Booking separate parts of holiday instead of a package one.

[LifeisNOTlikeemmerdalefarm]

We have always booked through jet 2 for our holidays.(Lazy)
Next year to maybe save money we are aiming to book everything separate.
A few questions
Do we book flights or accommodation first?
Which site should we look for accommodation?

I would look at the flights to where you want to go first. You can see the prices for the individual outward and return flights on skyscanner and pick dates that suit you, then look around for accommodation for those dates. It might take you a while to work out flight times and accommodation availability that both match your needs.
If you do choose to book flights separately I would advise going direct to the airlines, not going through the agencies that are listed. They are often a bit cheaper but you might not get any flexibility if you want to change things and their customer services can be rubbish if things go wrong.

I think that all the booking sites for accommodation are pretty much the same. Again, you can get better deals sometimes if you book directly with the hotel.

You might find that the hassle of booking everything separately is not worth the savings you can make though!

We look at flights first, often prices vary hugely between dates and they are more limited than accommodation in more places.

Flights then accommodation then car rental (in our case) We also only do this in counties where we are confident we could sort out a problem without support. For more exotic travel eg India, Thailand, Africa (particularly with children) we use a travel agency.

If things go wrong you're cover is much better with a package holiday

However last time I booked separately was when I went to Paris with DD

I booked the Eurostar and directly with the hotel

It was simple, easy and very cost effective because I booked well in advance and for the hotel room I paid the bit extra so I could make any changes right up until the day we arrived

I did end up changing the dates a bit but it was easy to change with Eurostar and the Hotel with no extra costs.

Your cover

We always book everything speparately, went on one package holiday in my life and once was enough for me, it's just not my thing.

Use skyscanner for flights.

I generally use booking.com for accomodation but often double check on the actual hotel website to ensure it is legit.

Remember you are on your own, no travel rep so you need to ensure you have arrangements to get from the airport to your hotel and keep an eye on any delays etc..

Use a credit card to book everything, that way you have protection.

Flights, hotel, travel insurance and then transport to and from airports.

yep, flights first, then hotel. We usually just wing it with transfers but we travel a lot and never book a package so we’ve probably got a bit blasé.

Never used a package. I do the reverse of most here - I look for interesting places on AirBnB with availability first, then look at flights (if we’re flying - trains and ferries are often more fun).

If the rental dates and flight dates don’t perfectly coincide, we might have one night in a hotel before the holiday rental starts.

I am not an experienced traveller, but I have looked at zillions of holidays in the Med (school holidays) in the last few weeks and I can almost never get it cheaper booking separately.

I think I am missing something tbh. It's usually the case that the package operators can get the same holiday for several hundred pounds less than I can. It's frustrating, tbh, because I would quite like the flexibilty of booking separately and being able to change my mind at the last minute if I want to.

I find similar. I have booked through EasyJet holidays, which include the main elements but no rep in the resort which we don't need. I find when booking separately, the price can really get pushed up by things like transfers, unless you are close to the airport or can use public transport, which is often not ideal with small children when there is no direct route. I have tried to book packages a long way in advance (over a year) before the flights are released.

We generally look for conveniently timed flights at good prices and if it's short notice or a place we're unfamiliar with, have a general sense check that there is accommodation available.

Book flights first, then accommodation, usually using booking.com. I never got into AirBnb because it used to be that you didn't know exactly where the accommodation was and I want walking distance to amenities, not half a mile further away than you think, up a steep hill (not saying I don't want to walk half a mile, just that the imprecision meant that it could be anywhere between a 15 minute walk and 45 minutes and the latter is getting too long when you're likely to be back and forth a couple of times a day to go to beach, supermarket, restaurants etc).

But also look at package offerings that can often be cheaper - we've had this a few times with Jet2holidays because hold luggage is included as is the transfer. A 'package holiday' is just a way of booking at least the flight and accommodation in one go and gaining legal protection when doing so. There's no rational reason to avoid them due to not liking 'that type of holiday' as it can be exactly the same as booking independently -

I find nowadays if you want a package style holiday, booking separate parts can often bump up the price. It only really works if you want a more bespoke holiday.
A few years ago it was a different scenario but since Covid I’ve not noticed much of a difference in price.

Tbh I looked into this for next year and it wasn't any cheaper than booking a package (with a free child place anyway), plus with a package you have your transfers included

We book flights first (with easyjet generally) then book on airbnb or booking. com for places to stay. We like to have kitchen facilities so we don't have to eat out for every meal which can get very expensive. There are generally airport buses that will take you to where you want to go. I find this far, far cheaper than booking a package. We also tend to move around and stay in different places on holiday so a package doesn't work for us. If there are several of you and you're going to an AI resort type place it might well be cheaper to get a package though.

Be careful with flights though if there are connections, always book it as a single flight. I was once on a flight and the woman next to me had accidentally booked her connecting flight separately. This meant instead of just transferring, she had to clear customs, collection luggage and check back in. Our first flight was delayed an hour, there’s no way she made her connection. Poor thing was sitting next to me stressing for 8 hours. A horrible lesson to learn! I think it was through Expedia.

I think Jet2 currently has Black Friday reductions on their holidays.
If its a standard holiday you still want to somewhere sunny, then I don't think it will be much cheaper going independently by the time you factor in transfers and luggage.

Plus I like with Jet2 you have a bit of flexibility up to 90 days and you can pay in instalments.

I always book everything separately, but we never do the typical beach holiday staying in one place. We are looking at Vienna for Christmas, and the price is basically the same for hotel + flight as booking separately. That is if I wanted to stay in either if the hotels they were offering. I think it's more useful to book separately if the hotel you want is not offered as part of a package deal. It's worth having a look at the difference in pricing though. I always book flights first, but will have checked hotels before I book anything.

Yeah that is why we don't do packages. We tend to build multi location holidays, often not in overly traditional tourist spots.

Nothing wrong with those holidays, it is just we are not beach holiday people.

I am also a bit controlling and prefer to find my own accomodation😳

I would defiitely consider use a travel company if we were going somewhere less easy than Europe or America though.

We switched to booking separately about 10 years ago and it's definitely cheaper and a lot more choice. The first time I did it the package holidays would only give us a 1 bedroom apartment and I didn't want kids on a sofa bed for 14 nights. I could see on the accommodations own website they had 2 bedrooms so I booked directly and sorted own flights, for same price as 1 bed with package holiday

I always book flights first as there's less choice, then take my time choosing the best accommodation to suit our needs.
I use booking.com, Airbnb, Vrbo.

Flights then accommodation..

…and very much agree with a couple of points previously made -firstly use a Credit card, and secondly watch out if flying somewhere non direct…because if your flights are not officially connected you can end up very exposed if there’s a delay (TBF some agents miss that, or decline to mention it)….

I had a package booked with jet2 and they changed the flight times drastically so I cancelled and got a refund. It was £1,000 cheaper to book the hotel and flights separately and this is going at civilised times, a 23kg suitcase each, seats together etc. It was also a superior one bed apartment rather than the standard one.

I need to book transfers but even if we do a private taxi it’ll be £200, so a £800 saving.

Personally I always book flights first as its the one which fluctuates most and can make all the difference. However, you may need to move accommodation eg. If you fly on Thur and most accom is Sat to sat, you may need a hotel for a couple of days. I usually use the odd days as a way to see a town or area which I would not have gone to for a longer period but is worth a look.

I look at both at the same time.
So we decided to go to Siena in Tuscany, I found a few apartments with availability, then finalised dates with DH, then I booked accommodation and then flights and then the hire car.

But, I can't speak to the cost of 'beach hotels', we always book VRBO apartments/villas. And we always go on scheduled flights ideally from Heathrow.

We do it this way for flexibility. We do also take the approach that there are few problems that can't be solved with a credit card and driving licence, and we would happily rescue ourselves from another part of Europe and wouldn't need an airline or travel company to do it for us.

Also agree with using a credit card for everything for the added protection