I'm Going To Try To Book A Holiday Without A Travel Agent's Help.

2005CLAIRE

Usually, I try to find a budget holiday for my family and then phone 3 or 4 travel agents to see if they can improve on the price.

Last week we went to Gran Canaria - 4 of us - meals and top insurance included - for £879. I had booked it 1 year in advance and paid for it over the year.

I have decided to try to book for 5 of us to go back to Gran Canaria next year but need a bit of advice if possible as I am a bit nervous about mucking it up.

I have found an apartment I like and have emailed the owner (it's 1 of those privately owned places that advertise on the net).

Now the other thing is, because it's so far in advance (12 months) I am not able to book the flights. The advice I want is:

How much am I looking at for flights for 2 adults and 3 children from East Mids to Gran Canaria?
Also, I will have to sort out holiday insurance - are the ones in Tesco ok?
Thanks for any help anyone can give, when you have kids it's quite daunting making sure you get everything right-when they are older I am looking forward to going into the travel agents and saying I want to travel tomorrow, what have you got?

2005CLAIRE

The meals were on the flights by the way, not for the whole of the holiday lol

alared

https://www.direct-travel.co.uk for your insurance.

Going from E.Mids to Gran Can sort of limits your options.
I may be corrected but the "buget airlines" don`t go there so this makes it easy for "the charters" to keep their prices up.
Mytravelite go from Birmingham,best to register with them and they`ll email you as soon as the flights come out.
http://www.mytravellite.com/skylights/html/home2.htm

I`m sure others on the board will give you some ideas for your flights.

2005CLAIRE

Brill, I forgot about Birmingham airport. It's a little further than East Mids but if the flight prices are cheap then that will make up for the extra taxi fare to Birmingham.

On average, does anyone have any idea what the cost of flights will be? Or do they differ a lot?

alared

If you go to the Mytravelite site and tap in some dates for this summer, it will give you some idea.
Get registered and as soon as next winters/summers flights are released they`ll email you.

2005CLAIRE

Just registered with them - thanks for that.

The apartments we went to last week were very clean but very basic - excellent value, but def 2* So next year I thought if we can get a nicer apartment (the one I have enquired about has washing machine, microwave, patio etc) by sorting it out myself it would be worth the slight hassle.

albalad

I would second direct-travel for your insurance requirements , that's who we have our annual policy with (and my wife works in the travel insurance sector- not direct-travel though)

Very thorough policy and very keen prices

2005CLAIRE

I'm so glad I asked - Thabks very much :O)


I know it seems daft booking 1 year in advance but if I left it later I know husband would say we can't afford it.

Joannekerry

Have you thought of a hotel rather than an apartment? Try https://www.hotelscomparision.com It is to far in advance at the moment to book for next year, but to get yourself an idea of how much all of your package will cost you then just put in some dates so you know what the maximum will be that your holiday will cost you. As stated by other moneysavers, get in early with your flight, the first day is always the cheapest (Ive been up at 5 in the morning before now to book mine!). Dont rush to book your apartment, take your time and browse other options as you may find that you can get something better value for money.

Finally, dont be nervous, pick a date and work out what the maximum amount it will cost you for your holiday and then be pleasantly surprised when you manage to get it cheaper than that. It really is that simple and easy.

Good luck

2005CLAIRE

How will I know what the 1st date is that the flights are available? Is it exactly 1 year ahead? I don't mind getting up early to get a good deal.
I've just had a look at my travel (not lite) and the flights are £1,000 for 5 of us.


The apartment I found was only £200 for the week - I don't think I could get it cheaper than that-it looks lovely and it's in a perfect location.

markmat

I can't really help with the charter airlines, but don't necessarily assume that they will always be the cheapest.

You can fly from Birmingham with a combination of BA and Iberia (have a look at opodo.co.uk or iberia.com). I've only looked at dates in March because I think Iberia will only let you book 10 months in advance. It is actually more expensive at the moment (around £1200), but they do have some good deals at certain times of year. I've flown from Heathrow to Tenerife for not much over £100 in the past.

There are a couple of disadvantages, which I'd guess would make it a no go as you're travelling with kids. Firstly, you have to change planes in Madrid (which is easy with no kids ), and secondly this change results in a much longer journey time.

On the other hand there are a couple of advantages. Because you go through Spanish immigration in Madrid you are then on an internal flight, which means that when you get to Gran Canaria you stroll straight past the queue for passport control

The other advantage is that the scheduled flights probably operate seven days a week, which I would have thought is not the case with the charters.

And finally, if you want booze and fags on the way back then you're at a bit if a disadvantage flying straight back from the Canaries as they're outside the EU. But a few hours at Madrid airport gives you plenty of time to shop inside the EU. The prices are a bit higher than the Canaries, but still far cheaper than here :cool: