely at the top of my list of hated things to do! I love being on holiday but now dh and I tend to talk about what we want, then I just literally google our criteria and book the first one I find 😂 I just hate it so much, and we’ve never been disappointed to be honest. It’s soul destroying, everything looks the fucking same and there are pros and cons to literally every single place so I just throw myself into it and make the best of what we end up with.

Zipps · 13/04/2023 19:32

Another holiday obsessive here. I have the next five years holidays planned, not all are booked obviously. I should have been a travel agent.
We love Majorca and go to Cala d'or almost every year (as well as other places)

Marchintospring · 13/04/2023 19:33

Drywhitefruitycidergin · 13/04/2023 19:12

I love it and hate it in equal measures. I think it took me about 3 months to make a decision for this summer. It'll be first time I've taken my 2 alone & we're not great in the heat pale skin red hair so my heart was saying Greece & my head was saying don't be ridiculous.
Even now it's booked I'm checking reviews & had to mute the fb group for the town.

Me too.
I love the research but I’m such a cheapskate I NEED to find the best bargain.

This time DH has a week off in July. I’ve found the cheapest flights imaginable for one of places we really want to go. Perfect. But the return is 7 days later. Costing more in apartment than the five days we planned.. And now we need hold luggage. So BA are now cheaper than Easyjet. But wait …apartment costs are really cheap in the next town from the airport….but now we need a train. And the cheap times don’t work with the flight times on BA… and so it goes on.

underneaththeash · 13/04/2023 19:35

Thelittlekingdom · 13/04/2023 17:47

I hate it. My teen is keen to go abroad as she’s had a tough year but she has two autistic siblings. My DH doesn’t want to go and I’m not sure whether to get a villa or attempt a resort (youngest is profoundly autistic).

Just go with her then?

WonderingWanda · 13/04/2023 19:49

Yes, I seem to end up spending hours looking at trip advisor, street view etc. Never quite sure if it's worth the stress. Last year we had booked and then saw some horrendous new reviews for our hotel over Easter, it had been closed due to covid so no reviews for a couple of years. I had to go through the whole process again and ended up chaning...and glad we did.

Plump82 · 13/04/2023 19:53

TimeforaHol · 13/04/2023 18:15

Where please?!

Show quote history

Costa Teguise in Lanzarote. Just booked for our 10th visit next March.

TiredandLate · 13/04/2023 19:56

Oh I love it, even the hours trawling online, I like to have my laptop, phone and tablet open for maximum efficiency 😅

This time we're doing 10 nights in the med, starts with a city break then 7 day cruise to France, Italy and Spain.

Meandfour · 13/04/2023 19:58

Zipps · 13/04/2023 19:32

Another holiday obsessive here. I have the next five years holidays planned, not all are booked obviously. I should have been a travel agent.
We love Majorca and go to Cala d'or almost every year (as well as other places)

Cala D’or every year here too!! We do go to other places but spend a fortnight there every august.
I always recommend it on here.

bert3400 · 13/04/2023 20:03

I love it . Currently on the 3rd part of a huge holiday involving 7 family members and 3 long haul locations . Took months of planning but all gone smoothly. I find booking.com the best place to start. The late cancellation is brilliant . Once you are certain of the accommodation I normally go back to the hotel direct and see if they can offer me a better price than Booking com. Skyscanner or Google flights for the best flight options ( beware some carriers don't use these sites) . Write everything down and if it gets overwhelming...leave it and go back at a later date.

whoruntheworldgirls · 13/04/2023 20:07

Monkeytapper · 13/04/2023 17:43

Jet2 , Iberostar Cala Barca, Majorca. Lovely hotel, great for young kids, big enough complex so you can get stuck in with activities or go to a quiet pool if you want a bit of chilled out time…been twice and booked it again for august

Also recommend this hotel. We're off to the Lanzarote one in May which I've heard great things about

PetitPorpoise · 13/04/2023 20:12

Agree. We finally booked our first family holiday abroad today in the travel agent. Could have done it online as they couldn't beat the price but was good to see a friendly face!

Ooolaaaala · 13/04/2023 20:16

Plump82 · 13/04/2023 19:53

Costa Teguise in Lanzarote. Just booked for our 10th visit next March.

Show quote history

We took our kids there every Feb half term for years - lovely quiet resort with lovely beach and restaurants. Love the Island - so much to do - always scooting about from one place to another. My fav restaurant in the whole world is El Risca on Famara beach. Also been to Club La Santa loads with the kids.

HolidayHappy123 · 13/04/2023 20:17

I absolutely love holiday planning.

Let me know what you're looking for (budget and key criteria) and I'm sure I can find something for you.

Drywhitefruitycidergin · 13/04/2023 20:19

Plump82 · 13/04/2023 19:53

Costa Teguise in Lanzarote. Just booked for our 10th visit next March.

Show quote history

Good to hear - after my mammoth search that's where I chose! We're going in August though eeeeekkk
I think that was also not helping me, the fact that my last overseas hols were pre school aged kids....I think August might be a culture shock

MrsBlondie · 13/04/2023 20:22

Check zafiro hotels. Amazing.

Lifeisrelentless · 13/04/2023 20:22

This is why we go to the same place haha. Tried somewhere different and we were disappointed as we kept comparing it to our usual place and it just wasn’t as good.
blue lagoon village in Kos is where we go btw! Have booked for this September can’t wait until previous times have been pre kids so sure this time will be very different with a 3 year old and 9 month old!