Finding a package holiday for family of 5?

bevvy

Have you tried DIY,
flights from Cardiff to Menorca 07/08 - 21/08 with BMI Baby £524 for 5 and then 2 bed Talayot Apart with Thomson £1023 = £1547, will still have transfers, baggage charges to add on but looks alot cheaper than a traditional package.
I usually check out skyscanner to find cheapst flights and then look for accom to match.

sloppychops

I agree with Bevvy about doing your holiday DIY(as it sounds like your on a tight budget).
DIY doesnt always work out cheaper but always best to check this option out as well as the package route because big savings are still there to be had on DIY,as Bevvy has also proved in her last post.

starlight68

Hi, we're a family of 6 so we have the same problems. Now the kids are a bit older we try to get two rooms next door to each other, but for a couple of years we went to Ibiza, stayed at the Palm Beach and the Club Don Toni which both have interconnecting rooms, which was ideal. Unfortunately you do usually have to book really early, especially in the school holidays, to get these rooms. It takes a lot of searching and nearly giving up, but there is accomodation out there.

don9999

Thanks Bevvy. This looked really hopeful (although the hotel prices seem to have gone up a little - the dates you quoted are now £1027).

However the problem here seems to be the flights. BMI Baby don't fly from Bristol to Menorca on Mondays, Wednesdays or Fridays. Yet the hotel starts on 5/8/09 which is a Friday.

I've checked for all other dates in July/August for this hotel and all periods start on Monday, Wednesday or Friday. Yet there are no flights with BMI baby on those days :-(

I'll look around to see if there are any other carries that fly on these days to Menorca.

Cheers,
Don

sloppychops

don9999 wrote: »

Thanks Bevvy. This looked really hopeful (although the hotel prices seem to have gone up a little - the dates you quoted are now £1027).

However the problem here seems to be the flights. BMI Baby don't fly from Bristol to Menorca on Mondays, Wednesdays or Fridays. Yet the hotel starts on 5/8/09 which is a Friday.

I've checked for all other dates in July/August for this hotel and all periods start on Monday, Wednesday or Friday. Yet there are no flights with BMI baby on those days :-(

I'll look around to see if there are any other carries that fly on these days to Menorca.

Cheers,
Don

Bevvy posted flights from Cardiff which you said was ok.Have you changed your mind about flying from Cardiff?
Hotel has only gone up £4 for the fortnight so i doubt it would break the bank.
Just trying to understand why its a problem that you cant get flights on certain days from Bristol when you said you were happy to fly from Cardiff?
Easyjet and Thomson do flights on other days from Bristol but nowhere near as cheap as the one quoted from Cardiff.
Isnt the quote Bevvy gave you leaving on the 7th Aug for 2 weeks from Cardiff any good as that was a cracking price.

don9999

Hmmmm...I'm not sure what I was looking at now. I think I may have even been loking at easyjet rather than BMi baby.....

Anyway....
Have looked again just now (more carefully!)....
Cardiff to Menorca for 7/8-21/8 will cost a total of £804.90 for the 5 of us.

Hotel is £1027.
So total so far is £1,831.90.
(Need to check cost of taxi transfer)

(Now I wish I had had time to look a few days ago when Bevvy spotted that deal!)

I'll certainly still consider this though since the equivalent package with Thomsons would cost £3500.

Thanks for your help.

Cheers,
Don

don9999

I believe a number of people are following this thread - I've received many PMs from people with 5 or 6 in their family, and are finding it hard to find a decent package holiday.

Well with Bevvy's advice (and others), I've continued to finesse the package to Talayot Appartments in Menorca (a Thomsons FamilyClub hotel so should be great for younger kids especially.)

By trying slightly different dates, the price is a fair bit cheaper.
The following are all flying from Cardiff to Menorca with BMi Baby, and for my family of 5 (2 adults and 3 children aged 10,7,5):

3Aug-17Aug Hotel 1021 Flights 565 Total £1576
7Aug-21Aug Hotel 1027 Flights 805 Total £1832
10Aug-24Aug Hotel 1012 Flights 614 Total £1626
12Aug-26Aug Hotel 1011 Flights 565 Total £1576

In comparison, the full package with Thomsons (hotel+flight+transfer) costs around £3,500 !

I need to check the cost of transfers, but assume they aren't TOO expensive.

My only achiles heel is that I keep wanting to wait to look for cheaper or alternative options. Of course, my risk is that I lose the current availabilities.

I'll probably book something today though!

Cheers,
Don

sloppychops

don9999 wrote: »

Anyway....
Have looked again just now (more carefully!)....
Cardiff to Menorca for 7/8-21/8 will cost a total of £804.90 for the 5 of us.





Cheers,
Don

If you check again Bmibaby have an offer on Clocks Forward up to 50% off so flights on 7th-21st Aug to Menorca from Cardiff come in at about £505 for you all including baggage.
Add that to hotel accom as above @ £1027
Total £1532
All you need is transfers.

Other dates are also available with this offer.

ct24

you can try easyjet holidays, they seem to come out ok, fly from bristol. Also chevron Holidays deal with malta and their search allows for 5. We are a family of 5, kids are 8,4 & 2.

don9999

Got it thanks.

I've never flown BMi Baby, so didn't know how their 'additional costs' worked.

I've now looked again, and with those dates, the cost is £374.90 for flights (for 5 of us), plus I 'think', booking for '1 bag and airport check-in' costs an additional £25.96£ each. Hence total cost of

£374.90 + 5x£25.96 = £504.70

Together with the hotel cost of £1027, gives a total of £1,531.70
(pretty much the same as I paid for 11 nights at a caravan park in northern France last Summer!)

I still have to investigate th cost of transfer from airport to hotel - especially bearing in mind the very late arrival of 11.15pm at Mahon. I may consider hiring a car for the 2 weeks from the airport. I guess it can't be much more than 2 taxi transfers from airport to Talyot.

Final question.......what's it like flying with BMi Baby? Are families called up to board first, or is it a complete free-for-all?

Cheers,
Don