Where do you book your holiday?

[whytesnow]

For me I love jet2 or hyperholidaymarket where do you book your holiday do you prefer package deals or do you book it all separately

@StarlightLady
Yes. We do a combination of both. Depends on destination. Often city holidays are just fine as a package. With BA for example. We have also done hybrids! The travel company does enough for it to be a package and I book a few hotels we want. Did this in Iceland snd Chile fairly recently. Quite often the companies we use have the accommodation I would choose anyway but where they don’t, we have booked our own. We have done this quite often. You don’t have to accept all of the “package” offered and good travel companies have agents who will book an alternative hotel or you do it yourself without losing the package protection.

To add to previous comments, with swathes if European legislation being swept away, possibly at high speed with minimal checking, there is no guarantee that package travel will be similarly protected in the future.

I haven't booked a package holiday for years, certainly since we had a third child, as the vast majority of deals are for 2 or 4 people.

When I look for them, they don't give me what I want, so I have to book independently but I enjoy the research although it takes hours and hours. We have amazing holidays for great value as a result.

I often wonder if I could turn my hours and hours of research into booking tailored holidays for other people and set up a business. I wouldn't be a travel agent, just a travel advisor, but reading this thread I think most people that would seek help from a third party would want the legal protection that I wouldn't be able to offer.

@PutYourBackIntoit - Are you me? This seems to be a service I offer free for friends. And packages do not offer what I want either. But I love doing the research.

@StarlightLady oh yes! I am always the organiser of city breaks with friends and numerous times friends have copied and pasted a holiday we've been on.
Have you anything planned for this year?

I would love to make a business like this work, particularly as work is a total shitter atm

TUI. Find it easier to book as a package due to having a young child. If it were just me and my partner I'd book separately.

We had two holidays with TUI last year with no problems, one was to Greece and the other Lapland.

@PutYourBackIntoit - I don't want to risk derailing the thread, so I have sent you a PM.

Separately. I usually use Skyscanner to compare flight routes and prices but I'll book directly on the airlines own website. Accomodation is usually through booking.com or Airbnb.

When Covid cancelled 2 big long haul trips we had booked we had no problem getting full refunds from Air France and Airbnb. They were both fantastic to deal with. A friend who booked a trip with Love Holidays that year had a very stressful time trying to even make contact with them.

During Covid, I had no probs securing refunds from BA, Singapore Airlines, Hotels.com and Booking.com, but I had friends who had booked packages have no end of trouble. The law may be on your side but to take on the big players in the game can take a lot of effort if they are playing awkward.