Do you book flights or accommodation first?

[Bobje]

So those of you who do not book package holidays, but like to book things independently, do you prefer to book flights (or other forms of travel) or accommodation first?

If you have preference either way, what is your thinking behind that?

Flights

Flights unless there’s a very specific accommodation I want to stay at

I generally do both almost at the same time - unless there is accomodation I love that might get booked up and flights aren’t released yet.

I travel a lot for work and so for ‘leisure’ trips I try to avoid flights / trains / ferries at unenjoyable times for me (early in the morning). I do try and therefore book flights early on if I can.

Flights ... making sure I can get decent seats is my priority.

Flights first. I usually don't even decide which country until I know I can get there:-

• cheap
• direct
• at reasonable daytime hours

Then I work out where to stay and what to do.

I normally find accommodation first and then look whether there are flights that work (time/cost/transfer time). The actual booking could be either way but we tend to be location-led.

Travel insurance first actually!!

I normally look at both together and then book flights first.

Check the cost of flights and accommodation (no point in getting bargain flights if accommodation is a zillion pounds).

But i always book flights first, then airbnb or hotel.

Look at both together and then book the one with least availability. But book them both same evening.

Book accommodation that can be cancelled or amended. Then flights. And then amend accommodation to suit, or change to a cheaper non-cancellable rate.

I always book flights first! I don't want to book accommodation for a week and then find out that airline schedules only work for a 4 or 9 night stay, or whatever.

Flights.
I do decide on a couple of places I’d like to go and research accommodation first though.. Prague for instance has been on the list a while but accommodation has been extortionate the last few years.
Theres a massive amount of places to stay even last minute. Accommodation tends to get cheaper ( unless a big event is on) closer to check in. You can always ask places directly whereas flights tend to go up and there’s zero negotiating possible.

We do both in same evening

Flights

Flights - as they're usually the main biggest cost. Everything else is fitted in around them.

It's normally flights, but this time round I've checked the flights to make sure there'll be lots of choice to the specific destination then I booked the accommodation through Booking.com with the free cancellation option just in case as there was a place I really wanted to secure.

Both at the same time, but then I'm paranoid about these things. I usually have two tabs open on the computer (or two different devices), and then press the "buy now" button simultaneously.

Then I buy travel insurance immediately afterwards, followed by hire car, etc. All aspects booked and confirmed within 30 minutes usually.

That comes from living in a region rather than London, so flights etc tend to be very limited as to what flies from our local airport on what days, etc., so it's pretty fundamental to be certain I can get flights that match accommodation dates.

We never do hotels either, and often villas/flats etc are pretty hard to find for specific dates, specific locations, specific facilities, etc., so if we got a flight but then our preferred accommodation had got booked, we'd be likewise stuck and struggling to find somewhere else suitable for us.

The pickier you are, I think you have to do things simultaneously. However, if you've loads of flight options and don't really care where you stay, I think it's a lot easier to do things separately as you'll probably always find options that suit.

Accommodation first

Flights because i’m very fussy about flight times and usually there is not a great deal
of choice. Whereas there will almost always be more choice of accommodation than flights.

I’ll do an initial search for accommodation early on to see what sort of prices are coming up but never book it until after the travel is sorted

that said if a specific accommodation is needed eg we’re going for a wedding- I might book it first if I know we need to stay there

Flights! Although I've usually also had a look at average hotel availability or prices while selecting the flight dates. Takes me much longer to choose a hotel.

Accommodation booked whilst we are there and flight only when they are released in September. The flights are on offer in September, so cheaper deals

One of our holidays per year is to the same place, hence why it's in thar order

Thanks all!

So the majority vote is usually flights first, which is the status quo here but yesterday I broke the habit of a lifetime and booked accommodation first.
Well I say booked but really it’s reserved with free cancellation up to XXX date with booking dot com.
I did book the accompanying flights about half hour later, but even during that half hour, things felt out of synch as I usually sort the flights out first 😂

Our travel insurance policy is covered by our bank accounts so that’s one less thing in the equation.

We book accommodation first because we tend to be booking a villa. If we have specific requirements eg proximity to shops/town and its in an area where there isn't a massive choice eg away from the coast then we need the accommodation nailed down before we worry about getting there.

That said, we drive rather than fly so planning the route is done later once we have decided when we want to cross the channel.