Impossible to answer I'm afraid, because there are so many variables to any one individual's personal circumstances, holiday requirements and current market forces.

You should always do a price comparison against package price, when doing DIY, because there are bargains to be had in either sector at any point in time ....and you need to have that comparison to see what (if any) money you might be saving DIY.

IMO in general you have more chance of saving money DIY if;
- you have kids
- you are travelling outside school holidays
- you can be flexible with dates
- you know the best flight/accommodation sites to get prices
- you know any relevant promotion codes
- you have time to research prices - and therefore can spot a bargain when you see one
- you are going for 4* and above, standard of accommodation,at half board or above board basis
- you are not looking at last minute holidays which are a completely different ball game
- you spend too much time on the internet

Hope this is of some help

- you spend too much time on the internet

yes sounds like me too

I have always found we saved money by doing DIY compared to tour operaters package prices

But there again we follow the rules above we have kids,we travel outside of school holiday times, we always go for 4* all inclusive etc etc

It is always worth pricing up a holiday you are interested in on the main tour ops websites then that at least gives you a price to work from - and i like to do it to show my hubby just how much money i save him with all my internet research

I not an expert on DIY, although am probably about to do my first one next summer.

To me one of the keys is to try and get cheap flights. Destinations like spain/algarve seem better DIY because the budget carriers go there, (trouble is you have then have to be prepared to travel on easyjet, ryanair,or the likes of Excel )

As has been said before you need to do effective comparisons. Its not always about a 'cheap deal'. Getting a holiday that Thomson et al sells for 3.5k for 2.5k booked a year in advance is just as much a bargian as getting a last minuite cheapie.

Spending too much time on the internert certainly helps.

Flights, that's my No.1 - miss them and you're struggling.

Kazlin, why not give an idea of when and where, and also where from, and I'm sure the members on here will give advice, and maybe come up with a few options for you.
Accommodation is pretty straight forward, and a good general site is http://www.wintersunshineholidays.com/, and their prices are usually hard to beat. Another good option is to join a "cashback" site and together with say a promotion code - Hotelopia is a good example of this - you can find great deals. Hotelopia are normally pricey, but with a 10% discount and 8% cashback, it brings their prices to a more competitive level.

Best of luck, it's easier than perhaps you think.

Robby
Edited to add Hotelopia cashback link:

http://www.quidco.com/travel/hotelopia/

Don't forget to join first to get the cashback.

All the answers you need for DIY are in the previous posts,
jdybnsn and Robbyw ( flights are certainly the Key) are spot on.

I should know, I never stop looking.

Give it a go,

Best wishes,

Dave

same here, I,m always looking for offers on flights and so far have booked two for tenerife, two for faro and one for malaga.
the flights I have for march with B.A cost £368 for four, the are now costing £690.
the rest of them are going up at a steady rate and I get great pleasure out of watching them Gosh aren,t I sad.
For the acommodation I mainly use wintersunshine as they seem to be the cheapest although for the malaga holiday I emailed direct to the hotel in benelmadena.
best of look to anyone doing diy, definitely the best way to go

jeanie

Wow! that's good for Tenerife, well done Jeanie.

I have three booked with BMIBaby my best is Palma in February £67.26 for two now £192.76.

It's so pleasing to meet someone as sad as me, but as you say we do get a lot of pleasure, my tour de force is booking direct with H10 Conquistador PDA sea view room 399€ against £443 WSH. 15/12/06 x 7 nights HB. Iwould get a bit of the 8% loyalty.

Keep at it girl, the best of luck absolutely marvellous.

Sad old, grumpy,

Dave

hi davidnewman or should I call you sad old grumpy

beat this!
I have booked ten flights with thompson going to faro with all the family in a villa 17th july, cost of flights £883 cost now £1608

jeanie

...yes, you can save money on the diy route...but perhaps just as important is the ability to tailor your holiday exactly as it suits you, and not be herded around at a company's convenience.
Take control of all aspects of your travelling (...except flying the plane...)

The flexibilty is what does it for me. Origonally i was going for a 11 night break in august 17th-28th. Due to circumstances in my favour i have now extended it to a 16 night break till the 2nd september. I have had to pay an adjustment fee for the flights and slightly more for the return and of course the extra nights. Overall though it should still come in under £1500 (inc insurance and transfers)for 2 adults and 1 child in a 2 bedroom 2 bathroom apartment. The best thing is i am not paying an under occupancy fee and the price is the same whether 2 adults go or 6.If you want to go the self catering route i think DIY is just unbeatable, also for some hotels as well.

DIY is not the thing to do if you want a cheap holiday. It's the thing to do if you want an expensive holiday, but don't want to pay for it.

Im thinking about DIY this Jan.

We're going to Goa again, and because Jan is peak season in Goa tour operators are charging stupid prices for a standard 2 week holiday.

check this out....

a 2week break in Goa in a standard 2-3star hotel in Jan works out about £600 per person.
so for 3 people it will cost £1800.

DIY.... ive found a flight to Goa for just over £300 return with mytravel, 2 weeks, a standard hotel works out abut £10 per room.
Total cost of DIY is .. £900 for flights... and £140 for the room = £1140.

I would ALWAYS decide on where and when i want to go first. Choose your hotel via the usual brochures and hotel reviews on here and the likes of tripadvisor. first find the cheapest tour operater prices making sure you check the internet booking arms of the tour operators i.e portland (thomson) direct holidays (airtours) and eclipse (first choice). armed with your best price its now time to go for the DIY price and try and beat it hopefully by at least a few hundred quid to make it worthwhile

lyn

ps.spot on colin

I agree with you Lyn, a great comment from Colin.

But I only want BOGOF.

Not always possible I know, but we all want different things from a holiday, since I have retired I do have the opportunity of some great value in the lower season's and understand that if you are restricted on time then cheapest can not always be best.

Have a great time what ever it costs

Dave.

Just got what I think is a good bargain tonight (thank you flyglobespan for giving us choice now from Aberdeen!)

We knew the hotel we wanted and the day we wanted to go. Airtours were looking for £941.00 - 2 adults half board for a week.

Got the 2 flights (daytime) for less than the cost of the flight supplement with Airtours!! Booked the hotel through wintersunshineholidays as I did last year, so got their 8% discount.

Total for my week = £539.00 for an excellent 3 star hotel which we really enjoyed last year. I never intended to book with Airtours, but it was nice to see how much I saved by not doing so!!

Jeanie you did the right thing, booking flights early for height of season its a must , we have saved pounds galore doin this. Cheers Jayjan

Thanks for all your advise, i will let you know in the near furture how i get on.

i have just arranged my first diy for a group of us to turkey 1 week june 30th to july 7th 8x144 for flights h4u apartment that sleeps 11 350 return transfer 100 this works out at 200 each in a luxury appartment in altinkum i thought this was a bargain