Package holidays v booking separately

[Aug12]

Hi all,

Currently planning our first abroad holiday. My partner and I haven’t flown for many years and it will be our children’s first time too (7, 4 and 2)

I was looking at a lovely villa in Valencia, booking flight’s separately and hiring a euro car once arriving. We loved the idea of having freedom to explore, private pool, enjoying food bought from the local food market and also the options to eat out a few times too.

I have been told that it’s a very naive idea by some seasoned travellers. They advise that with a young family navigating flights, hotels etc all for the first time, we should just take the stress away and book all inclusive. That way you don’t need to worry if flights are cancelled and costs can quickly add up for food etc so all inclusive is the better option. Less stress if things go wrong with young children in tow.

On one hand I do kind of agree that for our first time, perhaps keeping things simple is best. However, I have this, perhaps wrong, idea of what an ‘all inclusive’ holiday is like.. I can’t think of anything worse than being in a shuttle bus full of fellow holiday makers from the plane stopping at various hotels on the way to ours, trying to ‘bag’ the sun loungers early morning by the pool, eating buffet style meals at the hotel.. all of this is the opposite to my dream of a holiday in the sun. I loved the idea of the rental car so we could day trip further afield but with an all inclusive style we would be more limited, and I know if we’re paying for food/drinks on site then my partner isn’t going to want us to fork out for restaurants.

I know the kids would enjoy either option. The new experience of being on a plane, sunshine, beaches and a water park, they will be living their best life regardless of which option we pick!

Is cover less protected if you don’t book a package? Is my idea of an all inclusive holiday wrong? Opinions and wisdom all very much appreciated. Thank you

Package doesn't automatically mean all inclusive and including transfers.

I've just got back from sicily. I booked hotel + flights via booking dot com which meant we got package protection (ATOL certificate) but otherwise left to our own devices. Did our own transfers by public transport. Apart from breakfast at the hotel we had meals out and about. So the vibe was very much like an independently organised holiday but with the benefit of a package.

I think there was the option to add on a hotel transfer or car hire too but you can literally pick and mix which bits you do and don't want.

We are doing a multi site holiday in Malaysia in August and we did book that through a travel agent as I couldn't work out how to do a booking dot com type package with more than one hotel/location. But none of them are AI hotels so we can do our own thing.

A package holiday is just the name for a trip which has elements booked from a single provider in one transaction. A round the world trip can be a package holiday, or trekking in Nepal or touring Japan. The main difference is the extra financial protection you get, which many people find valuable. There are plenty of companies offering villa holidays including car hire as a package if that's important to you.

I think booking independently is fine as long as you have good insurance and funds to fix things in the mean time. For example if you needed to rebook a flight home and wait for your insurance to pay out or if one of the kids got chicken pox and you had to pay for an extended stay. If that would be a struggle, I’d stick to package holiday. If you have savings / credit cards to cover those types of unforeseen circumstances then I’d go for it.

Your planned holiday sounds lovely. I've not booked a package holiday since the the 1990s (just the once) when the lack of internet made it harder to explore options for yourself.

If you have travel insurance, there is very little risk.

Your holidays sounds perfectly straightforward and easy to do yourself. It's not as if you are planning to take your family trekking unsupported across India or something,

Eating from the same crappy buffet every day is not my idea of a holiday! Eating somewhere different every day is much more interesting/fun than hotel food. Just make sure you book an apartment so you have a fridge and cooking facilities.

We've had flights cancelled a couple of times on the way home and have had a fantastic extended holiday paid for courtesy of Easyjet - didn't have any travel insurance as rely on GHIC card in Europe but haven't needed it in 30 years of travel. We've saved thousands but could cover the costs if needed.

I've been on a couple of AI holidays and often couldn't find a rep for love nor money, I found them more stressful because I didn't feel I had any control over anything. On one hol BA had basically sold us off to a bunch of locals and it was an absolutely awful experience. I would always organise everything myself over relying on a travel company to do things well/properly.

Have a great time! Go for the villa! Definitely hire a car, just make sure you're comfortable driving on the 'wrong' side of the road.

We have 3 kids and travelled all over ith them from a young age
We always book everything separately

I like the control of mixing up different places to stay and hiring a car or jumping on a train or bus between different places and accommodations. ( it’s usually a car but trying out public transport is great fun as well )

We might stay in a villa for a while, then rough it in a hostel or treehouse ( that’s not actually roughing it if you’re ok with outdoor bathrooms ) then move on to a 4/5star hotel. Never all inclusive as we like to try out local restaurants and street food.
( the only times we go for evening meal included is when we are in the middle of nowhere )

I think the choice of which suits you depends on how adventurous you are. You sound like you are more adventurous OP than those you are speaking to.
Enjoy your holiday your way

You can book package villa or self catering holidays with tour operators or airlines. That gives you more security if there are problems with delays, quality etc than if you book each separately. “All inclusive” is accommodation, meals, entertainment, some snacks, drinks and ice cream, flights booked together.

Before we had our DD we did a lot of independent travel (but also a few packages). We've just booked our first abroad family holiday and I've gone for a package just for ease. We've also booked half board, but could have booked anything from B&B to all inclusive. Personally I like the added protection from a package when we have a cantankerous small person with us! 😂

But if your return flight on a package holiday is cancelled then they organise a hotel for you, if you’ve booked them separatly then they will send you on your way and tell you to come back for another flight the next day or even the day after and it’s your problem to find some where to stay.

OP, you can have a none package AI and package private villia. A package holiday does not mean AI.

We travel a lot with kids, I always book everything myself, we rarely stay in one place and like the freedom of being able to sort out my own itinerary and move around. I have done package holidays, but not in the last 25 years. Also never had an issues with flights either, but I am quite last minute with my bookings quite often. There is nothing naive about feeling a package is not for you.
P.S. Valencia is fabulous

After a certain period of time airlines are obliged to provide accommodation and food.
This requirement is not exclusive just because you’ve booked through a middle man

I going to end up going down a rabbit hole looking at this now.

obsesive research feeds the brain and soul ….I love it 👏👏👏.

coffee not necessarily mandatory 🤣🤣

Have never booked a package or AI and never armed on any as a child either. Your holiday sounds absolutely great and your are right, it really isn't that hard!

Just ensure you have travel insurance right from when you book the holiday which you should do anyway even if booking a package.

cover is definitely better with a package if things go wrong and costs are more controlled. Whether you enjoy it is personal, many kids prefer a hotel with clubs but again children vary

We always booked separately and usually went for villa and car hire or on a few occasions drive and family run hotel or a touring holiday. All were successful.

We always do a package for the protection but don’t do AI as my husband would rather gouge out his eyes than eat from a buffet picked over by hundreds of people. We go b&b or room only and eat out somewhere new every day. We also get private transfers as it’s just nicer.

Booking independently should be fine, particularly in Europe. As others have advised decent travel insurance and book on a credit card. It is no more complicated flying with small kids than taking a train really. Personally we never did packages with our kids when little as I like to tailor things like rooms, number and beds. Good communication with Villa hosts is my tip, avoids confusion later, make sure you use a reputable website, I think Vrbo is far better than AirBnb.
Have fun!

I'd go with your first option, it sounds lovely and ideal. In my opinion and experience, having your own place/freedom is the better option to being in an apartment/hotel as part of a package holiday.

We are not seasoned travellers abroad but booked Austria separately for the last two years.

So, booked flight only with tui, booked a hotel direct (not all inclusive but we had breakfast and evening meal, plus option to make a packed lunch at breakfast to take out) and booked my own transfer.

It all ran without a hitch both times and I'm so glad we did it that way! We did so much exploring in the area (making use of the packed lunch) and the food in the hotel was amazing (not buffet and all very local dishes).

My parents have a touring caravan, so slightly different, but they book their ferry separately and then sites directly. They book all over France/Belgium/Italy - long and short stays as they do 6 weeks. Again, never a single problem.

I don't think there is any more risk doing it yourself compared to all inclusive and your plan sounds amazing! I say go for it and have a great time!

Out of interest, why couldn’t you do that sort of self-planned trip with a 6 year-old? When I read the first part of your post I thought you were talking about a 6-month old not a 6 year-old! (Genuine question btw, I’m clueless about kids.)

This.

Plus make sure you have good insurance, pay on a credit card and have sufficient funds on a card for any contingency in an emergency.

Book accommodation through an established site that is well known or the hotels own site and study reviews.

Always book the cancellation available option and keep an eye on fluctuating prices. If prices drop, don’t be frightened to book again and cancel the original booking.

We go a mixture of package and booking separately. Depends where we’re going and what we want out of the holiday. Also depends on cost. Booking yourself often offers more accommodation options.

When I was a single parent I took my 2 DS who were about 6 and 8 at the time to Valencia for 5 nights on my own. I booked a flight and an apartment and we used public transport to get there from the airport, which was fine even though we arrived quite late in the evening.

We had a fantastic time and there was loads to do. We did a mix of eating out and cooking. We went out every day either walking or using local buses.

DS are 18 and 21 now and still remember this holiday, it was the only time I took them abroad on my own.

But we went abroad somewhere in Europe most years while they grew up, first with exH and then with now DH. In all those years we didn't do a single package holiday and always booked our own flights and accommodation separately.

Sometimes we hired a car and sometimes we used public transport to get to and from the airport and getting around, depending on which was more suitable for the destination. Sometimes we stayed in hotels, sometimes self catering accommodation and we often organised trips where we stayed in multiple places.

But an all inclusive package holiday does not appeal to me or DH at all, neither of us have never been on one and prefer to travel independently.

I consider myself a seasoned traveller and do not think you need to go on an all inclusive holiday with your family. Book the Valencia villa and flight if that appeals to you.

We used to do things like drive across part of Africa, travel around Mexico etc some of those countries are too dangerous or volatile to take a six year old to, we'd stay in hostels or little local b&bs.
We could do similar in safer places but children also come with a lot of stuff I can't be bothered to keep packing, repacking, lugging on trains etc. We used to travel light!