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Holidays

Use our Travel forum for recommendations on everything from day trips to the best family-friendly holiday destinations.

Original poster

Package holidays

29 replies

LucyLastik · 30/10/2022 23:45

Where is the best place to book a package holiday please?

We've just come back from aThomas Cook holiday but there must be others out there. Looking for recommendations. Thanks

OP posts:
Fairyliz · 31/10/2022 06:52

I went with jet2 a few weeks ago and was very impressed.
Seemed very well organised, lots of staff at both airports to help you, flights on time and a good hotel for the price.

KangarooKenny · 31/10/2022 06:53

I’ve always liked Tui.

RampantIvy · 31/10/2022 07:03

Jet2
Tui

gogohmm · 31/10/2022 07:40

We use tui

SantaScribe · 31/10/2022 07:51

Can't beat jet2 imo

mdh2020 · 31/10/2022 08:10

Tui or Jet 2. Both are good.

AriettyHomily · 31/10/2022 08:12

Tui, have also used jet2 but prefer tui as go from Gatwick

pumpkinelvis · 31/10/2022 09:15

I like jet2 and Tui but I have booked several holidays through Loveholidays and never had an issue. LH worked out about 1.5k cheaper for 6 adults + 4 children. We're actually flying with jet2 but With LH you can pick and choose the extras (luggage) so we saved hundreds by only taking 1 suitcase per family.

userxx · 31/10/2022 20:51

Love holidays.

Lozzybear · 31/10/2022 20:54

I find BA holidays to be competitively priced - our summer holiday book with them was a £1000 cheaper than same holiday with Jet 2.

bigfamilygrowingupfast · 31/10/2022 22:02

We've used Tui and Jet2 I think and have loved both! That said id be more likely to book a tui in the future just for their range of destinations

RampantIvy · 31/10/2022 22:27

We tend to fly out of Manchester or Leeds Bradford and the holidays we want tend to be Jet2 and Tui because they fly out of those airports.

Zipps · 31/10/2022 23:08

Tui for beach hotels
Jet2 for city breaks

GuyMontag · 31/10/2022 23:16

Loveholidays don't have the same protection as the others. Maybe less of an issue now covid isn't such a big deal re cancellations etc.

I usually find Jet2 cheaper for what I'm after. It depends what you want really. I like hotels that are decent but don't want all inclusive or loads of extras on site or entertainment etc because we tend to be out and about on holiday and Jet2 has been better value for that in places I want to go.

Georgyporky · 01/11/2022 11:53

We've used Riviera, Newmarket, BA & Easyjet for package holidays, & they've all been good. Even EJ has upmarket hotels.
Had very bad experiences with Wendy Wu, Saga &Tui, won't use them again..

lightisnotwhite · 01/11/2022 12:00

Why a package? Just price or something else?
There are loads of packages from cruises to wild escorted tours.

BA, Easyjet etc do hotel and flight packages and you just have to do transfers (which aren’t normally difficult or expensive). Normally do this as a charted flight is even less appealing than normal budget flights.

TheBirdintheCave · 01/11/2022 12:01

I'm curious as to what the appeal is of package holidays. I looked into them myself once when planning a last minute break but they were all so expensive in comparison to booking the flights and hotel separately myself. What kind of things are you getting for your money that you don't by booking yourself?

RampantIvy · 01/11/2022 12:36

What kind of things are you getting for your money that you don't by booking yourself?

Peace of mind compensation when things go tits up, transfers included in places where public transport is limited and you don't want a hire car.

On three separate occasions we have had flights go badly wrong on holiday and on each occasion the airline/tour operator has paid to put us up at a hotel for the night and then put us on flights the next day.

This wouldn't have happened had we been flying with Ryanair.

Also, we tend to go to less popular places and doing it separately wasn't cheaper.

I have travelled independently and used packages. We use a package when there is no cost saving to be had by travelling independently because the cover is better.

TheBirdintheCave · 01/11/2022 12:39

@RampantIvy Interesting! Thanks for the info :)

SantaScribe · 01/11/2022 14:55

"This wouldn't have happened had we been flying with Ryanair"

Of course it would. Agree with most of the other points but twice we've had diverted flights now and Ryanair put us up in hotels overnight and flew us home the following day.

RampantIvy · 01/11/2022 17:48

I stand corrected @SantaScribe. I have heard so many negative stories about Ryanair leaving passengers stranded that I didn't think they would do this.

Our best one was when we were flying back from Madeira with Tui, and a bee got stuck in the flight speed indicator of the plane flying out from Manchester. By the time the plane arrived in Madeira the captain had run out of flying hours, so they bussed all the passengers to a hotel near the airport where we stayed the night and then took us back to the airport the next day to fly us home.

Georgyporky · 01/11/2022 17:52

"What kind of things are you getting for your money that you don't by booking yourself?"

As well as @RampantIvy post, a package holiday will include a reasonable hold luggage allowance. Add the cost of a bag each for the trip & the price becomes even more attractive.

FamilyTreeBuilder · 01/11/2022 17:54

Tui / First Choice
Jet 2
Easyjet Holidays

Snowdropsarelovely · 01/11/2022 18:03

We have had good experiences with jet 2.

Tui cancelled our holiday at very short notice, then did the same to one of my friends a few weeks later so I'm very wary of them !

MajorCarolDanvers · 01/11/2022 18:04

TUI if long haul
Jet2 for Europe