To never ever in my whole life want to go on a package holiday AGAIN !!!!!

[medmadness]

Before i start i'm fully prepared to admit my own stupidity in having even gone on this holiday.
we have just got back from a week in majorca in one of the more family orientated resorts,we had our main holiday earlier in the year and this was just a cheap and cheerful week to break up the school holidays a little.
Before we even took off we had to put up with youths swearing on the plane,badly behaved children climbing over seats and shouting and screaming whilst their parents remained seemingly oblivious.
Upon landing i realised benidorm is not a fictional tv comedy! I knew i wasnt going to get culture and the 'real' spain but did not expect to be in england still,surrounded by vicky polland and family.
I cant believe that people come to these places happily year after year as there were some 'normal' families there amongst the 'get here' brigade(if i had a pound for everytime i heard a parent shout this).
Before this holiday i hadnt been on a package holiday since 1996 and i can honestly say if i went again in the next 15 years it would be too bloody soon!

This thread is lovely

usual - I don't know if I'm common. I'll need someone to look at aspects of my life and income and then to judge me based on their own "standards".

Or maybe I just couldn't give a flying fuck.

No I don't give a flying fuck either

Chav central? PMSL and people are calling me judgemental
Spiderpig I dont personally care, as it happens we probably wont end up having a holiday as any spare money we have will be put into stopping our house being repossesed. Holidaying in 'chav central' as you charmingly call it would be wonderful for us.

spiderpig don't pack me off to benidorm too,where i have just been to was bad enough!

usual andskippy thats not the point,its about how people behave not how much money they have.

We went on our very first package holiday this year (25 years married) and I was pleasantly surprised.

We did have a group on uncouth people on the plane who did not let up with their bad language and drinking. I was glad they got on a different coach to us.

For us, the advantage of being on a package holiday was the transport arrangements - ie the coach between the airport and hotel at 3am.

We did meet with our rep in the hotel and listened to her spiel but did not require her services.

The other big advantage is that you are insured against anyone going out of business.

Squidgy there is stacks of evidence- google is your friend.

Well, as long as our fucks aren't flying as part of a package deal, we'll be ok...

I cant wait to go to Butlins in half term :o

quote 'its about how people behave not how much money they have.'

Exactly, but that is not the point that was made by other posters.

Why not try somewhere like Salou? You can fly to Reus airport with Ryanair quite cheaply, cheap hotel. Theres an element of rowdiness but the beaches are lovely and you can go on day trip via coach to Barcelona. Not taken my family but went a few years ago with my sister.

Or Basque area of Spain/France are really nice, wouldn't say thats a particularly expensive area to go, people tend to go in the winter for skiing but its beautiful in the summer. I've never done package holiday, always felt I got a better deal doing it via Expedia/Lastminute etc.

Oh and I'm poor and working class, don't think I'd fancy Benidorm, and for the pricetag, I'd doubt its worth it, hell I'd say I'd have a better time driving 30mins down the road to Clacton! And whats wrong with Skeggers? My friend had a nice time in Majorca last yr but she went out of season.

Any remember Fawlty Towers and Basil's advert that said NO RIFF-RAFF? :o

There are package holidays to non "chav" places as well you know. I seem to be able to pick package holidays to places where people don't wear football shirts, only want all day English breakfast etc. The hotel we stayed at last week had visitors from various parts of Europe, including Italians (we were in Italy). Not all tour operators cater for the lowest common denominator.

We often choose fairly upmarket packages because they include transfers to the resort. Taxis are too expensive and OH and I don't want the hassle of driving. We don't take the tours and just use local public transport, eat at local restaurants, buy from local markets and shops and generally try to help the local economy rather than line the pockets of the large tour operators.

This year it was Lake Garda, last time it was Croatia - largely unrediscovered by the Brits at the time, and previously a quiet resort in Corfu. None of these places had kids clubs, night clubs, karaoke bars, places that served English breakfasts all day etc, but appealed to visitors who wanted to relax and enjoy the local culture, food, drink etc. Refreshingly the rep at our resort this year didnn't do the hard sell of trips but handed out bus and ferry timetables and advice on how to buy tickets for the aforesaid transport.

I think it is a shame that all package holidays have been tarred with the same brush. The other advatntage is that you get far more cover if things go wrong - a good example being when the volcano in Iceland erupted.

The way to avoid "chav" resorts is to do some research. Use Trip Advisor and google for reviews from other review sites. I also found Google Earth and Streetview most helpful when deciding on which hotel to stay in.

yes and my point was anti social behaviour has a strong link with being a lower socio-economic class....not that ALL people of a low income act that way....no idea why ive been bitchslapped so much for putting out that very true fact

Recommend here and here. They are near airports, and far better than a package holiday.

It's because you appear to be a rip-raring snob Bimbo.

Blows big raspberry

Hahaha good try. If I was a snob would I go on a package holiday to places these people I allegedly look down on go? Hmm yeah ok

I agree with you bimbo

and another

And there are stacks of articles but it wouldnt let you access them as they are on my athens account

Some terrible attitudes on this thread.

I think you are either a package holiday, sit by the pool person or you aren't.

I'm not. I've never been on one and never intend to go on one.

I love travelling. I love the anticipation before a holiday, buying the guidebook, researching on the internet, booking some hotels, sorting travel.

A package would deprive me of all of that although when i'm standing at chambery airport waiting for the service bus up to the ski resorts I do sometimes look wistfully at the package holiday people being met exactly at their flight time by the rep and boarding a bus to resort.

However my DIY skiing holidays have always been significantly cheaper than a booked package as we are fixed on dates and need a regional airport departure both of which add considerably to the costs.

Nice little bit of boasting by stealth there, OP, about you already having had your "main holiday" and this one being a "cheap and cheerful little break" to while away the holidays. Package holidays are far from cheap these days, in fact it's often cheaper to hire a villa/appartment and book your own flights separately.

With regards to what you've said, not all package holidays are like that; We've just been on a fantastic package holiday (which I certainly wouldn't describe as cheap and cheerful), to a quiet small resort on the Costa Brava. We didn't come across any of the types of people that you have described. Likewise we did a package holiday to a greek island last year, and again a nice quiet resort and none of the people/behavior that you came across. I think the key is to pick a small, less commercial resort. Places like Majorca are very popular and extremely busy so it's more likely there that you are going to come across a wider variety of people, and probably lots of people that like English bars and rubbish comedians, because places like Majorca offer that kind of thing.

God, some people on here just love to take offence. Saying that most people who commit 'anti-social behaviour' - screaming/swearing at children, daytime drunkenness, fulfilling the awful "Brit abroad" stereotype - have low incomes, is NOT the same as saying that all people who are financially squeezed/live in council housing are ASBO types. Find something real to outrage you.

"I love the anticipation before a holiday, buying the guidebook, researching on the internet, booking some hotels, sorting travel.

A package would deprive me of all of that"

Not necessarily. I have to book flights for OH on a regular basis and am used to researching travel arrangements, but find booking a holiday a right old faff - it is time consuming and not necessarily cheaper. A package simplifies things a lot. I buy guidebooks and research the local area etc as well, but simply use a package as a means of getting from A to B with as little stress as possible.

Package holidays aren't all about sitting on a beach or next to a pool and being hand held and spoonfed all the time. Apart from the travel we always do everything else independently and usually go self catering so that we can eat out at local restaurants.

I think there is a misconception about package holidays on here.