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?

That's a good point. If there is a delay or some other fuck up transport wise you have to sort it out - so take a credit card just case (fun memories of 2022 when our connecting local train to Avignon TVG where we were gettig our train to Paris just disappeared off the timetable with no explanation - cue a mad dash across France on several trains and a bonus tram journey across Lyon 🫠)

We never book package holidays anymore. But we're not a standard 2 adults and 2 children family so if we book packages they are ridiculously expensive.
I do flights then accommodation and wing it with transfers once we get off the train. Often save hundreds if not thousands like this.

I now take my DC on non fly&flop holidays so like others I search out where we fancy going for accommodation and what we can do there and then find flights and then will book them on the same day for where the flight is going. It has had issues when a flight route was cancelled, but I had notice and worked a different route instead and European public transport is pretty good.
I fly and take buses and trains and my DC are now very good at navigating airports, and other public transport systems and directions using maps we even use it for navigating bus stops abroad. Sometimes we make mistakes, but as someone else has said nothing a card and Google translate can't generally help with.
We know when and where we are going to come back from for next year's travel so have booked that and then will work a route back from there but haven't booked anything else as yet. It does take a lot of research especially if you are the only adult as you need to be able to instill confidence in your dc that things will be fine if things are not quite going as planned, so in general I spend maybe upto an hour on my phone each night before we are going somewhere double checking routes, times, alternatives and the children are schooled on what to expect the next day and what I need them to be responsible for.
I'm pretty sure I could find a cheap beach/pool holiday if I wanted, but I find these dull so I prefer to spend my budget travelling around going to different places and giving my DC an interest in what different places have to offer.

Make sure you have good travel
insurance before you book anything

We used to book separately, until 2020 when we lost a lot of money.

We now make sure we are covered by the package holiday regulations - e.g. tailor-made tours of Egypt, South America, etc.
I've costed these before finalising the bookings, & they are always cheaper than I could have achieved.

Flights first but due check accommodation costs before you confirm flights in case there's something on and there's really expensive rooms plus it may not be cheaper to book separately

If you like the kind of holidays Jet2 do. Kids clubs beach resorts all inclusive it's probably cheaper to do it like that to be honest. If you want more freedom, better flight times, happy to grab a taxi to your more boutique accommodation do it yourself. It's not always cheaper just you get more choice

We do a lot of holidays, mostly the Med or Canaries. I always compare the cost of booking separately but it's seldom cheaper. I can think of once over the last few years that it was and we booked it separately.
This may be because I am fussy about flights. I won't drive 100 miles to an airport and fly at midnight to save money. It has to be regional airport and civilised flights times both ways. This bumps the cost up.
There is some protection from a package but I wouldn't choose Jet2or TUI just for that reason.

I haven't done a package for years, but then we don't do big holiday hotels/resorts and never AI. I usually have an idea of where we want to go, so look to see the best way to get there - plane, train, drive. I live in mainland Europe so it does make the options easier. Otherwise I check Skyscanner to look for bargains. Then I normally use Booking.com to find accommodation - I prefer S/c, but sometimes hotels. Then I check to see if it's cheaper to book direct - though i am a genius member so there are normally some quite big discounts. I always look for the latest payment/cancellation terms possible, even if it costs a bit extra. I sign up with the airlines etc so I get notified when there are sales on. Tonight I've just booked bargain flights to Bari so we can go to Matera for the weekend - though I am conscious of not flying too much anymore and we have done quite a few of our last trips by train.

We always book separately, often fly into one airport and out of another and stay in a few different places. Mix of hostels, airbnb and hotels. We don't have kids so always travel outside peak times so apart from first and last nights we often book accommodation as we go. Usually finish the trip with a night or two in an AI hotel.

Family of five here, travelled across America this summer for 3 weeks & booked everything separately- better flight times, accommodation etc. use a credit card & get travel insurance as soon as you’ve booked 👍🏻

Always flights first - the earlier the cheaper normally. For instance. I've recently booked flights for our holiday (having finally decided where we want to go) next July but am taking my time researching accommodation cos I'm fussy and haven't decided whether we're moving around 2/3 bases over the 2 weeks or not.

I usually book everything separately too—flights, hotels, car hire—it gives me more choice and often saves money. Last time we went to New Zealand, I found a good deal at business hotel rotorua cbd, which was right in the middle of everything and had what we needed. Just make sure to double-check cancellation policies in case plans change.

I find this too, for any kind of holiday that is flight+hotel room/studio/one bedroom apartment. If you want to stay in more than one place or have other sleeping arrangements that's when it can be better to book separately but tbh now everything has been taken over by listing sites with no customer service like booking and airb, it can be a real ball ache trawling through all the crap and you're paying more as they add their cut to the price, so even in those scenarios a high street travel agent might be a better bet. At least they're not going to book you into a scam! Or take money off you for looking on their website. And you'll get ABTA and ATOL protection and customer assistance.

Never booked a package because I don't want to go where everyone else is going. Prefer to find our own small private hotels.

So research roughly where you want go, find the hotel, but book flights first, direct with airline, as they will be less flexible. Then book hotel direct. You will get a better price and a better room, and probably freebies thrown in. Also get the hotel to organise transfers and hire cars. Generally better and cheaper as they use local companies rather than internationals.

Sitting in lounges listening to people checking in who booked with eg. Booking.com, is always an eye opener. Worst rooms, no extras.

I spend maybe upto an hour on my phone each night before we are going somewhere double checking routes, times, alternatives and the children are schooled on what to expect the next day and what I need them to be responsible for.

Horses for courses obviously, but this does not sound like an ideal way to spend leisure time, for me.

I got burned to the tune of 3K in the ash cloud as I hadn’t booked a package - this was not staying, but using any means I could to get home staying would have cost more.
so I part package if you book at least 3 nights combined with your plane ticket it is a package and you are covered for travel disruption. So far east this year flights to and from Singapore and 3 nights in hotel there booked as one. Other 2.5 weeks short hop flights, hotels all booked separately.

I’m a seasoned separate booker, and self plan a big multi destination trip each year. But for a European summer holiday at a hotel type resort, I struggle to ever find it cheaper than booking the package with someone like Jet2.

But to answer your question, I use skyscanner to find the flights and almost always use booking.com for hotels, unless it’s cheaper to book direct with the hotel. I don’t ever really book with anyone else.

Flights first, although you can book a hotel provisionally if you spot one you like, as you don't usually pay the bill until checkout and can cancel in advance of charge (check the booking conditions).
Then I generally research my hotels across a range of sources (eg Times and Telegraph travel sections), then book directly with my preferred hotel.

Sometimes you can get better rates with booking.com, to be fair.

I almost always book cancellable accommodation too, so I generally book hotels first (have had the hotel books for our next US trip for months now, but still no flights booked as waiting for a bonus from work). Sometimes I have multiple hotels booked while I’m still choosing.

Companies that put package deals together will have special rates on flights, hotels and transfers. You'll also get support if anything goes wrong. It's not easy to replicate that by yourself. I would look a bit harder at packages - there are small hotels and apartments as well as the big ones.

I do a mixture of separately booked flights and hotels and packages. It depends on the deal I can get. I always check both. I like BA packages - often cheaper than booked separately and I get tier points towards my silver status. Worth having as seat selection, fast track and lounge access are included.

As others are saying, if you want flight and resort hotel in one place, just book with Jet2 or whoever. Cheaper, easier, better 'cover' if things go wrong.

However, I have never had a holiday like that. I have always self-catered, toured around on bikes or in car, moved on between places, gone off the beaten track etc etc. For that there is no substitute for hunting out different, nice places for accommodation. I tend to open a few tabs on a browser for the accommodation I want/prefer, but then book travel first. Within a few minutes to an hour I can have a fortnight holiday booked and sorted. I do also tend to book early as well, and have only used this in UK and Europe.