How do you book holidays abroad?

[PersonAtHome]

This sounds like a silly question... but how do people book holidays these days? Apart from one trip to France on a ferry a couple of years ago I haven't ever taken the DC abroad (eldest now 14) because for years we had no money.

So where do I start? Book flights and then use AirBnB? Or are there other sites I should be using? Are package holidays the only way to keep the costs down? Or are there ways of finding more characterful accommodation without it costing a zillion pounds (as AirBnB seems to cost)?

I did some travelling when I was much much younger (way before DH) and did that whole inter railing staying in hostels thing, then also spent a few summers in Spain but a friend knew people and we kipped on sofas.

I'm a bit confused about how to holiday abroad as a grown up with two DSs (10 & 14)!

And how much do reasonably priced holidays abroad for four people cost? What's a good budget for a summer holiday abroad? (I realise that this is probably a dumb question too but I've no idea what's considered normal as everything looks expensive, probably cause I'm comparing it to my pre DC holidays with only me to pay for).

I went to Copenhagen last June and it was fantastic - I think there would be loads there for kids to do. We did it really cheaply by getting flights through EasyJet and then rented an apartment through tripadvisor I think it was. I tend to steer clear of AirBnB as they have restrictive cancellation policies, but other people speak highly of them - Booking.com is one that I use quite a lot.

Have PM'd you OP.

I've booked holidays for the four of us every year since DC were babies 20+ years ago.
I decide where I want to go then look on tripadviser. Then I look at all the major tour operators and pick out a few holidays I like, whether hotel or villa.
Then I price up the cost of booking separate flights, transfers and accommodation. Also think about airport parking and whether an overnight stay near the airport is necessary.
Flying from a regional airport at a civilised time is a priority for me and bumps up the cost. If you are happy to fly from a major airport in the middle of the night your flight will be much cheaper.

I have always found that a package holiday works out cheaper.

Pretty random when we book. And in France we tend to avoid massively touristy areas and have a car. Also tend to be flexible what ferries we us think I’ve done them all from the South Coast at some point

But have also done it by flying to Tours and renting a car

Denmark we paid £38 each to fly with Ryanair in August. Just took hand luggage.

Another vote for jet2holidays. If you put your requirements in the deals section, it will come up with loads of holidays to choose from and just because it's a package holiday doesn't mean that it has to be a big AI hotel in a busy resort - they also have villas and self catering apartments in all types of areas and is often cheaper than booking separately.

Our last jet2 package was a boutique B&B in a lovely quiet resort on Gozo. It was cheaper than booking separately and saved me the hassle of working out the road/ferry/road transfer.

With DC the age your are, I'd recommend Salou. It felt very safe and family friendly. We stay right in the middle, it's a ten min walk to the beach, ten min up the road to Portaventura Theme park or Costa Caribe water park.

Lovely weather. Lots of places to eat/drink/walk.

PersonAtHome, if you are still considering Denmark, I'm Danish, I can probably answer many of your questions. The original Legoland is in Denmark, I am taking my DC this summer. The amusement park Tivoli is wonderful and beaches are good too. Good zoo and good aquarium. Also if you are in Copenhagen you can take the train to Sweden, 20 min. Denmark is really easy for British people as the locals speak good English and it's very small so easy to get around. It's a bit expensive though ;)

I was in a similar position to you 2 years ago, hadn't booked a holiday for years. I ended up going to Algarve in Portugal with ryanair/airbnb and hired a car in May half term break, it was wonderful. I am not sure that I'm an all inclusive person, the thought scares me a bit ;) I like researching and exploring. We went back to Algarve the year after as it was so nice. It's just really easy as a tourist, the Portuguese are lovely and Algarve is so beautiful. Driving is easy as the motorways in the Algarve are toll roads so only tourists use them.

I do it always online and do not do it with travel agents or tour operators.
Internet, booking.com, etc

Thanks for recent replies everyone. I've realised that I'm getting ahead of myself and can't afford to pay for a holiday until early April, so I'll come back to all your suggestions then. :-)

Clear your cache (delete browser history) in your browser before you come back to book in April! I have seen with my own eyes how Ryanair added another £100 to the price when I went back to book after 24 hours. I then cleared my cache and the price no longer had £100 added.

Clear your cache I second this. Also use Quidco to get cash back for many travel sites.

Thanks I'll make sure I do that! Cheeky Ryanair!

I prefer Google flights to Skyscanner as it seems more accurate/ up to date and you can track prices so you get email alerts when they change. Airbnb for accomodation and use the filters to narrow down the selections by price / 'superhost' / facilites (wi-fi, washing machine/ etc). I also use booking.com / hotels.com via completesavings (10% cashback) although always check price direct - as the hotel sites charge the hotels up to 25% commission, so often offer incentives to book direct (room upgrades/free breakfasts/discount rate).

I agree it can take hours, but can be enjoyable in a way. Use the favourites feature in airbnb and set up lists by destination, that way you can easily find a property you like again when you want to book. Some airbnb places have 'free cancellation' now and you can filter for this in the search results but I think you still have to pay the airbnb 'service fee' .
Filter by price to eliminate the pricey places (but be realistic).

If you are flexible on dates and can avoid school holidays you can get some good deals, but if you need to go when everyone else wants to go then it's a lot harder....maybe try less obvious destinations. Personally I don't trust really trust tripadvisor reviews - been let down by too many places which had rave reviews on there. On booking.com look for a rating of 8 or above and on airbnb apparently 4 stars is considered not that good, so look for 5 star reviewed places and 'read between the lines' - if someones review says it was "fine" or "okay" and gave it 4 stars it was probably not that great...

Like a few posters on here I have found that going on holiday during peak season can be cheaper going through a tour operator than booking it all separately, especially if you add on transfers and luggage.

Last year we went to Sicily with Thomsons and stayed in a really nice aparthotel. This year we have booked through Jet2 for Majorca. We have had a couple of Jet2 holidays and several Thomsons ones and really rate both of them.

IMO tour operators have upped their game in order to compete with the cheap airlines.

Having said that I have also booked cheap trips this year using Flybe and Ryanair, but they are for a different kind of holiday.

The school summer holidays is the most expensive time of year for holidays to mainstream sun, sea & sand destinations due to supply and demand. It’s a sellers market

Any flexibility you can apply will reduce the price significantly, eg the last 2 weeks in August might be less expensive than other weeks, and flying midweek is likely to be cheaper than at weekends.

Shop around as much as possible to make price comparisons. If you’re booking low-cost flights, book early and be as flexible as possible.