Which Holiday Package Suits You?
By Darren Cronian on Monday, March 5th, 2007

Who would have thought five years ago that consumers would have options when booking their holiday? Whilst package holidays are still popular amongst many consumers, the birth of dynamic package and DIY holidays has changed the travel industry, for the good in my opinion.

Which Holiday Package Suits You?

Here is my non jargon explanation of the different options open to consumers.

Dynamic Package Holidays

Travel agents have struggled to compete against online travel companies, and by offering consumers the opportunity to build their own package of flight, accommodation, etc. it has helped cut costs. Travel companies are giving consumers options, so if you don’t want an in-flight meal or airport transfer you don’t have to pay for this service.

DIY Holidays

Confident consumers are being independent and booking the flight direct with the airline and accommodation, car hire etc. off the internet. This gives the consumer flexibility and control over when and who they fly with, where they stay etc.

You can if you take time to look around find some great deals. I found a flight to Oslo for £51 return and a hotel in the centre of Oslo for only £25 a night. Maybe this is a challenge for a travel agent, but I doubt I would have found a package holiday this cheap.

Package Holidays

The package holiday consists of the flight, ferry etc and accommodation and is sold by the travel agent on behalf of the travel operator. You’re limited to the airport departure, time etc and have a smaller choice of accommodations to choose from.

As consumers we are all different – there’s no right or wrong option, and it all depends on our own preferences and confidence. Which ever option you choose, make sure you buy adequate travel insurance, and check out the travel company prior to booking including if they are members of ATOL, ABTA, TTA, etc.


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9 responses to “Which Holiday Package Suits You?”

Karen Bryan | 6 March, 2007 at 1:18 pm

Darren. I think that the issue of which type of holiday is cheapest varies, largely down the cost of the flight. if you find a desination which can be reached by a flight with a low cost airline as in your example of Oslo for £50 return then DIY holiday will probably be cheaper. When I flew to Preveza in north west Greece on a charter flight, fellow passengers had paid the same as I had for my flight for a holiday includling self catering accommodation and transfers to their resort.

Nathan | 6 March, 2007 at 3:20 pm

Good point Karen - though Darren did rightly put the benefits of flexibility and freedom first under DIY. I think they’re probably the biggest motivating factors for consumers.

Another point is that the full DIY model could well gather strength with the growth of consumer review media. On Holiday Group’s Steve Endacott predicted in our paper that sites like Tripadvisor would drive up quality, which personally I think may be overly optimistic, but they certainly feed a desire to research and cherry-pick the best suppliers yourself.

Darren Cronian | 6 March, 2007 at 9:36 pm

Karen, of course. I booked a package holiday in October 06 because it was much cheaper than a DIY holiday - due to the cost of flights during this time of the year. As I mentioned they are no right or wrong options, you have to weight each option up though when reasearching your holiday if you want the best deal.

Some people will automatically go to the travel agent and book a package holiday without thinking. It depends what best suits you.

Darren Cronian | 6 March, 2007 at 9:38 pm

Nathan, I’m a big fan of Trip Advisor, but I tell friends and family to use a few review sites to get a proper opinion of a hotel. I’ve read some bad reviews on the hotel I booked in Oslo, and I actually left a review stating that I disagreed with previous reviews.

The world would be a boring place if we liked the same hotel, same resort and same way of booking a holiday.

Nathan | 7 March, 2007 at 9:58 am

Absolutely right, Darren - I’m only using TA as one example. The best tips are to visit several, completely ignore the star ratings (particularly the ‘overall’ average - it’s as good as meaningless), and read between the lines of the actual comments to get a sense of whether the product will suit you. One man’s opulent luxury, as you point out, is another’s gaudy nightmare.

Nievesbosque | 16 March, 2007 at 12:26 am

When I check hotel reviews, don’t count your chickens.

I think peple put the review, especially when some had a bad luck.

I always follow my instincts. Because the photos can blow off.

sarah jane | 10 April, 2007 at 7:08 am

I think DIY is ok but regardless of the price it’s still risky. We read the reviews on the net for unbiased opinions - likewise trip advisor seems to be one of the best - but we eventually booked through a tour operator. Ranch Rider were really knowledgable about the type of stay we should be opting for. There’s no substitute for that kind of expertise and ranching when we first looked into it is very varied. I’m not sure that reviews on their own work for some types of holiday - maybe for beach stays, but for more specific holidays specialists are worth looking at rather than going it alone..

Darren Cronian | 10 April, 2007 at 10:11 pm

Sarah,

I’ve travelled around the world DIY and have never thought it to be risky, but I can appreciate what you are saying. Theres a lot more confidence in package holidays, but that shouldn’t stop people arranging their own holiday.

sarah jane | 11 April, 2007 at 7:34 am

Hi Darren,

I agree sometimes it is quite exciting and a challenge to plan the holiday DIY - I was just surprised by the choice in terms of ranching - it’s like a whole other world and I think without some specialist help it could be easy to get lost and make a bad decision. - maybe it depends on what type of holiday you’re planning - always good to speak to an expert. General beach package holidays then yes i think diy is probably a better option we had an awful experience in a travel agency once - the girl we spoke to didn’t really seem to know the product at all and kept going for the more expensive options - then we booked independently!

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