Hi. This is my first DIY holiday, and am going in 2 weeks, so I cant comment yet on how it went, but the reason I decided to do it was because of the lack of service I have received on package holidays in the past. I felt that the Reps were only interested in selling trips and excursions, and were not very helpful when we needed assistance. Also the hanging around during transfers and having to go around the world to drop people off at their apartments and hotels, making the journey three times longer than necessary.

I got cheap Easyjet flights to Palma from Belfast, and booked the accommodation through Alpharooms - that was also another plus point, you had such a wide selection of apartments in loads of resorts, many more than in the brochures. There was no under occupancy surcharge, you paid for the apartment only. We were able to get one week in Cala Dor and one week in Can Pastilla, which we could not have done in a package. It worked out hundreds of pounds cheaper than the package alternative.

We have booked a Renault Kangoo (there are five of us) for two weeks at a very good rate from Carjet, which was recommended on this forum.

Hope that helps a little

I usually do it myself

I decide where I am going and book the flight, then look for accomodation starting with Expedia (checking each hotel on HT or tripadviser), then book the car. I have not had any problems so far

the only times I booked a package was when we went to Cuba and Mexico and the reason for that was because I was a bit wary of having problems and no-one to help.
As it happens everything was ok and we did not need the reps for anything.

I do feel pleased with myself once everything is booked and confirmed and I feel that I have got exactly what I wanted and not took what was available

hope this is of some help to you.

you can pm me if you need any more info

Lesley

Thanks ever so much Lesley and I hope you enjoy your holiday Tootsie.

I really prefer to have a DIY holiday.

For one its cheaper.

I will look arond for weeks untill I get the best prices.

I like to do the research and read the forums

I dont like hanging around at airports, when I land I want to go direct to my holiday home.

Prefer not to be shepherded around with groups of people.

Early arrival at my holiday home, because I havent had to wait for the coach to fill up!!!

Another big plus is that you can decide what day you want to fly on, to a degree, and also the length of holiday.
The majority are also a lot cheaper.

Robby

We,ve done diy now a few times and prefer it. The plusses are
1.Being able to research and pick your ownapartment/hotel.

2.Not paying under occupancy charges.

3. Going straight to and from your apartment with private transfers. No stopping at other pick up points.

4. The most important 1 saving money giving you more spends.

No minuses so far.

Alexa

One of the reasons i choose to go DIY is the cost, i will go for whichever option is cheapest and sometimes it works out cheaper to go DIY depending on what time of year and wyour destination.

I often book a package holiday just to use the flights as this can work out cheaper to (and book my own accomodation).

I prefer not to be queueing for buses when i land at my holiday destination, and going through the hassle of queueing again at the hotel/apartment when a whole busload of tourists arrive at the same time.

Caroline & Kirsten

I have just completed my first DIY trip which was to Portugal - a country we had not visited before.

I was able to shop around for a resort and hotel which suited my families needs, choose the date of travel, flight times and price to suit our budget.

We were only able to stay for 5 nights - this did not prove to be a problem, as oposed to travel agents, who do not appear able to be flexible to meet the customers needs when booking a package.

I booked airport transfers prior to travel and everything went according to plan.

All this to suit our needs and at a much lower cost what more could you ask for

We have travelled with tour operaters before and found that we had no need for the Reps in resort, and transfers are tedious to say the least.

I made sure that we had all the necessary insurance, E111, copies of passport details left with relatives, etc, etc, and everything turned out fine.

I will definitely book a holiday this way in the future, as I liked the feeling of being in control of the situation.

Carol

We only book a package if the country we are going to isn't mainstream - for most of Europe and the US I would tend not to bother with a package. My experience of package holidays are that sometimes they can be a bit naff, you tend to get dumped somewhere by the tour comapny and hearded like sheep. My experience of DIY holidays are very different, never had a bad experience (other than some bad weather!), and it's always been a bit of an adventure even when going somewhere familiar. I've put the main reasons below - similar to other posts (maybe the struggling tour companies are paying attention???

2 adults and 1 child so either get crammed into 1 room not big enough for 2 adults let alone a child aswell (stuck on a camp bed) or pay ridiculous supplements.

Standard of accomodation is much higher in my experience when you book yourself, we tend to hire an apartment/villa/house. You get more space, feels more like a home.

Freedom to do what you want when you want.

Adventure - it's not that adventurous going to Europe but being on your own not having anyone to ask, having to speak the local language etc - all good things in my opinion.

I've had package hols and DIY.

Reasons for DIY are

a) usually cheaper
b) more freedom to go and return when you want
c) gives more of a feeling of adventure (less of the sheep mentality)
d) usually get better deals at hotels which are NOT part of the package chain

Have done DIY with and without the children and never had any problems on a DIY relating to the kids...

Been looking for flights to malaga no cheap ones but got a flight from leeds with jet 2 for 128pounds for 3 people and returning to doncaster for 310 pounds for 6 nights beter times coming back to donny so for 338 pounds got flights not that cheap but for august 23rd till the 29th not bad got a hotel half board fof 326 pounds so for all of us 664 pound plus transfers witch will be only about 10 or 12 euros each way i still think it is a lot cheper than taylor made holidays .To say i only did it last night the flights would have been a lot cheaper the earlyer you gook sandi

I have just booked a Villa in Javea on Costa Blanca

1) I decided I wanted to go to Javea.

2) I booked cheap flights from Leeds Bradford with Jet2

3) I searched the internet for a villa in Javea with pool and found one I liked on http://www.choosespain.com
I emailed the private owner and he emailed me back saying it was free and I could secure it with a deposit paid direct into his bank account. I paid the deposit and he emailed me back to say received payment and gave me all details of how to get there, contact nos. for keyholders etc. and requested I paid the balance the same way 8 weeks before.

4) I booked a car on the internet with a company I have used before
http://www.all-inclusive-car-hire.com who used iberocar on this occasion.

I did the same thing in April when we stayed in Nerja , costa del sol and in November in Puerto del carmen , Lanzarote.
but on these occasions I used James villas for the villa and arranged everything else myself.

Just like to say that I agree with all of the above - but also a big factor for us, having 2 children, is that we do save alot of money DIY simply because we find that many hotels make no or very little charge for children sharing your room. Therefore it usually works out cheaper by about £300- £400 and that includes hiring a car for a week - the benefits of which mean easy access to any beach, access to any tourist site (rather than the rip off tour trips) and getting to the airport before the coaches decsend to check in. We always stay 4* or 5 * which we just wouldn't be able to afford if we went package.

I do both diy and package hols, I prefer the diy as I feel more in control of my holiday and not dependent on the tour opperator.

I also like the fact that the tour opperator won`t phone 2 days before and tell me there`s a flight change or my hotels not available and I`ll have to make do with what ever they offer me. Or my 90 min transfer ends up being 3/4 hours.

I like the private transfers and you go to the airport when you want to, also the schedule flights get priority over the charters.

I still go on package ones but only if there good prices.

Christine W

Hi

I choose DIY over package because of all the points made above plus:

1) You are not obliged to stay at one hotel for your stay, can choose how many nights wherever and stay at different parts of the country alot cheaper.

2) If you don't like the hotel you have chosen, the savings that you make on DIY, you can easily choose another.

3) Alot of DIY holidaymakers seem to be happier with their accommodation because the chances are that they have done alot more research before they made their choice, rather than flipping through a limited brochure and deciding upon budget or a few choice words from the glossy brochure.

4) As a single parent I make some serious savings on a) Flights - children under 12 usually get a 30% reduction; b) Many hotels do not charge for children or charge very little.
Most packages are based on 2 people sharing, so I would have to pay ful adult price for my child.

5) I could not possibly afford to stay in the accommodation that I choose through package, and let's face it, there are so much more choices of boards, views, room types, etc than package.

6) DIY makes you realise how much of our hard-earned money the travel agents are profiting on for the convenience of travel agents doing everything for us.

7) Once I have chosen my flights and accommodation, I can arrange my DIY holiday in less than 3 minutes on the internet. Much quicker than going into a travel agent. Let's face it, travel agents should be serving refreshments the length of time it takes them to arrange your holiday in the shop. Some travel agents waffle on like Eugene from Big Brother 6, some put the hard sales technique on you.

I do DIY because the hotels/places I go to (South East Asia) are not often covered by the usual tour operators. Sometimes they are in which case I weigh up the cost and advantages/disadvantages of using the operator as often they have access to deals that I just can't get DIY.

There is a certain excitement to doing DIY, I minimise the risk by only booking hotels that take payment when I get there so that if I don't like the place I only pay for nights I have stayed in the place. I also usually have a fall back position, the number of a nearby hotel should my original booking not be honoured.

What would interest me is peoples experiences of diy when things go wrong. What happens when a member of your party falls ill etc...remember your on your own there is no rep to fall back on

My daughter and her husband have never done a package.
She buys 'lonely planet' does lots of research then books her flights.
She books a hotel for the first night and then books accomdation when she gets there, sometimes rooms have not been as she would like so they have moved on. one time a hotel that was recommended had been demolished.
She had an accident in Thailand in 2003, she was coming down to the beach from Pee Pee veiwpoint when she fell and broke a bone in her foot, a local man gave her first aid and she managed fine after that getting treatment, she always has insurance .

The main reason is cost.
I also hate to be stuck with charters and have to go on a certain day or have a certain length of holiday.
I like to be able to pick my own hotel/area to stay and not be stuck with what tour operators offer.
I don't always go DIY- not doing it this time( well one part of it is!) We are going to Bali and Singapore and I decided to go with Qantas as I will feel a little safer that if things go wrong someone is "looking after" us!
By the way Qantas holidays have a great idea where you can book a package but only book a minimum amount of accomodation days. We wanted a hotel in Sinapore which they could not offer so we booked our own accomodation there.

Hi bridgy

It's so much more fun sorting out your own holidays and the permutations for choice are endless, rather than the fairly rigid package holiday.

We have been travelling to Cyprus for a number of years now on DIY holidays and yes there is the odd hickup. However these problems are more easliy sorted out yourself, than trying to correct last minute changes with often disinterested tour firms.

In our experience sheduled flights or even the lost cost carriers are more comfortable and less hassle, than the flights on package holidays.

As has already been mentioned transfers are easier, no sitting on a coach while 14 other couples disembark, to 14 different hotels with you still patiently waiting for your hotel to be next on the list.

And last, but not least is the cost savings. True there are certain destinations that seem to be cheaper through a package deal, but personally we'd rather forgo these places in favour of the freedom of a DIY holiday.

Breezer