Multi-Centre Holidays

sarah69696pink

I've done multi centre with travelbag to Thailand before which was good, but did find I needed to have the knowledge of where I wanted to go, as they were great at finding hotels/flights but not so knowledgable on areas.
Last year I DIYd trip to Thailand (Bangkok, Ko Tao, Ko Phangnan) and Vietnam, saved lots and was more flexible to my needs - although yes it was hard work working it all out (but I enjoyed it!)
next year off on another DIYd holiday for our honeymoon. So far we've booked flights to Hong Kong, hotel in HK for 4 nights and the onto Bangkok and then back to UK three weeks later.
We're just working out where we are going when in Thailand and think we will probably also go into Cambodia or Laos.
I know many that have traveled with Kuoni and recommend them, but personally I prefer the flexibility / personalisation of doing it myself.
Ebookers are good for multi city flights.

Marker_2

sarah69696pink wrote: »

I've done multi centre with travelbag to Thailand before which was good, but did find I needed to have the knowledge of where I wanted to go, as they were great at finding hotels/flights but not so knowledgable on areas.
Last year I DIYd trip to Thailand (Bangkok, Ko Tao, Ko Phangnan) and Vietnam, saved lots and was more flexible to my needs - although yes it was hard work working it all out (but I enjoyed it!)
next year off on another DIYd holiday for our honeymoon. So far we've booked flights to Hong Kong, hotel in HK for 4 nights and the onto Bangkok and then back to UK three weeks later.
We're just working out where we are going when in Thailand and think we will probably also go into Cambodia or Laos.
I know many that have traveled with Kuoni and recommend them, but personally I prefer the flexibility / personalisation of doing it myself.
Ebookers are good for multi city flights.

How much and when was your diy trip to Thailand last year ... that combo with Vietnam sounds awesome.

What's your price range for your next trip as I would be interested in how you get along with that.

totallybored

I've done Asia for the past 3 summers. Definitely book everything yourself and you should be fine with that budget if you stick to SE Asia.

I did Singapore, Indonesia and Bangkok 2 years ago. Spent around 6k for two of us but that was very extravagant and I paid up to 1k a night. It can be done for a lot less.

Last year I went for two months to HK, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. Hubby joined me for two weeks for HK, Japan and Korea and we spent around 6k in total. The SE Asia part was very cheap and had hubby not joined me I'd have spent a lot less.

This year we did 3 weeks to Cambodia and Bangkok. Travelled all around Cambodia and started and ended in Bangkok. Spent around 3k and this included premium economy flights, very nice hotels, taxis across Cambodia and internal flights.

I planned all of these trips myself. I think we stayed in 8 hotels this year and a lot more last summer. All were easy to book online and most arranged onward travel (train, coach tickets etc) or taxi pick ups from airports when requested. Although I've spent quite a lot of these holidays I'd hate to think how much a travel agent would have charged.

Marker_2

totallybored wrote: »

I've done Asia for the past 3 summers. Definitely book everything yourself and you should be fine with that budget if you stick to SE Asia.

I did Singapore, Indonesia and Bangkok 2 years ago. Spent around 6k for two of us but that was very extravagant and I paid up to 1k a night. It can be done for a lot less.

Last year I went for two months to HK, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. Hubby joined me for two weeks for HK, Japan and Korea and we spent around 6k in total. The SE Asia part was very cheap and had hubby not joined me I'd have spent a lot less.

This year we did 3 weeks to Cambodia and Bangkok. Travelled all around Cambodia and started and ended in Bangkok. Spent around 3k and this included premium economy flights, very nice hotels, taxis across Cambodia and internal flights.

I planned all of these trips myself. I think we stayed in 8 hotels this year and a lot more last summer. All were easy to book online and most arranged onward travel (train, coach tickets etc) or taxi pick ups from airports when requested. Although I've spent quite a lot of these holidays I'd hate to think how much a travel agent would have charged.

Wow, do you fancy arranging my entire trip for me lol. Your holiday this year for 3k for the both of you. What sites do you recommend for flights from UK and internal?

totallybored

Marker wrote: »

Wow, do you fancy arranging my entire trip for me lol. Your holiday this year for 3k for the both of you. What sites do you recommend for flights from UK and internal?

I use Kayak and whatever the other one is called for flights. I went in the summer holidays and only booked a few weeks in advance too but found a great price on Bangkok flights. For flights in Asia AirAsia is the best I've used. They fly Bangkok to Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Ho Chi Minh (not my personal favourite place) as well as other routes around Asia. Tiger Airways was ok, Hong Kong Airlines overpriced and not great. I did find a cheap BKK to HK flight with Emirates last year.

Hotels were all mainly booked direct on the hotels' own websites. I've only ever found one cheaper price on Agoda than direct once the taxes are added and I think it was a mistake as the saving was about 30% cheaper than everyone else. If you're looking for 5 star hotels the place I stayed in in Bangkok was a member of small luxury hotels of the world. If you book via them it's the same price but as a member you get a free upgrade and late check out.

zagfles

Marker wrote: »

Wow, do you fancy arranging my entire trip for me lol. Your holiday this year for 3k for the both of you. What sites do you recommend for flights from UK and internal?

SE Asia is cheap - you should be looking at spending less on a 3 week holiday in SE Asia than a 3 week holiday in Europe. The flights will be more expensive but everything else will be cheaper.

Don't even think about a package - the only time I've found packages good value is outside of the school holidays and to bog standard holiday destinations like the Canaries, Greek islands etc. Long haul packages are generally a rip-off, packages in the school holidays are generally a rip-off, so you'll be doubly ripped-off!

sarah69696pink

Marker wrote: »

How much and when was your diy trip to Thailand last year ... that combo with Vietnam sounds awesome.

What's your price range for your next trip as I would be interested in how you get along with that.

Last year was less than 2k for the two of us (we did really do it as budget travellers though - flights were about £420 each, we did as many legs of the trip by train rather than flights and although we stayed in really good hotels in the cities we chose much more basic accommodation on the islands, although this was mainly because we wanted to sample a more basic backpacking type holiday during these times rather than consciously wanting to save money). You can get really nice 4/5* hotels for about £60 a night in BKK.

For honeymoon we are hoping to do it on about £3k, although this isn't set in stone. We've paid £600 each for our flights and will be looking at more internal flights and accommodation over the next few months. I find using tripadvisor and trivago in combination good to finding some hidden gems of hotels.

Doshwaster

Marker wrote: »

In your experience when is the cheapest time to go, and what time of year weather wise would you say is ideal for our family. My baby did amazingly well at 8 months old in Cuba in August, but now he's older I don't want him to be too uncomfortable with the heat.

The problem is that the cheapest time to go will also be the wettest. Do you really want to spend days on end trapped indoors?

However, as long as you avoid the wettest months then the weather shouldn't be a problem. You'll still get the occasional torrential downpour but that's part of the SE Asia experience and as long as you are prpared for it then it won't ruin your trip. If you want 2 weeks of unbroken sunshine then go to Egypt. Weather also varies greatly by region. There is some good information here: http://www.travelfish.org/weather/thailand

In terms of accommodation, it's worth spending a little more for somewhere decent in a central location in Bangkok but you can still get a good 4* for £40-50 a night. Elsewhere I rarely spend more than £20-30 a night and it's often amazing what you can get for your money. Below that level and you are into backpacker territory where you can get a room for a few pounds and standards vary greatly between acceptable and horrendous.

Leanne1812

Marker wrote: »

How much and when was your diy trip to Thailand last year ... that combo with Vietnam sounds awesome.

What's your price range for your next trip as I would be interested in how you get along with that.

I use skyscanner for flights and usually check expedia, hotels.com and a few others, just google hotels in asia and lots of sites will come up.

Bear in mind quidco for cashback. At the moment expedia are 12% so if you spend a grand on accommodation then it's quite a substantial saving.

We are independent travellers, it's always cheaper. Like Doshwater says air asia are good, their hub is KL but sometimes you need to watch their prices may not vary too much from scheduled airlines unless you book well in advance. For instance I'm looking to book from KL to Siem Reap and Phnom Penh to KL for February. The difference between air asia and Malaysian airlines is £6 so I'll go with Malaysian as its more generous baggage & snacks/drinks on board.

Hotel prices & standards vary wildly so I'd always advise checking reviews on tripadvisor. Locations are always important to me,if it's a city break I want to be in the heart of the city and for an island/beach break I want a hotel on the beach. When you book independently the more time spent researching the more confident you can be you're getting exactly what you want.

Vietnam & Cambodia are cheaper than Thailand & Malaysia but if you consider Vietnam factor in £50 per person for a visa.