Tell me how to organise my holiday

[Iseewhatyoumeanthistime]

The last couple of years we have done AI package holiday, already booked for this year. We tend to do our abroad holiday in May half term. I think I've always managed to get a relatively good deal but I've been looking for next year i know I know but haven't found anything that has caught my eye at a reasonable price even with free child place.
People are always telling me about their bargains they have put together themselves, but whenever I try this it always seems to cost more than the package. So my question is, how do you piece it all together? Flights or accommodate first? When's the best time to book flights? Any great websites?
My kids will be 7 and 5 next year, I've found that a balance of a few lazy days by the pool, (had 2 hotels with amazing pool area) or at the beach, and a couple of day trips works well. We tend to have a walk in the morning and evening round the resort or town. Thanks for your help !

You need to be prepared to look at all the options

Make sure you have airline failure as part of your travel insurance this gives you the same cover as an agent

Then go on ice lolly dot com - this is a great site for ideas on hotels and you can narrow down what you want from the area pool beach entertainment water parks etc

Then go to the airport website that you land in, and work backwards. Who flies there? Which airports? Then go in to those websites.

By all means compare packages, but for example those always include luggage and seats together so the price may appear higher because more is included

Shuttle buses are easy to arrange as well and cost less than the package companies

I'm with you OP.
I've been booking holidays and travelling abroad 2 or 3 times a year for 40 years and very rarely do I find it cheaper to do DIY than a package.
I do always look at booking separately but I think only once did I get a holiday a few £ cheaper.
I think part of the reason is that I am fussy about getting a decent flight time from a nearby airport.
If you don't mind losing a day at each end of the holiday to fly at anti social hours from Stansted then you can save a lot of money.
I also want to take luggage. I'm really not so desperate to save money that I pack all my stuff in hand luggage.
One thing I do separately is transfers. I usually book a taxi at the other end to avoid bus journey.

On the luggage thing - a suitcase is fine for individuals or couples but there is no way we need 5 20Kg bags for 2 adults and 3 kids for a week away - it’s far too much and unnecessary so yes it saves a lot of money

Last year we went AI to a Melia hotel in Spain for half the price of using a package at the same hotel. We booked direct on the hotel website. Flights to Spain are cheap as well so we saved about £500.

Any self catering villa i look at via an operator is £££££, better value to book separately.

@GreenTulips, thank you for your advice. Lots of internet surfing it is then !!
@Rade - glad it wasn't just me.
@Lordpickle how far in advance were you able to book your flights. Which did you book first?

We booked everything at the same time. My colleague told me about the Melia website and that when you sign up you get 10,000 points which can be used as money off your booking. So we went and looked and it was something like £500 for 2 adults and 1 child AI for a week at the Sol Palmanova in Majorca. We had a seaview room as well. Then we just booked flights thru Skyscanner the same night.

We look for really cheap flights then once we have found them we look for accommodation we like the sound of. If it's cheap as well we book in one go. You have to be prepared to end up anywhere though although we do veto destinations we have no interest in.

Ps. I don't think we ever managed to find cheap deals a whole year ahead of schedule though...we probably also never looked properly. We are not that organised!

I do flights first. I go on Skyscanner and search for uk to 'wherever I fancy' and instead of specific dates I put the whole month (particularly helpful in August). When I've found cheap flights I then go on HomeAway and try to find a villa. We prefer our own spot with a pool. The main prerequisite is that it's within walking distance of town. My husband is really good at finding places on Google maps based on their HomeAway photos. We are quite a crack squad together. Hotels aren't nearly as easy to get a bargain on. We did well with an iberostar the other year. I like travel republic for hotels. But I always compare the prices everywhere