When do I book ?

Eagle_1

We are looking at going away in August and are wondering wether to book now or leave it till just a couple of weeks before we plan to travel.

We are not that bothered as to where we go (have only been abroad once and that was 15 yrs ago to Tenerife) so are fairly flexible. Will we struggle getting a holiday if we leave it late booking ? There would be two adults and 1 child, we would fly from Teeside but if push came to shove would do any North East airport.

Any info greatly appreciated, Thanks

budgetflyer

whats your budget and 1 wk or 2
www.bmibaby.com fly from teeside

hammy_the_hammer

if you're looking at the med. it's toss a coin time ...it's hard to tell what the demand is / will be. i regularly go to mallorca and as this year is a world cup year they have a strange effect where people put off having their holidays ( remember this is europeans in general not just uk people ) till it's over / their countries been knocked out > i'm not making this up but this is info from people who run businesses / or whose work is dependant on the travel trade ( isn't everybodys there ? ). the hotel i stay at for example is already offering deals for may and june which isn't the norm. so august may be busier than normal ( it was busy for the 10 days we were there this august ...some hotels were even overbooked ) but in conclusion you would need a bit of insider info from the travel industry to have a cert on which way will be cheaper. i suppose for now i'd look at what price the easyjets of this world are charging for flights in august and how much the accom. is at the moment....you could book the flights and wait on the accom. ....i know this isn't much help but it's really just a gamble

troll35

Our experience is that over recent years there has been little if any difference between booking now or leaving it till late. We always have the last two weeks of the school summer holidays off (encompassing the August bank holiday) and we've always flown from Leeds Bradford. We usually use a teletext company and book by phone as it's easier to specify your requirements. Our requirements are 2 adults, 1 child, family hotel, must be very close to a beach, minimum half board (too much hassle searching for somewhere to eat every night with a moderately fussy eater) and must fly from local airport oh and be cheap. We've had lovely holidays in Majorca, Ibiza, mainland Spain and Kos. The only time we have booked well in advance was summer 2004 and it seemed a long long time until the holiday finally came round. If you leave it to later the holiday comes round sooooo much quicker!
And finally if you don't manage to get anywhere abroad the UK is lovely too.
Ooh I forgot, whilst we have two weeks off work we're not fussed whether we go away for 1 or 2 weeks so our departure date can be a bit flexible. You get more flexibility on date booking well in advance because you usually book your time off work after you've booked the holiday rather than before. If you book now you may still get free child places etc, however if you book late the price per adult is usually less and the child price higher so overall the cost is similar.

Eagle_1

Hi
Budget is about £1500 for 1 week, looking at self catering.

Thanks hammy, am new to this travelling lark so didnt know what to do for the best lol

Do you think we would be better going with a tour operator then everything will be all in. Not travelled much so might be a touch worried if everything didnt quite go to plan.

Thanks for your input

sloppychops

Eagle
Is there anywhere particular you fancy going?
Package holidays are usually alot cheaper from Newcastle.
I have checked on packages in the past from teeside but always find much better deals from Newcastle.

hammy_the_hammer

it depends eagle, personally i won't book with a tour operator as i know exactly what i want . when i go to the med. i basically go to the same resort ( not everyones cup of tea but there you go ) . if putting your own package together 1 thing that people sometimes overlook is the transfers from airport to resort. i could state what i think are the benefits of doing your own package ( flexibility on number of nights, flight times etc ) but i more than realise that others prefer the complete package solution and can see the benefits of that as well.

auntywalker2

Have a look at directholidays.co.uk, have found them competitive for school hols myself this August (2adults 2 kids). Also portland-holidays.co.uk can be okay, used them lots.

To get a free child place you need to book now, but who knows which way prices will go, depends on demand, though I guess fuel surcharges will only go the one way!!

HTH

Eagle_1

sloppychops wrote:

Eagle
Is there anywhere particular you fancy going?

To be honest no we are pretty much easy going apart from we would hate a resort which is full of 18 yr olds like Ibiza (having said that Ive heard there are some nice places with not so many teens).
Preferably a 2/4 hr flight cos im not that keen on flying

What I would have to consider is approx £90 for me taxi to get to Newcastle (mind I should check out parking costs but apparently they are expensive...so I was told). Teeside is not that far from me so it is a much easier airport to get to. But as I said previously we are flexible so if we got a good deal flying from another airport then we would travel.