Package holidays - confused

[Holibobs11]

We have always travelled independently but this year I keep hearing it is safe to book a package and also that they are cheaper. I have been searching and so far they are far more expensive and from what I can see the accommodation isn’t as nice and certainly only 1 bedroom rather than 2. Started with Jet2 and they are £££ especially avoiding the nighttime flights. Tui seems a tad cheaper but still not loads. Am I missing something or is it because I’m good at finding independent pleasant bargains?! Are there any other agents to try. Possibly it’s because we are only looking at self catering - maybe package inclusive is cheaper than independent inclusive? What is the docfe

Package holidays are safe due to cancellations. They are not cheaper and they have been in very high demand this year and so there is not much choice left.

Oops … why is it so preferable to book a package at the moment? Looking at October half term btw. Thanks for clarity, feeling frazzled !

We've always planned out holidays independently. So this year we've booked the euro tunnell and two airbnb cottages.

As long as you have insurance I can't see any problem with booking everything separately. It's a little bit more hassle if you do have to cancel but much cheaper than any packages we've been able to find over the years.

Thanks all so far

Booking a package holiday is just for convenience more than anything. I like the ease of it and that's why I do it.

I am finding Easyjet and British Airways holiday packages to be very good value at the moment and because the issues are with the airline having a package with them makes sense and they can sort it.

Flights - particularly during school holidays- also seem expensive at the minute. We usually go independently but this year we've booked two Jet 2 holidays just for ease, and when I priced them up there was little difference in doing it independently . Plus Jet 2 have their own planes so much less likely to be cancelled.

I think it’s because where we’re looking with Jet2 many of the return flights are middle of the night which we can’t do. The cheapest I can find for the only alternative flight time is £1000 more and 1 less bedroom than the independent alternatives.

Yeah with Jet2 the returns are always in the middle of the night for some weird reason. Its a downside and annoying but we manage.

If you book a package and your flight is camcelled you will get all your money back if you book separately you will only be reimbursed for the flight.

Probably not particularly relevant for this conversation but I fly from Edinburgh and Jet2 usually has really good flight times compared to other companies.

The last holiday we booked, our flights were cancelled so we booked flights with another company and still got to go on holiday.

A package comes with protections you don't get with independent travel. The only time in the last 20 years we've booked a package was through travelbag who could package up your choice of flights and accommodation with the relevant protections (ATOL I think) so it might be worth looking at what they can offer.

I book through TUI- I know the original price always goes up once I amend to a more reasonable flight time, better room and private transfers. But for ease it's one booking, a flight cancellation can have a knock on affect- its easier when travelling with young children.

We have always normally done everything separately. However post covid we have booked packages. Although we have good travel insurance, which covers covid, because if cancellation risks we've decided it's easier and less hassle to have to only deal with one company EasyJet than several, especially as we lost money with hotels after flight cancellations last year. Travel insurance usually has a premium which means you don't get everything back.

Same here. One of Jet2's USPs is mostly daytime flights and that's my experience. We're going to Menorca soon on a Jet2 package and we fly out at 8.30 am and return at 1 pm.

It was also cheaper to book the package than separately, the flight and (self catering apartment) accommodation cost more than the package before I even looked at transfers or hold luggage.

We had trouble in 2020 with independent bookings so this year we went with TUI to limit the amount of issues if something goes wrong.

We also have the issue that DD is 15, TUI still counts her as a child, most hotels stop at 12 and then the room price shot up a lot.

Disadvantage of TUI or Jet2 is that most suites/family rooms book out very fast and this may be why you have trouble. We looked in February for August and picking was slim plus we had to do Saturday-Saturday due to other commitments and that's normally the most expensive periods. If you can look for weekday flights.

This won’t help you now but booking way in advance will bring down the cost. I booked a BA holiday for July last October and it cost me £350 a person. I just checked last week what it would cost if two more people wanted to come with us and it would now be a less nice room with only breakfast rather than half board and over £700 per person.

We used jet2 recently and they were brilliant. Walked through the airport seeing all the carnage at easyJet and tui straight onto our flight. It wasn’t much more expensive for us by the time I’d added on the transfer and the bags not included with an easyJet flight.

Sorry I meant to say as well that prices for October half term are already sky high and due to go up more as people doubtless put off going abroad this Summer .
I booked a holiday for October through Jet 2 back in Feb I think it was. Out of interest I've been keeping an eye on the current price and last time I checked it was 25% more expensive than what I'd paid for it. Supply and demand unfortunately.

Thanks

I find jet2 holidays decent flight times too. I've looked at other ways of booking the same thing but once I factored in that 22kg of luggage for each person is included in jet2 then worked out no cheaper.
The jet2 service at the airport is very good IME

It depends on what you want - if you travel with just hand luggage, a cheap flight can be good value but adding checked in bags shoots up the price. A package will include the checked in bags (in my experiance anyway).
If you want a resort type place with big pools, slides and kids club - they are usually cheaper to book through a pakage. A self catering air b&b or villa type place will be probably be cheaper booked indepenantly - and you will have choice of that style of accomodation.
So long as what you book is fully refundable up to day you travel, the safety thing doesnt matter - though many places are only fully refundable up to a certain time point - after that, if the flight is cancelled you would could lose money on your accomodation if the airline cant sort out an alternative.
I do a mix of both, depending on type of holiday I want.

Package holidays are convenient as everything is provided by one supplier, so only one company to deal with, easy to book, and if things go wrong they will sort the whole holiday out and you won't be phoning around multiple suppliers trying to cancel things, or end up paying for accommodation if flights get cancelled etc. They are particularly popular now post covid for these reasons. Package holidays were never really a cheaper option, if anything booking separately was. Now package holidays are the 'safer'.
All holidays are more expensive during school hols, particularly if you want to fly during the day at 'reasonable' times, or travel at the weekends if you work in a mon-fri type of job.

My advice would be to be flexible on flight times and the days you want to travel. Just book the next day off work if you come back in the middle of the night. Kids will cope, and may even sleep on the plane.
If you must travel sat-sat during the day during school hols then you'll have to pay the prices unfortunately

If you want a resort type place with big pools, slides and kids club - they are usually cheaper to book through a pakage. A self catering air b&b or villa type place will be probably be cheaper booked indepenantly - and you will have choice of that style of accomodation

Not true. We always book self catering apartments, small villas or B&B in small hotels and compare the price booked independently and a package and that type of accommodation has both been available as a package and has often been cheaper to book that way, eg.

www.jet2holidays.com/malta/malta-and-gozo/gozo/cornucopia-hotel-gozo

www.jet2holidays.com/canary-islands/lanzarote/playa-blanca/villas-puerto-rubicon-2-bedroom-villa

www.jet2holidays.com/balearics/menorca/salgar/naranjos-resort-menorca