Walk me through a package holiday?

[Drachuughtty]

I have arranged one many years ago pre kids but have forgotten. Now I haven't been abroad for years and haven't got the time to arrange everything separately so I thought about doing a package holiday but I just don't get how it works. Whenever we travel we always have a separate room for DD7 but the sites I've seen seem to expect her to be in the same room as me and DP, is that what people really do?
And what about eating, DD has dietary requirements, can you find out what the hotel offers ahead of time? Can you choose what flights you get?
I know it can't be this hard but I just don't really get it!

Neilson and mark Warner both have interconnecting rooms as an option at most of their hotels, plus the food is usually very good, but they aren’t cheap.

went with TUI to Rhodes a couple of years ago and their family rooms had sliding doors to a second bedroom area for dcs then the balcony, but I didn’t really rate the food.

Which hotel?

Some other things to remember/think about:

• You can choose what board you want. Some places are all inclusive and will often have several restaurants on site to choose from. Other are half board, other breakfast only and others still are self catering with a kitchen in your room.
• A package will include transport to/from the airport to the hotel
• Often there will be a rep who will offer a list of activities- at an additional cost

Look on tripadvisor for reviews and you can filter with keywords like 'allergy', 'gluten free' etc to get reviews which just mention those things. You can also ask a question. Sometimes, its the owner that replies, or might be other guests that have stayed there, but you could ask 'Can you cater for XYZ allergies etc'.

Some places might have a kids club too.

If you gave us an idea of the country, budget, airport/s you can fly from etc, we might give you some ideas.

It sounds like you and a lot of PPs are confusing package holidays with AI holidays, when they're not necessarily the same thing.

A package holiday is just a way of booking accommodation transfer and flight in one go, which gives you extra protection. Your accommodation/board can be AI, SC, HB, one room, a two bed apartment, villa, pretty much whatever you like.

If you're really struggling, you could go into a branch of Hays Travel or an independent if you have one locally. They should be able to advice on which hotels have family suite type accommodation, or apartments that suit.

What sort of food depends on budget and dietary requirements - a buffet might suit so you can see the food and choose, but if you're talking about serious allergies, then cross contamination might be too much of a worry.

Self catering in Spain/Canaries might be good as supermarket food is often clearly labelled as are restaurant menus, but it depends on what your dietary requirements are as well as food preferences.

Yes you can, we usually book a one bed suite with our DDs on the sofa bed in the living room.
Jet2 will give you the cheapest room option but if it's available you can upgrade when booking to a suite or family room etc.
Dietary requirements are trickier, either book SC and get a room with a kitchenette or a big 4* all inclusive should be able to accommodate, it's usually easier to check the hotel's own website for more information before you book.

You don't have to do self catering, plenty of hotels have apartments with two bedrooms. It will cost more because they count one room as enough for children and expect you to use a sofabed. We never did that, always booked two bedrooms.
Look on Jet2 website or if you are genuinely struggling go into a high street travel agent.

Go into your local independent travel agent and ask them for help.

We did this and although they use TUI/Jet2 etc to book they have so much insider knowledge and extra information through their agent system.

We just gave them our list of must haves and budget and availability dates and they came back with several suitanle options which we then researched on trip advisor.

Yes it's a little more expensive (cost us an extra £25 than if we had found it and booked it ourselves) but we got a far better deal and they were able to add agent discounts etc to price match. They also printed out the boarding passes for us and did all the online check in for us etc. I'm perfectly capable of doing all of that but was so much less stressful knowing it was all taken care of.

I wouldn’t take much notice of people saying they get an AL for 4
people for £1k. Maybe it doesn’t include flights….

I know, I'm was confusing! I think I was thinking of a suite within a hotel rather than an apartment which is like a separate thing if that makes sense.

Just go onto jet 2 website and select your choices. Select apartment and find one with 2 bedrooms or sofa bed in the lounge for your daughter. It's very easy. You can choose alternative flight times as you go further into the booking process. You probs best self catering with special diet

Thank you all for the explanations! All makes a lot more sense now! Excellent explanation of the difference between all inclusive and package. God where have I been? 😂 And some good suggestions. I'm thinking of May half term 2025. Tbh my main criterion is ease of getting there as my anxiety about travel is now so high. So like 3 hours max on a plane. But also somewhere where you can get out into the countryside a little bit without driving ideally. Any thoughts welcome!

weve done plenty of AI with apartment style rooms so the kids aren’t in with us. I’m not sure I’d 100% trust an AI with food allergies though so it depends what the issues are. If it’s just fussiness or mild intolerance then I’d find an AI apartment

@Tracker1234
No, it included flights. Would you like to see my credit card payment as proof?

@Snacksgalore
PM me if you want. It was a very bargain cheap deal at Easter, £1,100 for a week, for 4, an AI in Cala Ratjada, it was nice. My 2 x ds's made use of the each as much as you can option!

Picture for those disbelievers.

If you book through TUI you can choose to use their airline and their hotel (they even use their own coaches often) so it's seemless. Use a smaller regional airport if you are travel anxious. Look for hotels that offer an upgrade to a 2 bed apartment (you'll see the room types offered in the description, it will default to the cheapest option but you can change it booking).

As far as dietary requirements, they all tend to offer vegetarian, gluten free and low sugar desserts, if it's something more unusual email the hotel before you book, some will have the ability to cater more precisely.

For dietary restrictions cruises tend to be particularly good

Only 3 hours on a plane will probably be to places where the pools are cold. I would go for a longer flight but look for some thing with a short transfer time.

Are the food issues allergies? I have experience of travelling with children with non IGE allergies.

Maybe look at Cyprus or Turkey.

https://www.jet2holidays.com/canary-islands/gran-canaria/san-agustin/gloria-palace-san-agustin-thalasso-and-hotel

We’ve stayed here in one of the annexe rooms, I think this might suit your needs. We will eat anything so I’m not sure how they are with allergies etc.

It sounds like you want a hotel suite with a separate sleeping area for your daughter? The most common options for that are 1) a double bedroom and separate living room with sofa bed, and 2) two connecting bedrooms.

During May half term lots of southern Europe is warm, but the sea will still be on the chilly side and you might want a heated pool.

I'm an independent travel agent, so do PM me if you'd like my website details (which has my testamonials etc). I can book with package suppliers such as Jet2, and I can also put bespoke packages together.

Mn makes me laugh. Just because you've never managed to get a fabulous holiday cheap deal, you then pour scorn, and disbelieve anyone else who claims to have managed it? More fool you. Dh and I are skilled at it, or just luck maybe. Have probably had more than 15 holidays you wouldn't believe the prices, including, USA Clearwater, Bruges, Berlin and Dubrovnik.

But also somewhere where you can get out into the countryside a little bit without driving ideally.

Mallorca might be a good option for you, as it has a fairly comprehensive public transport network if you want to get out and about a bit. There are lots of lovely beaches and gorgeous little villages to explore.

It sounds like you and a lot of PPs are confusing package holidays with AI holidays, when they're not necessarily the same thing.

A package holiday is just a way of booking accommodation transfer and flight in one go, which gives you extra protection. Your accommodation/board can be AI, SC, HB, one room, a two bed apartment, villa, pretty much whatever you like.

This.

Yes - when you are putting your search criteria on the website you put a filter on self-catering and it will bring up apartments and/or villas in the area you want to go to .

I'm not sure that I would say booking a package is any quicker or easier than booking it separately though - unless you know exactly where and when you want to go and only look on a couple of different websites .

We found the pools warm enough in May in Menorca this year. We saw quite a few hotels with 2 bedroom apartments on Jet2 when we were looking