2017 Menorca who would you book with?

[ThenLaterWhenItGotDark]

Just that really. Haven't done a package tour for a million years, but am getting sorted this year, I will just have finished a 6 week residential 24/7 short contract so won't be wanting to faff organising anything. I want to take dd who will be 13. Just me and her for a proper sun/sand/slobbing round holiday. Have been to Cala Galdana before and love it, but if anyone has anywhere else more lovely to recommend I'm open to suggestions.

Also which company to book with please! And any offers anyone knows of, though am trawling round for them myself too!

I like 'face to face' so trawled my local High Street travel agents. I found Thomas Cook to be excellent, and we've booked with them a few times now. Don't know if that is a national thing or just the staff in our local shop though. Each time we've bought a package from them, they've got it just right in terms of what we were looking for though.

It's no faff to book direct. Book flights, then go onto travel Republic or booking .com or somewhere like that and choose accommodation. If you know where you want to stay email the owner as you might get it cheaper. Then book transfers through hoppa but keep trying their site and only book when they do a 25% off. Dead easy.

If I went through a travel agent I would be paying roughly £1800 for 2 weeks sc in Greece, I book direct and get 2 weeks in the summer sc and 1 week AI in a 4 star hotel in Oct half term for £2100 for both holidays. Definitely worth it!

Jet2holidays can be very good value if they fly from airports that suit you.

I've been booking holidays for 40 years and often priced it up separately but it's never made much difference. Perhaps that's because I'm not prepared to go to Gatwick and I want to fly from local airport. I think that if budgets are very tight and you don't mind faffing about doing it yourself you may save money if you can fly from a major airport or anti social flight times. I prefer the convenience of a package.

Having said that, the hotel we stayed in this year in Greece was so good I tried to book with them for 2017 before we left. We couldn't because all their rooms are taken by Thomson.

I agree Jet2 are hard to beat though I don't think there is much between the big operators.

Hello, thanks for all the tips, I sat down the other morning and spent hours on t'web and ended up booking a week at the Cala Galdana hotel with Thomson. Direct with the hotel it would have been more expensive, and with a separate flight and ebooking/travelrepublic (can't remember which had the hotel) it would have been about the same, give or take.

I looked at Jet2 because even though I'll be nearest to Gatwick, if there had been a massive difference I could have got a train up- "home" is near East Midlands.

What did surprise me after all these no-holiday/city break holidays (soooo cheap when you book those directly!- 2 weeks in Madrid with BA flights and a 4 star hotel for about £1,000 for 2 people! ) is how expensive self-catering is. I know hotel food is a bit crap generally, but though I've done self-catering many times, I just want to not think for a week!

Thanks again, anyway- have added some new sites to my bookmarks

Hope you have a great hol. Jet2 have just started flying from Stansted, so would that be useful in the future?

Yes, I saw that, I usually am in and out of Stansted with Lyingair lol.

Home is the Midlands, but summer contract I do is in Kent, hence Gatwick being best. Though any London really.

I have stayed in this hotel twice before. Am already fist-bitingly excited.